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A feast of great music

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

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

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”.

27 days left to listen

3 hours, 30 minutes

Music Played

  • Georges Bizet

    Le Bal (Jeux d'enfants, Op.22)

    Performer: Katia Labèque. Performer: Marielle Labèque.
    • Bizet;Faure;Ravel.
    • Philips.
    • 12.
  • William Walton

    Portsmouth Point

    Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: André Previn.
    • William Walton Symphonies & Concertos.
    • Warner Classics.
    • 4.
  • Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre

    Trio sonata no. 3 in D major

    Ensemble: The Bach Players.
    • Coviello.
  • Sergey Rachmaninov

    Scherzo in D minor

    Orchestra: Radio Filharmonisch Orkest Holland. Conductor: Edo de Waart.
    • Rachmaninov: Complete Symphonies and Orchestral Works: Edo de Waart.
    • Exton.
    • 5.
  • James MacMillan

    Mouth of the Dumb (Os mutorum)

    Performer: Lucy Wakeford. Singer: Andrew Swait. Singer: Samantha Harris.
    • NMC.
  • Edvard Grieg

    To the Spring (Lyric Pieces, Op.43)

    Performer: Leif Ove Andsnes.
    • EMI.
  • Edward MacDowell

    10 Woodland Sketches, Op. 51: No. 1, To a Wild Rose

    Orchestra: ѿý Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: John Wilson.
    • MacDowell: Orchestral Works, Vol. 1.
    • CHANDOS.
    • 07.
  • Fritz Kreisler

    Tambourin chinois

    Performer: Charlie Siem. Performer: Itamar Golan.
    • Between The Clouds.
    • Signum Classics.
    • 3.
  • Karol Szymanowski

    Concert Overture, Op 12

    Orchestra: ѿý Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Edward Gardner.
    • Chandos.
  • Jacques Ibert

    3 Pieces breves for wind quintet: No 1

    Performer: Les Vents Français.
    • Warner Classics.
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    The Marriage of Figaro: Overture

    Orchestra: Concerto Köln. Conductor: René Jacobs.
    • Harmonia Mundi.
  • Richard Strauss

    Die Nacht

    Performer: Roger Vignoles. Singer: Katarina Karnéus.
    • Song Recital.
    • Warner Classics.
    • 1.
  • Arcangelo Corelli

    Concerto Grosso in D major Op.6`4

    Orchestra: Freiburg Baroque Orchestra. Conductor: Gottfried von der Goltz.
    • ʴÉ.
  • Carlos Gardel

    Por una cabeza

    Performer: Nicola Benedetti. Performer: Alexander Sitkovetsky. Performer: Leonard Elschenbroich. Performer: Ksenija Sidorova. Performer: Alexei Grynyuk.
    • DECCA.
  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Prelude and Fugue in D minor, BWV 851 (The Well-tempered Clavier, Book 1)

    Performer: Sir András Schiff.
    • ECM.
  • Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

    Scheherazade, Op.35 (The Story of the Kalendar Prince)

    Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Charles Mackerras.
    • Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade, Capricco Espagnol: Mackerras.
    • Telarc.
    • 2.
  • Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

    Hiawatha's Wedding Feast, Op 30 (Part 1: Introduction; You shall hear)

    Orchestra: Welsh National Opera Orchestra. Choir: Welsh National Opera Chorus. Conductor: Kenneth Alwyn.
    • Coleridge Taylor: Hiawatha.
    • ARGO.
    • 1-2.
  • Richard Strauss

    Presentation of the Rose (Der Rosenkavalier)

    Singer: Brigitte Fassbaender. Singer: Lucia Popp. Choir: Choir of the Bavarian State Opera. Orchestra: Bavarian State Orchestra. Conductor: Carlos Kleiber.
    • Strauss, R: Der Rosenkavalier: Brigitte Fassbaender, Bavarian State Opera, Carlo.
    • Orfeo.
  • Robert Schumann

    Einsame Blumen (Waldszenen, Op 82 No 3)

    Performer: Sir András Schiff.
    • Robert Schumann: Geistervariationen.
    • ECM New Series.
    • 6.
  • Ralph Vaughan Williams

    Flos campi (closing section)

    Performer: Lawrence Power. Orchestra: ѿý National Orchestra of Wales. Conductor: Martyn Brabbins.
    • Hyperion.
  • Maurice Ravel

    String Quartet (2nd mvt)

    Ensemble: Quatuor Arod.
    • Debussy, Attahir, Ravel.
    • ERATO.
    • 11.
  • Marianna Martines

    Symphony in C Major (1st mvt)

    Ensemble: Salzburger Hofmusik. Conductor: Wolfgang Brunner.
    • Martines: Symphony in C Major, Psalms 110 & 151.
    • CPO.
    • 201.
  • Edward Elgar

    Cello Concerto in E minor, Op.85 (3rd mvt)

    Performer: Jacqueline du Pré. Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: John Barbirolli.
    • Elgar: Cello Concerto/Sea Pictures: Du Pre/Baker/LSO/Barbirolli.
    • EMI.
    • 3.
  • Georg Philipp Telemann

    Concerto in D major for trumpet and violin (3rd mvt)

    Performer: Friedemann Immer. Performer: Reinhard Goebel. Orchestra: Musica Antiqua Köln.
    • Concertos pour Instruments à Vent (Ensemble : Musica Antiqua Köln - Direction :.
    • Archiv Produktion.
    • 22.
  • Claude Debussy

    Arabesque no.1 in E major

    Performer: Pascal Rogé.
    • ONYX.
  • Antonín Dvořák

    Stabat Mater: I. Stabat Mater dolorosa

    Singer: Ilse Eerens. Singer: Michaela Selinger. Singer: Maximilian Schmitt. Singer: Florian Boesch. Choir: Collegium Vocale Gent. Orchestra: Antwerp Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Philippe Herreweghe.
    • Dvořák: Stabat Mater.
    • Phi.
    • 1.
  • Johannes Brahms

    Waltz in A flat major, Op.39 No.15;

    Performer: Stephen Kovacevich.
    • PHILIPS.
  • William Boyce

    Symphony No.1 in B flat major

    Orchestra: The English Concert. Director: Trevor Pinnock.
    • William Boyce: 8 Symphonies: The English Concert/Pinnock.
    • Archiv Produktion.
    • 4-6.
  • Lili Boulanger

    Attente

    Performer: Edwige Herchenroder. Singer: Kitty Whately.
    • CHANDOS.
  • Richard Birchall

    Concerto for basset clarinet and orchestra (3rd mvt)

    Performer: Michael Collins. Ensemble: Philharmonia Orchestra.
    • BIS.
  • Herbert Howells

    Nunc dimittis (Gloucester Service)

    Performer: Jeremy Cole. Choir: The Choir Of Trinity College, Cambridge. Conductor: Stephen Layton.
    • HYPERION.
  • Sergey Rachmaninov

    Piano Concerto no.3 in D minor Op.30 (3rd mvt)

    Performer: Yuja Wang. Orchestra: Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Gustavo Dudamel.
    • Deutsche Grammophon.

Broadcast

  • Tuesday 09:30

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