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Relaxing music to focus the mind

Find your focus with calming classical music, from Baroque elegance and Romantic lyricism to sweeping orchestral works, intimate chamber music, and contemporary minimalism.

Quiet the distractions with a carefully curated mix designed to guide focus. Drift from the quiet grandeur of Johann Sebastian Bach, Claude Debussy, and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky into the expressive worlds of Amy Beach, Mel Bonis, and William Grant Still, with contemporary voices including Olivia Belli, Max Richter, and Poppy Ackroyd bringing atmospheric textures and gentle momentum.

Produced by Áine Devaney
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 3 Unwind.

To listen on most smart speakers, just 'ask BBC Sounds to play Classical Focus'.

27 days left to listen

2 hours

Last on

Tuesday12:00
BBC Radio 3 Unwind

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Music Played

  • Claude Debussy

    Debussy / Orch. Ducros: Suite bergamasque, CD 82, L. 75: III. Clair de lune

    Performer: Gautier Capuçon. Performer: Adrien Perruchon. Performer: Orchestre de chambre de Paris.
    • Calm Classical for Studying.

  • Okiem Warmann

    Mercy - Live

    Performer: Okiem.
    • Xiro (Live in London).

  • Hania Rani

    Mountains

    Performer: Hania Rani.
    • On Giacometti.

  • Pyotr Tchaikovsky

    The Seasons, Op. 37a: X. October. Autumn Song. Andante doloroso e molto cantabil

    Performer: Yunchan Lim.
    • Tchaikovsky: The Seasons.

  • Edmund Finnis

    Devotions (String Quartet No 3): III

    Performer: Solem Quartet.
    • Painted Light.

  • Giovanni Sollima

    L.B. Files: Igiul

    Performer: Manchester Collective. Performer: Abel Selaocoe.
    • L.B. Files: Igiul.

  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Concerto in D Minor, BWV 974: II. Adagio

    Performer: Víkingur Ólafsson.
    • Johann Sebastian Bach.

  • Poppy Ackroyd

    Seedling

    Performer: Poppy Ackroyd.
    • Pause.

  • Samuel Coleridge‐Taylor

    Deep River I

    Performer: Ashley Jackson.
    • Deep River.

  • Amy Beach

    Peace I Leave with You (After 3 Choral Responses, Op. 8: III. Peace I Leave with

    Performer: Raphaela Gromes. Performer: The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. Performer: Gordon Hamilton.
    • Peace I Leave with You (After 3 Choral Responses, Op. 8: III. Peace I Leave with.

  • Mary Lattimore

    We Wave From Our Boats

    Performer: Mary Lattimore.
    • Collected Pieces: 2015-2020.

  • Anne Dudley

    To Be A Forsyte

    Performer: Anne Dudley. Performer: The Chamber Orchestra of London.
    • The Forsytes (Original Series Soundtrack).

  • Joseph Haydn

    Always Here for You

    Performer: Olga Scheps.
    • Family.

  • Joseph Haydn

    Piano Sonata No. 50 in D Major, Hob. XVI: 37: II. Largo e sostenuto

    Performer: Olga Scheps.
    • Family.

  • Joseph Boulogne Chevalier de Saint-Georges

    6 Quartetto concertans: No. 2 in G Minor: I. Adagio

    Performer: Catalyst Quartet.
    • Uncovered, Vol. 4.

  • Eric Whitacre

    The Seal Lullaby (Arr. Parkin for Instrumental Ensemble)

    Performer: Isata Kanneh‐Mason. Performer: Jeneba Kanneh‐Mason. Performer: Braimah Kanneh-Mason. Performer: Konya Kanneh‐Mason.
    • Whitacre: The Seal Lullaby (Arr. Parkin).

  • Duke Ellington

    The Single Petal Of A Rose

    Performer: Rafiq Bhatia.
    • Standards Vol. 1.

  • Olivia Belli

    In Luce Gratiae

    Performer: Olivia Belli. Performer: Goldmund Quartet. Performer: Raphaela Gromes.
    • In Luce Gratiae.

  • Mel Bonis

    Suite en forme de valses: IIa Interlude, Op. 36/3

    Performer: BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Performer: Rumon Gamba.
    • Mel Bonis: Orchestral Works.

  • Chad Lawson

    room enough

    Performer: Chad Lawson.
    • room enough.

  • Sophie Hutchings

    Secrets To The Sea

    Performer: Sophie Hutchings.
    • become the sky.

  • Edvard Grieg

    Lyric Pieces Book III, Op.43 - 5. Erotik

    Performer: Tom Borrow.
    • Lyric Pieces Book III, Op.43 - 5. Erotik.

  • Max Richter

    On the Nature of Daylight

    Performer: Tenebrae. Performer: Nigel Short.
    • The Journey.

  • ImanAganj

    Solo Forty-One

    Performer: ImanAganj.
    • Solo Forty-One.

  • Alexis Ffrench

    Before the World Sings

    Performer: Alexis Ffrench.
    • Before the World Sings.

  • William Grant Still

    Vignettes: 3. Inca Melody

    Performer: Salon Trio.
    • Vignettes.

  • Antonio Vivaldi

    Guitar Concerto in D Major, RV 93: II. Largo

    Performer: Sharon Isbin. Performer: Lawrence Foster. Performer: Lausanne Chamber Orchestra.
    • Heartstrings.

  • Alexandra Hamilton‐Ayres

    Stair Echoes

    Performer: Alexandra Hamilton‐Ayres.
    • Play Echoes.

Broadcast

  • Tuesday12:00
    BBC Radio 3 Unwind