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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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3 hours, 30 minutes

Last on

Fri 5 Sep 2025 09:30

Music Played

  • 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.
  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Coriolan Overture Op.62

    Orchestra: Chamber Orchestra of Europe. Conductor: Nikolaus Harnoncourt.
    • TELDEC.
  • Francis Poulenc

    Sonata for clarinet and piano (3rd mvt)

    Performer: Michael Collins. Performer: Michael McHale.
    • CHANDOS.
  • Igor Stravinsky

    Violin Concerto in D major (4th mvt)

    Performer: Patricia Kopatchinskaja. Orchestra: London Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Vladimir Jurowski.
    • Naive.
  • Franz Schubert

    Ständchen (Schwanengesang)

    Music Arranger: Franz Liszt. Performer: Murray Perahia.
    • Sony.
  • Eduardo Di Capua

    O sole mio

    Singer: Luciano Pavarotti. Orchestra: National Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Giancarlo Chiaramello.
    • DECCA.
  • 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.
  • George Frideric Handel

    Concerto grosso in G major Op.6`1

    Orchestra: Academy of Ancient Music. Conductor: Andrew Manze.
    • Harmonia Mundi.
  • 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.
  • Lucien Durosoir

    Berceuse

    Performer: Jessie Ann Richardson. Performer: Emmanuel Despax.
    • RESONANCE: Schumann, Farrenc, Durosoir.
    • Signum Classics.
    • 110.
  • Hans Rott

    Symphony no.1 in E major (1st mvt)

    Orchestra: Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Paavo Järvi.
    • RCA.
  • Sergey Rachmaninov

    Moments musicaux, Op 16 No 2 in E flat minor

    Performer: Vladimir Ashkenazy.
    • Rachmaninov: Moments Musicaux.
    • DECCA.
  • Marianna Martines

    Symphony in C Major (3rd mvt)

    Ensemble: Salzburger Hofmusik. Conductor: Wolfgang Brunner.
    • Martines: Symphony in C Major, Psalms 110 & 151.
    • CPO.
    • 203.
  • 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.
  • Jules Grison

    Toccata in F major

    Performer: Jane Parker‐Smith.
    • Grandes Toccatas For Organ.
    • EMI Classics.
    • 9.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Reynaldo Hahn

    La barcheta

    Performer: Graham Johnson. Lyricist: Piètro Buratti. Singer: Anthony Rolfe Johnson.
    • Souvenirs de Venise - Songs of Venice.
    • Helios.
    • 14.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Joanna Marsh

    Evening Prayer

    Choir: Tenebrae. Director: Nigel Short.
    • A Prayer for Deliverance.
    • Signum Records.
    • 18.
  • Franz Schubert

    String Quartet No 4 in C major, D46 (4th mvt)

    Ensemble: Quatuor Arod.
    • Erato.
  • Johann Baptist Vanhal

    Symphony in G Minor (1st mvt)

    Orchestra: Munich Radio Orchestra. Conductor: Ivan Repušić.
    • Vaňhal: Symphonies.
    • CPO.
    • 101.
  • Dmitry Shostakovich

    Ball at the Castle (Hamlet, Op 116)

    Conductor: Riccardo Chailly. Orchestra: Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.
    • Shostakovich: Concertos, Orchestral Suites, Chamber Symphonies.
    • Decca.
  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Piano Sonata No 8 in C minor, Op 13, 'Pathétique' (2nd mvt)

    Performer: Daniel Barenboim.
    • EMI.
  • Alexander Borodin

    Symphony No 2 in B Minor

    Orchestra: Seattle Symphony. Conductor: Gerard Schwarz.
    • Borodin: Symphonies Nos. 1-3.
    • Naxos.
    • 1.
  • Aaron Copland

    Appalachian Spring (conclusion)

    Orchestra: Aurora Orchestra. Conductor: Nicholas Collon.
    • Road Trip.
    • Warner Classics.
    • 112.
  • Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

    Ballade in A minor (2nd mvt)

    Orchestra: Chineke! Orchestra. Conductor: Kalena Bovell.
    • Coleridge-Taylor.
    • DECCA.
    • 14.
  • 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.
  • Antonín Dvořák

    Carnival Overture

    Orchestra: Czech Philharmonic. Conductor: Karel Ančerl.
    • SUPRAPHON.

Broadcast

  • Fri 5 Sep 2025 09:30