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Great classical music for your morning

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.

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27 days left to listen

3 hours, 30 minutes

Last on

Tuesday 09:30
麻豆社 Radio 3

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Music Played

  • Manuel de Falla

    Jota (La vida breve)

    Orchestra: Sim贸n Bol铆var Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Eduardo Mata.
    • De Falla - Orchestral Works.
    • Brilliant Classics.
    • 9.

  • Madeleine Dring

    Trio for flute, oboe and piano; 2nd mvt. Andante semplice

    Performer: Nicholas Daniel. Performer: Adam Walker. Performer: Antonio Oyarzabal.
    • Madeleine Dring: Complete Works for Oboe.
    • Chandos.

  • Johannes Brahms

    Symphony no.1 in C minor (1st mvt)

    Orchestra: Orchestre R茅volutionnaire et Romantique. Conductor: Sir John Eliot Gardiner.
    • SOLI DEO GLORIA.

  • Jerome Moross

    The Big Country (main theme)

    Orchestra: Cincinnati Pops Orchestra. Conductor: Erich Kunzel.
    • Round-Up.
    • Telarc.
    • 9.

  • Trad.

    The snow it melts the soonest

    Music Arranger: Geoff Lawson. Choir: VOCES8. Performer: Eleanor Turner.
    • Winter.
    • Decca.
    • 14.

  • Jacques Ibert

    The Little White Donkey

    Performer: James Galway. Performer: Phillip Moll.
    • RCA.

  • George Butterworth

    A Shropshire lad - rhapsody for orchestra [1912]

    Orchestra: Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Andrew Manze.
    • Holst & Butterworth.
    • ONYX.

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Nehmt meinen Dank, K 383

    Singer: Emma Kirkby. Ensemble: Academy of Ancient Music. Conductor: Christopher Hogwood.
    • L'Oiseau-Lyre.

  • Vladimir Valivov

    Ave Maria

    Composer: Giulio Caccini. Music Arranger: Maria Leszczynska-Thieu. Ensemble: SCS Cello Ensemble. Conductor: Jacob Shaw.
    • The Road to Vienna.
    • Evidence Classics.
    • 1.

  • Franz Schubert

    4 Impromptus, Op. 90, D. 899: No. 2 in E-Flat Major

    Performer: Eric Lu.
    • Schubert: Impromptus, Op. 90 & 142.
    • Warner Classics.
    • 2.

  • Georges Bizet

    Symphony in C major (4th mvt)

    Orchestra: City of London Sinfonia. Conductor: Richard Hickox.
    • 100 Best Ballet.
    • EMI.

  • Trad.

    The snow it melts the soonest

    Music Arranger: Geoff Lawson. Choir: VOCES8. Performer: Eleanor Turner.
    • Winter.
    • Decca.
    • 14.

  • Rebecca Clarke

    Morpheus

    Performer: Philip Dukes. Performer: Sophia Rahman.
    • Naxos.

  • Franz Liszt

    Mephisto Waltz No 1

    Orchestra: 麻豆社 Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Ilan Volkov.
    • Hyperion.

  • Maurice Ravel

    Piano Trio in A minor (1st mvt)

    Ensemble: The Florestan Trio.
    • Hyperion.

  • Claude Debussy

    The Snow is Dancing (Children's Corner)

    Music Arranger: Isao Tomita. Performer: Isao Tomita.
    • Tomita: Snowflakes are dancing.
    • RCA.
    • 1.

  • Henry Purcell

    What pow'r art thou (King Arthur)

    Singer: Stephen Varcoe. Orchestra: English Baroque Soloists. Conductor: Sir John Eliot Gardiner.
    • Purcell - King Arthur.
    • ERATO.
    • 18.

  • Edward Elgar

    The Snow, Op.26 no.1

    Choir: London Symphony Chorus. Orchestra: Royal Northern Sinfonia. Conductor: Richard Hickox.
    • Elgar: The Spirit of England.
    • EMI.
    • 6.

  • Roger Quilter

    Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind (3 Shakespeare Songs, Op. 6)

    Performer: Malcolm Martineau. Lyricist: William Shakespeare. Singer: John Mark Ainsley.
    • Roger Quilter: Songs.
    • Hyperion.

  • Malcolm Arnold

    Four English Dances Set 2 (No 1)

    Orchestra: Philharmonia Orchestra. Conductor: Malcolm Arnold.
    • Arnold: Symphony No. 1 etc.
    • EMI Classics.
    • 11.

  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Trio Sonata No.5 in C BWV.529 (1st mvt)

    Ensemble: Palladian Ensemble.
    • Linn.

  • Grace Williams

    Calm sea in summer (Sea sketches)

    Orchestra: Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra. Conductor: Malin Broman.
    • Breaking Waves.
    • BIS.
    • 105.

  • Fr茅d茅ric Chopin

    Waltz in A flat major Op.34 no.1

    Performer: Sir Stephen Hough.
    • Chopin - The Complete Waltzes.
    • Hyperion.
    • 2.

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Symphony no.40 in G minor K.550 (1st mvt)

    Orchestra: Freiburg Baroque Orchestra. Conductor: Ren茅 Jacobs.
    • Mozart: Symphonies Nos. 39 & 40: Rene Jacobs.
    • Harmonia Mundi.
    • 5.

  • Heitor Villa鈥怢obos

    Concerto for guitar and orchestra

    Performer: John Williams. Orchestra: English Chamber Orchestra. Conductor: Daniel Barenboim.
    • Sony.

  • Domenico Gabrielli

    Viva La Musica

    Choir: Coventry Cathedral Chapter House Choir. Ensemble: Warwickshire Youth Brass Consort. Conductor: Geoffrey Holroyde.
    • Alpha.

  • Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    Marche Slave, Op.31

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

  • Elena Kats鈥怌hernin

    Butterflying

    Performer: Nicola Sweeney. Performer: Sarah Nicolls.
    • Kats-Chernin: Ragtime and Blue.
    • Signum Classics.
    • 13.

  • George Frideric Handel

    Serse (Overture)

    Orchestra: Early Opera Company. Conductor: Christian Curnyn.
    • Handel: Serse.
    • Chaconne.
    • 1.

  • Thomas Tallis

    Spem in alium

    Ensemble: Taverner Consort. Choir: Taverner Choir. Conductor: Andrew Parrott.
    • VIRGIN CLASSICS.

Broadcast

  • Tuesday 09:30
    麻豆社 Radio 3