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A Winter Wander: Festive music for the cold outdoors

A selection of wintry classical music to listen to and soothe your soul as you walk in nature.

Wrap up warm, and get a breath of fresh air, with a selection of classical music to listen to and soothe your soul as you walk in nature this wintertime. Featuring glistening piano textures, slow-moving strings and serene contemporary works that mirror frosted landscapes and crisp winter air - perfect for walking, wandering and quiet reflection.

With music by Rachel Portman, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Eric Whitacre, and more.

For more Mindful Mixes and calming classical music, listen to Radio 3 Unwind on BBC Sounds or search "Mindful Mix".

Produced by James C Taylor
An Overcoat Media production for BBC Sounds. MM

1 month left to listen

3 hours

On radio

Fri 23 Jan 202606:00
BBC Radio 3 Unwind

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Music Played

  • Max Richter

    Winter 2 - 2012

    Performer: Max Richter.
    • Recomposed by Max Richter: Vivaldi, The Four Seasons.
    • Universal Music Operations Ltd.
    • 12.

  • Ola Gjeilo

    The Rose II

    Performer: Ola Gjeilo. Performer: Max Ruisi. Ensemble: 12 Ensemble.
    • Winter Songs.
    • Decca Music Group Ltd..
    • 15.

  • Eric Whitacre

    Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

    Lyricist: Robert Frost. Ensemble: VOCES8. Conductor: Eric Whitacre.
    • Whitacre: Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.
    • Decca Music Group Ltd..
    • 1.

  • Frédéric Chopin

    Cantabile in B Flat

    Performer: Anatol Ugorski.
    • Deutsche Grammophon.

  • Sir George Dyson

    Woodland Suite: III. Moon-Fairy

    Orchestra: BBC Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Richard Hickox.
    • Chandos Records Limited.

  • Johan Svendsen

    Norwegian Folk Song

    Orchestra: Norwegian Radio Orchestra. Conductor: Ari Rasilainen.
    • Rustle of Spring.
    • Fazer Records/Finlandia.
    • 4.

  • Rachel Portman

    Snow Story (from "Smoke")

    Performer: Rachel Portman. Performer: Raphaela Gromes.
    • Sony Music Entertainment UK Ltd.

  • Dan Jones

    Chloe

    Performer: Esther Yoo. Conductor: Dan Jones. Orchestra: BBC National Orchestra of Wales.
    • Sur la plage de Chesil (Bande originale du film).
    • Decca Music Group Ltd..
    • 26.

  • Undine Smith Moore

    We shall walk through the valley

    Choir: BBC Singers. Conductor: Sofi Jeannin.

  • Eric Whitacre

    The River Cam

    Performer: Julian Lloyd Webber. Conductor: Eric Whitacre. Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra.
    • Water Night.
    • Decca (UMO).
    • 9.

  • Ēriks Ešenvalds

    Stars

    Lyricist: Sara Teasdale. Ensemble: VOCES8.
    • Lux.
    • Decca Music Group Ltd..
    • 7.

  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Sheep May Safely Graze

    Performer: Leon Fleisher. Music Arranger: Egon Petri.
    • Two Hands.
    • Sony Classical.
    • 2.

  • Edward Elgar

    Sospiri Op.70

    Orchestra: BBC Concert Orchestra. Conductor: John Wilson.
    • Elgar: The Longed-for Light.
    • SOMM Recordings.
    • 3.

  • Ola Gjeilo

    Winter Light

    Performer: Jess Gillam. Ensemble: Jess Gillam Ensemble.
    • Gjeilo: Winter Light (Version for Saxophone & Ensemble).
    • Decca Music Group Ltd..
    • 1.

  • Johann Pachelbel

    Canon

    Orchestra: BBC Welsh Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: William Boughton.
    • Nimbus Records.

  • Amy Beach

    The Hermit thrush at eve Op.92 no.1

    Performer: Christopher O’Riley.
    • Delos.

  • Piero Piccioni

    Amore mio aiutami

    Performer: Piero Piccioni.
    • Bacci Bros Records.

  • Thomas James White

    Momentary Pause - Solo Piano Version

    Performer: Thomas James White.

  • Philip Herbert

    Elegy (In Memoriam Stephen Lawrence)

    Orchestra: Chineke! Orchestra. Conductor: Anthony Parnther.
    • NMC Recordings.

  • Ivo Antognini

    Come to Me

    Lyricist: Christina Rossetti. Conductor: Stephen Layton. Choir: The Choir Of Trinity College, Cambridge.
    • Ivo Antognini: Come to Me in the Silence of the Night - Choral Works.
    • Hyperion.
    • 1.

