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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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29 days left to listen

3 hours, 30 minutes

Last on

Today09:30
BBC Radio 3

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Music Played

  • Aaron Copland

    Fanfare for the Common Man

    Orchestra: San Francisco Symphony. Conductor: Michael Tilson Thomas.
    • The Copland Collection.
    • Sony Classical.
    • 1.

  • William Henry Harris

    Faire is the heaven

    Choir: Tenebrae. Conductor: Nigel Short.
    • SIGNUM.

  • Fanny Mendelssohn

    String Quartet in E flat (3rd mvt)

    Ensemble: Quatuor Ébène.
    • Mendelssohn Felix and Fanny.
    • ERATO.
    • 7.

  • Antonio Vivaldi

    Flautino Concerto in C major RV.443

    Performer: Giovanni Antonini. Ensemble: Il Giardino Armonico.
    • ALPHA.

  • Malcolm Arnold

    Four English Dances, Set 1, Op 27 (No 4)

    Orchestra: Philharmonia Orchestra. Conductor: Bryden Thomson.
    • Malcolm Arnold: Dances: Philharmonia, Thomson.
    • Chandos.
    • 4.

  • Catriona McKay

    Swan LK243

    Performer: Catriona McKay. Performer: Donald Grant. Ensemble: Red Skies string ensemble.
    • Glimster.

  • Johan Svendsen

    Romeo og Juliet Op.18

    Orchestra: Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Neeme Järvi.
    • Svendsen: Orchestral Works Vol. 1: Thorsen / BPO / Jarvi.
    • Chandos.
    • 2.

  • Dobrinka Tabakova

    Nocturne

    Performer: Andrew Matthews-Owen.
    • Halo, Music for Piano.
    • NIMBUS ALLIANCE.
    • 20.

  • Alexander Borodin

    String Quartet No. 2 in D major (3rd mvt)

    Ensemble: Takács Quartet.
    • DECCA.

  • Violeta Parra

    La lavandera

    Singer: Luciana Mancini. Conductor: Christina Pluhar. Ensemble: L’Arpeggiata.
    • La Torre del Oro.
    • Warner Classics.
    • 9.

  • Igor Stravinsky

    The Fairy's Kiss: Scene 2; A Village fete

    Orchestra: The Cleveland Orchestra. Conductor: Oliver Knussen.
    • DG.

  • Hector Berlioz

    Le Corsaire - overture Op.21

    Orchestra: Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Sir Andrew Davis.
    • Chandos.

  • Henry Purcell

    Hear My Prayer, O Lord, Z.15

    Choir: Vox Luminis. Conductor: Lionel Meunier.
    • RICERCAR.

  • Amy Woodforde-Finden

    Kashmiri Song (4 Indian Love Lyrics)

    Music Arranger: Sir Stephen Hough. Performer: Sir Stephen Hough.
    • Hough - 'My Favourite Things': Virtuoso Encores and Transcriptions.
    • Nimbus Records.
    • 12.

  • Johannes Brahms

    Tragic Overture, Op 81

    Orchestra: Berlin Philharmonic. Conductor: Claudio Abbado.
    • Brahms: 4 Symphonies: Berlin Philharmoniker, Claudio Abbado.
    • Deutsche Grammophon.
    • 1.

  • Trad.

    Unst Boat Song

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

  • Thomas Campion

    Never weather-beaten sail

    Choir: Stile Antico.
    • Harmonia Mundi.

  • Phil Cunningham

    Spring the Summer Long

    Performer: Aly Bain. Performer: Phil Cunningham.
    • COMPASS.

  • Marc‐Antoine Charpentier

    Te Deum (Prelude)

    Orchestra: Le Concert des Nations. Conductor: Jordi Savall.
    • Guerre et Paix.
    • Alia Vox.
    • 22.

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Symphony No 41 in C major, K 551, 'Jupiter' (1st mvt)

    Ensemble: The English Concert. Director: Trevor Pinnock.
    • Mozart: Late Symphonies: The English Concert, Trevor Pinnock.
    • Archiv Produktion.
    • 5.

  • Sergey Prokofiev

    Piano Concerto No 3 (3rd mvt)

    Performer: Isata Kanneh‐Mason. Orchestra: Philharmonia Orchestra. Conductor: Ryan Bancroft.
    • DECCA.

  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Prelude and Fugue in C major, BWV846 (The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1, No 1)

    Performer: Trevor Pinnock.
    • DG.

  • Cesar Cui

    Suite concertante for violin and orchestra, Op 25

    Performer: Takako Nishizaki. Orchestra: Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Kenneth Schermerhorn.
    • Cesar Cui: Suite Concertante Op. 25: HKPO, Schermerhorn.
    • Pacific.
    • 1.

  • Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina

    Tu es Petrus

    Choir: Coro della Radiotelevisione Svizzera. Conductor: Diego Fasolis.
    • Palestrina: Motets and Missa sine nomine.
    • Arts Productions Ltd.
    • 15.

  • Paule Maurice

    The Bumblebee (Pictures of Provence)

    Performer: Julia Nolan. Orchestra: CBC Radio Orchestra. Conductor: Mario Bernardi.
    • CBC.

  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Bagatelle in A Minor, WoO 59 ʻFür Eliseʼ

    Performer: Paul Lewis.
    • Beethoven: Fur Elise, Bagatelles Opp. 33, 119 & 126.
    • harmonia mundi.
    • 25.

  • Mel Bonis

    Le Rêve de Cléopâtre

    Orchestra: Orchestre national de Lyon. Conductor: Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider.
    • Bru Zane.

  • Johann Hermann Schein

    Allemande in D minor (Banchetto musicale No 2)

    Ensemble: Hespèrion XXI. Director: Jordi Savall.
    • EMI.

  • Hugo Alfvén

    Shepherd Girl's Dance (The Mountain King)

    Orchestra: Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Esa‐Pekka Salonen.
    • Sibelius: Finlandia; Valse Triste; Grieg: Sigurd Jorsalfar; Salonen.
    • Sony Classical.
    • 6.

Broadcast

  • Today09:30
    BBC Radio 3