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Relax into the day with classical

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

Georgia Mann plays the best classical music for your morning, with discoveries and surprises rubbing shoulders with familiar favourites. Including the Playlister challenge: our regular listener-created sequence inspired by a different piece of music each day. Plus a new classical release in focus for Album of the Week.

1000 Playlister starter: listen and send us your ideas for the next step in today's musical journey. Text 83111 or email essentialclassics@bbc.co.uk.

1030 Album of the Week: an exciting new classical release in focus throughout the week.

1115 Playlister reveal: an uninterrupted sequence of music suggested by you in response to today's starter piece.

1200 Feast of a Piece: indulge your ears with an orchestral masterpiece.

To listen on most smart speakers say "Ask ѿý Sounds to play Essential Classics”

3 hours, 30 minutes

Last on

Wed 3 Sep 2025 09:30

Music Played

  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Magnificat BWV 243 Magnificat anima mea

    Choir: Bavarian Radio Symphony Choir. Ensemble: Concerto Köln. Conductor: Peter Dijkstra.
    • Bach: Magnificat & Handel: Dixit Dominus.
    • BR-Klassik.
    • 9.
  • Pauline Hall

    Ariettes oubliées (Verlaine Suite)

    Orchestra: Norwegian Radio Orchestra. Conductor: Christian Eggen.
    • Norway in Music: Pauline Hall.
    • Simax.
    • 003.
  • Georges Bizet

    Jeux d'enfants, Op.22; Galop - Le Bal

    Orchestra: Les Siècles. Conductor: François‐Xavier Roth.
    • Mirare.
  • Franz Liszt

    Consolation No 3

    Performer: Sheku Kanneh‐Mason. Performer: James Baillieu. Music Arranger: Jules Deswert.
    • Collaborations.
    • Decca.
    • 2.
  • Sergey Rachmaninov

    Piano Concerto no. 3 in D minor Op.30; 1st mvt Allegro ma non tanto

    Performer: Sir Stephen Hough. Orchestra: Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Andrew Litton.
    • Rachmaninov The piano Concertos.
    • Hyperion.
  • Frank Loesser

    The Inch Worm (from the film Hans Christian Andersen)

    Singer: Danny Kaye.
    • Hans Christian Andersen.
    • Geffen.
    • 4.
  • Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach

    Symphony in D major Wq.183`1

    Orchestra: Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Conductor: Rebecca Miller.
    • SIGNUM.
  • Trad.

    The Oak and the Ash

    Music Arranger: Gordon Langford. Ensemble: The King’s Singers.
    • SIGNUM.
  • Luigi Boccherini

    String Quintet No 11 in E major, G 275 (Minuetto)

    Orchestra: Academy of St Martin in the Fields. Conductor: Neville Marriner.
    • The Best of The Academy.
    • EMI Classics.
    • 9.
  • Lucien Durosoir

    Prière à Marie

    Performer: Michael Trainor. Performer: Emmanuel Despax.
    • RESONANCE: Schumann, Farrenc, Durosoir.
    • Signum Classics.
    • 108.
  • Eric Coates

    Concert Waltz 'Footlights'

    Orchestra: Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: John Wilson.
    • Avie.
  • Frank Loesser

    The Inch Worm (from the film Hans Christian Andersen)

    Singer: Danny Kaye.
    • Hans Christian Andersen.
    • Geffen.
    • 4.
  • Margaret Bonds

    Montgomery Variations: 4. Dawn in Dixie

    Orchestra: Royal Scottish National Orchestra. Conductor: Kellen Gray.
    • African American Voices II.
    • Linn Records.
    • 04.
  • Johannes Brahms

    Intermezzo in E major (7 Fantasies Op.116)

    Performer: Víkingur Ólafsson.
    • From Afar.
    • DG.
  • Alexander Borodin

    Polovtsian dances (Prince Igor)

    Orchestra: New York Philharmonic. Conductor: Leonard Bernstein.
    • SONY CLASSICAL.
  • Thomas Tallis

    Loquebantur variis linguis

    Choir: Stile Antico.
    • Harmonia Mundi.
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Quintet in E flat major K.452 (3rd mvt)

