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A classical soundtrack for your morning

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”

18 hours left to listen

3 hours, 30 minutes

Music Played

  • Gabriel Fauré

    Pelléas et Mélisande Suite, Op. 80: III. Sicilienne

    Orchestra: RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Jean-Luc Tingaud.
    • Fauré: Pelléas et Mélisande Suite, Op. 80 & Other Works.
    • Naxos.
    • 103.
  • Ralph Vaughan Williams

    The Wasps (Overture)

    Orchestra: Hallé. Conductor: Mark Elder.
    • Vaughan Williams: Orchestral works including Symphony no.3, The Wasps Overture,.
    • HALLE.
    • 7.
  • Edvard Grieg

    Nocturne, Op 54 No 4 (Lyric Pieces)

    Performer: Leif Ove Andsnes.
    • Grieg: Lyric Pieces: Leif Ove Andsnes.
    • EMI Classics.
  • Edvard Grieg

    Butterfly (Lyric Pieces - book 3 Op.43)

    Performer: Leif Ove Andsnes.
    • EMI.
  • George Frideric Handel

    Organ Concerto in B flat major, Op.4`2

    Performer: Bob van Asperen. Orchestra: Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.
    • Virgin.
  • William Grant Still

    Lyric Quartet (The Jovial One)

    Ensemble: Catalyst Quartet. Ensemble: Catalyst Quartet.
    • Uncovered, Vol 3.
    • Azica.
    • 6.
  • Louise Farrenc

    Overture in E flat major, Op 24

    Orchestra: NDR Radio Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Johannes Goritzki.
    • O.
  • Ivor Gurney

    Sleep (Five Elizabethan Songs)

    Performer: Malcolm Martineau. Singer: Bryn Terfel.
    • Bryn Terfel: Silent Noon - English Songs.
    • DG.
    • 4.
  • Leonard Bernstein

    Wonderful Town (Overture)

    Ensemble: Birmingham Contemporary Music Group. Conductor: Sir Simon Rattle.
    • Wonderful Town.
    • EMI.
    • 1.
  • Maurice Ravel

    La Vallée des Cloches (Miroirs)

    Performer: Pierre‐Laurent Aimard.
    • Ravel, The Piano Concertos: Aimard/Cleveland Orchestra/Boulez.
    • Deutsche Grammophon.
    • 9.
  • Grace Williams

    Roundelay (The Dancers)

    Singer: Eiddwen Harrhy. Choir: The Richard Hickox Singers. Orchestra: City of London Sinfonia. Conductor: Richard Hickox.
    • Grace Williams: The Dancers etc.
    • CHANDOS.
    • 3.
  • Sergey Rachmaninov

    Symphonic Dances, Op. 45: I. Non allegro

    Conductor: John Wilson. Orchestra: Sinfonia of London.
    • Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 13 - Symphonic Dances, Op. 45.
    • Chandos.
    • 105.
  • William Grant Still

    Lyric quartet (No 3: The Jovial One)

    Ensemble: Catalyst Quartet.
    • Uncovered, Vol 3.
    • Azica.
    • 6.
  • Giuseppe Verdi

    La donna è mobile (Rigoletto)

    Singer: Rolando Villazón. Orchestra: Munich Radio Orchestra. Conductor: Marcello Viotti.
    • Italian Opera Arias: Rolando Villazon/Munchner Rundfunkorchester/Viotti.
    • Virgin Classics.
    • 10.
  • Howard Goodall

    Poppies (The Seasons Suite, Autumn)

    Performer: Božidar Vukotić. Performer: Marianna Szymanowska. Ensemble: Tippett Quartet.
    • Howard Goodall The Seasons.
    • EMI Classics.
    • 4.
  • Joseph Haydn

    Symphony No 104 in D major, 'London' (4th mvt)

    Orchestra: Les Musiciens du Louvre. Conductor: Marc Minkowski.
    • Haydn, 12 London Symphonies: Marc Minkowski, Les Musiciens du Louvre-Grenobles.
    • Naive.
    • 12.
  • Amy Beach

    Romance Op.23

    Performer: Tasmin Little. Performer: John Lenehan.
    • Chandos.
  • John Williams

