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Relax into the day with classical

Georgia Mann plays the best in classical music, with discoveries and surprises rubbing shoulders with familiar favorites.

Georgia Mann plays the best in classical music, with discoveries and surprises rubbing shoulders with familiar favorites.

1000 Playlist starter – listen and send us your ideas for the next step in our musical journey today.

1030 Song of the Day – harnessing the magic of words, music and the human voice.

1115 Playlist reveal – a sequence of music suggested by you in response to our starter today.

1145 Slow Moment – time to take a break for a moment's musical reflection.

1230 Album of the Week.

To listen on most smart speakers say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Essential Classics”

2 days left to listen

3 hours, 30 minutes

Music Played

  • Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    Swan Lake Suite (Waltz)

    Orchestra: St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Yuri Temirkanov.
    • Signum.
  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Brandenburg Concerto No 3 in G major, BWV 1048

    Orchestra: Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Director: Alison Bury.
    • J.S. Bach: The Brandenburg Concertos; Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.
    • EMI Classics.
    • 8.
  • Elena Kats‐Chernin

    Blue Rose

    Ensemble: Acacia Quartet.
    • Blue Silence.
    • Vexation840.
    • 19.
  • Emmanuel Chabrier

    Scherzo-valse (Suite pastorale)

    Orchestra: Vienna Philharmonic. Conductor: Sir John Eliot Gardiner.
    • Chabrier: Espana: Wiener Philharmoniker, John Eliot Gardiner.
    • Deutsche Grammophon.
    • 4.
  • Erich Wolfgang Korngold

    The Prince And The Pauper Suite: III - The Prince

    Music Arranger: Hugo Friedhofer. Music Arranger: Milan Roder. Music Arranger: Patrick Russ. Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: André Previn.
    • The Art of Erich Wolfgang Korngold.
    • UME - Global Clearing House.
    • 59.
  • Gioachino Rossini

    Semiramide (Overture)

    Orchestra: La Scala Philharmonic. Conductor: Riccardo Chailly.
    • Rossini: 10 Overtures - Chailly.
    • Decca.
    • 6.
  • Gustav Holst

    Capriccio

    Music Arranger: Imogen Holst. Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Richard Hickox.
    • Holst: Egdon Heath, Hammersmith etc.: LSO/Hickox.
    • Chandos.
  • Frédéric Chopin

    Fantaisie-impromptu in C sharp minor, Op.66

    Performer: Murray Perahia.
    • Perahia Plays Chopin.
    • Sony Classical.
    • 4.
  • Joseph Haydn

    The Mermaid's Song (6 Original canzonettas - set 1)

    Singer: Sarah Walker. Performer: Roger Vignoles.
    • Hyperion.
  • Jean Sibelius

    Symphony no. 5 (Op.82) in E flat major, 3rd movement; Allegro molto

    Performer: Orchestre de Paris – Philharmonie. Performer: Paavo Järvi.
    • Sibelius: Symphonies 1-7.
    • RCA.
    • 7.
  • Erich Wolfgang Korngold

    The Prince and the Pauper Suite III - The Prince

    Music Arranger: Hugo Friedhofer. Music Arranger: Milan Roder. Music Arranger: Patrick Russ. Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: André Previn.
  • Clara Schumann

    Scherzo no.2 in C minor Op.14

    Performer: Isata Kanneh‐Mason.
    • Romance.
    • DECCA.
    • 5.
  • Giacomo Puccini

    Signore, ascolta!, from Turandot

    Singer: Gemma Summerfield. Performer: Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Conductor: Rafael Payare.
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Clarinet Concerto in A major K.622 (3rd mvt)

    Performer: Annelien Van Wauwe. Orchestra: Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie. Conductor: Andrew Manze.
    • Mozart: Clarinet Concerto in A Major, K. 622.
    • PENTATONE.
    • 103.
  • Jean‐Féry Rebel

    Fantaisie

    Ensemble: La Petite Bande. Director: Sigiswald Kuijken.
    • ACCENT.
  • Erich Wolfgang Korngold

    The Prince and the Pauper Suite III - The Prince

    Music Arranger: Hugo Friedhofer. Music Arranger: Milan Roder. Music Arranger: Patrick Russ. Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: André Previn.
  • Arthur Sullivan

    H.M.S. Pinafore (Overture)

