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Your perfect Sunday soundtrack

Sarah Walker with three hours of classical music to reflect, restore and refresh, whether you’re out and about or relaxing at home.

Sarah Walker with three hours of classical music to reflect, restore and refresh.

Today, Sarah shares a new release of music by the German composer Franz Lachner. We'll hear one of Wagner's greatest operatic highlights, and a glorious setting of the Magnificat by Palestrina.

There’s also musical depictions of a couple of cuckoos with different nationalities, Rossini has fun with the story of Cinderella, and we find Robert Schumann at his most romantic.

Plus, Dorothy Howell portrays a palpitating snake in music…

A Tandem Production for BBC Radio 3

6 days left to listen

3 hours

Last on

Sun 11 May 2025 09:00
BBC Radio 3

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Music Played

  • Frédéric Chopin

    Study in A flat "Aeolian Harp" (12 Studies Op.25)

    Performer: Sonya Bach.
    • Rubicon.

  • Frederick Delius

    2 Pieces for Small Orchestra (1st mvt, 'On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring')

    Orchestra: London Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Vernon Handley.
    • Chandos.

  • Louis‐Claude Daquin

    Le Coucou (Harpsichord Suite no.3 in E minor)

    Performer: Fazil Say.
    • Warner Classics.

  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Ihr werdet weinen und heulen, BWV 103 (1st mvt)

    Choir: Amsterdam Baroque Choir. Conductor: Ton Koopman. Orchestra: Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra.
    • Challenge Classics.

  • Joaquín Rodrigo

    Concierto de Aranjuez (3rd mvt)

    Performer: Thibaut Garcia. Conductor: Ben Glassberg. Orchestra: Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse.
    • Guitar Springtime.
    • Warner Classics.
    • 32.

  • Erich Wolfgang Korngold

    Marietta's Lied from Die tote Stadt, Op 12 (arr for violin & orchestra)

    Composer: Julius Korngold. Performer: Bomsori. Conductor: Jakub Hrůša. Orchestra: Bamberg Symphony Orchestra.
    • Deutsche Grammophon (DG) / Universal.

  • George Frideric Handel

    Concerto grosso in G major, No 3 Op 3, HWV 314 (3rd mvt)

    Performer: Philippa Davies. Director: Iona Brown. Orchestra: Academy of St Martin in the Fields.
    • Handel: Concerti grossi.
    • haenssler CLASSIC.
    • 303.

  • Nikolai Karlovich Medtner

    Piano Concerto No 2 in C minor, Op 50 (2nd mvt, 'Romanza')

    Performer: Marc-André Hamelin. Conductor: Vladimir Jurowski. Orchestra: London Philharmonic Orchestra.
    • Hyperion.

  • William Byrd

    Ave verum corpus

    Choir: Gesualdo Six. Conductor: Owain Park.
    • Hyperion.

  • Gioachino Rossini

    La Cenerentola (Overture)

    Conductor: Claudio Abbado. Orchestra: Chamber Orchestra of Europe.
    • Rossini: Overtures.
    • Deutsche Grammophon (DG).
    • 5.

  • Florence Price

    Dances in the Canebrakes (Tropical Noon)

    Music Arranger: William Grant Still. Orchestra: Chicago Sinfonietta. Conductor: Mei-Ann Chen.
    • Project W: Works by Diverse Women Composers.
    • Naxos Music UK Ltd.
    • 02.

  • Robert Schumann

    Arabeske in C major, Op.18

    Performer: Jonathan Biss.
    • Schumann Recital.
    • Warner Classics.
    • 12.

  • Dorothy Howell

    Lamia

    Conductor: Rumon Gamba. Orchestra: BBC Philharmonic Orchestra.
    • British Tone Poems, Vol 2.
    • Chandos.
    • 105.

  • Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    Eugene Onegin, Op 24, TH 5 (Polonaise)

    Conductor: Ondrej Lenárd. Orchestra: Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra.
    • Naxos.

  • Hugo Friedhofer

    The Best Years of Our Lives- Theme

    Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: John Williams.
    • SONY.

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Piano Sonata No 14 in C minor, K457

    Performer: Vadym Kholodenko.

  • Giuseppe Verdi

    Nabucco (Act 3, Chorus: 'Va, pensiero, sull'ali dorate')

    Lyricist: Temistocle Solera. Conductor: Myung-Whun Chung. Orchestra: Orchestra of the Academy of Santa Cecilia, Rome. Choir: Chorus of the National Academy of Santa Cecilia. Conductor: Roberto Gabbiani.
    • Voices from Heaven.
    • Deutsche Grammophon (DG).
    • 8.

  • Dobrinka Tabakova

    Whispered lullaby

    Performer: Maxim Rysanov. Performer: Evelyn Chang.
    • AsiaMuse Entertainment Co, Ltd.

  • Carl Maria von Weber

    Invitation to the Dance, Op 65

    Orchestrator: Hector Berlioz. Conductor: Herbert von Karajan. Orchestra: Berliner Philharmoniker.
    • Deutsche Grammophon (DG).

  • Thomas Morley

    Now is the Month of Maying

    Ensemble: The King’s Singers. Conductor: Anthony Rooley. Ensemble: The Consort of Musicke.
    • Madrigal History Tour.
    • Warner Classics.
    • 14.

  • Egberto Gismonti

    Agua e Vinho (Water and Wine)

    Performer: Graham Anthony Devine.
    • NAXOS.

  • Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

    Flight of the Bumblebee, arr for wind ensemble (The Tale of Tsar Saltan)

    Performer: Black Dyke Band. Music Arranger: David Childs. Conductor: Nicholas Childs.
    • Virtuoso: Music for Euphonium & Brass Band.
    • Naxos Music UK Ltd.
    • 15.

  • Hania Rani

    Intermezzo cis-moll

    Performer: Hania Rani.
    • Biała flaga.
    • Deutsche Grammophon (DG).
    • 9.

  • Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina

    O Bone Iesu

    Choir: Cappella Musicale Pontificia Sistina. Conductor: Massimo Palombella.
    • Deutsche Grammophon (DG).

  • Johann David Heinichen

    Concerto in G minor for oboe, strings & continuo (1st mvt)

    Performer: Paul Dombrecht. Orchestra: Il Fondamento.
    • acaille.

  • John Field

    Nocturne No 7 in A major, H 14

    Performer: Alice Sara Ott.
    • Field: Complete Nocturnes.
    • Deutsche Grammophon (DG).
    • 7.

  • Max Richter

    Summer 3 (2022)

    Performer: Elena Urioste. Orchestra: Chineke! Orchestra.
    • The New Four Seasons - Vivaldi Recomposed.
    • Deutsche Grammophon (DG).
    • 7.

  • Amy Summers

    Nunc dimittis

    Choir: Siglo de Oro. Director: Patrick Allies.
    • Wisdom & Strength: Contemporary Sacred Choral Music.
    • Delphian.

  • Richard Wagner

    Dawn and Siegfried's Rhine Journey (Gotterdammerung)

    Conductor: George Szell. Orchestra: The Cleveland Orchestra.
    • Wagner Without Words.
    • Sony Classical.
    • 5.

Broadcast

  • Sun 11 May 2025 09:00
    BBC Radio 3