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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 a masterpiece.

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27 days left to listen

3 hours, 30 minutes

Last on

Thursday09:30
BBC Radio 3

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Music Played

  • Edward Elgar

    Salut d'amour Op.12

    Performer: James Ehnes. Performer: Eduard Laurel.
    • Homage: James Ehnes.
    • Onyx.
    • 15.

  • Johan Svendsen

    Norwegian Artists' Carnival Op.14

    Orchestra: Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Neeme Järvi.
    • Chandos.

  • Luise Adolpha Le Beau

    Piano Quartet in F Minor, Op 28 (1st mvt)

    Ensemble: Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective.
    • Brahms & Contemporaries, Vol. 1.
    • Chandos.
    • 5.

  • Antonín Dvořák

    Scherzo capriccioso Op.66

    Orchestra: Oslo Philharmonic. Conductor: Mariss Jansons.
    • Dvorak: Symphony No. 5, Scherzo Capriccioso etc..
    • EMI.
    • 6.

  • Lilian Elkington

    Out of the Mist

    Orchestra: BBC Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: David Lloyd‐Jones.
    • Elgar - The Spirit of England etc..
    • Dutton Laboratories.
    • 7.

  • Antonio Vivaldi

    Sinfonia in D major RV.125

    Ensemble: Accademia dell’Annunciata. Conductor: Riccardo Doni.
    • Arcana.

  • César Franck

    Violin Sonata in A major M.8 (4th mvt)

    Performer: Renaud Capuçon. Performer: Martha Argerich.
    • Beethoven, Schumann, Franck.
    • Deutsche Grammophon (DG).
    • 7.

  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Prelude and Fugue in C major BWV 545

    Music Arranger: Arthur Honegger. Orchestra: BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Leonard Slatkin.
    • CHANDOS.

  • Edvard Grieg

    Lyric Pieces, Book VI, Op. 57: No. 6, Hjemve

    Performer: Peter Donohoe.
    • Grieg: Lyric Pieces, Vol. 2.
    • Chandos.
    • 8.

  • Judith Bingham

    Beneath These Alien Stars

    Singer: Alison Smart. Choir: BBC Singers. Performer: Iain Farrington. Conductor: David Hill.
    • Remoter Worlds.
    • Signum Classics.
    • 14.

  • Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre

    Violin Sonata no.2 in D minor (1st mvt)

    Ensemble: Bizzarrie Armoniche.
    • Naive.

  • Franz Schubert

    Rondo in A major, D.951

    Performer: Paul Lewis. Performer: Steven Osborne.
    • Franz Schubert Piano Duets; Steven Osborne / Paul Lewis.
    • Hyperion.
    • 4.

  • Charles Gounod

    Judex (Mors et Vita)

    Orchestra: Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Libor Pešek.
    • Adagio.
    • RCA Red Seal.
    • 4.

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Voi che sapete (The Marriage of Figaro)

    Singer: Joyce DiDonato. Orchestra: Orchestre de l’Opéra de Lyon. Choir: Choeur de l'Opéra de Lyon. Conductor: Kazushi Ono.
    • Diva Divo - Opera Arias: Joyce DiDonato.
    • Virgin Classics.
    • 7.

  • Amy Beach

    Piano Quintet in F Sharp Minor; 3rd mvt

    Performer: Garrick Ohlsson. Ensemble: Takács Quartet.
    • Hyperion.

  • Cecilia McDowall

    Shipping Forecast: III. Naming

    Choir: Choir of Merton College, Oxford. Orchestra: Orchestra Nova. Conductor: George Vass.
    • McDowall: Shipping Forecast.
    • Dutton Epoch.
    • 14.

  • Malcolm Arnold

    The Padstow Lifeboat

    Ensemble: Grimethorpe Colliery Band. Conductor: Malcolm Arnold.
    • Arnold on Brass.
    • Conifer.
    • 24.

  • Erroll Garner

    Misty

    Lyricist: Johnny Burke.
    • Spotlight on Ella Fitzgerald.
    • UME - Global Clearing House.
    • 35.

  • Joseph Haydn

    Trumpet Concerto in E flat major H.7e.1 (3rd mvt)

    Performer: Tine Thing Helseth. Orchestra: Norwegian Chamber Orchestra.
    • Tine Thing Helseth.
    • SIMAX CLASSICS.
    • 3.

  • Madeleine Dring

    Festival Scherzo

    Performer: Martin Roscoe. Ensemble: Guildhall String Ensemble. Conductor: Robert Salter.
    • HYPERION.

  • Nicola Matteis

    Sonata in C Minor

    Ensemble: Duo Dorado.
    • Spice of Italy.
    • Chandos Records Ltd.
    • 14.

  • Frédéric Chopin

    3 Nocturnes Op.9 (no.1 in B flat minor)

    Performer: Nelson Freire.
    • Nelson Freire: Chopin, The Nocturnes.
    • Decca.
    • 1.

  • George Frideric Handel

    Eternal source of light divine (Birthday Ode for Queen Anne)

    Performer: David Blackadder. Singer: Elin Manahan Thomas. Orchestra: Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Conductor: Harry Christophers.
    • Elin Manahan Thoms: Eternal Light.
    • Heliodor.

  • Edvard Grieg

    Norwegian Dances, Op 35

    Orchestra: Iceland Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Petri Sakari.
    • Grieg/Svendsen: Orchestral Works.
    • Chandos.
    • 1-4.

  • Alissa Firsova

    Stabat Mater

    Choir: The Sixteen. Conductor: Harry Christophers.
    • Spirit, Strength & Sorrow.
    • Coro.
    • 2.

  • Sergey Prokofiev

    March (The Love for Three Oranges - suite)

    Orchestra: São Paulo Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Marin Alsop.
    • Prokofiev: Orchestral Works.
    • Naxos.
    • 6.

  • R. Nathaniel Dett

    Barcarolle of Tears

    Performer: Clare Hammond.

  • Mario Castelnuovo‐Tedesco

    Much Ado About Nothing - overture Op.164

    Orchestra: West Australian Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Andrew Penny.
    • Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Shakespeare Overtures 2.
    • Naxos.
    • 3.

  • Gabriel Fauré

    Fantaisie, Op.79

    Performer: Sharon Bezaly. Performer: Roland Pöntinen.
    • Cafe au Lait: Sharon Bezaly/Roland Pontinen.
    • BIS.
    • 14.

  • Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka

    Ruslan i Lyudmila - Overture

    Orchestra: BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Vassily Sinaisky.
    • Glinka: Orchestral Works.
    • Chandos.
    • 6.

Broadcast

  • Thursday09:30
    BBC Radio 3