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Relax into the day with classical

Ian Skelly plays the best in classical music for your morning, with discoveries and surprises rubbing shoulders with familiar favourites.

Ian Skelly 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 essentialclassics@bbc.co.uk.

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.

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29 days left to listen

3 hours, 30 minutes

Last on

Yesterday09:30
BBC Radio 3

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Music Played

  • Georges Bizet

    Farandole (L'Arlésienne - Suite No 2)

    Orchestra: Ulster Orchestra. Conductor: Yan Pascal Tortelier.
    • Chandos.

  • Felix Mendelssohn

    Piano Trio No. 2, Op. 66 Finale. Allegro appassionato

    Performer: Pekka Kuusisto. Performer: Pieter Wispelwey. Performer: Alasdair Beatson.
    • Mendelssohn: Motets & Piano Trio.
    • Evil Penguin Classic.
    • 7.

  • Helena Munktell

    Menuetto à l'antique (Suite for large orchestra, No 2)

    Orchestra: Gävle symfoniorkester. Conductor: Tobias Ringborg.
    • Sterling.

  • William Byrd

    Diliges Dominum

    Choir: The Sixteen. Director: Harry Christophers.
    • Coro.

  • Camille Saint‐Saëns

    Havanaise Op.83

    Performer: María Dueñas. Orchestra: Wiener Symphoniker. Conductor: Manfred Honeck.
    • Beethoven and Beyond.
    • Deutsche Grammophon.
    • 6.

  • Sergey Prokofiev

    Cinderella Suite No. 1, Op. 107, Act I: III. Quarrel

    Orchestra: Royal Scottish National Orchestra. Conductor: Neeme Järvi.
    • Prokofiev: Peter And The Wolf & Cinderella Suite.
    • Chandos.
    • 103.

  • Robert Schumann

    Abegg Variations Op.1

    Performer: Lise de la Salle.
    • NAÏVE.

  • Amy Beach

    Pastorale Op.151

    Ensemble: Blásarakvintett Reykjavíkur.
    • Barber: Summer Music - Beach: Pastorale and Other American Works.
    • Chandos.
    • 15.

  • Gregorio Allegri

    Miserere mei Deus

    Choir: Tenebrae. Conductor: Nigel Short.
    • SIGNUM.

  • George Gershwin

    Porgy and Bess: Bess, You Is My Woman Now

    Music Arranger: Robert Russell Bennett. Conductor: Barbara Hannigan. Orchestra: Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra.
    • An American Dream?.
    • Alpha Classics.
    • 5.

  • Béla Bartók

    Piano Quartet in C minor, Op. 20 (2nd mvt)

    Ensemble: Notos Quartett.
    • RCA.

  • John Dowland

    The King of Denmark's Galliard; Can she excuse my wrongs?

    Singer: Lea Desandre. Singer: Jess Dandy. Singer: Laurence Kilsby. Singer: Alex Rosen. Ensemble: Jupiter Ensemble. Director: Thomas Dunford.
    • Songs of Passion.
    • ERATO.

  • Ralph Vaughan Williams

    Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus

    Orchestra: Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Andrew Manze.
    • Vaughan Williams: Orchestral works.
    • PM Classics Ltd..
    • 2.

  • Germaine Tailleferre

    Concertino (3rd mvt)

    Performer: Nicanor Zabaleta. Orchestra: Orchestre national de France. Conductor: Jean Martinon.
    • DG.

  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    English Suite No. 4 in F Major, BWV 809: II. Allemande

    Performer: Murray Perahia.
    • Bach: English Suites Nos. 2, 4 & 5.
    • Sony Classical.
    • 9.

  • Ferdinand Hérold

    La fille mal gardée (Rev. Lanchbery), Act I - No. 15, Quarrel

    Music Arranger: John Lanchbery. Conductor: John Lanchbery. Orchestra: Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
    • Hérold: La fille mal gardée; LeCocq: Mam'zelle Angot.
    • Decca Music Group Ltd..
    • 14.

  • Giuseppe Verdi

    Cortigiani, vil razza dannata (from Rigoletto)

    Performer: Ludovic Tézier. Orchestra: Orchestra del Teatro Comunale di Bologna. Conductor: Frédéric Chaslin.
    • Sony.

  • André Messager

    The Two Pigeons: Opening

    Orchestra: Welsh National Opera Orchestra. Conductor: Richard Bonynge.
    • DECCA.

  • Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

    Dance of the Tumblers (Snow Maiden)

    Orchestra: Seattle Symphony. Conductor: Gerard Schwarz.
    • Rimsky-Korsakov: Orchestral Suites.
    • Naxos.
    • 4.

  • Vicente Lusitano

    Ave spes nostra, Dei genitrix

    Ensemble: The Marian Consort.
    • Vicente Lusitano: Motets.
    • Linn Records.
    • 4.

  • Anna Clyne

    Shorthand REDUX

    Performer: Yo‐Yo Ma. Ensemble: The Knights. Conductor: Eric Jacobsen.
    • Anna Clyne: SHORTHAND.
    • Sony Classical.
    • 7.

  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Missa Solemnis, Op.123: Gloria; Quoniam tu solus Sanctus

    Choir: Chicago Symphony Chorus. Orchestra: Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Daniel Barenboim. Singer: Tina Kiberg. Singer: Waltraud Meier. Singer: John Aler. Singer: Robert Holl.
    • WARNER CLASSICS.

  • Frédéric Chopin

    Fantasie-impromptu in C sharp minor Op.66

    Performer: Daniil Trifonov.
    • DG.

  • Johannes Brahms

    Clarinet Sonata in F minor, Op.120 No. 1

    Performer: Annelien Van Wauwe. Music Arranger: Luciano Berio. Orchestra: Orchestre national de Lille. Conductor: Alexandre Bloch.
    • PENTATONE.

  • Francis Poulenc

    Gloria in excelsis Deo (Gloria)

    Choir: BBC Singers. Orchestra: BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Yan Pascal Tortelier.
    • Chandos.

  • Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre

    Sonata No 4 for violin, viol and continuo in G minor

    Ensemble: La Rêveuse. Director: Benjamin Perrot.
    • MIRARE.

  • Franz Liszt

    Les jeux d'eaux à la Villa d'Este (3me Années de pèlerinage)

    Performer: Bertrand Chamayou.
    • Liszt: Annees de Pelerinage: Bertrand Chamayou.
    • Naive.
    • 4.

  • Edward Elgar

    4 Part Songs, Op. 53: No. 1, There Is Sweet Music

    Lyricist: Lord Alfred Tennyson. Choir: Chapel Choir of the Royal Hospital Chelsea. Conductor: William Vann.
    • The Reeds by Severn Side.
    • SOMM Recordings.
    • 701.

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Le nozze di Figaro (Overture)

    Orchestra: Staatskapelle Dresden. Conductor: Colin Davis.
    • Mozart: Overtures: Staatskapelle Dresden/Colin Davis.
    • RCA Red Seal.

Broadcast

  • Yesterday09:30
    BBC Radio 3