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Classical soundtrack for your morning

Georgia Mann plays the best in classical music, featuring new discoveries, some musical surprises and plenty of familiar favourites.

Georgia Mann plays the best in classical music, featuring new discoveries, some musical surprises and plenty of familiar favourites.

1000 Playlist starter – listen and send us your ideas for the next step in our musical journey today.

1030 Essential Carol - introduced by a special guest

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 Â鶹ԼÅÄ Sounds to play Essential Classicsâ€

28 days left to listen

3 hours, 30 minutes

Music Played

  • John Williams

    Hedwig's Theme

    Orchestra: Studio Orchestra. Conductor: John Williams.
    • Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone (AKA Philosopher's Stone) Original Motion.
    • Atlantic Records.
    • 19.
  • Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

    Dance of the Tumblers (The Snow Maiden)

    Orchestra: Seattle Symphony. Conductor: Gerard Schwarz.
    • Rimsky-Korsakov: Orchestral Suites.
    • Naxos.
    • 4.
  • Peter Warlock

    I Saw a Fair Maiden

    Conductor: Nigel Short. Choir: Tenebrae.
    • A Very English Christmas.
    • Signum Classics.
    • 901.
  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Piano Concerto No 1 in C major, Op 15 (3rd mvt)

    Performer: Paul Lewis. Orchestra: Â鶹ԼÅÄ Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Jiří BÄ›lohlávek.
    • Beethoven Complete Piano Concertos Lewis - Belohlavek.
    • Harmonia Mundi.
    • 3.
  • Judith Weir

    Drop down, ye heavens, from above

    Conductor: Benjamin Nicholas.
    • Advent at Merton.
    • Delphian Records.
    • 5.
  • Pablo de Sarasate

    Zapateado

    Performer: Sarah Chang. Performer: Charles Abramovic.
    • Simply Sarah.
    • EMI.
    • 14.
  • Jonathan Dove

    The Star-Song

    Choir: Wells Cathedral Choir. Performer: Jonathan Vaughn. Conductor: Matthew Owens.
    • HYPERION.
  • Felix Mendelssohn

    Symphony No 3 in A minor, Op 56, 'Scottish' (2nd mvt)

    Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Sir John Eliot Gardiner.
    • Mendelssohn: Symphony no.3 & The Hebrides Overture/Schumann; Piano Concerto.
    • LSO LIVE.
    • 6.
  • Thomas Tallis

    Videte miraculum

    Ensemble: Stile Antico.
    • Puer Natus Est, Tudor Music For Advent and Christmas: Stile Antico.
    • Harmonia Mundi.
    • 1.
  • Frédéric Chopin

    Mazurka in B flat major, Op 7 No 1

    Performer: Garrick Ohlsson.
    • Chopin: Mazurkas - 1, Garrick Ohlsson.
    • Helios.
    • 5.
  • Camille Saintâ€Saëns

    Marche militaire française (Suite algérienne, Op.60)

    Orchestra: Royal Scottish National Orchestra. Conductor: Neeme Järvi.
    • Chandos.
  • Philip Stopford

    Lully, Lulla, Lullay

    Choir: VOCES8.
    • Voces8 Records.
  • Robert Schumann

    Arabeske in C major Op.18

    Performer: Maurizio Pollini.
    • DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON.
  • John Linton Gardner

    Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day

    Performer: Christopher Herrick. Choir: Choir of Westminster Abbey. Conductor: Simon Preston.
    • Choir of Westminster Abbey - Christmas Carols.
    • DG.
    • 17.
  • Max Bruch

    Violin Concerto in G minor (3rd mvt)

    Performer: Janine Jansen. Orchestra: Gewandhaus Orchestra. Conductor: Riccardo Chailly.
    • DECCA.
  • Benjamin Britten

    A Shepherd's Carol

    Choir: Choir of Westminster Abbey. Conductor: Simon Preston.
    • Choir of Westminster Abbey - Christmas Carols.
    • DG.
    • 19.
  • Howard Blake

    The Snowman (excerpt)

    Orchestra: Sinfonia of London. Conductor: Howard Blake.
    • SONY.
  • Vincent Youmans

    Tahiti trot [Tea for two] (No, no, Nanette)

    Orchestrator: Dmitry Shostakovich. Orchestra: Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Conductor: Riccardo Chailly.
    • Shostakovich: The Jazz Album - Brautigam, Masseurs.
    • Decca.
    • 16.
  • Garth Edmundson

