Discovery

There’s something thrilling about hearing a piece of music for the very first time.

In this section you’ll find composers you might have heard of, but pieces you might not.

Scroll down through different musical periods from 20th and 21st Century to Romantic, Classical and Baroque, click on pieces to play them in BBC Sounds, then simply click back and carry on discovering.

You will also find radio programmes and podcasts that give you background and insight into the composers and pieces, so you can get even more out of the music – just look for the titled images with logos in the top right corner.

Happy exploring.

20th and 21st Century

Williams: Fantasia on Welsh nursery tunes
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Pankhurst: Pankhurst Anthem
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Music Matters - Andreas Haefliger, Monastic Music
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Weir: Stars, night, music and light
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Birtwistle: Panic
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Composer of the Week - Harrison Birtwistle
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Meredith: froms
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Maxwell Davies: An Orkney Wedding, with Sunrise
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BBC Proms - Sir Peter Maxwell Davies
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Copland: Billy the Kid
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Musgrave: Loch Ness - a postcard from Scotland
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Music Matters - Thea Musgrave
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Maconchy: Concertino for clarinet
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Hindemith: Symphonic metamorphosis of themes by Carl Maria von Weber
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Discovering Music - Hindemith's Symphonic Metamorphosis
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Lim: Flying Banner
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Walton: Symphony No. 1 in B flat minor
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Discovering Music - Walton's Symphony No. 1
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Saunders: Violin Concerto, 'Still'
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Boulanger: Psalm 24
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Composer of the Week - Lili Boulanger
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Britten: War Requiem, Op. 66
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Shostakovich: Symphony No. 12 in D minor, Op 112, 'The Year 1917'
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Stravinsky: Symphony of Psalms
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Tippett: Ritual Dances (Midsummer Marriage)
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Messiaen: Quartet for the End of Time
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MacRae: Sinfonia for orchestra
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Harris: Symphony No. 3
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Yiu: Xocolatl
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Spain-Dunk: Stonehenge
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Lutosławski: Concerto for orchestra
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Stravinsky: Pulcinella
Berg: Piano Sonata, Op 1
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Discovering Music - Brahms and Berg Piano Sonatas
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Price: The Moon Bridge
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Bartók: Quartet No. 5, Sz 102
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BBC Proms Plus - Béla Bartók
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Berg: Quartet, Op 3
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Carwithen: Cello Sonatina
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Sound of Cinema - Women in Film
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Bingham: London Haiku
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Clarke: Viola Sonata in E minor
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Composer of the Week - Rebecca Clarke
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Price: Symphony No. 3
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Romantic

Coates: By the sleepy lagoon
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Tavener: Song for Athene
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Proms Plus - Tavener and Literature
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Puccini: Crisantemi
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Wagner: Die Walküre (Final scene)
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Discovering Music - Wagner: Die Walkure
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Berlioz: Waverly Overture
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Stravinsky: Divertimento - The Fairy's Kiss
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Composer of the Week - Igor Stravinsky
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Barber: Dover Beach, Op 3
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Shostakovich: The Gadfly (Romance)
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Composer of the Week - Dmitry Shostakovich
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Grieg: Quartet in G minor, Op 27
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Finzi: Let us garlands bring, Op 18
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Discovering Music - Finzi's In Terra Pax
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Price: Heav’n bound Soldier
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Price: Song for Snow
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Composer of the Week - Florence Price
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Elgar: Symphony No. 3 in C minor compl. Anthony Payne
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Nielsen: Clarinet concerto, Op 57
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Music Matters - Nielsen 150
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Bruckner: Symphony No. 7 in E major
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Mahler: Symphony No. 2 in C minor, 'Resurrection'
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BBC Proms - Mahler's Symphony No. 2 'Resurrection'
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Rossini: Petite messe solennelle
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Bernstein: Chichester Psalms
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Composer of the Week - Leonard Bernstein
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Sibelius: Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op 43
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Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5 in B flat major, Op 100
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BBC Proms - Prokofiev's Symphony No. 5
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Kodály: Dances of Marosszek
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Vaughan Williams: 4 Last Songs
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Composer of the Week - Vaughan Williams
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Rachmaninov: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
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Strauss: Death and Transfiguration
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Sunday Feature - Who Was Richard Strauss?
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Mahler: 5 Songs (No 3, Laue Sommernacht)
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Schumann: Lorelei
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Composer of the Week - Clara Schumann and Her Circle
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Brahms: Viola Sonata in E flat major, Op 120 No. 2
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Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade
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The Story of Music in Fifty Pieces - Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade
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Schumann: Trio in G minor, Op 17
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Delius: On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring
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Tales from the Stave - Delius's On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring
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Tchaikovsky: Souvenir de Florence, Op 70
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Bizet: Symphony in C major
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Discovering Music - Bizet's Symphony in C
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Bantock: Celtic Symphony
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Chausson: Poeme de l'amour et de la mer, Op 19
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Composer of the Week - Ernest Chausson
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Schumann: Trio in G minor, Op 17
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Bellini: Dolente immagine di Fille mia
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Composer of the Week - Bellini
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Chopin: Cello Sonata in G minor, Op 65
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Strauss: Serenade for 13 wind instruments in E flat major, Op 7
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Music Matters - Strauss 150
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Berlioz: King Lear Overture
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Bruch: Kol Nidrei, Op 47
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Composer of the Week - Bruch
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Classical

