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”
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Music Played
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Johannes Brahms
Sonatensatz
Performer: Leila Josefowicz. Performer: John Novacek.- WARNER CLASSICS.
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Giacomo Puccini
O mio babbino caro (Gianni Schicchi)
Singer: Renée Fleming. Orchestra: London Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Charles Mackerras.- Decca.
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Michael Haydn
Symphony in E flat major, P26
Orchestra: London Mozart Players. Conductor: Matthias Bamert.- Chandos.
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Maria Grenfell
Lively and Steadily (Di Primavera)
Performer: Karin Schaupp. Performer: Claire Edwardes.- Women of Note.
- ABC.
- 06.
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Giuseppe Verdi
Luisa Miller (Overture)
Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Claudio Abbado.- Claudio Abbado: Verdi Overtures.
- RCA.
- 5.
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Louis‐Claude Daquin
Le coucou
Performer: Catherine Ennis.- 500 years of Organ Music for Royal Occasions.
- CMFR.
- 6.
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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.
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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.
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Gustav Holst
St Paul's suite Op.29`2
Orchestra: City of London Sinfonia. Conductor: Richard Hickox.- CHANDOS.
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Marc‐Antoine Charpentier
Tristes déserts
Performer: Thomas Dunford. Singer: Lea Desandre.- ERATO.
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John Ireland
A London Overture
Conductor: Richard Hickox. Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra.- Ireland: Orchestral & Choral Works - LSO & Chorus/Hickox.
- Chandos.
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Sergey Rachmaninov
Prelude in C sharp minor (5 Morceaux de fantaisie Op.3)
Performer: Simon Trpceski.- Simon Trpčeski plays Rachmaninov.
- Warner Classics.
- 13.
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George Frideric Handel
Let thy hand be strengthened, HWV 259
Choir: The Sixteen. Conductor: Harry Christophers.- Coro.
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Imogen Holst
Leiston Suite (No 2, Jig)
Ensemble: Onyx Brass. Conductor: John Wilson.- Onyx Brass Plays Fanfares.
- Chandos.
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Thomas Arne
When Daisies Pied "The Cuckow"
Singer: Malena Ernman. Conductor: Christina Pluhar. Ensemble: L’Arpeggiata.- Terra Mater.
- Warner Classics.
- 4.
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Trad. arr John Spiers and Jon Boden
Cuckoo's Nest
Performer: John Spiers. Performer: Jon Boden.- Fallow Ground.
- Hudson Records.
- 3.
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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.
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ROGER HENRY BERTRAND
Coucou
Composer: ANTONIO TONY MATAS. Composer: Jean Féline.- Gypsy Guitar Classics.
- Master Classics Records.
- 5.
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Felix Mendelssohn
Venetian Gondola Song (Songs Without Words - book 2 Op.30)
Performer: Peter Donohoe.- Chandos.
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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Symphony No.36 in C major "Linz" (4th mvt)
Orchestra: Ensemble Resonanz. Conductor: Riccardo Minasi.- Harmonia Mundi.
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Franz Schubert
String Quintet in C major (2nd mvt)
Performer: Ralph Kirshbaum. Ensemble: Takács Quartet.- Hyperion.
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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.
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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.
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Carl Maria von Weber
Ruler of the Spirits Op.27
Orchestra: WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne. Conductor: Howard Griffiths.- CPO.
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Madeleine Dring
Italian Dance
Performer: Nicholas Daniel. Performer: Antonio Oyarzabal.- Dring: Italian Dance.
- Chandos.
- 3.
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Cristóbal de Morales
Parce mihi Domine (Officium Defunctorum)
Ensemble: The Gesualdo Six. Director: Owain Park.- Lux Aeterna.
- Hyperion.
- 6.
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Joseph Haydn
Piano Sonata in A major H.16.26
Performer: Leif Ove Andsnes.- EMI.
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Jessie Montgomery
Strum
Ensemble: Catalyst Quartet.- Azica Records.
Broadcast
- Mon 26 May 2025 09:30ѿý Radio 3