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Your perfect Sunday soundtrack

Sarah Walker with three hours of classical music to reflect, restore and refresh, whether you’re putting up some Christmas decorations or going for a walk.

Sarah Walker with three hours of classical music to reflect, restore and refresh.

Today Sarah embraces the season with chilly harp writing and shivery harmonies in ‘In freezing winter night’ from Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols and gets emotional with a soaring duet from Bizet’s opera The Pearl Fishers.

There’s a festive feel to the show too, with music by Tamsin Jones which combines ancient harmonies with vibrant rhythms, a performance of Ding Dong Merrily which will take you back to the carol’s 16th Century origins, and John Rutter’s Shepherd’s Pipe Carol with its glittering orchestration.

Plus, Oscar Peterson puts up his Christmas tree…

A Tandem Production for Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio 3

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Last Sunday 09:00
Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio 3

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Music Played

  • John Rutter

    Shepherd's Pipe Carol

    Lyricist: John Rutter. Conductor: John Rutter. Ensemble: City of London Sinfonia. Choir: The Cambridge Singers.
    • The Very Best of John Rutter.
    • Decca (UMO).
    • 4.

  • Georg Philipp Telemann

    Ouverture-Suite in A Major, TWV 55:A5, 'Festliche Suite' (1st mvt, 'Ouverture')

    Conductor: Alun Francis. Orchestra: Northwest Chamber Orchestra.
    • Baroque Christmas Music.
    • Hyperion.
    • 1.

  • Giovanni Gabrieli

    Exultavit cor meum in Domino

    Music Arranger: Simon Cox. Ensemble: Septura. Conductor: Matthew Knight.
    • Music for Brass Septet, Vol. 4.
    • Naxos.
    • 6.

  • Hans Pfitzner

    Das Christ-Elflein, Op 20 ('Overture')

    Conductor: Kurt Eichhorn. Orchestra: Munich Radio Orchestra.
    • Pfitzner: Das Christelflein, Op. 20.
    • Orfeo.
    • 101.

  • Gustav Holst

    In the Bleak Midwinter

    Conductor: David Bannister. Ensemble: Choir of St John's College, Oxford.
    • In the Bleak Midwinter.
    • Resonus Classics.
    • 1.

  • Giovanni Battista Pescetti

    Sonata in C Minor, Transcr. Salzedo for Harp (3rd mvt, Presto)

    • Baroque Harp.
    • Decca Music Group Ltd..
    • 11.

  • Ruth Gipps

    Symphony No 3 (3rd mvt)

    Orchestra: Â鶹ԼÅÄ Philharmonic. Conductor: Rumon Gamba.
    • Chandos.

  • Michael Praetorius

    Quem pastores laudavere

    Lyricist: Anonymous. Conductor: David Hill. Orchestra: The Parley of Instruments. Choir: Westminster Cathedral Choir.
    • Praetorius: Christmas Music.
    • Hyperion.
    • 5.

  • Giuseppe Verdi

    La Traviata: Act I ('Preludio')

    • Verdi: La Traviata.
    • PENTATONE.
    • 1.

  • John Dowland

    Fine Knacks for Ladies

    • Tell Me True Love.
    • Deutsche Harmonia Mundi.
    • 10.

  • Antonín Dvořák

    Nocturne, Op 40

    Conductor: Iván Fischer. Orchestra: Budapest Festival Orchestra.
    • Dvorak: Slavonic Dances; Miniatures.
    • Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd..
    • 27.

  • Frédéric Chopin

    Berceuse in D-Flat Major, Op 57

    • Chopin - Etudes, Preludes & other works.
    • UME - Global Clearing House.
    • 78.

  • Stephen Storace

    Angels from the Realms of Glory

    Lyricist: James Montgomery. Music Arranger: Thomas Williams. Conductor: Peter Holman. Orchestra: The Parley of Instruments.
    • Nativity: Christmas Music from Georgian England (English Orpheus 49).
    • Hyperion.
    • 16.

  • Henriette Renié

    Harp Concerto in C Minor (1st mvt)

    Performer: Emmanuel Ceysson. Orchestra: Orchestre Régional Avignon Provence. Conductor: Samuel Jean.
    • NAIVE.

  • Ralph Vaughan Williams

    'Rhosymedre' (No 2 of Three Preludes founded on Welsh Hymn Tunes)

    • Great Organ Classics.
    • Sony Classical.
    • 14.

