
Your perfect classical playlist
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.
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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Johann Sebastian Bach
Concerto in D minor for two violins, BWV 1043 (3rd mvt)
Performer: Jaap Schröder. Performer: Christopher Hirons. Conductor: Christopher Hogwood. Orchestra: Academy of Ancient Music.- Bach: Double Concertos: Academy of Ancient Music/Hogwood.
- L'Oiseau-Lyre.
- 12.
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Franz Liszt
Les Jeux d'eaux à la Villa d'Este (Années de pèlerinage (3eme annee)
Performer: Imogen Cooper.- Le temps perdu.
- CHANDOS.
- 12.
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Ivo Antognini
Hope is the thing with feathers
Lyricist: Emily Dickinson. Choir: The Choir Of Trinity College, Cambridge. Conductor: Stephen Layton.- HYPERION.
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Florence Price
Piano Quintet in A minor (3rd mvt: Juba)
Performer: Marc-André Hamelin. Ensemble: Takács Quartet.- Hyperion.
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John Barry
The Beyondness of Things
Orchestra: English Chamber Orchestra. Conductor: John Barry.- Decca.
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Joseph Haydn
Symphony no.83 in G minor 'The Hen' (1st mvt)
Ensemble: Le Concert de la Loge. Conductor: Julien Chauvin.- Haydn : Symphony No. 83 "La Poule".
- 貹é.
- 101.
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Gerald Finzi
Clarinet Concerto in C minor, Op 31 (3rd mvt)
Performer: Michael Collins. Orchestra: ѿý Symphony Orchestra.- Chandos.
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Frank Merrick
Suite in the 18th Century Style (Gigue)
Performer: Steven Isserlis.- British Solo Cello Music.
- HYPERION.
- 29.
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Felix Mendelssohn
Symphony No. 3 in A Minor "Scottish", Op. 56: IV. Allegro vivacissimo - Allegro
Orchestra: Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Conductor: Maxim Emelyanychev.- Felix Mendelssohn: Symphonies Nos. 3 & 5.
- Linn Records.
- 4.
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Roger Quilter
I Arise from Dreams of Thee, Op. 29
Performer: Graham Johnson. Singer: Anthony Rolfe Johnson.- NAXOS.
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Gabriel Fauré
Sicilienne (Pelleas & Melisande)
Orchestra: Paris Chamber Orchestra. Conductor: Thomas Zehetmair.- Mirare.
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Errollyn Wallen
Chorale
Orchestra: Orchestra of the Swan. Director: David Le Page.- Timelapse.
- Signum Classics.
- 1201.
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Jacques Ibert
3 Pieces breves
Performer: Les Vents Français.- Warner Classics.
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Hamish MacCunn
The Land of the Mountain and the Flood (Overture)
Orchestra: ѿý Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Martyn Brabbins.- MacCunn - Land of the Mountain and the Flood.
- Hyperion.
- 001.
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Nadia Boulanger
3 Pieces for Cello and Piano: Piece for Cello and Piano No. 1 in E-Flat Minor
Performer: Astrig Siranossian. Performer: Daniel Barenboim.- "Dear Mademoiselle": A Tribute to Nadia Boulanger.
- Alpha Classics.
- 1.
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George Frideric Handel
Air (Water Music - Suite in F major, HWV 348)
Orchestra: English Baroque Soloists. Conductor: Sir John Eliot Gardiner.- Handel Edition Volume 9 - Orchestral Music.
- Warner Classics International.
- 92.
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Ferdinand Hérold
Introduction & Dance of the Cock and Hens (La fille mal gardée)
Music Arranger: John Lanchbery. Orchestra: Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Conductor: John Lanchbery.- Hérold: La fille mal gardée; LeCocq: Mam'zelle Angot.
- Decca Music Group Ltd..
- 1.
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Jean‐Philippe Rameau
La Poule (Nouvelles suites de pièces de clavecin, Book 2)
Performer: Sophie Yates.- La Sophie: Sophie Yates.
- Chandos.
- 16.
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Karl Jenkins
Quirk (3rd mvt, Chasing the Goose)
Performer: Gareth Davies. Performer: John Alley. Performer: Neil Percy. Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Karl Jenkins.- Quirk.
- Decca (UMO) (Classics).
- 6.
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Bastian Chilese
Canzon in echo à 8
Ensemble: Hespèrion XXI. Director: Jordi Savall.- Battaglie and Lamenti: 1600-1660 Monteverdi, Peri, Fontei, Strozzi.
- Alia Vox.
- 5.
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Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
String Quartet No 1 in D major, Op 11 (1st mvt)
Performer: Yuri Yurov. Performer: Mikhail Milman. Ensemble: Borodin Quartet.- Tchaikovsky: String Quartets Nos. 1-3, Souvenir De Florence.
- Teldec.
- 1.
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Frédéric Chopin
Nocturne in D flat major, Op 27 No 2
Performer: Sir Stephen Hough.- In the Night.
- HYPERION.
- 6.
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Edgar Bainton
And I saw a new Heaven
Choir: The Sixteen. Performer: Robert Quinney. Conductor: Harry Christophers.- A New Heaven, The Sixteen.
- UCJ.
- 9.
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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Concerto No. 4 in E-Flat Major, K.495
Performer: Felix Klieser. Orchestra: Camerata Salzburg.- Berlin Classics.
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Jerome Moross
The Big Country (main theme)
Orchestra: The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Nic Raine.- The Big Country.
- Silva Screen Records.
- 1.
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Emma Rawicz
Journey's End
Performer: Elliot Galvin. Performer: Dominic Ingham. Performer: Jenny Clare. Performer: Abby Bowen. Performer: Cubby Howard. -
Robert Kajanus
Finnish Rhapsody No. 2 in F Major, Op. 8
Orchestra: Oulu Sinfonia. Conductor: Rumon Gamba.- Pictures from Finland.
- Chandos.
- 113.
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Giacomo Puccini
Turandot, Act 3: "Nessun dorma!"
Singer: Pene Pati. Choir: Chœurs de l’Opéra de Bordeaux. Orchestra: Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine. Conductor: Emmanuel Villaume.- Puccini: Turandot: "Nessun dorma".
- Warner Classics.
- 1.
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Ludwig van Beethoven
Quintet in E flat major Op.16 (3rd mvt)
Performer: Eric Le Sage. Ensemble: Les Vents Français.- WARNER CLASSICS.
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Johann Strauss II
The Blue Danube
Orchestra: Vienna Philharmonic. Conductor: Riccardo Muti.- New Year's Concert 2004: Wiener Philharmoniker/Muti.
- Deutsche Grammophon.
- 14.
Broadcast
- Fri 25 Jul 2025 09:30ѿý Radio 3