The ideal mix of classical music
Georgia Mann plays the best in classical music, with discoveries and surprises rubbing shoulders with familiar favourites.
Georgia Mann plays the best classical music for your morning, with discoveries and surprises rubbing shoulders with familiar favourites. Including the Playlister challenge: our regular listener-created sequence inspired by a different piece of music each day. Plus a new classical release in focus for Album of the Week.
1000 Playlister starter: listen and send us your ideas for the next step in today's musical journey. Text 83111 or email [email protected].
1030 Album of the Week: an exciting new classical release in focus throughout the week.
1115 Playlister reveal: an uninterrupted sequence of music suggested by you in response to today's starter piece.
1200 Feast of a Piece: indulge your ears with an orchestral masterpiece.
To listen on most smart speakers say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Essential Classics”
Last on
Music Played
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Johannes Brahms
Hungarian Dance No 6 in D major
Orchestrator: Albert Parlow. Orchestra: Budapest Festival Orchestra. Conductor: Iván Fischer.- DECCA.
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Claudio Monteverdi
Selva morale e spirituale: No. 23, Laudate Dominum III, SV 274
Lyricist: Anonymous. Ensemble: Il Pomo d’Oro. Conductor: Giuseppe Maletto.- Natale veneziano.
- Arcana.
- 10.
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Antonín Dvořák
String Quartet no.12 in F Major Op.96 'American' (4th mvt)
Ensemble: Pacifica Quartet.- American Voices.
- Cedille Records.
- 104.
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Aaron Copland
Buckaroo Holiday (Rodeo - 4 dance episodes)
Orchestra: BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: John Wilson.- Chandos.
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Johann Sebastian Bach
Weihnachts-Oratorium BWV.248: Cantata 5 "Ehre sei dir, Gott"
Ensemble: Dunedin Consort. Conductor: John Butt.- Linn.
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Richard Wagner
The Ride of the Valkyries (Die Walkure)
Orchestra: Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Gustavo Dudamel.- Wagner - Dudamel.
- Deutsche Grammophon.
- 1.
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Amy Beach
Trio for violin, cello and piano Op. 150; 3rd mvt Allegro con brio
Performer: Neave Trio.- Her Voice.
- CHANDOS.
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Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Symphony No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 13 "Winter Dreams": III. Scherzo (Allegro scherzando giocoso)
Composer: Public Domain. Orchestra: Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Vasily Petrenko.- Tchaikovsky: 'Winter Dreams' Symphony No. 1, 'Little Russian' Symphony No. 2 , S.
- Onyx Classics.
- 3.
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Philip Glass
Glass: Études: No. 5
Performer: Víkingur Ólafsson. Ensemble: Siggi String Quartet.- Philip Glass: Piano Works.
- Deutsche Grammophon (DG).
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Richard Strauss
Dreaming by the Fireside (4 Symphonic Interludes from 'Intermezzo')
Orchestra: Vienna Philharmonic. Conductor: Semyon Bychkov.- Franz Schmidt Symphony No.2 Richard Strauss Dreaming by the Fireside Wiener Phil.
- Sony.
- 004.
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Sergey Rachmaninov
14 Romances, Op. 34: No. 14, Vocalise
Performer: Meredith Blecha-Wells. Performer: Kim Sun-Min.- Navona Records.
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Gioachino Rossini
La Danza (Les Soirees musicales)
Music Arranger: Erich Schagerl. Performer: Andreas Ottensamer. Performer: Daniel Ottensamer. Performer: Ernst Ottensamer. Ensemble: Vienna Virtuosi.- The Clarinotts.
- DG.
- 6.
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Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
Deep river (24 Folk melodies Op.59)
Performer: Isata Kanneh‐Mason.- Summertime.
- Decca.
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Luigi Boccherini
Quintet No 4 in D major, G 448 (Grave assai, Fandango)
Performer: Carles Trepat. Performer: Daniel Tummer. Ensemble: Casals Quartet.- Boccherini: La musica notturna delle strade di Madrid.
- Harmonia Mundi.
- 15.
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Leonard Bernstein
West Side Story (America)
Singer: Rita Moreno. Ensemble: West Side Story Orchestra. Singer: Betty Wand. Singer: George Chakiris. Conductor: Johnny Green.- West Side Story: Original Soundtrack Recording (1961).
- Sony.
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Joseph Haydn
Piano Trio in F Major, Hob. XV:6, 1st mvt
Ensemble: Aquinas Piano Trio.- Haydn: Piano Trios, Vol. 8.
- Naxos.
- 101.
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Gian Carlo Menotti
Amahl and the night visitors: All that gold! (Mother)
Singer: Ike Hawkersmith. Orchestra: Nashville Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Alastair Willis.- Naxos.
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Gabriel Fauré
Souvenirs de Bayreuth
Performer: Eric Le Sage. Performer: Alexandre Tharaud.- ALPHA.
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Howard Shore
The Fellowship (The Lord of the Rings)
Orchestra: The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Evan Jolly. Conductor: Nic Raine.- Silva Screen.
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Ludwig van Beethoven
Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92: II. Allegretto
Orchestra: Chamber Orchestra of Europe. Conductor: Yannick Nézet‐Séguin.- Beethoven: The Symphonies.
- Deutsche Grammophon (DG).
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Arnold Bax
Mater ora filium
Choir: Gabrieli Consort. Conductor: Paul McCreesh.- DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON.
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Frédéric Chopin
Waltz in E flat major Op.18 'Grande valse brillante'
Performer: Lang Lang.- Lang Lang: The Chopin Album.
- Sony Classical.
- 15.
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Edward Elgar
Nimrod (Enigma Variations Op.36)
Music Arranger: Eric Ball. Orchestra: Black Dyke Band. Conductor: Nicholas Childs.- Classical Dyke Vol. 1: Elgar.
- Doyen.
- 19.
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Maude Valérie White
The Devout Lover
Performer: Graham Johnson. Lyricist: Walter Herries Pollock. Singer: Anthony Rolfe Johnson.- In Praise of Woman: 150 Years of English Female Composers.
- Hyperion.
- 7.
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Kodály Zoltán
Galántai táncok, K 79
Orchestra: Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Carlo Tenan.- Bartok, Enescu, Kodaly, Martinu.
- Onyx Classics.
- 10.
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Judith Bingham
In Mary's Love
Lyricist: Ben Kaye. Choir: The Gesualdo Six. Conductor: Owain Park.- Morning Star: Music for Epiphany Down the Ages.
- Hyperion.
- 18.
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Antonio Vivaldi
Concerto for 2 Violins in A Minor, Op. 3 No. 8, RV 522
Performer: Fabio Biondi. Performer: Davide Amodio. Ensemble: Concerto Italiano. Conductor: Rinaldo Alessandrini.- Vivaldi: Concerti per archi.
- Tactus.
- 6.
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Traditional Irish
The Gold Ring Jig
Performer: Jordi Savall. Performer: Andrew Lawrence‐King. Performer: Frank McGuire.- The Celtic Viol 2: Savall/Lawrence-King/McGuire.
- Alia Vox.
- 8.
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George Frideric Handel
Zadok the Priest HWV.258
Ensemble: Le Concert Spirituel. Conductor: Hervé Niquet.- ALPHA.
Broadcast
- Mon 29 Dec 202509:30BBC Radio 3

