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Relaxing classical music to focus the mind

Relax into this three hour playlist of soothing classical music.

Take a moment to focus your mind and relax with three hours of soothing classical music paired with soundscapes from the natural world.

This programme includes string quartets from Florence Price and Ludwig Van Beethoven, relaxing harp solos from Ludovico Einaudi and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and calming choral pieces from Ken Burton and Maurice Duruflé.

Produced by Katie Hill
An Overcoat Media Production for BBC Radio 3 Unwind. MM.

20 days left to listen

3 hours

Last on

Fri 2 Jan 202614:00
BBC Radio 3 Unwind

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Music Played

  • Eric Coates

    From Meadow to Mayfair: III. A Song by the Way (Romance)

    Orchestra: BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: John Wilson.
    • Chandos.

  • George Frideric Handel

    Harp Concerto in B-Flat Major, HWV 294, Op. 4 No. 6: II. Larghetto

    Performer: Xavier de Maistre. Ensemble: Lucerne Festival Strings.
    • Sony Music Entertainment UK Ltd.

  • Frédéric Chopin

    Nocturne No. 10 in A-Flat Major, Op. 32 No. 2 - Live

    Performer: Evgeny Kissin.
    • Verbier Festival Gold.

  • Florence Price

    String Quartet in G Major : II. Andante moderato

    Performer: Etienne Gara. Orchestra: Delirium Musicum.
    • Cabinet of Curiosities.
    • Warner Classics.
    • 5.

  • Michael Praetorius

    A Great and Mighty Wonder (Arr. for Choir)

    Performer: Martha McLorinan. Choir: Meridian. Conductor: Irene Messoloras.
    • A Meridian Christmas.
    • Signum Records.
    • 2.

  • Erik Satie

    3 Gymnopedies: No. 1, Lent et douloureux

    Performer: Alessandro Simonetto.
    • OnClassical.

  • Frederick Delius

    Orchestral Suite No. 1, RT VI/6: IV. Duo

    Orchestra: BBC Concert Orchestra. Conductor: John Andrews.
    • La belle dame.
    • EMF Endeavours.
    • 5.

  • Gabriela Montero

    Sur le lac du Bourget

    Performer: Gautier Capuçon. Performer: Frank Braley.
    • Erato.

  • Margaret Bonds

    Montgomery Variations: IV. Dawn in Dixie

    Orchestra: The Philadelphia Orchestra. Conductor: Yannick Nézet‐Séguin.
    • Still & Bonds - Symphonies & Variations.
    • Deutsche Grammophon (DG).

  • Ken Burton

    A Prayer

    Lyricist: Paul Laurence Dunbar. Conductor: Ken Burton. Choir: London Voices.
    • Oxford University Press Music.

  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    String Quartet No. 1 in F Major, No. 1: II. Adagio affettuoso ed appassionato

    Ensemble: Calidore String Quartet.
    • The Complete Beethoven String Quartets.
    • Signum Records.
    • 2.

  • Gabriel Fauré

    Barcarolle No. 1 in A Minor, Op. 26

    Performer: Tiffany Poon.
    • Nature.
    • Pentatone.
    • 6.

  • Grace Williams

    Sinfonia concertante for Piano & Orchestra: II. Poco lento

    Performer: Clare Hammond. Orchestra: BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Conductor: Jac van Steen.
    • Grace Williams: Violin Concerto, Elegy for String Orchestra & Sinfonia concertan.
    • Lyrita Recorded Edition.
    • 6.

  • John Rutter

    A Gaelic Blessing

    Lyricist: William Sharp. Conductor: Graham Ross. Choir: Choir of Clare College, Cambridge. Ensemble: Dmitri Ensemble.
    • John Rutter: A Clare College Celebration.
    • harmonia mundi.
    • 5.

  • Domenico Scarlatti

    Keyboard Sonata in B Minor, Kk. 87

    Performer: David Fray.
    • Baroque Encores.
    • Warner Classics.
    • 3.

  • Yu‐Peng Chen

    A New Journey

    Performer: Geoffrey Alexander. Orchestra: London Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Robert Ziegler.
    • Fantasyland.
    • Deutsche Grammophon (DG).
    • 1.

  • Alexander Glazunov

    Chant du menestrel, Op. 71

    Performer: Jamie Walton. Conductor: Okko Kamu. Orchestra: Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
    • Glazunov: Concerto Ballata, Prokofiev: Concertino & Tchaikovsky: Variations on a.
    • Signum Records.
    • 2.

