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Celebrating classical greats

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

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

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 鶹Լ Sounds to play Essential Classics”

9 days left to listen

3 hours, 30 minutes

Last on

Fri 29 Nov 2024 09:30

Music Played

  • John Williams

    Flying Theme (E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial)

    Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: John Williams. Conductor: John Williams.
    • MCA.
  • Gabriel Fauré

    Pavane

    Orchestra: San Francisco Symphony. Conductor: Michael Tilson Thomas.
    • SFS Media.
  • Dana Suesse

    Piano Concerto in Three Rhythms (3rd mvt)

    Music Arranger: Ferde Grofé. Performer: Michael Gurt. Orchestra: Hot Springs Music Festival Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Richard Rosenberg.
    • Jazz Nocturne.
    • Naxos.
    • 009.
  • Giuseppe Tartini

    Violin Concerto in A major (3rd mvt)

    Performer: Chouchane Siranossian. Orchestra: Venice Baroque Orchestra. Director: Andrea Marcon.
    • ALPHA.
  • Francis Poulenc

    Rondeau (Les Biches)

    Orchestra: RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Jean-Luc Tingaud.
    • Poulenc: Les biches Suite, Les animaux modèles Suite & Sinfonietta.
    • Naxos.
    • 101.
  • Richard Wagner

    Die Walkure - conclusion "Magic Fire Music"

    Singer: Matthias Goerne. Orchestra: Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Jaap van Zweden.
    • Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (Highlights).
    • Naxos.
    • 706.
  • Johann Strauss II

    Tritsch-Tratsch Polka

    Music Arranger: Georges Cziffra. Performer: Yuja Wang.
    • Yuja Wang - Fantasia.
    • DG.
    • 10.
  • Johannes Brahms

    Symphony no.4 in E minor (1st mvt)

    Orchestra: Gewandhausorchester Leipzig. Conductor: Riccardo Chailly.
    • Brahms: The Symphonies.
    • DECCA.
    • 5.
  • Michael Tippett

    String Quartet no.2 (3rd mvt)

    Ensemble: Heath Quartet.
    • WIGMORE HALL LIVE.
  • Giovanni Gabrieli

    Canzon duodecimi toni à 10, C178

    Ensemble: Wallace Collection. Conductor: Simon Wright.
    • Gabrieli and St.Marks: Venetian Brass Music: The Wallace Collection/Wallace/Wrig.
    • Nimbus.
    • 1.
  • George Frideric Handel

    Welcome as the dawn of day (Solomon)

    Singer: Carolyn Sampson. Singer: Robin Blaze. Orchestra: Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Conductor: Nicholas Kraemer.
    • BIS.
  • Édouard Lalo

    Symphonie espagnole Op.21 (5th mvt)

    Performer: Augustin Hadelich. Orchestra: London Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Omer Meir Wellber.
    • Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto - Lalo: Symphonie Espagnole.
    • London Philharmonic Orchestra.
    • 8.
  • Nikolai Girshevich Kapustin

    Bagatelle Op.59`9

    Performer: Marc-André Hamelin.
    • HYPERION.
  • Charles Villiers Stanford

    Magnificat (Evening Service in G major)

    Performer: Andrew Lucas. Choir: St Paul's Cathedral Choir. Singer: Jeremy Budd. Singer: Timothy Jones.
    • Hear my Prayer: Budd/St Paul's Cathedral Choir/Scott.
    • Hyperion.
    • 8.
  • Kurt Atterberg

    A Värmland Rhapsody Op.36

    Orchestra: Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Neeme Järvi.
    • CHANDOS.
  • Franz Krommer

    Concerto for 2 clarinets in E flat Op.35 (3rd mvt)

    Performer: Sabine Meyer. Performer: Wolfgang Meyer. Orchestra: Württembergisches Kammerorchester Heilbronn. Conductor: Jörg Faerber.
    • Krommer: Concertos for 2 Clarinets and Orchestra Op.35 & Op.91 / Rossini: Variat.
    • Warner Classics.
    • 103.
  • Fritz Kreisler

    Schön Rosmarin

    Performer: Joshua Bell. Performer: Paul Coker.
    • The Romantic Violin: Joshua Bell.
    • Decca.
    • 5.
  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Toccata in C major, BWV 564

    Performer: Peter Hurford.
    • J.S. Bach Toccata and Fugue in D minor.
    • HMV Classics.
    • 14.
  • Thomas Morley

    Fyer! Fyer!