    Hedwig's Theme (Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone)

    Orchestra: Berliner Philharmoniker. Conductor: John Williams.
    • DG.
  • Arthur Kent

    Bring Me Sunshine (Theme from the TV Series ''Morecambe & Wise'')

    Lyricist: Sylvia Dee. Ensemble: Morecambe & Wise. Ensemble: The Peter Knight Singers. Conductor: Peter Knight.
    • Mr. Morecambe Meets Mr. Wise.
    • Parlophone UK.
    • 14.
  • Edward Elgar

    Enigma Variations (XI)

    Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Colin Davis.
    • Elgar: Symphonies Nos 1-3, Enigma Variations, Cello Concerto, Marches.
    • LSO Live.
    • 413.
  • Oscar Peterson

    Get Happy

    • Get Happy.
    • Dreyfus Jazz.
    • 14.
  • Gustav Holst

    Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity (The Planets, Op.32)

    Orchestra: London Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Vladimir Jurowski.
    • London Philharmonic Orchestra - Holst The Planets - Vladimir Jurowski Conductor.
    • LPO.
    • 4.
  • Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    The Sleeping Beauty (Panorama)

    Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: André Previn.
    • Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Nutcracker: LSO, Previn.
    • EMI Classics.
    • 9.
  • Frank Bridge

    A Sea-Idyll for piano

    Performer: Kathryn Stott.
    • Bridge - PIano Sonata etc Kathryn Stott.
    • Conifer.
    • 2.
  • Malcolm Arnold

    Three Shanties for wind quintet (No 3)

    Performer: Emma Johnson. Performer: Jaime Martín. Performer: Jonathan Kelly. Performer: Claire Briggs. Performer: Susanna Cohen.
    • Arnold: Complete Works for Clarinet: Emma Johnson.
    • ASV.
    • 6.
  • Max Richter

    On The Nature Of Daylight (Orchestra Version)

    Orchestra: Baltic Sea Philharmonic. Conductor: Kristjan Järvi.
    • Exiles.
    • Deutsche Grammophon.
    • 2.
  • Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

    5 Fantasiestucke Op.5 (Humorseque)

    Ensemble: Takács Quartet.
    • HYPERION.
  • Maurice Ravel

    Piano Concerto in D Major for the Left Hand

    Performer: Jean-Efflam Bavouzet. Orchestra: BBC Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Yan Pascal Tortelier.
    • Debussy/Ravel: Works For Piano And Orchestra.
    • chandos.
  • Thomas Tomkins

    When David heard that Absalom was slain

    Choir: Stile Antico.
    • Harmonia Mundi.
  • Antonio Vivaldi

    Violin Concerto in G minor, RV 315, 'Summer'

    Performer: Fabio Biondi. Ensemble: Europa Galante.
    • Vivaldi: The Four Seasons; Europa Galante, Fabio Biondi.
    • Virgin Classics.
    • 4.
  • Johannes Brahms

    Hungarian Dance No. 2 in D Minor (21 Hungarian Dances)

    Orchestrator: Andreas Hallén. Orchestra: Munich Radio Orchestra. Conductor: Roberto Abbado.
    • Brahms: Hungarian Dances Nos. 1-10.
    • BR-Klassik.
    • 102.
  • Franz Schubert

    Arpeggione Sonata D.821 (1st mvt)

    Performer: Natalie Clein. Performer: Charles Owen.
    • Classics for Pleasure.
  • Orlando Gibbons

    The Silver Swanne arr for brass

    Performer: Ronald Romm. Performer: Frederic Mills. Performer: David Ohanian. Performer: Eugene Watts. Performer: Charles Daellenbach. Music Arranger: Mark Kroll. Ensemble: Canadian Brass.
    • Canadian Brass: English Renaissance Music.
    • CBS.
    • 3.
  • Richard Wagner

    The Ride of the Valkyries (Die Walküre)

    Orchestra: Staatskapelle Dresden. Conductor: Donald Runnicles.
    • Wagner: Der Ring - Orchestral Highlights: Runnicles.
    • Teldec.

Broadcast

  • Wed 7 May 2025 09:30

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