  • Laurie Christman

    Rolling Fields

    Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Robert Ziegler.
    • Navona.

  • Ola Gjeilo

    Across The Vast, Eternal Sky

    Performer: Ola Gjeilo. Lyricist: Charles Anthony Silvestri. Choir: Choir of Royal Holloway. Ensemble: 12 Ensemble.
    • Winter Songs.
    • Decca Music Group Ltd..
    • 6.

  • Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges

    Violin Concerto in G Major, Op. 2 No. 1: II. Largo

    Performer: Fumika Mohri. Performer: Michael Halász. Orchestra: Czech Philharmonic.
    • Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges: Violin Concertos, Opp. 2 and 7.
    • Naxos.
    • 2.

  • Germaine Tailleferre

    Pastorale. Allegretto

    Performer: Andrew West. Performer: Emily Beynon.
    • L'Album des Six: The Complete Works of "Les Six" for Flute & Piano.
    • Hyperion.
    • 5.

  • George Butterworth

    The Banks of Green Willow

    Orchestra: Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Grant Llewellyn.
    • Butterworth: The Banks of Green Willow; A Shropshire Lad/ /McGunn: The Land of t.
    • Decca Music Group Ltd..
    • 6.

  • Augusta Holmès

    La nuit et l'amour Variation

    Performer: Sophie Pacini. Performer: Eldbjørg Hemsing. Performer: Raphaela Gromes. Music Arranger: Jan-Peter Klöpfel.
    • La nuit et l'amour.
    • Sony Classical/Sony Music.
    • 1.

  • Fanny Mendelssohn

    6 Melodies, Op. 4 - 6 melodies, Op. 5: Andante soave

    Performer: Béatrice Rauchs.
    • Mendelssohn-Hensel: Piano Sonata in G Minor / 6 Character Pieces.
    • BIS.
    • 17.

  • Florence Price

    Adoration

    Performer: Daniel Hope. Orchestra: Zürcher Kammerorchester.
    • America.
    • Deutsche Grammophon (DG).
    • 14.

  • Ólafur Arnalds

    For Now I Am Winter

    Composer: Arnór Dan. Lyricist: Ólafur Arnalds. Lyricist: Arnór Dan. Ensemble: VOCES8.
    • Winter.
    • Decca Music Group Ltd..
    • 1.

  • John Rutter

    5 Meditations for Orchestra: No. 4, Lord, Make Me an Instrument of Thy Peace

    Conductor: John Rutter. Orchestra: Manchester Camerata.
    • Classical Tranquillity.
    • Collegium.
    • 5.

  • Mattia Vlad Morleo

    As days grows shorter

    Performer: Mattia Vlad Morleo.
    • The quiet beauty of familiar places.
    • Warner Classics.
    • 8.

  • Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    Symphony No. 1, Op. 13 "Winter Daydreams": II. Adagio canatbile man no tanto

    Conductor: Kurt Masur. Orchestra: Gewandhausorchester Leipzig.
    • Tchaikovsky: Symphonies Nos. 1 - 6, Piano Concertos Nos. 1 - 3 & Famous Works.
    • Warner Classics International.
    • 2.

  • George Fenton

    Narwhals

    Performer: George Fenton. Orchestra: BBC Concert Orchestra.
    • Frozen Planet (Soundtrack from the TV series).
    • Silva Screen Records.
    • 10.

  • Richard Strauss

    Violin Sonata, Op. 18: II. Improvisation. Andante cantabile

    Performer: Renaud Capuçon. Performer: Guillaume Bellom.
    • R. Strauss: Violin Sonata, Op. 18: II. Improvisation. Andante cantabile.
    • Deutsche Grammophon (DG).
    • 1.

  • Erik Satie

    Gymnopédie No. 1

    Performer: Klára Körmendi.
    • Largo II: A Special 2 ½ Hour Collection of Piano Classics.
    • Celestial Harmonies.
    • 24.

  • Johannes Brahms

    Piano Quartet No. 2 in A Major, Op. 26: II. Poco adagio

    Performer: Katarzyna Budnik-Gałązka. Performer: Krystian Zimerman. Performer: Maria Nowak. Performer: Yuya Okamoto.
    • Brahms: Piano Quartets Nos. 2 & 3.
    • Deutsche Grammophon (DG).
    • 06.

Broadcasts

  • Sun 14 Dec 202506:00
    BBC Radio 3 Unwind
  • Sat 20 Dec 202514:00
    BBC Radio 3 Unwind
  • Tue 23 Dec 202506:00
    BBC Radio 3 Unwind
  • Christmas Day 202514:00
    BBC Radio 3 Unwind
  • Fri 23 Jan 202606:00
    BBC Radio 3 Unwind