    Choir: Laudibus. Conductor: Mike Brewer.
    • All in the April Evening: A Cappella Favourites from the British Isles.
    • Hyperion.
    • 12.
  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    The Creatures of Prometheus (Overture)

    Orchestra: The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen. Conductor: Daniel Harding.
    • VIRGIN CLASSICS.
  • Felix Mendelssohn

    Elijah: "Is not his word like a fire!"

    Lyricist: Felix Mendelssohn. Singer: Bryn Terfel. Orchestra: Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Conductor: Paul Daniel.
    • Mendelssohn: Elijah.
    • DECCA.
    • 19.
  • Richard Wagner

    'Fliegt hei, ihr Raben!' From Immolation Scene of Gotterdammerung

    Performer: Birgit Nilsson. Orchestra: Vienna Philharmonic. Conductor: Georg Solti.
    • Wagner: Götterdämmerung. Solti.
    • Decca.
    • 15.
  • Gustav Holst

    Wind Quintet in A flat major, Op 14 (3rd mvt)

    Ensemble: Hexagon Ensemble.
    • The British Connection.
    • Etcetera.
    • 005.
  • Scott Joplin

    Maple Leaf Rag

    Music Arranger: Evelyn Glennie. Performer: Evelyn Glennie. Orchestra: National Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Ray Russell.
    • RCA.
  • Giacomo Puccini

    Manon Lescaut - Sola perduta abbandonata (act 4)

    Singer: Kristine Opolais. Orchestra: Orchestra of the Royal Opera House. Conductor: Sir Antonio Pappano.
  • Marin Marais

    La Reveuse (from Suitte d'un gout etranger [Book 4 part 2 no.7])

    Performer: Jean‐Guihen Queyras. Performer: Alexandre Tharaud.
    • HARMONIA MUNDI.
  • Joseph Haydn

    String Quartet in A major, Op 20 No 6 (4th mvt)

    Ensemble: London Haydn Quartet.
    • Hyperion.
  • Ralph Vaughan Williams

    Seventeen come Sunday (English Folk Song Suite)

    Orchestra: Royal Northern College of Music Wind Orchestra. Conductor: Timothy Reynish.
    • Holst/Vaughan Williams: British Wind Band Classics: Timothy Reynish.
    • Chandos.
    • 13.
  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Piano Concerto No 5 'Emperor' (1st mvt)

    Performer: Krystian Zimerman. Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Sir Simon Rattle.
    • DG.
  • Robert Schumann

    John Anderson (Romances and Ballads Set 3, Op.145)

    Choir: Polyphony. Conductor: Stephen Layton.
    • HYPERION.
  • Vittorio Monti

    Czardas no.1 arr Parhamovsky

    Performer: Maxim Vengerov. Performer: Vag Papian. Ensemble: Virtuosi.
    • Vengerov and Virtuosi.
    • EMI.
    • 15.
  • Gabriel Fauré

    Romance, Op 69

    Performer: Yo‐Yo Ma. Performer: Kathryn Stott.
    • Merci.
    • Sony Classical.
    • 12.
  • Jules Massenet

    Overture: Le Roi de Lahore

    Orchestra: Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. Conductor: Neeme Järvi.
    • CHANDOS.
  • Domenico Scarlatti

    Sonata in C major Kk.251

    Music Arranger: Sérgio Assad. Performer: Odair Assad. Performer: Sérgio Assad.
    • Nonesuch.
  • Edward Elgar

    The Dream of Gerontius, Pt II: Praise to the Holiest in the height

    Singer: Anna Stéphany. Singer: Nicky Spence. Choir: Polish National Youth Choir. Ensemble: Gabrieli Consort & Players. Conductor: Paul McCreesh.
    • The Dream of Gerontius.
    • SIGNUM.
    • 110.

Broadcast

  • Fri 29 Nov 2024 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.