    Orchestra: Welsh National Opera Orchestra. Conductor: Charles Mackerras.
    • Gilbert and Sullivan: H.M.S. Pinafore.
    • Telarc.
    • 1.
  • William Walton

    Touch her soft lips and part (Henry V)

    Narrator: Christopher Plummer. Music Arranger: Christopher Palmer. Ensemble: Academy of St Martin in the Fields. Conductor: Neville Marriner.
    • Henry V etc..
    • Chandos.
    • 4.
  • Gerald Finzi

    Let Us Garlands Bring, Op.18: 'O Mistress Mine'

    Singer: Bryn Terfel. Performer: Malcolm Martineau.
    • The Gerald Finzi Collection.
    • Decca.
    • 07.
  • Benjamin Britten

    Courtly Dances: March & Coranto (Gloriana Suite Op.53a)

    Orchestra: BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Edward Gardner.
    • Benjamin Britten: Works for Orchestra.
    • CHANDOS.
    • 3.
  • Astor Piazzolla

    Libertango

    Music Arranger: Trio 21meter60. Ensemble: Trio 21meter60.
    • Nothing but Tuba.
    • Genuin.
    • 301.
  • Johann Nepomuk Hummel

    Trumpet Concerto in E major (1st mvt)

    Performer: Håkan Hardenberger. Orchestra: Academy of St Martin in the Fields. Conductor: Neville Marriner.
    • Haydn, Hummel etc: Trumpet Concertos: Hardenberger/Marriner.
    • Philips.
    • 1.
  • Arvo Pärt

    Nunc dimittis for chorus

    Choir: Latvian Radio Choir. Conductor: Sigvards Kļava.
    • Da pacem Domine.
    • Ondine.
    • 013.
  • Scott Joplin

    Solace (A Mexican serenade)

    Performer: Richard Dowling.
    • The Complete Piano Works of Scott Joplin.
    • Rivermont Records.
    • 34.
  • Camille Saint‐Saëns

    Cello Concerto No 2 in D minor, Op 119

    Performer: Steven Isserlis. Orchestra: North German Radio Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Christoph Eschenbach.
    • RCA.
  • Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach

    Symphony in D major Wq183 No1 (1st mvt)

    Ensemble: Café Zimmermann. Director: Pablo Valetti.
    • ALPHA1043.
  • Jean‐Baptiste Lully

    Regina coeli

    Singer: Monique Zanetti. Singer: Arlette Steyer. Singer: Marie Boyer. Ensemble: Les Arts Florissants. Director: William Christie.
    • Lully: Petits Motets: Arts Florissants.
    • Harmonia Mundi.
    • 2.
  • Johannes Brahms

    21 Hungarian Dances, WoO 1: No. 3 in F Major (Version for Orchestra)

    Orchestra: Munich Radio Orchestra. Conductor: Roberto Abbado.
    • Brahms: Hungarian Dances Nos. 1-10.
    • BR-Klassik.
    • 103.
  • Henry Purcell

    Chacony in G Minor Z.730

    Ensemble: Chelys Consort of Viols.
    • Purcell: Fantazias.
    • BIS.
    • 801.
  • Alice Mary Smith

    Andante

    Performer: Angela Malsbury. Orchestra: London Mozart Players. Conductor: Howard Shelley.
    • Alice Mary Smith: Symphonies: Malsbury, LMP, Shelley.
    • Chandos.
    • 5.
  • John Foulds

    Romany from Bohemia (Holiday Sketches Op.16)

    Performer: Cynthia Fleming. Orchestra: BBC Concert Orchestra. Conductor: Ronald Corp.
    • J Foulds, Keltic Suite: BBC Concert Orchestra/Corp.
    • Epoch.
    • 8.
  • Edvard Grieg

    Homage March (Sigurd Jorsalfar Suite)

    Orchestra: Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Esa‐Pekka Salonen.
    • Sibelius: Finlandia; Valse Triste; Grieg: Sigurd Jorsalfar; Salonen.
    • Sony Classical.
    • 5.

Broadcast

  • Fri 9 May 2025 09:30

Our Classical Century

Our Classical Century

Radio 3 explores 100 key musical moments that shaped us, from 1918 to the present day.

Time Travellers: the podcast

Time Travellers: the podcast

Eleanor Rosamund Barraclough presents quirky tales gathered from the corners of history.