    Toccata on 'Von Himmel hoch'

    Performer: Simon Bell.
    • Christmas from Winchester: Winchester Cathedral Choir.
    • Regent.
    • 26.
  • Jonathan Dove

    Seek Him that maketh the Seven Stars

    Performer: Jeremy Filsell. Choir: Tenebrae. Conductor: Nigel Short.
    • SIGNUM.
  • Hoagy Carmichael

    Stardust

    Performer: Wynton Marsalis. Music Arranger: Bob Freedman. Orchestra: Studio Orchestra. Conductor: Bob Freedman.
    • Resolution to Swing.
    • COLUMBIA.
    • 1.
  • Edward Elgar

    Suite from The Starlight Express - conclusion

    Singer: Elin Manahan Thomas. Singer: Roderick Williams. Orchestra: Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Conductor: Andrew Davis.
    • The Starlight Express.
    • Chandos.
    • 34.
  • Gabriel Fauré

    Allegretto moderato for 2 cellos

    Performer: Steven Isserlis. Performer: David Waterman.
    • RCA.
  • Thomas Adès

    The Fayrfax Carol

    Choir: Polyphony. Conductor: Stephen Layton.
    • British Composers - Ades: America A Prophecy.
    • Warner Classics.
    • 3.
  • William Walton

    Crown Imperial

    Orchestra: Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Andrew Litton.
    • Walton: The Centenary Edition: Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra/Litton.
    • Decca.
    • 1.
  • °Õ°ùä»å

    Es ist ein Ros' entsprungen (There is a rose in bloom)

    Music Arranger: Michael Praetorius. Music Arranger: Jan Sandström. Choir: Bavarian Radio Symphony Choir. Conductor: Peter Dijkstra.
    • OEHMS.
  • Sergey Rachmaninov

    Vocalise, Op.34 no.14

    Music Arranger: David Campbell. Performer: Michael Collins. Performer: Piers Lane.
    • The Virtuoso Clarinet: Michael Collins.
    • Chandos.
    • 10.
  • ±Êé°ù´Ç³Ù¾±²Ô

    Beata viscera Mariae Virginis

    Singer: Cecilia Bartoli. Choir: Cappella Musicale Pontificia Sistina. Conductor: Massimo Palombella.
    • Veni Domine: Advent & Christmas At The Sistine Chapel.
    • Deutsche Grammophon (DG).
    • 2.
  • Victor Hely-Hutchinson

    A Carol Symphony

    Orchestra: Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern. Conductor: Pietari Inkinen.
    • SWR MUSIC.
  • Trad.

    The Holly and the Ivy

    Conductor: Graham Ross. Ensemble: The Bevan Family Consort.
    • Christmas with the Bevan Family Consort.
    • Signum Classics.
    • 105.
  • John Barry

    Out of Africa (Main Theme)

    Orchestra: Royal Scottish National Orchestra. Conductor: John McNeely.
    • VARESE SARABANDE.
  • Felix Mendelssohn

    Elias: Ja, Es Sollen Wohl Berge Weichen

    Singer: Benjamin Appl. Orchestra: Munich Radio Orchestra. Conductor: Florian Helgath.
    • The Christmas Album.
    • Alpha Classics.
    • 2.
  • Francis Poulenc

    3 Mouvements Perpetuels (no.1)

    Performer: Pascal Rogé.
    • Poulenc Les Soirees De Nazelles 3 Mouvments Perpetuels 3 Novlettes 9 Improvisati.
    • Decca.
  • Errollyn Wallen

    Peace on earth

    Performer: Dónal McCann. Choir: Choir of King’s College, Cambridge. Singer: George Hill. Conductor: Stephen Cleobury.
    • Errollyn Wallen: Peace on Earth.
    • Kings College Cambridge.
    • 1.
  • Hermeto Pascoal

    Bebe

    Performer: Sérgio Assad. Performer: Odair Assad.
    • Nonesuch.
  • Richard Wagner

    Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (Prelude)

    Orchestra: Bavarian State Orchestra. Conductor: Wolfgang Sawallisch.
    • Famous Overtures: Bavarian State Orchestra, Wolfgang Sawallisch.
    • Orfeo.
    • 1.

Broadcast

  • Friday 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.