  • Darius Lim

    Ave Maria

    Conductor: Darius Lim. Choir: Voices of Singapore Children's Choir. Choir: Voices of Singapore Ladies Choir.
    • Naxos Music UK Ltd.

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Piano Concerto No. 12 in A Major, K. 414: II. Andante

    Performer: Saskia Giorgini. Orchestra: TrondheimSolistene.
    • Pentatone.

  • Henriëtte Bosmans

    Second Concerto for Cello and Orchestra: III. Molto lento - Allegro giocoso

    Performer: Gemma Rosefield. Conductor: George Vass. Orchestra: BBC Philharmonic Orchestra.
    • Henriëtte Bosmans: Concertos.
    • Resonus Classics.
    • 6.

  • Seckou Keita

    Gobaith

    Composer: Catrin Anna Finch. Performer: Catrin Finch. Performer: Seckou Keita.
    • ARC Music Productions International Ltd.

  • Henry Purcell

    Hail! Bright Cecilia, Z. 238: I. Introduction: No. 2, Adagio

    Conductor: Vincent Dumestre. Ensemble: Le Poème Harmonique.
    • Purcell: Hail! Bright Cecilia.
    • Château de Versailles Spectacles.
    • 5.

  • Maurice Duruflé

    Ubi Caritas

    Choir: Mancunium Consort.
    • A New Light.
    • VOCES8 Records.
    • 14.

  • Aram Khachaturian

    Spartacus - Ballet Suite - Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia

    Conductor: Stanley Black. Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra.
    • Khachaturian: Spartacus/Gayaneh/Masquerade.
    • Decca Music Group Ltd..
    • 2.

  • Edward Gregson

    Tuba Concerto: II. Lento e mesto

    Performer: Ross Knight. Orchestra: BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Ben Gernon.
    • A Vision in A Dream.
    • Chandos Records Ltd.
    • 2.

  • Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

    Steal Away, Op. 59 No. 23

    Performer: Kyle P. Walker.
    • Reklaw.

  • Ralph Vaughan Williams

    Hymn Tune Prelude on Song 13

    Composer: Orlando Gibbons. Ensemble: London Mozart Players. Conductor: William Vann.
    • Albion Records.

  • Max Richter

    Sequence for Gaia

    Performer: Gautier Capuçon. Performer: Jérôme Ducros.
    • Erato.

  • Camille Saint‐Saëns

    Romance in E Major, Op. 67

    Performer: Ben Goldscheider. Conductor: Howard Griffiths. Orchestra: Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra.
    • Berlin Classics.

  • Ludovico Einaudi

    Una mattina

    Performer: Lavinia Meijer.
    • Passaggio.
    • Sony Classical.
    • 4.

  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    In dulci jubilo, BWV 608 (Arr. for Orchestra)

    Conductor: Martyn Brabbins. Orchestra: BBC Philharmonic Orchestra.
    • King of Kings: Bach Orchestral Transcriptions.
    • Chandos Records Ltd.
    • 4.

  • Rebecca Dale

    Study I - Rêverie in London Rain

    Performer: Rebecca Dale.
    • Rebecca Dale: Study I - Rêverie in London Rain.
    • Signum Records.
    • 1.

  • Caroline Shaw

    ...and the Swallow

    Choir: Tenebrae. Conductor: Nigel Short.
    • A Prayer for Deliverance.
    • Signum Records.
    • 4.

  • Joseph Haydn

    String Quartet in G Minor, Op. 20 No. 3: II. Menuetto. Allegretto

    Ensemble: London Haydn Quartet.
    • Haydn: String Quartets, Op. 20 \"Sun Quartets\".
    • Hyperion.

  • William Grant Still

    Symphony No. 4 "Autochthonous": IV. Slowly and reverently

    Orchestra: The Philadelphia Orchestra. Conductor: Yannick Nézet‐Séguin.
    • Still & Bonds - Symphonies & Variations.
    • Deutsche Grammophon (DG).

  • Gabriel Fauré

    Requiem, Op. 48, N. 97: IV. Pie Jesu

    Performer: James Rutherford. Performer: Libby Crabtree. Orchestra: BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. Orchestra: CBSO Chorus. Conductor: Yan Pascal Tortelier.
    • Chandos Records Limited.

Broadcast

  • Fri 2 Jan 202614:00
    BBC Radio 3 Unwind

Featured in...

  • Mindful Mix

    Soothing classical music to help you unwind and relax