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Refresh your morning with a great selection of classical music.

Essential Classics - the best in classical music, with Ian Skelly.

0915 Your ideas for companion pieces on the Essential Classics playlist.

1010 Musicians recommend their favourite recordings.

1100 Essential Five - this week we bring you five great recordings celebrating the musical form of themes and variations.

1130 Slow Moment - time to take a break for a moment's musical reflection.

3 hours

Last on

Tue 23 Mar 202109:00
BBC Radio 3

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Music Played

  • Dmitry Shostakovich

    Hamlet (Ball at the Palace)

    Orchestra: Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Conductor: Riccardo Chailly.
    • Decca.

  • Rebecca Clarke

    Morpheus

    Performer: Philip Dukes. Performer: Sophia Rahman.
    • Naxos.

  • John Sheppard

    Libera nos

    Choir: The Sixteen. Conductor: Harry Christophers.
    • Renaissance: Music for inner peace.
    • UNIVERSAL.
    • 16.

  • William Walton

    Battle in the Air (Battle of Britain Suite)

    Orchestra: Academy of St Martin in the Fields. Conductor: Neville Marriner.
    • Walton: Battle of Britain Suite etc.: ASMF/Marriner.
    • Chandos.
    • 17.

  • Franz Schubert

    Ständchen D.920

    Singer: Jacqueline Fox. Choir: BBC Singers. Performer: Susan Tomes. Conductor: Jane Glover.
    • COLLINS CLASSICS : 14992-.
    • COLLINS CLASSICS.
    • 11.

  • Johannes Brahms

    Piano Concerto no.2 in B flat major Op.83 (4th mvt)

    Performer: Sir Stephen Hough. Orchestra: Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg.
    • Brahms: Piano Concertos.
    • Hyperion.
    • 4.

  • Shara Nova

    From The Invisible To The Visible

    Performer: Nadia Sirota. Performer: James McVinnie. Performer: Valgeir Sigurðsson.
    • Bedroom Community.

  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Vom Himmel hoch, da komm' ich her BWV.700

    Performer: Andrew Davis.
    • EMI.

  • Samuel Scheidt

    Canzona super cantionem gallicam 'Est-ce Mars?'

    Ensemble: His Majestys Sagbutts and Cornetts.
    • HELIOS.

  • Gabriel Fauré

    Violin Sonata no.1 in A major Op.13 (1st mvt)

    Performer: Tanguy de Williencourt. Performer: Théotime Langlois de Swarte.
    • HARMONIA MUNDI.

  • Joseph Haydn

    Trumpet Concerto in E flat major H.7e.1 (3rd mvt)

    Performer: Sergei Nakariakov. Orchestra: Lausanne Chamber Orchestra. Conductor: Jesús López Cobos.

  • Manuel de Falla

    Ah, ande la tarea, que hay que trabajar! (La Vida Breve)

    Singer: Gustavo Peña. Singer: Cristina Faus. Choir: RTVE Symphony Chorus. Performer: BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Juanjo Mena.
    • Chandos.

  • Edward Elgar

    Chanson de matin Op.15`2

    Orchestra: London Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Hilary Davan Wetton.
    • Elgar: Enigma variations etc: London Philharmonic/Hilary Davan-Wetton.
    • Collins Classics.

  • George Frideric Handel

    The Harmonious Blacksmith (Keyboard Suite no.5 in E major HWV.430)

    Performer: Trevor Pinnock.
    • The Harmonious Blacksmith - Favourite Harpsichord Pieces: Pinnock.
    • Archiv Produktion.

  • William Byrd

    The March before the Battle [The Earl of Oxford's march]

    Music Arranger: Elgar Howarth. Ensemble: Philip Jones Brass Ensemble.
    • La Battaglia: Philip Jones Brass Ensemble.
    • Decca.
    • 12.

  • Leonard Bernstein

    Symphonic Dances from West Side Story (Rumble)

    Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Michael Tilson Thomas.
    • Bernstein: Arias and Barcarolles etc.:LSO/Tilson Thomas.
    • Deutsche Grammophon.
    • 22.

  • Sergey Prokofiev

    The Battle on the Ice (Alexander Nevsky)

    Orchestra: Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Fritz Reiner.
    • RCA.

  • Patrick Doyle

    Non nobis Domine (Henry V Suite)

    Choir: Crouch End Festival Chorus. Orchestra: The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: David Temple.
    • SILVA SCREEN.

  • Frédéric Chopin

    Nocturne in B major Op.32 no.1

    Performer: Maria João Pires.
    • Chopin: The Nocturnes: Maria Joao Pires.
    • Deutsche Grammophon.
    • 9.

  • Jean‐Joseph de Mondonville

    Sonata in G minor Op.3`1

    Orchestra: Les Musiciens du Louvre. Conductor: Marc Minkowski.
    • Archiv.

  • Giacomo Puccini

    E lucevan le stelle (Tosca)

    Singer: José Cura. Orchestra: Philharmonia Orchestra. Conductor: Plácido Domingo.
    • Puccini Arias.
    • Erato.
    • 13.

  • Graham Fitkin

    Mapping

    Performer: Ruth Wall. Performer: Graham Fitkin.
    • GFR.

  • Benjamin Britten

    The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra

    Orchestra: BBC Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Sir Andrew Davis.
    • TELDEC.

  • Jóhann Jóhannsson

    Flight from the City (Orphee)

    Performer: Jóhann Jóhannsson. Performer: Clarice Jensen. Performer: Ben Russell. Performer: Tarn Travers. Performer: Yuki Numata Resnick.
    • DG.

  • R. Nathaniel Dett

    Inspiration Waltzes

    Performer: Clipper Erickson.
    • My Cup Runneth Over.
    • NAVONA.
    • 18.

  • Niccolò Paganini

    Caprice in E major Op,1 no.1

    Performer: Tanja Becker-Bender.
    • Paganini: 24 Caprices, Op. 1: Tanja Becker-Bender.
    • Hyperion.
    • 1.

  • Jean‐Philippe Rameau

    Tristes apprêts (Castor et Pollux)

    Singer: Nadine Koutcher. Orchestra: MusicAeterna. Conductor: Teodor Currentzis.
    • Rameau - The Sound of Light.
    • Sony Classical.
    • 018.

Broadcast

  • Tue 23 Mar 202109:00
    BBC Radio 3