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The ideal mix of classical music

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

Georgia Mann plays the best classical music for your morning, with discoveries and surprises rubbing shoulders with familiar favourites. Including the Playlister challenge: our regular listener-created sequence inspired by a different piece of music each day. Plus a new classical release in focus for Album of the Week.

Including a specially commissioned piece by Segun Akinola, performed by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. 'On the Shoulders of Aunties and Uncles' pays tribute to music featured in The Music in Black, V&A East's exhibition showcasing 125 years of Black music-making in Britain.

1000 Playlister starter: listen and send us your ideas for the next step in today's musical journey. Text 83111 or email essentialclassics@bbc.co.uk.

1030 Album of the Week: an exciting new classical release in focus throughout the week.

1115 Playlister reveal: an uninterrupted sequence of music suggested by you in response to today's starter piece.

1200 Feast of a Piece: indulge your ears with a masterpiece.

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21 days left to listen

3 hours, 30 minutes

Last on

Last Wednesday 09:30
BBC Radio 3

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Music Played

  • Leoš Janáček

    Sokol Fanfare (Sinfonietta)

    Orchestra: Bamberg Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Jonathan Nott.
    • Janacek: Sinfonietta: Bamberger Symphoniker/Nott.
    • Tudor.
    • 1.

  • Giuseppe Verdi

    Aroldo (Overture)

    Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Claudio Abbado.
    • Claudio Abbado: Verdi Overtures.
    • RCA.
    • 4.

  • Dario Marianelli

    Dawn (from Pride and Prejudice soundtrack)

    Performer: Jeneba Kanneh‐Mason.
    • Dawn (From "Pride & Prejudice" Soundtrack).
    • Sony Classical.
    • 1.

  • Mily Alexeyevich Balakirev

    Islamey

    Orchestrator: Sergey Mikhaylovich Lyapunov. Orchestra: Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Esa‐Pekka Salonen.
    • Tchaikovksy:1812 / Borodin: Polovtsian Dances / Balakirev: Islamey : Esa-Pekka S.
    • Philips.
    • 2.

  • Edvard Grieg

    Solveig's Song (Peer Gynt Suite no.2)

    Orchestra: Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Ole Kristian Ruud.
    • Grieg: Orchestral Music: Ruud.
    • BIS.

  • Jenny McLeod

    Journey through Mountain Parklands (3 Celebrations)

    Orchestra: New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Uwe Grodd.
    • NAXOS.

  • Gioachino Rossini

    String Sonata No 4 in B flat major

    Performer: Elizabeth Wallfisch. Performer: Marshall Marcus. Performer: Richard Tunnicliffe. Performer: Chi-Chi Nwanoku.
    • HELIOS.

  • Hamish MacCunn

    The Land of the Mountain and the Flood (Overture)

    Orchestra: BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Martyn Brabbins.
    • MacCunn - Land of the Mountain and the Flood.
    • Hyperion.
    • 001.

  • Arcangelo Corelli

    La Folia

    Performer: Jess Gillam. Performer: Max Baillie. Performer: Ellie Consta. Performer: Alistair Vennart. Performer: Hadewych van Gent. Performer: Sam Becker. Performer: Leif Kaner‐Lidström. Performer: Sam Wilson. Music Arranger: Andy Poxon. Music Arranger: Simon Parkin.
    • Decca.

  • Cécile Chaminade

    Thème varié in A major, Op 89

    Performer: Sir Stephen Hough.
    • HYPERION.

  • Errollyn Wallen

    Chorale

    Orchestra: Orchestra of the Swan. Director: David Le Page.
    • Timelapse.
    • Signum Classics.
    • 1201.

  • Johann Nepomuk Hummel

    Trumpet Concerto in E flat major

    Performer: Alison Balsom. Performer: Thomas Klug. Orchestra: The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen.
    • Haydn, Hummel etc: Trumpet Concertos: Alison Balsom.
    • EMI Classics.
    • 1.

  • Marin Marais

    Plainte (Suite in D major, Pièces de viole, Book 3)

    Performer: William Hunt. Ensemble: The Purcell Quartet.
    • Marin Marais 'La folia' & other music for viols and violins The Purcell Quartet.
    • Hyperion.
    • 12.

  • Muir Mathieson

    From the Grampians - Suite: Loch Laggan - March

    • The Land Of The Mountain And The Flood - Scottish Orchestral Music.
    • Decca (UMO).
    • 10.

  • Benjamin Britten

    Alpine Suite (Down the Piste & Farewell to Zermatt)

    Performer: Fiona Russell. Performer: Ian Wilson. Performer: Catherine Fleming.
    • Rubbra / Britten - The complete recorder works.
    • DUTTON.
    • 21-22.

  • Howard Shore

    The Lighting of the Beacons (conclusion)

    Conductor: Howard Shore. Orchestra: London Philharmonic Orchestra.
    • The Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King - The Complete Recordings (Limite.
    • Reprise.
    • 15.

  • Antonín Dvořák

    String Quartet in F major, Op 96, 'American' (Finale)

    Ensemble: Takács Quartet.
    • Dvorak: String Quartets: Takacs Quartet.
    • Decca.
    • 9.

  • Alun Hoddinott

    2 Songs from Glamorgan

    Singer: Nicky Spence. Performer: Andrew Matthews-Owen.
    • Alun Hoddinott: Landscapes - Song Cycles and Folk Songs.
    • Naxos.
    • 6-7.

  • Granville Bantock

    Prelude to "The Bacchae" of Euripides

    Orchestra: BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Rumon Gamba.
    • CHANDOS.

  • Segun Akinola

    On the Shoulders of Aunties and Uncles

    Orchestra: BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Conductor: Luis Castillo-Briceño.

  • George Frideric Handel

    Lascia ch'io pianga (Rinaldo)

    Singer: Sandrine Piau. Ensemble: Europa Galante. Conductor: Fabio Biondi.
    • Handel: Arie e Duetti D'Amore; Europa Galante.
    • Naive.
    • 3.

  • Joseph Haydn

    Symphony No 83 in G minor, 'The Hen'

    Ensemble: Tafelmusik. Conductor: Bruno Weil.
    • Haydn: Paris Symphonies Nos. 82, 83 & 84: Tafelmusik/Weil.
    • Sony Classical.
    • 5.

  • Daniel Kidane

    Aria Antica

    Performer: Hyeyoon Park. Performer: Benjamin Grosvenor.
    • Many Voices: 10 New Pieces for Violin.
    • NMC Recordings.
    • 4.

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Ave verum corpus, K 618

    Choir: Tenebrae. Orchestra: Chamber Orchestra of Europe. Conductor: Nigel Short.
    • Mozart: Requiem.
    • Warner Classics.
    • 15.

  • Avril Coleridge-Taylor

    Comet Prelude

    Performer: Samantha Ege. Orchestra: BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: John Andrews.
    • Avril Coleridge-Taylor: Piano Concerto & Orchestral Works.
    • Resonus Classics.
    • 4.

  • Louis-Emmanuel Jadin

    Symphonie Concertante (3rd mvt)

    Orchestra: Sinfonietta Rīga. Conductor: Claus Efland.
    • CHALLENGE CLASSICS.

  • Aram Khachaturian

    Lezghinka (Gayaneh)

    Orchestra: Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Kirill Karabits.
    • ONYX.

Broadcast

  • Last Wednesday 09:30
    BBC Radio 3