If your students are taking part in the Minute of Listening composing project, there are 7 broad themes. These can be interpreted however you like: some students may wish to follow the themes very closely, whilst others might have a looser connection.

I’ve put together some playlists (which will be added to) as a starting point for exploring each theme. You don’t have to use these – you can create your own of course – but they might save you time at the start of term. You’ll see that some of these pieces could fit under more than one theme. I would encourage you to explore the context of each piece (or get students to do some research) and discuss with the class as a way into thinking about the direction their own compositions could take.

I’ve also included some useful videos of composers talking about their processes and inspiration.

What are the themes for the 2025 Minute of Listening?

The themes for the new collection are:

  • Identity and Belonging
  • Memories, histories and traditions
  • Change and Journeys
  • Relationships
  • My community and my environment
  • The changing natural world
  • Dreams, Future and Space

I’ll now share a suggested playlist as a starting point for each theme below:

Identity & belonging

Watch and listen to composer Dinuk Wijeratne talk about his composing process and identity.

Listen to Shruthi Rajasekar talk about her music and cultural identity.

Memories, histories & traditions

  • One Night in Moaña by Kathryn Tickell and The Darkening
  • Tros y Garreg (Crossing the Stone) by Karl Jenkins (played at the coronation of King Charles III)

Check out the BBC Rewind Music Memories website, designed to use music to help people reconnect with their most powerful memories.

Change & journeys

  • Mississippi Suite by Florence Price
  • Different Trains by Steve Reich
  • Vltava ‘The Moldau’ by Bedrich Smetana
  • The Little Train of the Caipira by Heitor Villa-Lobos

Relationships

  • The Montagues and the Capulets from Romeo and Juliet Suite by Sergei Prokofiev
  • Jet Song from West Side Story by Leonard Bernstein

My community & my environment

  • Community Song
  • Feather, Stone and Light

The changing natural world

  • Music for Wild Isles by George Fenton
  • Planet Earth II main theme by Hans Zimmer
  • Blue Planet II by Hans Zimmer, Jacob Shea & David Fleming

Hear from composers:

Composer Sean Shepherd talks about how he writes music in response to climate change:

Composer Thea Rossen shares her composing process using scientific data, for ‘Sounds of Reef’:

Dreams, future and space

  • The Dream Keeper by Cassie Kinoshi
  • Dreams by Diana
  • Dreamland by Alexis Ffrench
  • A Better Future by David Bowie
  • Instellar by Hans Zimmer
  • The Planets by Gustav Holst
  • Instellar Space (Mars) by John Coltrane

Dreams

Space

Do have a look at David Beeby’s ‘One Giant Leap‘ article about composing a piece for the anniversary of the moon landing.

Space-themed pieces to explore…

Future

What resources can students use to support them with their 1-minute compositions?

I Can Compose has a range of free resources available for students to use as they start composing. Below is a list of some of the resources they may wish to explore:

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