BBC Radio 3

Sir David Attenborough reveals a side of himself that few know, as a collector of music from all over the world. We hear the stories that surround it, and the music itself.

One of David Attenborough's first projects was Alan Lomax - Song Hunter, a television series he produced in 1953-4. The famous collector of the blues and folk music of America gathered traditional musicians from all over Britain and Ireland and, for the first time, they appeared on television. David loved the music, the people and, inspired by Lomax, he became a music collector himself.

From the start there was a connection between wildlife and folk culture broadcasting: BBC natural history staff shared an office, and equipment, with colleagues busy recording traditional songs, tunes and stories. Soon after Song Hunter Attenborough began travelling the world for the series Zoo Quest. This time the hunt was for animals, captured live for London Zoo. The series also looked at the culture of local people and if he came across music Attenborough recorded it. In Paraguay he met some amazing harp players and recorded what became the series’ signature tune.

Wherever he went to make programmes David Attenborough recorded musicians. When the lads carrying the crew's baggage in New Guinea started singing, he taped them. He recorded songs in Borneo longhouses, drumming in Sierra Leone, gamelan music in Java, Aboriginal didgeridoo players and palace music in Tonga.

Attenborough gave the music to the BBC and it has sat, unheard, in the Sound Library ever since. Now he listens again to recordings he made half a century ago. He reveals the memories and stories they evoke, and his delight in the music.

Sir David Attenborough says: “I’m delighted that the music I recorded, all over the world, half a century ago, is coming to light at last. I’m enjoying listening to it very much and I hope the Radio 3 audience will enjoy it, too - and the stories of how I met the players and singers who shared with me their fascinating and wonderful music.”

• Sunday 25 December, 6.45pm
• Producer: Julian May for the BBC

Private Passions: Ed Watson

Royal Ballet Principal Edward Watson talks to Michael Berkeley about his life in dance and shares the music that has inspired him both professionally and personally. Ed talks about his passion for creating new roles and his extraordinary creative partnership with Wayne McGregor, illustrated by music from Max Richter’s Infra. His other music choices reflect the diversity of his career in dance - pieces by Schoenberg and Liszt from Macmillan ballets, and songs from Martha Wainwright, Bev Lee Harding and Concha Buika. And no ballet dancer’s Christmas is complete without revisiting The Nutcracker.

• Sunday 18 December, 12noon
• Producer: Jane Greenwood for Loftus Media

Private Passions: Archbishop John Sentamu

Dr John Sentamu, Archbishop of York, is a special guest for Christmas Day. He reveals the music which has sustained him through an extraordinary and challenging life - Elgar’s Cello Concerto, for instance - the Archbishop played the Jacqueline du Pre recording on the hour every hour from 6am to 6pm at York Minster for a week as part of a Vigil of prayers for peace. He introduces music from his local church in Uganda; and Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on Christmas Carols. The programme ends with the choir of York Minster singing the Archbishop’s favourite carol: Hark the Herald Angels Sing, as John Sentamu reflects on the great pleasures of Christmas – including his love of cooking.

• Sunday 25 December, 12noon
• Producer: Elizabeth Burke for Loftus Media

Essential Classics: Ray Mears

Rob Cowan introduces definitive recordings of classical music. His guest throughout the week is the television presenter and writer Ray Mears. A bushcraft, wildlife and survival expert, Ray has presented shows including Ray Mears’ Bushcraft, World of Survival and Extreme Survival. He has broadcast from around the world and recently presented Wild Australia with Ray Mears, and Wild France with Ray Mears. Ray shares a selection of his favourite classical music throughout the week, with choices ranging from Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man to Vaughan Williams’ The Wasps and Schubert’s Symphony No. 5.

• Monday 19-Friday 23 December, 9am
• Producer: Dominic Wells for the BBC

Essential Classics: Clare Balding

Discover definitive recordings of classical music with trusted guide, Sarah Walker. Sarah’s guest throughout the week is the broadcaster and writer Clare Balding. Clare is best known for her expert coverage of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. She was the lead presenter in Rio this summer, and won the BAFTA Special Award and RTS Presenter of the Year Award for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Clare shares some of her favourite classical music with Sarah throughout the week, including Caliban’s Dream featuring Dame Evelyn Glennie, which was written for the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympics, Mozart’s A Musical Joke, which Clare remembers as the soundtrack to the BBC showjumping coverage, and her favourite carol, In The Bleak Midwinter.

• Monday 26-Friday 30 December, 9am
• Producer: Chris Barstow for the BBC

In Tune: Christmas Special From The BBC Radio Theatre

In Tune celebrates Christmas live from the BBC Radio Theatre. Sean Rafferty and Suzy Klein are joined by guests including Temple Church Choir, Septura brass ensemble and winner of BBC Young Musician 2016, cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason.

• Wednesday 21 December, 4.30pm
• Producer: Matthew Dover for the BBC

Sean Rafferty At Home With… Lesley Garrett

Sean visits the soprano Lesley Garrett at her home for a cup of tea and to talk about her career and passions.

