
The best classical morning 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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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Don Giovanni K.527 (overture)
Orchestra: Freiburg Baroque Orchestra. Conductor: René Jacobs.- HARMONIA MUNDI.
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William Byrd
Miserere mihi Domine for 6 voices
Choir: Stile Antico.- Harmonia Mundi UK Limited.
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Richard Strauss
Horn Concerto No 1 in E flat major (3rd mvt)
Performer: David Pyatt. Orchestra: Britten Sinfonia. Conductor: Nicholas Cleobury.- EMI.
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Franz Schubert
Rondo in A major D.951
Performer: Martha Argerich. Performer: Nelson Freire.- DG.
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Hugo Alfvén
Shepherd girl's dance (The Mountain King, Op.37)
Orchestra: Stockholm Sinfonietta. Conductor: Jan‐Olav Wedin.- A Swedish Pastorale.
- BIS.
- 015.
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Sergey Rachmaninov
12 Songs Op 21 No 5: Siren' [Lilacs]
Performer: Lukas Geniušas. Singer: Asmik Grigorian.- ALPHA.
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Henryk Wieniawski
Violin Concerto no.1 in F sharp minor (3rd mvt)
Performer: Gil Shaham. Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Lawrence Foster.- DG.
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Madeleine Dring
Polka
Performer: Nicholas Daniel. Performer: Antonio Oyarzabal.- CHANDOS.
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Henry Purcell
Hail, bright Cecilia Z.328 (Overture)
Orchestra: Gabrieli Players. Conductor: Paul McCreesh.- Archiv.
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Edvard Grieg
Anitra's Dance (Peer Gynt Suite no.1, Op.46)
Orchestra: San Francisco Symphony. Conductor: Herbert Blomstedt.- Grieg/Nielsen: Peer Gynt/Aladdin: San Francisco Symphony/Blomstedt.
- Decca.
- 4.
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William Lawes
Music, the master of thy art is dead
Ensemble: Ensemble Près de votre Oreille. Director: Robin Pharo.- HARMONIA MUNDI.
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Clair Omar Musser
Etudes Op.6 (no.10 in C major)
Performer: Evelyn Glennie. Orchestra: National Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Barry Wordsworth.- RCA.
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Karl Goldmark
Symphony No 1 in E flat "Rustic Wedding Symphony": V. Dance
Orchestra: New York Philharmonic. Conductor: Leonard Bernstein.- Goldmark: Rustic Wedding Symphony - Hindemith: Symphony in E-Flat Major.
- Sony Classical.
- 5.
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Johann Friedrich Fasch
Quartet in B flat major for 2 oboes, bassoon and continuo (3rd mvt)
Ensemble: Ensemble Marsyas.- LINN.
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Gabriela Montero
'Continuum'
Performer: Gabriela Montero.- EMI.
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Edward Elgar
Introduction & Allegro
Orchestra: Sinfonia of London. Conductor: John Wilson.- CHANDOS.
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Louis Vierne
Toccata (Fantasy Pieces suite no.2, Op.53)
Performer: Carleton Etherington.- DELPHIAN.
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Ernest Chausson
Le temps des lilas (Poème de l'amour et de la mer)
Performer: Susan Manoff. Singer: Véronique Gens.- éè.
- Alpha Classics.
- 11.
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Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
The Sleeping Beauty Suite (The Lilac Fairy)
Orchestra: Berliner Philharmoniker. Conductor: Mstislav Rostropovich.- 111 Years Of Deutsche Grammophon The Collector's Edition Vol.2.
- Deutshe Grammophon.
- 7.
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Ivor Novello
We'll Gather Lilacs In The Spring
Singer: Claire Barnett-Jones. Orchestra: ѿý National Orchestra of Wales. Conductor: Andrew Litton.- ѿý Cardiff Singer of the World Round 4.
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Scott Joplin
Maple Leaf Rag
Performer: Katia & Marielle Labèque.- Gladrags - Works by Joplin, Mayerl etc.: Katia & Marielle Labeque.
- EMI.
- 7.
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Trad.
Unst Boat Song
Music Arranger: Danish String Quartet. Ensemble: Danish String Quartet.- Last Leaf.
- ECM New Series.
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Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
Concerto in D minor, Wq 22 - iii. Allegro di molto
Performer: Emmanuel Pahud. Ensemble: Potsdam Chamber Academy. Conductor: Trevor Pinnock.- C. P. E. Bach: Flute Concertos.
- Warner Classics.
- 9.
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Igor Stravinsky
Symphony in E flat major Op.1 (4th mvt)
Orchestra: Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Antal Doráti.- DECCA.
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Fritz Kreisler
Liebesfreud, Old Viennese Dance No. 1
Performer: Joshua Bell. Performer: Paul Coker.- Presenting Joshua Bell / Kreisler.
- DECCA.
- 6.
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George Frideric Handel
Dixit Dominus (opening chorus)
Choir: Chœur des Musiciens du Louvre. Orchestra: Les Musiciens du Louvre. Conductor: Marc Minkowski.- Handel: Dixit Dominus; Salve Regina; Laudate Pueri; Saeviat Tellus.
- ARCHIV.
- 19.
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François-Joseph Gossec
Tambourin (Le Triomphe de la Republique)
Music Arranger: Charles Gerhardt. Performer: James Galway. Orchestra: National Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Charles Gerhardt.- James Galway - Celebrating 70 - A collection of Personal Favourites.
- RCA.
- 3.
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Cécile Chaminade
Thème varié for piano
Performer: Christian Ihle Hadland. -
Gustav Holst
A Fugal Overture, Op.40`1
Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Richard Hickox.- CHANDOS.
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Juan Esquivel
Ego sum panis vivus (Part I)
Choir: London Oratory Schola Cantorum. Conductor: Charles Cole.- Sacred Treasures of Spain: Motets from the Golden Age of Spanish Polyphony.
- Hyperion.
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Ludwig van Beethoven
Piano Concerto No 1 (3rd mvt)
Performer: Krystian Zimerman. Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Sir Simon Rattle.- DG.
Broadcast
- Wed 10 Sep 2025 09:30ѿý Radio 3