Embrace the Christmas spirit with gentle classical sounds
Peaceful festive classical music to lift your spirits and bring warmth to your Christmas season. Presented by broadcaster, author and counselling psychologist Dr Sian Williams.
Peaceful festive classical music to lift your spirits and bring warmth to your Christmas morning. Presented by broadcaster, author and counselling psychologist Dr Sian Williams.
Featuring cherished carols, glowing choral harmonies and gentle orchestral favourites, this special Christmas edition offers a comforting soundtrack for rest, reflection and togetherness. Across three hours of music, we explore the sense of connection that singing brings, the nostalgia woven into familiar melodies, and the quiet joy that emerges in moments of stillness.
Plus, Professor Catherine Loveday shares insights into how Christmas music can positively shape our mood, strengthen memory and evoke a powerful sense of belonging.
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Music Played
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Franz Xaver Gruber
Jouluyo, juhlayo (Silent Night)
Music Arranger: Atso Almila. Conductor: Osmo Vänskä. Orchestra: Lahti Symphony Orchestra.- BIS.
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Richard Rodney Bennett
New Year's Carol
Choir: BBC Singers. Conductor: Paul Brough.- Signum.
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Philip Lane
3 Christmas Pictures (Starlight Lullaby)
Conductor: Gavin Sutherland. Orchestra: Royal Ballet Sinfonia.- Marco Polo.
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Victor Hely-Hutchinson
Carol Symphony (3rd mvt)
Conductor: Pietari Inkinen. Orchestra: German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra.- SWR Classic.
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Ralph Vaughan Williams
Suite for Viola & Orchestra (2nd mvt, 'Carol')
Performer: Timothy Ridout. Conductor: Jamie Phillips. Orchestra: Lausanne Chamber Orchestra.- Claves.
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Jean Mouton
Nesciens Mater
Choir: VOCES8.- Signum.
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Eunike Tanzil
See you Again
Performer: Eunike Tanzil.- DG.
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Richard Allain
Lullay, myn lyking
Choir: Choir of Westminster School. Conductor: Timothy Garrard.- Signum.
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Dieterich Buxtehude
In dulci jubilo, BuxWV 52
Choir: Capella Figuralis. Ensemble: The Netherlands Bach Society. Conductor: Jos van Veldhoven.- Channel Classics.
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Robert Parsons
Ave Maria
Ensemble: Onyx Brass.- Resonus.
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Michael Praetorius
Es ist ein Ros entsprungen (arr for choir)
Music Arranger: Jan Sandström. Choir: SWR Vocal Ensemble, Stuttgart. Conductor: Marcus Creed.- SWR Classic.
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Johann Sebastian Bach
Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit, BWV 106, 'Actus tragicus'
Conductor: Sébastien Daucé. Ensemble: Ensemble Correspondances.- Harmonia Mundi.
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Ariel Ramírez
La Peregrinacion
Choir: Phoenix Chorale. Conductor: Christopher Gabbitas.- Signum.
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Becky McGlade
In the Bleak Midwinter
Choir: Choir of St John’s College, Cambridge. Conductor: Christopher Gray.- Signum.
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Jules Massenet
La vierge (The Last Sleep of the Virgin)
Conductor: Barry Wordsworth. Orchestra: BBC Concert Orchestra.- Naxos.
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William James Kirkpatrick
Away in a Manger
Music Arranger: Nigel Short. Choir: Tenebrae. Conductor: Nigel Short.- Signum.
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Adolphe Adam
Cantique de Noël [O Holy Night], arr for choir
Music Arranger: John West. Choir: Vasari Singers.- Naxos.
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Felix Mendelssohn
6 Kinderstücke, Op 72, 'Christmas Present' (No 4 in D major)
Performer: Howard Shelley.- Hyperion.
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Percy Grainger
The Sussex Mummers' Christmas Carol (version for cello & piano)
Performer: Adrian Bradbury. Performer: Andrew West.- SOMM.
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Trad.
O Christmas Tree
Music Arranger: Peter Graham. Ensemble: International Staff Band. Conductor: Stephen Cobb.- Universal.
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Valentin Silvestrov
Sleep, Jesus, arr for saxophone & ensemble (2 Christmas Lullabies)
Performer: Jess Gillam. Music Arranger: Natalia Tsupryk. Ensemble: Jess Gillam Ensemble.- Decca.
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Elizabeth Poston
Jesus Christ the Apple Tree
Choir: Pembroke College Chapel Choir. Choir: Pembroke College Girls' Choir. Conductor: Anna Lapwood.- Signum.
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John Francis Wade
Concert Variations on 'Adeste Fideles'
Performer: Xavier de Maistre. Music Arranger: Carlos Salzedo.- Sony.
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Anon.
Quelle est cette odeur agréable? [What is that lovely fragrance?]
Choir: Academy of St Martin in the Fields Chorus. Orchestra: Academy of St Martin in the Fields. Conductor: Neville Marriner.- UMG.
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Richard Pygott
Quid petis, O fili [What do you want, O son?]
Choir: Eton College Chapel Choir. Conductor: Ralph Allwood.- ASV.
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Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
The Nutcracker, Op 71 (Act 2: No 12b, 'Coffee, Arabian Dance')
Conductor: Sir Simon Rattle. Orchestra: Berliner Philharmoniker.- Warner.
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Kristina Arakelyan
Christmas Offering (3rd mvt, 'There Is No Rose')
Performer: Esther Beyer. Singer: Lucca Kelf. Choir: Choir of King’s College, London. Conductor: Joseph Fort.- Signum.
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Philip Stopford
A Christmas Blessing
Choir: Truro Cathedral Choir. Orchestra: BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Conductor: Christopher Gray.- Regent.
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Marc‐Antoine Charpentier
Noël sur les instruments, H 534 (4th mvt, 'Or nous dites Marie')
Conductor: Christophe Rousset. Orchestra: English Baroque Soloists.- SDG.
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Bob Chilcott
The Shepherd's Carol
Choir: BBC Singers. Conductor: Bob Chilcott.- Signum.
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Trad.
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
Music Arranger: Peter Breiner. Conductor: Peter Breiner. Orchestra: Slovak State Philharmonic Orchestra.- Naxos.
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Erno Dohnanyi
Pastorale (Hungarian Christmas Song)
Performer: Stephanie McCallum.- ABC Classics.
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José Feliciano
Feliz Navidad
Performer: Alexis Ffrench.- Sony.
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Sarah Quartel
This Endris Night
Choir: EVE. Conductor: Birgitte Næslund Madsen.- EVECHOIR.
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Trad.
A Great and Mighty Wonder
Music Arranger: Richard Marlow. Choir: Coro. Conductor: Mark Griffiths.- Dal Segno.
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Gaetano Maria Schiassi
Weihnachtspastorale
Ensemble: Collegium tubicense Ulm. Conductor: Simon Dach.- Christophorus.
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John Rutter
Nativity Carol
Choir: Choir of Clare College, Cambridge. Ensemble: The Dmitri Ensemble. Conductor: Graham Ross.- Harmonia Mundi.
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Josef Bonisch
Nin singet und seid froh
Ensemble: Moravian Wind Band.- HeBu Musikverlag.
Broadcasts
- Sun 14 Dec 202509:00BBC Radio 3 Unwind
- Sat 20 Dec 202509:00BBC Radio 3 Unwind
- Christmas Day 202509:00BBC Radio 3 Unwind