Lesley is one of the UK's most recognisable sopranos thanks to the breadth of her work: from Monteverdi at Glyndebourne and Mozart at ENO, to The Sound of Music in the West End, contemporary opera and even appearing on Strictly. Originally from Yorkshire but now based in London with her family, she and Sean chat about her many interests outside music and a life of singing.

• Saturday 24 December, 12.15pm
• Producer: Hannah Thorne for the BBC

Sean Rafferty at Home with… Stephen Hough

Sean visits the pianist Stephen Hough at his home and in his studio to talk about his passions and life in music.

Stephen is one of the world's most celebrated pianists - and he's not just a pianist, he's also a successful composer, painter and writer. And it's in London that he makes his home. He invites Sean into his studio where all these passions collide - a personal sanctuary for his work housing two pianos, works of art still in progress, a library, garden and even the world's most compact gym. They also take a walk round the corner together to Stephen's house to chat about his life on and off the concert stage.

• Saturday 31 December, 12.15pm
• Producer: Hannah Thorne for the BBC

Breakfast: Christmas Carol Competition 2016

In August, Radio 3 listeners and budding composers nationwide were invited to submit their entries for BBC Radio 3’s Breakfast Carol Competition 2016. The competition challenges amateur composers to create a brand new Christmas carol for choir, set to the words of Alleluia! A new work is come on hand, an English text from the Middle Ages.

The six shortlisted carols will be performed live on Radio 3’s Breakfast in the lead up to Christmas by the BBC Singers, directed by Chief Conductor David Hill. The winner will be decided by public vote, as listeners will be able to vote for their favourite via the Radio 3 website from Thursday 15 December.

The winning carol will be performed live on Radio 3’s Breakfast on Thursday 22 December, and played throughout Christmas Day on Radio 3.

• Thursday 15-Sunday 25 December
• Producer: Helen Garrison for the BBC

Between The Ears: The Shepherd

An innovative adaptation of Frederick Forsyth’s haunting classic Christmas tale, read by Luke Thompson.

Written as a Christmas present for his wife, and first published in 1975, The Shepherd is a famous and much-loved aviation ghost story - and follows an RAF pilot as he flies back to Britain on 24 December and disaster unfolds.

Forsyth’s gripping story is a beautiful and compelling reflection on loneliness, fear, gratitude and sacrifice. It’s also thrillingly authentic - at the age of 19, Frederick Forsyth became one of the youngest pilots in the RAF where he served on National Service from 1956 to 1958.

Recorded in binaural sound, this programme’s soundscape features a cappella pieces, improvised sounds and mouth/body percussion by the Saint Martin Singers - specially recorded for the programme at St Giles-in-the-Fields.

It also includes symbolic sound effects using Christmas decorations, and Vampire aircraft recordings made at the RAF Museum, London.

Luke Thompson’s credits include lead roles at Shakespeare’s Globe. In 2013, he was nominated for an Ian Charleson award, given annually to an actor under 30 for a performance in a classical play. This is his debut solo piece for BBC radio.

A small, amateur choir, the Saint Martin Singers owe their origin to a few fire watchers at the church of St Martin-in-the-Fields during WW2 who made music together on the quieter nights.

• Saturday 24 December, 9.15pm
• Producer: Amber Barnfather for Goldhawk Productions

The Choir

Sara Mohr-Pietsch presents a selection of Christmas vocal favourites from the classical and folk worlds, including Tallis, Jon Boden, JS Bach, Vaughan Williams and Steeleye Span. Her choral classic is O Magnum Mysterium by the contemporary American composer Morten Lauridsen, composed in 1994 but already one of the best-loved vocal works of the last quarter-century.

The programme will mark the 100th edition of Meet My Choir, a weekly celebration of amateur choral music-making, with a special event in the studio, looking back over the century of choirs from across the nation who have showcased their stories on the programme.

• Sunday 25 December, 3.45pm
• Producer: Steven Rajam for the BBC

World On 3: New Year In Newcastle

Kathryn Tickell gets in the mood for New Year with a live pub session from her home town, Newcastle. With music from the Monster Ceilidh Band, who bring together the sounds of Borders folk music with drum and bass, and The Young'uns, an acclaimed vocal trio who have given new life to the working songs of North-East England. As well as presenting, Kathryn will also be bringing along her fiddle and Northumbrian smallpipes.

• Friday 30 December, 11pm
• Producer: Roger Short for the BBC

Opera On 3: Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann At The Royal Opera House

Martin Handley introduces a performance of Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann recorded last month at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

Vittorio Grigolo sings the title role in this world of fantasy, as young Hoffmann tells three stories recounting his search for love and his fight against his nemesis, the devil himself, who takes many guises, determined to make him fail.

The villains are taken by Thomas Hampson; Olympia, the mechanical doll, is sung by Sofia Fomina; Giulietta, the Venetian courtesan, is Christine Rice; Antonia, the singer, is Sonya Yoncheva, while Nicklausse, the Muse in disguise, is Kate Lindsey.

