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Ease into the day with mellow music

Calming classical music to inspire focus and set you up for the day ahead. Presented by broadcaster, author and counselling psychologist Dr Sian Williams.

Calming classical music to help you focus and set you up for the day ahead. Presented by broadcaster, author and counselling psychologist Dr Sian Williams.

Featuring gentle, enriching melodies from Laura Mvula, Gustav Holst, and Morten Lauridsen, Sian finds the joy in daydreaming wile out to Take a Breath. Plus, Professor Catherine Loveday explores what music makes people think about.

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3 hours

On radio

Sun 25 Jan 202609:00
BBC Radio 3 Unwind

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Music Played

  • Erkki Melartin

    Symphony No 5 in A minor, Op 90, 'Sinfonia brevis' (2nd mvt)

    Conductor: Ari Rasilainen. Orchestra: Turku Philharmonic Orchestra.
    • CPO.

  • Lucy Walker

    Love flows

    Choir: St Martin's Voices. Director: Andrew Earis.
    • Resonus.

  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Piano Sonata No 31 in A flat major, Op 110 (1st mvt)

    Performer: Igor Levit.
    • Sony.

  • Vytautas Miškinis

    Seven O Antiphons (O Oriens)

    Choir: Choir of Royal Holloway. Conductor: Rupert Gough.
    • Hyperion.

  • Alexander Borodin

    Petite Suite (3rd mvt, Mazurka)

    Conductor: Geoffrey Simon. Orchestra: Philharmonia Orchestra.
    • Signum.

  • Catrin Finch

    Listen to the Grass Grow

    Performer: Catrin Finch. Performer: Seckou Keita.
    • bendigedig.

  • Gustav Holst

    Brook Green Suite, H 190 (1st mvt, Prelude)

    Conductor: Leigh O'Hara. Orchestra: BBC Concert Orchestra.
    • EM.

  • John Rutter

    4 Miniatures for Orchestra (No 3, 'Lullaby')

    Conductor: John Rutter. Orchestra: Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
    • Decca.

  • Laura Snowden

    The Memory Garden

    Performer: Jack Hancher.
    • Deux-elles.

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Violin Concerto no.3 in G major K.216 (2nd mvt)

    Performer: Arabella Steinbacher. Orchestra: Lucerne Festival Strings. Director: Daniel Dodds.
    • Pentatone.

  • Teresa Carreño

    Priere, Op 12

    Performer: Alexandra Oehler.
    • Grand Piano.

  • Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

    O Ye that Love the Lord

    Performer: James Orford. Ensemble: London Choral Sinfonia. Conductor: Michael Waldron.
    • Orchid.

  • Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    Souvenir de Florence, Op 70 (2nd mvt)

    Conductor: Domingo Hindoyan. Orchestra: Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.
    • ONYX.

  • York Bowen

    24 Preludes in all major and minor keys, Op 102 (Prelude No 23 in B major)

    Performer: Nuron Mukumi.
    • Prospero.

  • Richard Rodney Bennett

    Partita (2nd mvt, 'Lullaby')

    Conductor: John Wilson. Orchestra: BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.
    • Chandos.

  • Morten Lauridsen

    Nocturnes (2nd mvt, 'Soneto de la noche')

    Choir: National Youth Choir. Conductor: Lisa Graham.
    • NYC Recordings.

  • Claude Debussy

    Reverie

    Performer: Alice Sara Ott.
    • DG.

  • Jean Sibelius

    Four Humoresques for Violin and Orchestra, Op 89 (No 2 in G minor)

    Performer: Fenella Humphreys. Conductor: George Vass. Orchestra: BBC National Orchestra of Wales.
    • Resonus.

  • Laura Mvula

    Sing to the Moon

    Choir: Chapel Choir of Pembroke College, Cambridge. Conductor: Anna Lapwood.
    • Signum.

  • Alexander Gretchaninov

    Suite for Cello and Orchestra, Op 86 (2nd mvt, 'Nocturne')

    Performer: Werner Thomas-Mifune. Conductor: Alexander Symeonides. Orchestra: Bamberg Symphony Orchestra.
    • Northern Flowers.

  • Chiquinha Gonzaga

    Heloisa

    Performer: Karin Fernandes.
    • Azul.

  • Lars‐Erik Larsson

    Lyric Fantasy, Op 54

    Conductor: Andrew Manze. Orchestra: Helsingborgs Symfoniorkester.
    • CPO.

  • Joseph Haydn

    Theme and Variations in C major, Hob XVII (No 5, 'Theme')

    Performer: Jean‐Efflam Bavouzet.
    • Chandos.

  • Edward Elgar

    Serenade for Strings in E minor, Op 20 (3rd mvt)

    Conductor: Edward Gardner. Orchestra: BBC Symphony Orchestra.
    • Chandos.

  • Henry Purcell

    Fantasias & In Nomines (No 6 in F major, Fantasia a 4, Z 737)

    Ensemble: Chelys Consort of Viols.
    • BIS.

  • Hania Rani

    Intermezzo in C sharp minor

    Performer: Hania Rani.
    • DG.

  • Frederick Delius

    To Be Sung of a Summer Night on the Water (1st mvt)

    Choir: The Carice Singers. Conductor: George Parris.
    • Naxos.

  • Maurice Ravel

    Miroirs, M 43 (3rd mvt, 'Une barque sur l'ocean')

    Performer: Alim Beisembayev.
    • Parlophone.

  • Joe Hisaishi

    Memory (Departures)

    Performer: Nobuo Furukawa. Performer: Ken Fujimitsu. Conductor: Joe Hisaishi. Orchestra: Studio Orchestra.
    • Decca.

  • George Frideric Handel

    Trio Sonata in F major, HWV 392 (1st mvt)

    Ensemble: The Brook Street Band.
    • The Brook Street Band.

  • Lauren Scott

    Adventures for Lever Harp, Book 2 (Blue Moon Rising)

    Performer: Lauren Scott.
    • Lauren Scott.

  • Xiaogang Ye

    Sichuan Image (No 19, 'Ambition of Sichuan')

    Conductor: José Serebrier. Orchestra: Royal Scottish National Orchestra.
    • BIS.

  • William Grant Still

    Symphony No 2, 'Song of a New Race' (2nd mvt)

    Conductor: Yannick Nézet‐Séguin. Orchestra: Philadelphia Orchestra.
    • DG.

  • Nikolai Yakovlevich Myaskovsky

    Cello Concerto in C minor, Op 66 (1st mvt)

    Performer: Jamie Walton. Conductor: Alexander Briger. Orchestra: Philharmonia Orchestra.
    • Signum.

  • Charles Gounod

    Messe vocale (Benedictus)

    Choir: Vlaams Radiokoor. Director: Hervé Niquet.
    • Bru Zane.

Broadcasts

  • Thursday09:00
    BBC Radio 3 Unwind
  • Sun 25 Jan 202609:00
    BBC Radio 3 Unwind