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Celebrating classical greats

Ian Skelly plays the best in classical music, with discoveries and surprises rubbing shoulders with familiar favorites.

Ian Skelly plays the best in classical music, with discoveries and surprises rubbing shoulders with familiar favorites.

1000 Playlist starter – listen and send us your ideas for the next step in our musical journey today.

1030 Song of the Day – harnessing the magic of words, music and the human voice.

1115 Playlist reveal – a sequence of music suggested by you in response to our starter today.

1145 Slow Moment – time to take a break for a moment's musical reflection.

1230 Album of the Week.

To listen on most smart speakers say "Ask ѿý Sounds to play Essential Classics”

13 days left to listen

3 hours, 30 minutes

Last on

Mon 26 May 2025 09:30

Music Played

  • Johannes Brahms

    Sonatensatz

    Performer: Leila Josefowicz. Performer: John Novacek.
    • WARNER CLASSICS.
  • Giacomo Puccini

    O mio babbino caro (Gianni Schicchi)

    Singer: Renée Fleming. Orchestra: London Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Charles Mackerras.
    • Decca.
  • Michael Haydn

    Symphony in E flat major, P26

    Orchestra: London Mozart Players. Conductor: Matthias Bamert.
    • Chandos.
  • Maria Grenfell

    Lively and Steadily (Di Primavera)

    Performer: Karin Schaupp. Performer: Claire Edwardes.
    • Women of Note.
    • ABC.
    • 06.
  • Giuseppe Verdi

    Luisa Miller (Overture)

    Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Claudio Abbado.
    • Claudio Abbado: Verdi Overtures.
    • RCA.
    • 5.
  • Louis‐Claude Daquin

    Le coucou

    Performer: Catherine Ennis.
    • 500 years of Organ Music for Royal Occasions.
    • CMFR.
    • 6.
  • Hector Berlioz

    Harold en Italie (Serenade)

    Performer: Yuri Abramovich Bashmet. Orchestra: Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Eliahu Inbal.
    • Berlioz: "Harold En Italie" Op.16.
    • Denon.
    • 3.
  • Anna Thorvaldsdottir

    Heyr þú oss himnum á [Hear us in the heavens]

    Choir: Schola Cantorum Reykjavicensis. Conductor: Hörður Áskelsson.
    • Meditatio: Music for Mixed Choir.
    • BIS.
    • 10.
  • Gustav Holst

    St Paul's suite Op.29`2

    Orchestra: City of London Sinfonia. Conductor: Richard Hickox.
    • CHANDOS.
  • Marc‐Antoine Charpentier

    Tristes déserts

    Performer: Thomas Dunford. Singer: Lea Desandre.
    • ERATO.
  • John Ireland

    A London Overture

    Conductor: Richard Hickox. Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra.
    • Ireland: Orchestral & Choral Works - LSO & Chorus/Hickox.
    • Chandos.
  • Sergey Rachmaninov

    Prelude in C sharp minor (5 Morceaux de fantaisie Op.3)

    Performer: Simon Trpceski.
    • Simon Trpčeski plays Rachmaninov.
    • Warner Classics.
    • 13.
  • George Frideric Handel

    Let thy hand be strengthened, HWV 259

    Choir: The Sixteen. Conductor: Harry Christophers.
    • Coro.
  • Imogen Holst

    Leiston Suite (No 2, Jig)

    Ensemble: Onyx Brass. Conductor: John Wilson.
    • Onyx Brass Plays Fanfares.
    • Chandos.
  • Thomas Arne

    When Daisies Pied "The Cuckow"

    Singer: Malena Ernman. Conductor: Christina Pluhar. Ensemble: L’Arpeggiata.
    • Terra Mater.
    • Warner Classics.
    • 4.
  • Trad. arr John Spiers and Jon Boden

    Cuckoo's Nest

    Performer: John Spiers. Performer: Jon Boden.
    • Fallow Ground.
    • Hudson Records.
    • 3.
  • George Frideric Handel

    Organ Concerto in F major HWV.295 'The Cuckoo and the Nightingale' (2nd mvt)

    Performer: Simon Preston. Orchestra: The English Concert. Conductor: Trevor Pinnock.
    • Handel: Organ Concertos: Simon Preston.
    • Archiv Produktion.
  • ROGER HENRY BERTRAND

    Coucou

    Composer: ANTONIO TONY MATAS. Composer: Jean Féline.
    • Gypsy Guitar Classics.
    • Master Classics Records.
    • 5.
  • Felix Mendelssohn

    Venetian Gondola Song (Songs Without Words - book 2 Op.30)

    Performer: Peter Donohoe.
    • Chandos.
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Symphony No.36 in C major "Linz" (4th mvt)

    Orchestra: Ensemble Resonanz. Conductor: Riccardo Minasi.
    • Harmonia Mundi.
  • Franz Schubert

    String Quintet in C major (2nd mvt)

    Performer: Ralph Kirshbaum. Ensemble: Takács Quartet.
    • Hyperion.
  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Septet in E flat major, Op 20 arr Druzecky (5th mvt)

    Performer: Sabine Meyer. Performer: Reiner Wehle. Performer: Diethelm Jonas. Performer: Albrecht Mayer. Performer: Dag Jensen. Performer: Georg Klütsch. Performer: Klaus Lohrer. Performer: Bruno Schneider. Performer: Niklaus Frisch. Music Arranger: Georg Druschetzky. Ensemble: Bläserensemble Sabine Meyer.
    • Beethoven: Octet etc.: Sabine Meyer Wind Ensemble.
    • EMI.
    • 10.
  • Thomas Linley (the younger)

    Music for The Tempest

    Ensemble: The Parley of Instruments. Singer: Julia Gooding. Conductor: Paul Nicholson.
    • Linley: Music for The Tempest, etc..
    • Hyperion.
  • Carl Maria von Weber

    Ruler of the Spirits Op.27

    Orchestra: WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne. Conductor: Howard Griffiths.
    • CPO.
  • Madeleine Dring

    Italian Dance

    Performer: Nicholas Daniel. Performer: Antonio Oyarzabal.
    • Dring: Italian Dance.
    • Chandos.
    • 3.
  • Cristóbal de Morales

    Parce mihi Domine (Officium Defunctorum)

    Ensemble: The Gesualdo Six. Director: Owain Park.
    • Lux Aeterna.
    • Hyperion.
    • 6.
  • Joseph Haydn

    Piano Sonata in A major H.16.26

    Performer: Leif Ove Andsnes.
    • EMI.
  • Jessie Montgomery

    Strum

    Ensemble: Catalyst Quartet.
    • Azica Records.

Broadcast

  • Mon 26 May 2025 09:30

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