Evelino Pido conducts the orchestra and chorus of the Royal Opera House in this vintage production by John Schlesinger.

• Saturday 24 December, 6pm
• Producer: Juan Carlos Jaramillo for the BBC

Opera On 3: Shostakovich’s The Nose

Andrew McGregor presents a rare production of Shostakovich's early surreal opera, The Nose, from the Royal Opera House Covent Garden.

Based on Gogol's short story, the plot concerns Russian civil servant Kovalov, who loses his nose, and desperately tries to retrieve it as it goes on the rampage round St Petersburg in the uniform of a higher-ranking official.

On the way Kovalov meets a cast of peculiar characters in a work which is a mixture of social satire, comedy and intimate reflection.

Martin Winkler sings the hapless Kovalov, and John Tomlinson takes on three characters, all of whom make life harder for him. Plus director Barry Kosky talks about his colourful new production, and Ingo Metzmacher discusses Shostakovich's wildly inventive score.

• Saturday 31 December, 6.30pm
• Producer: Ellie Mant for the BBC

Radio 3 In Concert

Highlights throughout the festive period include: a celebration of Christmas by three masters of writing for the voice from three generations: Benjamin Britten, John Rutter and Bob Chilcott, performed by the BBC Singers live from Milton Court, London (Tuesday 13 December, 7.30pm); the Tallis Scholas performing Christmas music at the Temple Winter Festival 2016, live from Temple Church, London (Friday 16 December, 7.30pm); and a one-off evening of words and music with David Sedaris and the BBC Symphony Orchestra, recorded at the Barbican, London (Friday 23 December and also broadcast on BBC Radio 4).

New Generation Artists

Clemency Burton-Hill presents a nine-part series showcasing the talents of BBC Radio 3’s New Generation Artists, some of the world’s most talented young musicians supported and nurtured by Radio 3 at the start of their international careers.

Many of the musicians featured each weekday afternoon from Thursday 22 December to Tuesday 3 January will be familiar to Radio 3 listeners having been on the scheme now for up to two years - baritone Benjamin Appl, pianist Pavel Kolesnikov, trombone player Peter Moore and clarinettist Annelien Van Wauwe, to name but a few - but there’s also the chance to hear members of the class of 2016 for the very first time, including Egyptian soprano Fatma Said, the Amatis Piano Trio and the young Romanian cellist Andrei Ionita.

• Thursday 22 December-Tuesday 3 January

BBC Proms 2016

Another chance to hear highlights of the 2016 BBC Proms season including the Berlin Philharmonic and Simon Rattle performing Boulez and Mahler (Tuesday 20 December), a concert celebrating the music of Gershwin by the John Wilson Orchestra (Sunday 25 December), Quincy Jones with the Metropole Orkest (Monday 26 December) and the Staatskapelle Berlin and Daniel Barenboim with Mozart and Bruckner (Wednesday 28 December).

Christmas Around Europe

Andrew MacGregor guides listeners through BBC Radio 3’s annual day of Christmas music from around Europe with music from Finland, Saxony, Tallinn, Utrecht, Pardubice in the Czech Republic, Catalonia and Hungary.

• Sunday 18 December, 1pm, 4pm and 10.30pm
• Producer: Ellie Mant for the BBC

Free Thinking - Patriotism

For its final week of programmes in 2016, Free Thinking takes a single theme and explores how this has been the year that patriotism has resurged as a subject of intense debate amongst thinkers and politicians across the world.

In the first programme Philip Dodd meets the French intellectual and controversial author Alain Finkielkraut (Tuesday 20 December); then Rana Mitter debates the meaning of patriotism and changing relations in China and Russia (Wednesday 20 December); and lastly Anne McElvoy and guests explore the history and possible future of the Union Jack in a year which has seen the Brexit Vote (Thursday 22 December).

• Tuesday 20-Thursday 22 December, 10pm

Composer Of The Week: Ivor Novello

In a first for Composer of the Week in its over 70 years history, Donald Macleod luxuriates in the theatrical and charismatic world of Ivor Novello, with many works specially recorded for the series. Donald is joined by one of Novello’s biographers David Slattery-Christy, and also explores what was once Novello’s flat with Billy Differ. Donald also goes behind the scenes in Novello’s London theatre-world accompanied by Rosy Runciman, with a trip to the Prince of Wales and Novello Theatres.

• Monday 26-Friday 30 December, 12noon
• Producer: Luke Whitlock for the BBC

The Essay: Ideas Of Christmas

A week of essays exploring the significance of the Christmas story in the modern day. In the lead up to Christmas Day, five different writers will bring to life components of the nativity to answer the question - is it an enduring spiritual narrative or a fable to be shared? How do the events of this extraordinary story continue to offer meaning?

• Monday 19-Friday 23 December, 10.45pm
• Producer: Amanda Hickcox for the BBC