Mendelssohn: Easter Sonata
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Brahms: 4 Songs, Op 46 (iv. An die Nachtigall)
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BBC Proms - The Real Brahms
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Weber: Bassoon Concerto in F major, Op 75
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Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major, Op 15
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Composer of the Week - Ludwig van Beethoven: Why Beethoven?
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Kreisler: Recitativo and scherzo-caprice, Op 6
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Haydn: Cello Concerto No. 1 in C major, H 7b 1
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Schubert: Incidental music from Rosamunde
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Schubert: Die Taubenpost, D 965a
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Mozart: Horn Concerto No. 3 in E flat major, K 447
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Weber: Der Freischütz (Overture)
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Schubert: Trio in E flat major, D 929
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Mendelssohn: Songs, Op 1 (No. 1, Schwanenlied)
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Classical Fix - Jack Monroe
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Mozart: Ave Verum Corpus, K 618
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Mozart: Requiem in D minor, K 626 compl. Sussmayr
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Discovering Music - Mozart's Requiem
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Beethoven: Horn Sonata in F major, Op 17
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Weber: Clarinet Quintet in B flat major, Op 34
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Composer of the Week - Weber
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Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major, K 488
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Boccherini: Quintet No. 4 in D major, G 449, 'Fandango'
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Composer of the Week - Boccherini
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Schubert: Arpeggione Sonata, D 821
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Bach: Keyboard Sonata in A major, Wq 55-4
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The Early Music Show - CPE Bach's 300th Anniversary
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Mozart: Violin Concerto No. 2 in D major, K 211
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Georgian Pleasures - Mozart the Prodigy
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Baroque

Vivaldi: Cello Sonata in E minor, RV 40 (6 sonatas, No. 5)
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Tallis: Spem in alium
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Soul Music - Spem in Alium
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Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 in B flat major, BWV 1051
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Tartini: Sonata in G minor, 'Devil's Trill'
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The Early Music Show - The Devil's Trill
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Frescobaldi: Passacaglia
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Corelli: Sonata in D minor, Op 5 No. 7
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Composer of the Week - Arcangelo Corelli
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Sweelinck: Variations on 'Mein junges Leben hat ein End'
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Bach: French suite No.2 in C minor [arr. Garcia / Morinere], BWV 813
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The Listening Service - The Joy of Bach
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Bach: Partita No. 2 in C minor for keyboard, BWV 826
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Purcell: Music for a While
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Composer of the Week - Purcell
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Dowland: I saw my lady weep
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Dowland: Flow my tears, 'Lachrimae'
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The Early Music Show - Dowland
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Scarlatti: Sonata in B minor, Kk 27
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Scarlatti: Sonata in G minor, Kk 30, 'Cat's fugue'
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The Early Music Show - Accademia di Arcadia
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Bach: Partita No. 5 in G major for keyboard, BWV 829
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