Main content

Bring warmth to your morning with peaceful classical melodies

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 beautiful melodies and spine-tingling harmonies from composers including William Grant Still, Imogen Holst, and Robert Schumnann, Sian is captivated by the sound of a blackbird while out to Take a Breath, and Professor Catherine Loveday explores whether musical training can help with our memory. And your daily chance to Find Your Focus comes courtesy of composer and harpist Catrin Finch.

28 days left to listen

3 hours

Last on

Yesterday09:00
BBC Radio 3 Unwind

More episodes

Previous

Settle into the day with flowing classical harmonies

Next

13/04/2026

See all episodes from Classical Unwind

Music Played

  • Camille Saint‐Saëns

    Suite in D minor, Op 16b, R 211 (4th mvt, 'Romance')

    Performer: Gabriel Schwabe. Conductor: Marc Soustrot. Orchestra: Malmö SymfoniOrkester.
    • Naxos.

  • Anton Urspruch

    Cavatine and Arabeske, Op 20 (1st mvt, 'Cavatine')

    Performer: Maria Linares.
    • Naxos.

  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    String Trio in G major, Op 9 No 1 (3rd mvt)

    Ensemble: Trio Zimmermann.
    • BIS.

  • Maurice Ravel

    Le tombeau de Couperin, M 68a (Menuet)

    Conductor: Emmanuel Krivine. Orchestra: Orchestre national de Lyon.
    • Audivis.

  • R. Nathaniel Dett

    Tropic Winter (6th mvt, 'Noon Siesta')

    Performer: Clipper Erickson.
    • Navona.

  • Catrin Finch

    Kin

    Performer: Catrin Finch. Performer: Ana‐Gwen Wigley. Performer: Pegi Wigley.
    • bendigedig.

  • Christopher Wilson

    Suite for String Orchestra (5th mvt, 'Romance')

    Conductor: Douglas Bostock. Orchestra: South-West German Chamber Orchestra Pforzheim.
    • CPO.

  • Hélène de Montgeroult

    Piano Sonata in A minor, Op 2 No 3 (2nd mvt)

    Performer: Nicolas Horvath.
    • Grand Piano.

  • Edward MacDowell

    Suite No 1 in A minor, Op 42 (4th mvt, 'The Shepherdess' Song')

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

  • Hiromi

    Green Tea Farm

    Performer: Hiromi.
    • UMG.

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Symphony No 9 in C major, K 73 (2nd mvt)

    Conductor: Johannes Klumpp. Orchestra: Folkwang Kammerorchester Essen.
    • Genuin.

  • Rita Strohl

    Septet in C minor (3rd mvt, 'Romance')

    Performer: Shuichi Okada. Performer: Alexandre Pascal. Performer: Léa Hennino. Performer: Claudine Legras. Performer: Héloïse Luzzati. Performer: Lorraine Campet. Performer: Célia Oneto Bensaid.
    • La Boite a Pepites.

  • Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    Orchestral Suite No 2 in C major, Op 53 (2nd mvt, 'Valse')

    Conductor: Alpesh Chauhan. Orchestra: BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.
    • Chandos.

  • Robert Schumann

    Bunte Blätter, Op 99 (Drei Stücklein: No 1)

    Performer: Martin Stadtfeld.
    • Sony.

  • Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

    Petite Suite de Concert, Op 77 (3rd mvt, 'Un sonnet d'amour')

    Conductor: Anthony Parnther. Orchestra: Chineke! Orchestra.
    • Decca.

  • Richard Strauss

    Duett-Concertino for Clarinet, Bassoon and Strings (2nd mvt)

    Performer: Michael Collins. Performer: Julie Price. Orchestra: BBC Symphony Orchestra.
    • Chandos.

  • Randall Thompson

    Fare Well

    Choir: Polyphony. Conductor: Stephen Layton.
    • Hyperion.

  • John Lennon

    Blackbird

    Composer: Paul McCartney. Performer: Miloš Karadaglić.
    • Mercury.

  • Charles‐Valentin Alkan

    Esquisses, Op 63 (Premiere Suite: No 1, 'La Vision')

    Performer: Pascal Amoyel.
    • La Dolce Volta.

  • Joseph Haydn

    String Quartet in G major, Op 76 No 1 (2nd mvt)

    Ensemble: Quatuor Arod.
    • Erato.

  • Isaías Sávio

    Cenas Brasileiras (No 2, 'Dream, My Dear')

    Performer: Gerald Garcia.
    • Naxos.

  • Imogen Holst

    Welcome Joy and Welcome Sorrow

    Ensemble: Ensemble Altera. Conductor: Christopher Lowrey.
    • Alpha.

  • William Walton

    Sinfonia Concertante (2nd mvt)

    Performer: Clare Hammond. Conductor: George Vass. Orchestra: BBC Symphony Orchestra.
    • BIS.

  • Alexandre Tansman

    Musique de cour d'apres Robert de Visée (3rd mvt, 'Sarabande')

    Performer: Thibaut Garcia.
    • Warner.

  • Cipriani Potter

    Symphony in C minor (2nd mvt)

    Conductor: Howard Griffiths. Orchestra: BBC National Orchestra of Wales.
    • CPO.

  • Gabriela Montero

    Continuum

    Performer: Gabriela Montero.
    • EMI.

  • Carl Stamitz

    Clarinet Concerto No 4 in B flat major (2nd mvt)

    Performer: Paul Meyer. Conductor: Johannes Schlaefli. Orchestra: Kurpfälzisches Kammerorchester.
    • CPO.

  • Ethel Smyth

    Cello Sonata in C minor (3rd mvt)

    Performer: Lionel Handy. Performer: Jennifer Hughes.
    • Lyrita.

  • Johannes Brahms

    Variations and Fugue on a theme by Handel (Variation 11 & 12)

    Conductor: Neeme Järvi. Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra.
    • Chandos.

  • Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka

    I Remember a Wonderful Moment

    Performer: Harriet Krijgh. Performer: Magda Amara.
    • Universal.

  • William Grant Still

    Violin Suite (2nd mvt, 'Mother and Child')

    Performer: Zina Schiff. Conductor: Avlana Eisenberg. Orchestra: Royal Scottish National Orchestra.
    • Naxos.

  • Edgar Leslie Bainton

    Three Pieces for Orchestra (2nd mvt, 'Intermezzo')

    Conductor: Paul Daniel. Orchestra: BBC Philharmonic Orchestra.
    • Chandos.

  • Edward Elgar

    How Calmly the Evening

    Choir: Chapel Choir of the Royal Hospital Chelsea. Director: William Vann.
    • SOMM.

  • Mel Bonis

    Prelude, Op 10

    Performer: Rosie Bennet.
    • Sony.

  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    O Mensch, bewein dein Sünde gross, BWV 622

    Conductor: Andrew Davis. Orchestra: BBC Philharmonic Orchestra.
    • Chandos.

  • Taylor Scott Davis

    Stardust

    Choir: VOCES8.
    • DECCA.

Broadcast

  • Yesterday09:00
    BBC Radio 3 Unwind