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Refresh your morning with classical music

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”

3 hours, 30 minutes

Music Played

  • Henry Purcell

    Abdelazer (Rondeau - Air - Air - Minuet)

    Ensemble: Academy of Ancient Music. Conductor: Christopher Hogwood.
    • Purcell: Theatre Music.
    • Decca.
    • 002.
  • Johannes Brahms

    Piano Quintet in F Minor Op.34 (3rd mvt)

    Performer: Till Fellner. Ensemble: Belcea Quartet. Ensemble: Belcea Quartet.
    • ALPHA : 248.
    • ALPHA.
    • 7.
  • Haydn Wood

    Joyousness

    Orchestra: Pro Arte Orchestra. Conductor: George Weldon.
    • British Light Music: Coates/Dunn/Kilbey/Weldon.
    • EMI Classics.
  • Carl Maria von Weber

    Trio for Flute, Cello & Piano in G Minor, Op. 63: IV. Finale. Allegro

    Ensemble: The Gaudier Ensemble.
    • Weber: Chamber Music.
    • Hyperion.
    • 8.
  • César Franck

    Panis angelicus

    Orchestrator: Leopold Stokowski. Orchestra: BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Matthias Bamert.
    • Stokowski Encores.
    • Chandos.
    • 08.
  • Rachel Bruerville

    Dancing On Tiptoes

    Ensemble: ACO Collective.
    • Women Of Note: A Century Of Australian Composers Vol. 2.
    • Australian Broadcasting Corp (ABC).
    • 14.
  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    French suite no.6 in E major BWV.817

    Performer: Murray Perahia.
    • Deutsche Grammopon.
  • William Byrd

    Tristitia et anxietas

    Choir: Tallis Scholars. Director: Peter Phillips.
    • The Tallis Scholars Sing William Byrd.
    • Gimell.
    • 2.
  • Sergey Rachmaninov

    Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini (Variations 16-18)

    Performer: Nikolai Lugansky. Orchestra: City of Birmingham Simphony Orchestra. Conductor: Sakari Oramo.
    • The Rachmaninov Experience.
    • Warner Classics & Jazz.
  • Ralph Vaughan Williams

    Linden Lea

    Performer: Iain Burnside. Author: William Barnes. Singer: Roderick Williams.
    • Vaughan Williams: The English Song Series 14: Williams/Burnside.
    • Naxos.
    • 16.
  • Louise Farrenc

    Overture in E minor, Op.23

    Orchestra: NDR Radio Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Johannes Goritzki.
    • Louise Farrenc: Symphony no.2, Overtures.
    • CPO.
    • 5.
  • Jean‐Joseph de Mondonville

    Sonate en Symphonie in B flat major Op.3`3

    Orchestra: Les Musiciens du Louvre. Conductor: Marc Minkowski.
    • ARCHIV.
  • Leonard Bernstein

    Prelude, Fugue and Riffs for clarinet and jazz orchestra

    Performer: Michael Collins. Performer: Peter Donohoe. Orchestra: London Sinfonietta. Conductor: Sir Simon Rattle.
    • The Jazz Album: London Sinfonietta/Rattle.
    • EMI.
    • 5.
  • Richard Rodney Bennett

    A Good Night

    Lyricist: Francis Qualles. Choir: Tenebrae. Conductor: Nigel Short.
    • A Prayer for Deliverance.
    • Signum Classics.
    • 5.
  • Dora Pejačević

    Symphony in F sharp minor, Op 41 (4th mvt, Allegro appassionato)

    Orchestra: German State Philharmonic of Rhineland-Pfalz. Conductor: Ari Rasilainen.
    • Dora Pejacevic Symphony.
    • CPO.
    • 004.
  • Modest Mussorgsky

    Pictures from an exhibition (Ballet des poussins dans leurs coques)

    Orchestrator: Maurice Ravel. Orchestra: Berliner Philharmoniker. Conductor: Sir Simon Rattle.
    • Mussorgsky / Borodin: Berliner Philharmoniker / Rattle.
    • EMI.
    • 9.
  • Anna Meredith

    Heal You

    Ensemble: Juice Vocal Ensemble.
    • Nonclassical.

Broadcast

  • Today 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.