Main content
Sorry, this episode is not currently available

Refresh your morning with classical 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.

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”.

3 hours, 30 minutes

Music Played

  • Frédéric Chopin

    3 Nocturnes Op.9 (no.1 in B flat minor)

    Performer: Maria João Pires.
    • DG.
  • Louise Farrenc

    Overture in E flat major, Op 24

    Orchestra: NDR Radio Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Johannes Goritzki.
    • CPO.
  • William Henry Harris

    Bring us, O Lord God

    Choir: Gabrieli Consort & Players. Conductor: Paul McCreesh.
    • The Road to Paradise.
    • DG.
    • 11.
  • Claude Debussy

    Piano Trio in G major (4th mvt)

    Performer: Jean‐Efflam Bavouzet. Ensemble: Brodsky Quartet.
    • Debussy: String Quartet & Piano Trio: Brodsky Quartet.
    • Chandos.
  • Edvard Grieg

    Wedding Day at Troldhaugen (Lyric Pieces - book 8 Op.65)

    Orchestrator: Franz Josef Breuer. Orchestra: ѿý Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Jerzy Maksymiuk.
    • Grieg: Peer Gynt, Sigur Jorsalfar.
    • NAXOS.
    • 11.
  • Hirokazu Tanaka

    Tetris Theme (Korobeiniki)

    Conductor: Andrew Skeet. Orchestra: London Philharmonic Orchestra.
    • The Greatest Video Game Music.
    • X5 Music Group.
    • 11.
  • Costanzo Porta

    Sinfonia in D major

    Performer: Simon Munday. Performer: Adrian Chandler. Ensemble: La Serenissima. Director: Adrian Chandler.
    • AVIE.
  • Gioachino Rossini

    Introduction, theme and variations

    Performer: Martin Frost. Orchestra: Singapore Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Lan Shui.
    • BIS.
  • Vivien Ellis

    Coronation Scot (Paul Temple)

    Orchestra: The New London Orchestra. Conductor: Ronald Corp.
    • British Light Music Classics: The New London Orchestra/Ronald Corp.
    • Hyperion.
  • Annie Fortescue Harrison

    In the Gloaming

    Singer: Anthony Rolfe Johnson. Performer: Graham Johnson.
    • HYPERION.
  • Malcolm Arnold

    Fantasy Op.114

    Ensemble: Grimethorpe Colliery Band. Conductor: Elgar Howarth.
    • CONIFER.
  • Trad.

    Scarborough Fair

    Performer: Yo‐Yo Ma. Performer: Kathryn Stott. Music Arranger: Sir Stephen Hough.
    • Songs of Comfort and Hope.
    • Sony Classical.
    • 12.
  • Luigi Boccherini

    Symphony No 19 in D major, G 521 (Overture)

    Director: Jeanne Lamon. Orchestra: Tafelmusik.
    • Boccherini: Cello Concertos: Bylsma, Tafelmusik, Lamon.
    • Sony Classical.
  • Frederick Delius

    The Walk to the Paradise Garden (A Village Romeo and Juliet)

    Music Arranger: Thomas Beecham. Orchestra: Academy of St Martin in the Fields. Conductor: Neville Marriner.
    • LONDON.
  • Erik Satie

    Je te veux

    Performer: Jean‐Yves Thibaudet.
    • The Magic of Satie.
    • Decca.
    • 11.
  • Trad.

    The lark in the clear air

    Music Arranger: John Rutter. Choir: The Cambridge Singers. Conductor: John Rutter.
    • The Sprig of Thyme traditional songs.
    • Collegium.
  • Francisco Tárrega

    Gran Vals for guitar

    Performer: Mats Bergström.
    • Gorgeous Guitar: Best Loved Classical Guitar Music.
    • Naxos.
    • 1001.
  • Leroy Anderson

    The Typewriter

    Performer: Alasdair Malloy. Orchestra: ѿý Concert Orchestra. Conductor: Leonard Slatkin.
    • Leroy Anderson - Orchestral Works Volume 3.
    • NAXOS.
    • 16.
  • Edward Elgar

    Enigma Variations, Op 36 (Variation 10, 'Dorabella')

    Orchestra: ѿý Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Andrew Davis.
    • TELDEC.
  • Ivan Larionov

    Kalinka

    Choir: Soviet Army Chorus. Ensemble: Soviet Army band. Conductor: Colonel Boris Alexandrov.
    • Angel.
  • Charles Gounod

    Funeral March of a Marionette

    Orchestra: Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Conductor: Alexander Gibson.
    • DECCA.
  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    String Quartet No 10 in E flat major, Op 74 'Harp'; iv.Allegretto con variazioni

    Ensemble: Quatuor Ébène.
    • Beethoven Around the World: Melbourne, String Quartets Nos 2, 10 & 11.
    • Warner Classics.
    • 12.
  • William Grant Still

    Land of romance (Africa)

    Orchestra: Fort Smith Symphony. Conductor: John Jeter.
    • NAXOS.
  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Orchestral Suite no.1 in C major, BWV.1066 (Overture)

    Orchestra: Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra. Conductor: Ton Koopman.
    • J.S. Bach, Orchestral Suites, Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra / Ton Koopman.
    • RCA.
    • 1.
  • Sergey Rachmaninov

    Piano Concerto no. 1 in F sharp minor Op.1

    Performer: Yuja Wang. Orchestra: Los Angeles Philharmonic. Conductor: Gustavo Dudamel.
    • DG.
  • Léo Delibes

    Lakmé - Sous le dôme épais (Flower Duet)

    Singer: Lesley Garrett. Orchestra: Philharmonia Orchestra. Conductor: Andrew Greenwood.
    • The Opera Album 2002.
    • Virgin.
    • 1.
  • Alexey Shor

    Suite for Viola & Orchestra "Well Tempered Chanson": XII. Lament (Arr. for Cello

    Performer: Narek Hakhnazaryan. Conductor: Tigran Hakhnazaryan. Orchestra: Wiener Symphoniker.
    • Chant du menestrel.
    • Ars Produktion.
    • 6.
  • Richard Harvey

    I see his blood

    Performer: Kristel Kiik. Performer: Maaren Vihermae. Performer: Villu Vihermäe. Performer: Liis Viira. Choir: Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir. Conductor: Jérôme Kuhn.
    • Altus Records.
  • Madeleine Dring

    Italian Dance

    Performer: Tommy Reilly. Performer: Kaare Ørnung.
    • A Life in Music: Vintage Tommy Reilly.
    • Chandos.
    • 6.
  • Pablo de Sarasate

    Carmen Fantasy

    Composer: Georges Bizet. Performer: Augustin Hadelich. Orchestra: WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne. Conductor: Cristian Măcelaru.
    • WARNER.

Broadcast

  • Thu 31 Jul 2025 09:30

Our Classical Century

Our Classical Century

Radio 3 explores 100 key musical moments that shaped us, from 1918 to the present day.

Time Travellers: the podcast

Time Travellers: the podcast

Eleanor Rosamund Barraclough presents quirky tales gathered from the corners of history.