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Your perfect Sunday soundtrack

Let Sarah Walker guide you through three hours of classical sparkle - ideal for recharging or easing into your day.

Sarah Walker brings you three hours of classical music to reflect, restore, and refresh.

Today, Sarah offers a rich mix of well-loved classics and lesser-known gems in the Sunday Morning studio. Among her musical discoveries are an orchestral prelude by Portuguese composer Braga Santos, characterful keyboard music by Elisabetta de Gambarini, and a pair of Minuets by Christian Petzold - long attributed to J.S. Bach.

The real J.S. Bach also makes an appearance, courtesy of pianist Murray Perahia. There’s a masterclass in musical portrait painting from Tchaikovsky in his Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture, and a trip to the fictional Japanese town of Titipu for the overture to Sullivan’s operetta The Mikado.

And for this week’s Choral Reflection, Sarah turns to Radiohead, with a beautifully sonorous and atmospheric arrangement of Pyramid Song performed by VOCES8 and friends.

A Tandem Production for ѿý Radio 3.

3 hours

Last on

Sun 22 Jun 2025 09:00

Music Played

  • Henry Purcell

    Welcome, Welcome, Glorious Morn, Z 338 (1st mvt, 'Symphony')

    Lyricist: Anonymous. Ensemble: The King's Consort. Singer: Gillian Fisher. Singer: Michael George. Singer: Nigel Short. Singer: Rogers Covey‐Crump. Singer: Evelyn Tubb. Singer: Charles Pott. Singer: James Bowman.
    • Hyperion.
  • Henry Purcell

    Welcome, Welcome, Glorious Morn, Z 338 (2nd mvt)

    Lyricist: Anonymous. Singer: John Mark Ainsley. Ensemble: The King's Consort. Conductor: Robert King.
    • Hyperion.
  • Gustav Holst

    The Planets, Op 32 (2nd mvt, 'Venus, the Bringer of Peace')

    Choir: Ambrosian Singers. Orchestra: Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Vernon Handley.
    • Documents.
  • Enrique Granados

    12 Danzas españolas (No 1, 'Galante')

    Performer: Manuel Barrueco. Music Arranger: Manuel Barrueco.
    • Warner Classics.
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Quintet in E flat major K.452 (1st mvt)

    Performer: Alfred Brendel. Performer: Heinz Holliger. Performer: Eduard Brunner. Performer: Klaus Thunemann. Performer: Hermann Baumann.
    • Philips.
  • Carl Maria von Weber

    Abu Hassan, J 106 (Overture)

    Conductor: Neeme Järvi. Orchestra: Philharmonia Orchestra.
    • Weber: Overtures.
    • Chandos.
    • 105.
  • Elisabetta de Gambarini

    Giga in D Major (Lesson VIII), No 14 Op 2

    Performer: Margherita Torretta.
    • De Gambarini: Complete Works for Keyboard.
    • Piano Classics.
    • 25.
  • Franz Schubert

    Symphony No 5 in B flat major, D 485

    Conductor: Claudio Abbado. Orchestra: Chamber Orchestra of Europe.
    • Schubert: 8 Symphonies: Chamber Orchestra of Europe/Abbado.
    • Deutsche Grammophon.
    • 1.
  • Jonny Greenwood

    Pyramid Song

    Composer: Thom Yorke. Composer: Philip Selway. Composer: Ed O’Brien. Performer: Eleanor Turner. Performer: Matthew Sharp. Performer: Thomas Gould. Music Arranger: Philip Lawson. Ensemble: VOCES8.
    • Decca.
  • Steve Reich

    Electric Counterpoint (3rd mvt, 'Fast')

    Performer: Pat Metheny.
    • Works 1965-1995.
    • Nonesuch.
    • 6.
  • Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture, TH 42

    Conductor: Claudio Abbado. Orchestra: Berliner Philharmoniker.
    • Deutsche Grammophon (DG).
  • Johann Christian Bach

    Sonata No.5 in A major; 1st mvt - Allegro

    Performer: Daniil Trifonov.
    • Bach: The Art of Life.
    • DG.
  • Cassie Kinoshi

    Whalesong

    Singer: Elizabeth Llewellyn. Ensemble: Kleio Quartet.
  • Joseph Haydn

    Symphony No 104 in D major, 'London' (Finale)

    Orchestra: London Classical Players. Conductor: Sir Roger Norrington.
    • J. Haydn: Symphonies nos. 103 & 104: Norrington.
    • EMI Classics.
    • 8.
  • Rachel Portman

    Flight

    Performer: Jess Gillam. Performer: Anna Lapwood.
    • Flight.
    • Sony Classical.
    • 1.
  • Arthur Sullivan

    The Mikado (Overture)

    Conductor: Andrew Penny. Orchestra: Royal Ballet Sinfonia.
    • Sullivan: Gilbert and Sullivan Overtures.
    • Naxos.
    • 1.
  • Frédéric Chopin

    Andante spianato et grande polonaise brillante, Op 22

    Performer: Mariam Batsashvili.
  • Jonathan Dove

    Into Thy Hands

    Conductor: Paul McCreesh. Ensemble: Giovanni Gabrieli.
    • A Song of Farewell: Music of Mourning & Consolation.
    • Signum Records.
    • 6.
  • William Walton

    Two Pieces for Violin and Piano (2nd mvt, Scherzetto)

    Performer: Tasmin Little. Performer: Piers Lane.
    • Chandos.
  • Jean Sibelius

    Symphony No 6 in D major, Op 104 (1st mvt)

    Conductor: Santtu-Matias Rouvali. Orchestra: Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra.
    • Alpha Classics.
  • Luigi Denza

    Funiculì, Funiculà

    Singer: Andrea Bocelli. Orchestra: Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi. Conductor: Steven Mercurio.
    • DECCA.
  • Max Bruch

    Concerto for clarinet, viola and orchestra in E minor, Op 88

    Performer: Paul Meyer. Performer: Gérard Caussé. Orchestra: Orchestre de l’Opéra de Lyon. Conductor: Kent Nagano.
    • Bruch - works for clarinet and viola.
    • ERATO.
    • 1-3.
  • Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina

    Tribus miraculis ornatum

    Choir: Choir of Clare College, Cambridge. Conductor: Graham Ross.
    • Harmonia Mundi.
  • Joly Braga Santos

    Symphonic Prelude

    Conductor: Álvaro Cassuto. Orchestra: Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.
    • Braga Santos: Orchestral Works.
    • Naxos.
    • 6.

Broadcast

  • Sun 22 Jun 2025 09:00