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Breathe new life into your morning with comforting classical music

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 enriching, beautiful melodies from Arvo Pärt, Miriam Hyde, and Zoltán Kodály. Sian takes a breath by the seaside and Professor Catherine Loveday explains what happens in the brain when musicians sight-read music.

20 days left to listen

3 hours

Music Played

  • Erik Satie

    Gnossienne No 1 (transcr for guitar)

    Performer: Xuefei Yang.
    • Platoon.
  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Piano Concerto No 5 in E flat major, 'Emperor' (2nd movement)

    Performer: Paul Lewis. Conductor: Jiří BÄ›lohlávek. Orchestra: ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Symphony Orchestra.
    • Harmonia Mundi.
  • Louise Farrenc

    Symphony No 2 in D major, Op 35 (2nd mvt)

    Conductor: Christoph König. Orchestra: European Soloists, Luxembourg.
    • Naxos.
  • Franz Liszt

    12 Lieder von Franz Schubert, S 558 (No 7, 'Faith in Spring')

    Performer: Aimi Kobayashi.
    • Warner.
  • Gabríel Ólafs

    The Monolith

    Performer: Gabríel Ólafs.
    • One Little Independent.
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Andante in C major for Flute and Orchestra, K 315

    Performer: Emmanuel Pahud. Conductor: Ivan Repušić. Orchestra: Munich Radio Orchestra.
    • Warner.
  • Jamie W. Hall

    O Nata Lux

    Choir: ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Singers.
  • Eleanor Alberga

    Mythologies (5th mvt, 'Venus')

    Conductor: Thomas Kemp. Orchestra: ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Symphony Orchestra.
    • Resonus.
  • Arvo Pärt

    Summa (version for string orchestra)

    Conductor: Ivan Repušić. Orchestra: Munich Radio Orchestra.
    • BR Klassik.
  • George Martin

    3 American Sketches (2nd mvt, 'Old Boston')

    Performer: Göran Söllscher. Conductor: Mats Rondin. Orchestra: Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra.
    • DG.
  • Richard Wagner

    Isoldes Liebestod, instrumental version (Tristan & Isolde, Act II)

    Conductor: Edo de Waart. Orchestra: Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra.
    • Challenge.
  • Florence Price

    Dances in the Canebrakes arr for orchestra (No 2, 'Tropical Noon')

    Music Arranger: William Grant Still. Conductor: Mei-Ann Chen. Orchestra: Chicago Sinfonietta.
    • Naxos.
  • Wilhelm Stenhammar

    Symphony No 1 in F major (2nd mvt)

    Conductor: Andrew Manze. Orchestra: ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Scottish Symphony Orchestra.
  • Hayato Sumino

    Nocturne I (Pre Rain)

    Performer: Hayato Sumino.
    • Sony.
  • Thomas Tallis

    If ye love me

    Choir: The Cardinall’s Musick. Director: Andrew Carwood.
    • Hyperion.
  • Edward Elgar

    Sea Pictures, Op 37 (No 2, 'In Haven, Capri')

    Orchestrator: Donald Fraser. Choir: The Rodolfus Choir. Conductor: Kenneth Woods. Orchestra: English Chamber Orchestra. Orchestra: English Symphony Orchestra.
    • AVIE.
  • Miriam Hyde

    Piano Concerto No 1 in E flat minor (2nd mvt)

    Performer: Miriam Hyde. Conductor: Geoffrey Simon. Orchestra: West Australian Symphony Orchestra.
    • ABC.
  • Patrick Hawes

    Lazarus Requiem (Elegy for Lazarus)

    Conductor: Patrick Hawes. Orchestra: Royal Scottish National Orchestra.
    • Signum.
  • Antonio Vivaldi

    Spring 2 (2022)

    Performer: Elena Urioste. Music Arranger: Max Richter. Orchestra: Chineke! Orchestra.
    • DG.
  • Arcangelo Corelli

    Concerto grosso in B flat major, No 11 Op 6 (1st mct, 'Preludio')

    Orchestra: The English Concert. Conductor: Trevor Pinnock.
    • DG.
  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Piano Concerto No 7 in G minor, BWV 1058 (2nd mvt)

    Performer: David Fray. Orchestra: The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen.
    • Erato.
  • Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

    Isle of Beauty

    Choir: Choir of King’s College, Cambridge. Conductor: Joseph Fort.
    • Delphian.
  • Clara Schumann

    Piano Trio in G minor, Op 17 (3rd mvt)

    Ensemble: ATOS Trio.
  • Ellen Taaffe Zwilich

    Peanuts Gallery (No 4, 'Charlie Brown's Lament')

    Performer: Jeffrey Biegel. Conductor: Alexander Jiménez. Orchestra: Florida Symphony Orchestra.
    • Naxos.
  • Frédéric Chopin

    Berceuse in D flat, Op 57

    Performer: Hélène Grimaud.
    • DG.
  • Felix Mendelssohn

    Symphony No 1 in C minor, Op 11, MWV N 13 (2nd mvt)

    Conductor: Thierry Fischer. Orchestra: ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ National Orchestra of Wales.
  • Zoltán Kodály

    Esti Dal (Evening Song)

    Choir: Budapesti Monteverdi Kórus. Conductor: Eva Kollar.
    • CARUS.
  • R. Nathaniel Dett

    In the bottoms (4th mvt, 'Barcarolle')

    Performer: Natalie Hinderas.
    • Anthology of Recorded Music.
  • Ralph Vaughan Williams

    Symphony No 3, 'Pastoral Symphony' (2nd mvt)

    Conductor: Mark Elder. Orchestra: Hallé.
    • Halle.
  • Havergal Brian

    Burlesque Variations on an Original Theme, Op 2 (Variation No 6)

    Conductor: Garry Walker. Orchestra: ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Scottish Symphony Orchestra.
    • Toccata.
  • Dmitry Shostakovich

    Suite from the Gadfly, Op 97a (No 8, 'Romance')

    Performer: Daniel Hope. Music Arranger: Lev Atovmian. Conductor: Maxim Dmitrievich Shostakovich. Orchestra: ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Symphony Orchestra.
    • Warner.
  • Germaine Tailleferre

    Sonate pour harpe, arr for two guitars (1st mvt)

    Performer: Adam Cicchillitti. Performer: Steve Cowan.
    • ANALEKTA.

Broadcasts

  • Tue 6 May 2025 09:00
  • Sun 1 Jun 2025 09:00