Main content
Sorry, this episode is not currently available

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.

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

3 hours, 30 minutes

Music Played

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Don Giovanni K.527 (overture)

    Orchestra: Freiburg Baroque Orchestra. Conductor: René Jacobs.
    • HARMONIA MUNDI.
  • William Byrd

    Miserere mihi Domine for 6 voices

    Choir: Stile Antico.
    • Harmonia Mundi UK Limited.
  • Richard Strauss

    Horn Concerto No 1 in E flat major (3rd mvt)

    Performer: David Pyatt. Orchestra: Britten Sinfonia. Conductor: Nicholas Cleobury.
    • EMI.
  • Franz Schubert

    Rondo in A major D.951

    Performer: Martha Argerich. Performer: Nelson Freire.
    • DG.
  • Hugo Alfvén

    Shepherd girl's dance (The Mountain King, Op.37)

    Orchestra: Stockholm Sinfonietta. Conductor: Jan‐Olav Wedin.
    • A Swedish Pastorale.
    • BIS.
    • 015.
  • Sergey Rachmaninov

    12 Songs Op 21 No 5: Siren' [Lilacs]

    Performer: Lukas Geniušas. Singer: Asmik Grigorian.
    • ALPHA.
  • Henryk Wieniawski

    Violin Concerto no.1 in F sharp minor (3rd mvt)

    Performer: Gil Shaham. Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Lawrence Foster.
    • DG.
  • Madeleine Dring

    Polka

    Performer: Nicholas Daniel. Performer: Antonio Oyarzabal.
    • CHANDOS.
  • Henry Purcell

    Hail, bright Cecilia Z.328 (Overture)

    Orchestra: Gabrieli Players. Conductor: Paul McCreesh.
    • Archiv.
  • 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.
  • William Lawes

    Music, the master of thy art is dead

    Ensemble: Ensemble Près de votre Oreille. Director: Robin Pharo.
    • HARMONIA MUNDI.
  • Clair Omar Musser

    Etudes Op.6 (no.10 in C major)

    Performer: Evelyn Glennie. Orchestra: National Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Barry Wordsworth.
    • RCA.
  • 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.
  • Johann Friedrich Fasch

    Quartet in B flat major for 2 oboes, bassoon and continuo (3rd mvt)

    Ensemble: Ensemble Marsyas.
    • LINN.
  • Gabriela Montero

    'Continuum'

    Performer: Gabriela Montero.
    • EMI.
  • Edward Elgar

    Introduction & Allegro

    Orchestra: Sinfonia of London. Conductor: John Wilson.
    • CHANDOS.
  • Louis Vierne

    Toccata (Fantasy Pieces suite no.2, Op.53)

    Performer: Carleton Etherington.
    • DELPHIAN.
  • Ernest Chausson

    Le temps des lilas (Poème de l'amour et de la mer)

    Performer: Susan Manoff. Singer: Véronique Gens.
    • éè.
    • Alpha Classics.
    • 11.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Scott Joplin

    Maple Leaf Rag

    Performer: Katia & Marielle Labèque.
    • Gladrags - Works by Joplin, Mayerl etc.: Katia & Marielle Labeque.
    • EMI.
    • 7.
  • Trad.

    Unst Boat Song

    Music Arranger: Danish String Quartet. Ensemble: Danish String Quartet.
    • Last Leaf.
    • ECM New Series.
  • 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.
  • Igor Stravinsky

    Symphony in E flat major Op.1 (4th mvt)

    Orchestra: Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Antal Doráti.
    • DECCA.
  • Fritz Kreisler

    Liebesfreud, Old Viennese Dance No. 1

    Performer: Joshua Bell. Performer: Paul Coker.
    • Presenting Joshua Bell / Kreisler.
    • DECCA.
    • 6.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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 09:30