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The words ‘Classical as Protest’ in a large font, flanked on either side by images of composer Luciano Berio and Star Wars character Darth Vader.
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So, Hear Me Out: Is classical music just one big remix?

Is anything in music truly original?

Podcast
Reading time 1 minute read
Originally posted Tue 28 Oct 2025

In this episode of So Hear Me Out, our classical music podcast series, your ever-curious hosts Gillian Moore and Linton Stephens explore how classical music has been sampling, stealing (sorry, paying homage to), and reinventing itself for centuries.

Do all composers have a secret sampling habit? And can reworking the past speak to the world today? As we delve further, expect a whirlwind tour through Luciano Berio’s mashup masterpiece Sinfonia, complete with Mahler, Beckett, and a generous helping of 1960s political angst.

Then it’s off to a galaxy far, far away to explore how Star Wars composer John Williams borrowed from greats such as Holst and Wagner to create some of the most iconic music in film history

 

‘For Boulez and Stockhausen, they didn’t want anything to do with the past because that was tainted; classical music had been misused by the Nazis, who’d played it at the concentration camps and played it on the radio as propaganda’

Gillian Moore

Be sure not to miss future episodes of So Hear Me Out by subscribing now via Spotify, Apple, Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcast fix.