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Supportive piano tracks to clear your mind

Hand-picked from across the decades, this curated mix brings together calming tracks from the classical and contemporary piano canon.

Bask in the soft hues of these timeless piano pieces, specially plucked from across the decades to imbue your day with warmth and calm. Showcasing British excellence, composer Roger Quilter’s sun-touched 3 Pieces, Op. 16: No. 2, Summer Evening meets the resonant warmth of contemporary Duval Timothy, while Mark William Lewis paints a heat-hazed London cityscape. Balancing power and subtlety, Sarah Neutkens, Fiona Brice, and Kara-Lis Coverdale offer a masterclass in contemporary minimalism.

To listen on most smart speakers, just say: 'Ask BBC Sounds to play Piano Focus'.

Produced by Áine Devaney.
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Sounds MM.

27 days left to listen

2 hours

Last on

Saturday 12:00
BBC Radio 3 Unwind

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Music Played

  • Roger Quilter

    3 Pieces, Op. 16: No. 2, Summer Evening

    Performer: Richard Masters.
    • Quilter: Complete Piano Music.

  • Betty Jackson King

    Seasonal Sketches: I. Spring Intermezzo

    Performer: Maria Corley.
    • Soulscapes 2 - Piano Music by Women of African Descent.

  • Duke Ellington

    Retrospection

    Performer: Duke Ellington.
    • Piano Reflections.

  • Jóhann Jóhannsson

    She Loves To Ride The Port Ferry When It Rains

    Performer: Jóhann Jóhannsson.
    • Copenhagen Dreams (Original Soundtrack).

  • Amy Beach

    Dreaming

    Performer: Alan Feinberg.
    • The American Romantic.

  • Jonny Greenwood

    House of Woodcock

    Performer: Jonny Greenwood.
    • Phantom Thread (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack).

  • Shida Shahabi

    Pretty In Plums

    Performer: Shida Shahabi.
    • Homes.

  • Sarah Neutkens

    Hexagon

    Performer: Sarah Neutkens.
    • What Is Sarah Neutkens Thinking?.

  • Hans Otte

    The Book of Sounds

    Performer: Carlos Cipa.
    • The Book of Sounds.

  • Luke Duffy

    Lullaby

    Performer: Luke Duffy.
    • Lullaby.

  • Ryuichi Sakamoto

    hibari

    Performer: Ryuichi Sakamoto.
    • out of noise.
    • Commmons.

  • Fiona Brice

    Prelude 5

    Performer: Fiona Brice.
    • Piano Preludes.

  • Eric Morin

    D'Un Pas Chancelant

    Performer: Sebastian Gandera.
    • Le Raccourci.

  • Aaron Tagliaboschi

    Sunrise in the Rocking Chair

    Performer: Aaron Tagliaboschi.
    • Spare.

  • John Cage

    Cage: Dream

    Performer: Shani Diluka.
    • Pulse.

  • Irena and Vojtěch Havlovi

    Piano & Violoncello 3

    Performer: Irena and Vojtěch Havlovi.
    • Like a Butterfly On Your Palm.

  • William Alwyn

    Haze of Noon

    Performer: Ashley Wass.
    • Alwyn: Piano Music, Vol. 1.

  • Sir Stephen Hough

    Hotel (Solo Piano)

    Performer: Alisdair Hogarth.
    • Songs from Isolation.

  • Duval Timothy

    Clouds

    Performer: Duval Timothy.
    • Brown Loop.

  • William Susman

    Quiet Rhythms: Prologue and Action No. 9

    Performer: Vanessa Wagner.
    • Inland.

  • Gustav Holst

    The Planets, Op. 32: VII. Neptune, The Mystic

    Performer: Robert Chamberlain. Performer: Len Vorster.
    • Holst: Music for Two Pianos.

  • Alexander Scriabin

    Deux Poemes, Op. 32, No. 1 in F sharp major: Andante cantabile

    Performer: Alexander Gadjiev.
    • Deux Poemes, Op. 32, No. 1 in F sharp major: Andante cantabile.

  • Sarah Merricks-Spall

    The Rain Bayin' Me Home

    Performer: Sarah Merricks-Spall.
    • The Rain Bayin' Me Home.

  • Ahmed Ahmed

    Eternity

    Performer: Ahmed Ahmed.
    • Eternity.

  • Germaine Tailleferre

    L'Aigle des rues: V. Lent

    Performer: Quynh Nguyen.
    • The Flower of France.

  • Zuzanna Całka

    My Friend Thunder

    Performer: Zuzanna Całka.
    • Late Night Takes.

  • Emile Mosseri

    Minari Suite

    Performer: Emile Mosseri.
    • Minari (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack).

  • Mark William Lewis

    Josh, this is Lin, I accidentally left my documents in your car yesterday

    Performer: Mark William Lewis.
    • Josh, this is Lin, I accidentally left my documents in your car yesterday.

  • Kara‐Lis Coverdale

    Fireflight

    Performer: Kara‐Lis Coverdale.
    • Piano Day Vol. 1.

Broadcasts

  • Thu 22 May 2025 12:00
    BBC Radio 3 Unwind
  • Saturday 12:00
    BBC Radio 3 Unwind