A feast of great music
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.
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Music Played
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Johann Sebastian Bach
Mass in B minor BWV.232 (Sanctus)
Choir: Monteverdi Choir. Orchestra: English Baroque Soloists. Conductor: Sir John Eliot Gardiner.- J.S. Bach: Mass in B minor: John Eliot Gardiner.
- ARCHIV.
- 10.
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Ludwig van Beethoven
Coriolan Overture Op.62
Orchestra: Chamber Orchestra of Europe. Conductor: Nikolaus Harnoncourt.- TELDEC.
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Francis Poulenc
Sonata for clarinet and piano (3rd mvt)
Performer: Michael Collins. Performer: Michael McHale.- CHANDOS.
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Igor Stravinsky
Violin Concerto in D major (4th mvt)
Performer: Patricia Kopatchinskaja. Orchestra: London Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Vladimir Jurowski.- Naive.
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Franz Schubert
Ständchen (Schwanengesang)
Music Arranger: Franz Liszt. Performer: Murray Perahia.- Sony.
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Eduardo Di Capua
O sole mio
Singer: Luciano Pavarotti. Orchestra: National Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Giancarlo Chiaramello.- DECCA.
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Dana Suesse
Piano Concerto in Three Rhythms (3rd mvt)
Music Arranger: Ferde Grofé. Performer: Michael Gurt. Orchestra: Hot Springs Music Festival Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Richard Rosenberg.- Jazz Nocturne.
- Naxos.
- 009.
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George Frideric Handel
Concerto grosso in G major Op.6`1
Orchestra: Academy of Ancient Music. Conductor: Andrew Manze.- Harmonia Mundi.
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Camille Saint‐Saëns
Tarantelle for flute, clarinet and orchestra, Op 6
Performer: Clara Novakova. Performer: Richard Vieille. Orchestra: Ensemble orchestral de Paris. Conductor: Jean‐Jacques Kantorow.- Saint-Saens: La Muse et le Poete etc: Kantorow.
- EMI Classics.
- 3.
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Lucien Durosoir
Berceuse
Performer: Jessie Ann Richardson. Performer: Emmanuel Despax.- RESONANCE: Schumann, Farrenc, Durosoir.
- Signum Classics.
- 110.
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Hans Rott
Symphony no.1 in E major (1st mvt)
Orchestra: Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Paavo Järvi.- RCA.
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Sergey Rachmaninov
Moments musicaux, Op 16 No 2 in E flat minor
Performer: Vladimir Ashkenazy.- Rachmaninov: Moments Musicaux.
- DECCA.
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Marianna Martines
Symphony in C Major (3rd mvt)
Ensemble: Salzburger Hofmusik. Conductor: Wolfgang Brunner.- Martines: Symphony in C Major, Psalms 110 & 151.
- CPO.
- 203.
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Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Symphony no. 5 in E Minor Op.64: 4th mvt; Finale
Conductor: Manfred Honeck. Orchestra: Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.- Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5.
- EXTON.
- 4.
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Jules Grison
Toccata in F major
Performer: Jane Parker‐Smith.- Grandes Toccatas For Organ.
- EMI Classics.
- 9.
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George Harrison
Here Comes The Sun
Music Arranger: Göran Söllscher. Performer: Göran Söllscher.- Here, There And Everywhere: Goran Sollscher plays The Beatles.
- Deutsche Grammophon.
- 16.
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Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
The Nutcracker Suite, Op 71a (Dance of the Reed-Pipes)
Orchestra: The Cleveland Orchestra. Conductor: Lorin Maazel.- Tchaikovsky: Romeo & Juliet, Nutcracker Suite; Maazel, the Cleveland Orchestra.
- Telarc.
- 8.
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Reynaldo Hahn
La barcheta
Performer: Graham Johnson. Lyricist: Piètro Buratti. Singer: Anthony Rolfe Johnson.- Souvenirs de Venise - Songs of Venice.
- Helios.
- 14.
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Gordon Langford
Rhapsody for Cornet and Brass Band (conclusion)
Performer: James Watson. Ensemble: Besses o’ th’ Barn Band. Conductor: Roy Newsome.- Concertos For Brass.
- Chandos.
- 107.
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Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka
Ruslan and Ludmila (Overture)
Orchestra: Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Esa‐Pekka Salonen.- Tchaikovksy:1812 / Borodin: Polovtsian Dances / Balakirev: Islamey : Esa-Pekka S.
- Philips.
- 6.
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Joanna Marsh
Evening Prayer
Choir: Tenebrae. Director: Nigel Short.- A Prayer for Deliverance.
- Signum Records.
- 18.
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Franz Schubert
String Quartet No 4 in C major, D46 (4th mvt)
Ensemble: Quatuor Arod.- Erato.
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Johann Baptist Vanhal
Symphony in G Minor (1st mvt)
Orchestra: Munich Radio Orchestra. Conductor: Ivan Repušić.- Vaňhal: Symphonies.
- CPO.
- 101.
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Dmitry Shostakovich
Ball at the Castle (Hamlet, Op 116)
Conductor: Riccardo Chailly. Orchestra: Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.- Shostakovich: Concertos, Orchestral Suites, Chamber Symphonies.
- Decca.
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Ludwig van Beethoven
Piano Sonata No 8 in C minor, Op 13, 'Pathétique' (2nd mvt)
Performer: Daniel Barenboim.- EMI.
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Alexander Borodin
Symphony No 2 in B Minor
Orchestra: Seattle Symphony. Conductor: Gerard Schwarz.- Borodin: Symphonies Nos. 1-3.
- Naxos.
- 1.
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Aaron Copland
Appalachian Spring (conclusion)
Orchestra: Aurora Orchestra. Conductor: Nicholas Collon.- Road Trip.
- Warner Classics.
- 112.
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Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
Ballade in A minor (2nd mvt)
Orchestra: Chineke! Orchestra. Conductor: Kalena Bovell.- Coleridge-Taylor.
- DECCA.
- 14.
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Robert Lucas Pearsall
Lay a garland on her hearse
Director: John Rutter. Choir: The Cambridge Singers.- Cambridge Singers A Cappella: The Cambridge Singers/Rutter.
- Collegium.
- 10.
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Antonín Dvořák
Carnival Overture
Orchestra: Czech Philharmonic. Conductor: Karel Ančerl.- SUPRAPHON.
Broadcast
- Fri 5 Sep 2025 09:30ѿý Radio 3