  • Ralph Vaughan Williams

    The Truth Sent from Above

    Lyricist: Anonymous. Conductor: Owain Park. Choir: The Gesualdo Six.
    • Christmas: A Cappella Carols and Hymns.
    • Hyperion.
    • 7.

  • Trad.

    We Free Kings

    Performer: Rahsaan Roland Kirk.
    • Avid Entertainment.

  • Engelbert Humperdinck

    Hansel & Gretel: 'Evening Prayer and Dream Pantomime'

    Conductor: Elgar Howarth.
    • A Classical Christmas.
    • Sony Classical.
    • 12.

  • Domenico Scarlatti

    Keyboard Sonata in F Major, Kk 17

    • Scarlatti: Keyboard Sonatas.
    • Warner Classics.
    • 10.

  • Trad.

    Angelus ad virginem (Arr. Andrew Carter)

    Conductor: Owen Rees. Ensemble: Choir of The Queen's College, Oxford.
    • Carols from Queen's.
    • AVIE Records.
    • 3.

  • Anon.

    Ding Dong Merrily

    Ensemble: Baltimore Consort.
    • Christmas Music (Bright Day Star - Music for the Yuletide Season).
    • Sono Luminus.
    • 1.

  • Leonard Bernstein

    Mambo (West Side Story)

    Conductor: Marin Alsop. Orchestra: São Paulo Symphony Orchestra.
    • Bernstein: 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Suite, Slava!, CBS Music & A Bernstein Birth.
    • Naxos.
    • 1.

  • Heino Eller

    Symphonic Suite 'White Night' (2nd mvt, In Dance Rhythm)

    Conductor: Olari Elts. Orchestra: Estonian National Symphony Orchestra.
    • Eller: Symphonic Poems.
    • Ondine.
    • 2.

  • Georges Bizet

    Les pêcheurs de perles, WD 13 / Act 1 ('Au fond du temple saint')

    Lyricist: Eugène Cormon. Lyricist: Michel Carré. Conductor: Robin Stapleton. Orchestra: National Philharmonic Orchestra.
    • La donna è mobile.
    • Deutsche Grammophon (DG).
    • 10.

  • Julian Bliss Septet

    The Christmas Song

  • Joseph Haydn

    String Quartet In D Major, Op 64 No 5 'The Lark', Hob III:63 (1st mvt, Allegro)

    • Haydn: String Quartets Op.64 No.5 "The Lark"; Op.1 No.1; Op.74 No.3 "The Horsema.
    • Deutsche Grammophon (DG).
    • 1.

  • Trad.

    Bereden väg för Herran (Make Way for the Lord)

    Music Arranger: Anna Maria Friman. Lyricist: Frans Michael Franzén. Performer: Trio Mediæval. Performer: Trio Mediæval.
    • YULE.
    • 2L.
    • 6.

  • Franz Liszt

    'La Campanella' (Grandes Études de Paganini, S 141, No 3 in G-Sharp Minor)

    • Transcendental - Daniil Trifonov Plays Franz Liszt (Etudes S. 139, S. 141, S. 14.
    • Deutsche Grammophon (DG).
    • 20.

  • Tamsin Jones

    Noel: Verbum caro factum est

    Conductor: Will Dawes. Ensemble: Somerville College Choir, Oxford.
    • The Dawn of Grace: Music for Christmas.
    • Resonus Classics.
    • 15.

  • Claude Debussy

    L'isle joyeuse

    Orchestrator: Bernardino Molinari. Orchestra: Opéra de Lyon. Conductor: Jun Märkl.
    • Debussy: Orchestral Works, Vol. 5.
    • Naxos.
    • 1.

  • Trad.

    Infant Holy, Infant Lowly (Arr. for Choir & Recorder)

    Lyricist: Trad.. Music Arranger: Michael Bojesen. Conductor: Michael Bojesen. Choir: Danish National Vocal Ensemble.
    • Let the Angels Sing (Arr. M. Bojesen).
    • OUR Recordings.
    • 13.

  • Louise Farrenc

    Piano Quintet no.1 in A minor Op.30 (3rd mvt)

    Ensemble: Schubert Ensemble of London.
    • Louise Farrenc: The Two Piano Quintets.
    • ASV.
    • 03.

  • Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina

    Magnificat Quinti Toni

    Composer: Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina. Conductor: Harry Christophers. Ensemble: The Sixteen.
    • Palestrina Volume 2.
    • CORO.
    • 3.

Broadcast

  • Last Sunday 09:00
    Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio 3