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Drift into the night on a current of calming music

Niall Breslin brings you calming classical music to help you release the stresses of the day, recharge and prepare to rest.

Three hours of calming classical music to help you release the stresses of the day, recharge and prepare to rest - presented by Irish musician and mindfulness expert Niall Breslin.

This episode features a rich blend of music from the likes of Amy Beach, Michael Nyman and Akira Kosemura. Plus, a chance to Press Pause with meditation teacher Maude Hirst, and some essential Wind Down Wisdom from science podcaster Caroline Steel on how a change of bedding can help combat stress.

To listen on most smart speakers just ask BBC Sounds to play Classical Wind Down.

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Last Tuesday17:00
BBC Radio 3 Unwind

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31/12/2025

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Relax with a calming selection of classical music

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Music Played

  • Amy Beach

    Dreaming (4 Sketches, Op 15 No 3)

    Performer: Claire Huangci.
    • Piano Heroines.
    • Alpha.
    • 12.

  • Margaret Bonds

    Lament (Montgomery Variations)

    Orchestra: Royal Scottish National Orchestra. Conductor: Kellen Gray.
    • African American Voices II.
    • Linn Records.
    • 06.

  • Frédéric Chopin

    Berceuse, Op 57

    Performer: Martin Stadtfeld.
    • Berceuse, Op. 57 (Short Edit).
    • Sony Classical/Sony Music.
    • 1.

  • Kevin Siegfried

    I Sing of a maiden

    Choir: The Byrd Ensemble. Conductor: Markdavin Obenza.
    • Lumina - Choral Music of Kevin Siegfried.
    • EC Schirmer.
    • 2.

  • Hayato Sumino

    Lydian Harp

    Performer: Hayato Sumino.
    • Lydian Harp.
    • Sony Classical.
    • 1.

  • Gustav Mahler

    Adagietto from Symphony No 5 (4th mvt)

    Orchestra: BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Ryan Wigglesworth.

  • Camille Saint‐Saëns

    Softly awakes my heart (Samson & Dalila)

    Performer: Gautier Capuçon. Performer: Frank Braley. Music Arranger: Georges Papin.
    • Saint-Saëns: Le carnaval des animaux, Septuor & Fantaisie.
    • Warner Classics.
    • 18.

  • Kris Bowers

    We'll Find a Desert Island (From "Chevalier")

    Orchestra: London Contemporary Orchestra. Conductor: Alfonso Casado Trigo.
    • Chevalier (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack).
    • Hollywood Records.
    • 14.

  • Philip Glass

    Etude No. 8

    Performer: Vanessa Wagner.
    • Philip Glass: The Complete Piano Etudes.
    • THE BACK OFFICE.
    • 8.

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Sinfonia concertante in E flat major, K 364/320d (2nd mvt)

    Performer: Julien Chauvin. Performer: Amihai Grosz. Orchestra: Le Concert de la Loge.
    • Mozart: Sinfonia Concertante, Symphony No. 39 & Così Fan Tutte Overture.
    • Alpha Classics.
    • 3.

  • Anna Clyne

    Mothers Lullaby

    Ensemble: Miró Quartet.
    • Hearth.
    • Pentatone.
    • 108.

  • Guido Santorsola

    Prelude (Suite all'antica)

    Performer: Luis Orlandini. Performer: Raimundo Luco.
    • Harmonies of the New World.
    • Naxos.
    • 103.

  • Jean Sibelius

    Andante festivo

    Orchestra: Yamagata Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Chiaki Murakawa.
    • MClassics.

  • Michael Nyman

    If (The Diary of Anne Frank)

    Music Arranger: John Harle. Orchestra: BBC Concert Orchestra. Conductor: Jessica Cottis.
    • Jess Gillam. Rise.
    • DECCA.
    • 006.

  • Jonathan Dove

    The Milky Way (Stargazer, part 4)

    Performer: Peter Moore. Orchestra: BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Timothy Redmond.
    • Orchid Classics.

  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Larghetto from Keyboard concerto in D major, BWV 972

    Performer: David Fray.
    • Baroque Encores.
    • Warner Classics.
    • 19.

  • Steffen Thum

    Three

    Performer: Steffen Thum.
    • Interludes I.
    • Chromium Music Group.
    • 1.

  • Georges Bizet

    Meditation religieuse

    Performer: Roberto Prosseda.
    • Hyperion.

  • Joseph Haydn

    Symphony No 56 in C major (2nd mvt)

    Orchestra: Kammerorchester Basel. Conductor: Giovanni Antonini.
    • Haydn 2032, Vol. 18: Il maestro di scuola.
    • Alpha Classics.
    • 2.

  • Piers Connor Kennedy

    Wind down for the evening

    Choir: BBC Singers.

  • Polly Carter

    Midnight Clouds

    Performer: Polly Carter.
    • Sea Ash Records.

  • Maurice Ravel

    Interlude 2 & Little Thumb (from Mother Goose)

    Orchestra: BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Kristian Sallinen.

  • Franz Liszt

    Liebestraume, No 3

    Performer: Sophia Liu.
    • Liszt: Liebesträume, S. 541: No. 3, Oh Lieb, so lang du lieben kannst \"Rêve d'a.
    • Mirare.
    • 1.

  • Helen Louise Habershon

    Peace

    Performer: John Anderson. Music Arranger: John Lenehan. Orchestra: London Primavera Orchestra. Conductor: Anthony Halstead.
    • Found in Winter: Works by Helen Habershon.
    • Divine Art Limited.
    • 9.

  • Akira Kosemura

    For Grandpa - Memory 3

    Performer: Akira Kosemura.
    • Decca.

  • Christopher Gunning

    Symphony No 8 (2nd mvt)

    Orchestra: BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Conductor: Kenneth Woods.
    • Gunning: Symphonies No. 8 & No. 9.
    • Signum Records.
    • 2.

  • Emma Jackson

    Blue Waltz

    Performer: Emma Jackson.
    • Aemeralds.

  • Errollyn Wallen

    Three Ships: Dark Eye

    Performer: Tom Kerstens.
    • Black Venus.
    • BGS.
    • 7.

  • Aaron Copland

    Appalachian Spring (Nos 6, 7 and 8)

    Orchestra: Aurora Orchestra. Conductor: Nicholas Collon.
    • Roadtrip.
    • Warner.
    • 13-15.

  • Ben Ponniah

    Ra Ma Da Sa, Sa Se So Hung

    Ensemble: BBC Concert Orchestra. Conductor: Graham Ross.

  • Hiroshi Yoshimura

    Dream

    Performer: Hiroshi Yoshimura.
    • Music for Nine Post Cards.
    • Empire of Signs.
    • 9.

  • Hiromi

    Pendulum

    Performer: Hiromi.
    • OUT THERE [Feat. Sonicwonder].
    • Telarc.
    • 8.

  • Daniela Mars

    The time is in this very moment

    Performer: Daniela Mars.
    • Reverence for the Moment.
    • VOCES8 Records.
    • 1.

  • Arthur Sullivan

    Symphony in E major 'Irish' (2nd mvt)

    Orchestra: BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Richard Hickox.

Broadcast

  • Last Tuesday17:00
    BBC Radio 3 Unwind