    Ensemble: Ensemble 360.
    • Mozart: Chamber Works.
    • ASV.
    • 7.
  • Malcolm Arnold

    The Belles of St Trinian's (Prelude)

    Music Arranger: Christopher Palmer. Orchestra: ѿý Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Rumon Gamba.
    • CHANDOS.
  • Arthur Sullivan

    The Elements

    Lyricist: Tom Lehrer. Singer: Tom Lehrer.
    • The Songs of Tom Lehrer.
    • Kessels.
    • 16.
  • Philip Glass

    Knee Play 1 (Einstein on the Beach)

    Ensemble: Philip Glass Ensemble. Conductor: Michael Riesman.
    • SONY.
  • Benjamin Britten

    The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra (Fugue)

    Orchestra: ѿý Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Andrew Davis.
    • Britten: Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra: ѿý SO/Davis.
    • Teldec.
    • 1.
  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Symphony no.1 in C major Op.21 (3rd mvt)

    Orchestra: Berliner Philharmoniker. Conductor: Sir Simon Rattle.
    • Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 1-9.
    • Berliner Philharmoniker.
    • 3.
  • Amy Beach

    Berceuse (3 Pieces Op.40)

    Performer: Steven Isserlis. Performer: Sir Stephen Hough.
    • Children's Cello.
    • BIS.
    • 17.
  • Judith Weir

    Still, Glowing

    Orchestra: ѿý Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Dalia Stasevska.
    • Dalia's Mixtape.
    • Platoon.
    • 3.
  • George Frideric Handel

    Alcina (Overture)

    Orchestra: Il Complesso Barocco. Conductor: Alan Curtis.
    • Archiv.
  • Joseph Canteloube

    Baïlèro (Chants d'Auvergne, Set 1)

    Singer: Kiri Te Kanawa. Orchestra: English Chamber Orchestra. Conductor: Jeffrey Tate.
    • Canteloube: Chants d'Auvergne: Kiri Te Kanawa.
    • Decca.
    • 2.
  • Alexander Scriabin

    Poem of Ecstasy

    Orchestra: Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Vasily Petrenko.
    • Lawo.
  • Frédéric Chopin

    Fantaisie-impromptu in C sharp minor, Op.66

    Performer: Alexandre Tharaud.
    • Chopin: Journal Intime: Alexandre Tharaud.
    • Virgin Classics.
  • Ralph Vaughan Williams

    Scott of the Antarctic (Main Titles; Distant Glacier; Penguin Dance)

    Orchestra: ѿý Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Rumon Gamba.
    • Chandos.
  • Madeleine Dring

    Take, O take those lips away (7 Shakespeare Songs)

    Orchestrator: Roderick Williams. Singer: Roderick Williams. Orchestra: Hallé. Conductor: Mark Elder.
    • Halle.
  • Einojuhani Rautavaara

    Notturno e danza for violin and piano: Notturno

    Performer: Pekka Kuusisto. Performer: Paavali Jumppanen.
    • Ondine.
  • Einojuhani Rautavaara

    Danza (Notturno e Danza)

    Performer: Pekka Kuusisto. Performer: Paavali Jumppanen.
    • Ondine.
  • Camille Saint‐Saëns

    Saint-Saëns: Carnival of the Animals - Aviary

    Performer: Isata Kanneh‐Mason. Performer: Jeneba Kanneh‐Mason. Performer: Braimah Kanneh-Mason. Performer: Ayla Sahin. Performer: Timothy Ridout. Performer: Sheku Kanneh‐Mason. Performer: Toby Hughes. Performer: Adam Walker.
    • The Kanneh-Masons.
    • Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd..
    • 23.
  • Richard Addinsell

    Warsaw Concerto

    Performer: Jean‐Yves Thibaudet. Orchestra: ѿý Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Hugh Wolff.
    • Addinsell: Warsaw Concerto: Jean-Yves Thibaudet, ѿýSO, Hugh Wolff.
    • Decca.

Broadcast

  • Wed 3 Sep 2025 09:30