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A feast of great music

Ian Skelly plays the best in classical music, 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.

To listen on most smart speakers say 'Ask 麻豆社 Sounds to play Essential Classics'.

3 hours, 30 minutes

Last on

Fri 14 Nov 2025 09:30
麻豆社 Radio 3

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Music Played

  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Orchestral Suite No 2: Badin茅rie

    Performer: Wilbert Hazelzet. Ensemble: Musica Antiqua K枚ln.
    • ARCHIV.

  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Coriolan Overture, Op 62

    Orchestra: Orchestre R茅volutionnaire et Romantique. Conductor: Sir John Eliot Gardiner.
    • Brahms: Symphony 4; Gardiner.
    • Soli Deo Gloria.
    • 1.

  • Charles Wood

    Hail, Gladdening Light

    Lyricist: John Keble. Choir: Choir of Clare College, Cambridge. Conductor: Timothy Brown.
    • Light of the Spirit.
    • Collegium.
    • 10.

  • Gabriel Faur茅

    Violin Sonata No 1 in A major (4th mvt)

    Performer: Gil Shaham. Performer: Akira Eguchi.
    • Faur茅: Works for Violin, Piano and Cello.
    • Canary Classics.
    • 104.

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Un'aura amorosa (Cos矛 fan tutte)

    Singer: Kenneth Tarver. Orchestra: MusicAeterna. Conductor: Teodor Currentzis.
    • Mozart: Cos矛 fan tutte (Highlights).
    • Sony Classical.
    • 11.

  • Domenico Scarlatti

    Sonata in C major, Kk.72

    Performer: Alexandre Tharaud.
    • D. Scarlatti: Sonatas: Alexandre Tharaud.
    • Virgin Classics.
    • 3.

  • Arthur Bliss

    Things to come (March)

    Orchestra: 麻豆社 Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Rumon Gamba.
    • Chandos Movies.

  • Johannes Brahms

    Double Concerto in A minor Op.102 (3rd mvt)

    Performer: Julia Fischer. Performer: Daniel M眉ller鈥怱chott. Orchestra: Nederlands Philharmonisch Orkest. Conductor: Yakov Kreizberg.
    • PENTATONE.

  • Francis Poulenc

    Flute Sonata

    Orchestrator: Lennox Berkeley. Performer: Katherine Bryan. Orchestra: Royal Scottish National Orchestra. Conductor: Paul Daniel.
    • LINN.

  • Giuseppe Verdi

    La Traviata (Act 1 Prelude)

    Orchestra: La Scala Philharmonic. Conductor: Riccardo Chailly.
    • Viva Verdi.
    • Decca.
    • 3.

  • Jasmine Barnes

    Life in Sunshine

    Performer: Gautier Capu莽on. Ensemble: Capucelli.
    • ERATO.

  • Charles Avison

    Concerto Grosso in F major, Op 10 No 2

    Performer: Pavlo Beznosiuk. Ensemble: Avison Ensemble.
    • The Avison Ensemble: Avison: Concerti Grossi, op. 9 & op. 10.
    • Divine Art.
    • 16.

  • Camille Saint鈥怱a毛ns

    Septet in E flat major Op.65 (4th mvt)

    Ensemble: Nash Ensemble.
    • Hyperion.

  • Dominique Phinot

    O sacrum convivium

    Choir: The Brabant Ensemble. Conductor: Stephen Rice.
    • Phinot: Missa Si bona suscepimus & Other Sacred Music.
    • Hyperion.
    • 10.

  • Carl Maria von Weber

    Invitation to the Dance

    Orchestrator: Hector Berlioz. Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Charles Mackerras.
    • Kaleidoscope: An Orchestral Extravaganza: Mackerras, LSO.
    • Mercury.
    • 12.

  • Gabriela Montero

    Improvisation on Vivaldi's Winter

    Performer: Gabriela Montero.
    • EMI.

  • Dmitry Shostakovich

    The Bedbug Suite, Op 19a: Closing March

    Orchestra: Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz. Conductor: Mark Fitz-Gerald.
    • Shostakovich: The Bedbug Suite, Op. 19a & Love and Hate, Op. 38.
    • Naxos.
    • 206.

  • Henry Purcell

    A Clockwork Orange (Title music - based on Purcell's The Funeral of Queen Mary)

    Composer: Rachel Elkind. Composer: Wendy Carlos. Performer: Wendy Carlos.
    • A Clockwork Orange: Soundtrack.
    • Columbia.

  • John Ireland

    Epic March

    Orchestra: Sinfonia of London. Conductor: John Wilson.
    • John Ireland Orchestral Works.
    • CHANDOS.

  • Johann Nepomuk Hummel

    Trumpet Concerto in E major (3rd mvt)

    Performer: Sergei Nakariakov. Orchestra: Lausanne Chamber Orchestra. Conductor: Jes煤s L贸pez Cobos.
    • Teldec.

  • Oswald von Wolkenstein

    Nu rue mit sorgen

    Singer: Andreas Scholl. Singer: Kathleen Dineen. Ensemble: Shield of Harmony. Director: Crawford Young.
    • Wolkenstein, Songs of Myself: Andreas Scholl.
    • Harmonia Mundi.
    • 13.

  • Dmitry Shostakovich

    Symphony No 6 (3rd mvt)

    Orchestra: Oslo Philharmonic. Conductor: Klaus M盲kel盲.
    • Shostakovich: Symphonies 4, 5 & 6.
    • DECCA.
    • 12.

  • Georg Philipp Telemann

    Fantasia No 1 for solo violin in B flat major (1st mvt)

    Performer: Alina Ibragimova.
    • Telemann: Fantasias for Solo Violin.
    • Hyperion.

  • Louise Farrenc

    Symphony No 1 in C minor (3rd mvt)

    Orchestra: Insula Orchestra. Conductor: Laurence Equilbey.
    • ERATO.

  • Claude Debussy

    La fille aux cheveux de lin (Preludes, Book 1)

    Performer: Noriko Ogawa.
    • Debussy: Preludes/Children's Corner: Ogawa.
    • BIS.
    • 8.

  • Richard Strauss

    Also sprach Zarathustra

    Orchestra: City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Andris Nelsons.
    • Orfeo.

  • Percy Grainger

    Handel in the Strand

    Performer: Marc鈥怉ndr茅 Hamelin.
    • Grainger: Solo Piano Music: Marc-Andre Hamelin.
    • Hyperion.
    • 13.

  • Florence Price

    String Quartet in G Major (2nd mvt)

    Orchestra: Delirium Musicum. Director: Etienne Gara.
    • Cabinet of Curiosities.
    • ERATO.
    • 5.

  • Robert Schumann

    John Anderson (Romances and Ballads Set 3, Op.145)

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

  • Pyotr Tchaikovsky

    Symphony No. 4 in F Minor, Op. 36: IV. Finale. Allegro con fuoco

    Conductor: Sir Antonio Pappano. Orchestra: Orchestra of the Academy of Santa Cecilia, Rome.
    • Tchaikovsky: Symphonies Nos. 4, 5 & 6.
    • Warner Classics.
    • 4.

Broadcast

  • Fri 14 Nov 2025 09:30
    麻豆社 Radio 3