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The best classical morning music

Ian Skelly plays the best in classical music, with discoveries and surprises rubbing shoulders with familiar favourites.

Ian Skelly plays the best in classical music, featuring new discoveries, some musical surprises and plenty of familiar favourites.

1000 Playlist starter – listen and send us your ideas for the next step in our musical journey today.

1030 Song of the Day – harnessing the magic of words, music and the human voice.

1115 Playlist reveal – a sequence of music suggested by you in response to our starter today.

1145 Slow Moment – time to take a break for a moment's musical reflection.

1200 “25 for 25: Sounds of the Century” – a series of brand new commissions celebrating and commemorating some of the biggest events of the 21st century so far.

1230 Album of the Week.

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

25 days left to listen

3 hours, 30 minutes

Music Played

  • Trevor Duncan

    Little suite for orchestra: March

    Orchestra: Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Andrew Penny.
    • MARCO POLO.
  • Cristóbal de Morales

    Parce mihi Domine - improvisation (Officium defunctorum)

    Ensemble: The Hilliard Ensemble. Performer: Jan Garbarek.
    • ECM.
  • Claude Debussy

    Reflets dans l'eau (Images, Set 1)

    Performer: Zoltán Kocsis.
    • Debussy: Images, Arabesques: Kocsis.
    • Philips.
    • 1.
  • Claude Debussy

    Mouvement (Images, Set 1)

    Performer: Zoltán Kocsis.
    • Debussy: Images, Arabesques: Kocsis.
    • Philips.
    • 3.
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Symphony No 26 in E flat major, K 184

    Orchestra: English Chamber Orchestra. Conductor: Jeffrey Tate.
    • Mozart The Collectors Edition 50 CDs The Masterpieces The Greatest Artists.
    • EMI Classics.
  • Carl Davis

    Pride and Prejudice: Main Title

    Performer: Melvyn Tan. Orchestra: Studio Orchestra. Conductor: Carl Davis.
    • Pride and Prejudice.
    • EMI.
    • 1.
  • Tomaso Giovanni Albinoni

    Adagio in G minor

    Music Arranger: Remo Giazotto. Orchestra: Richard Hickox Orchestra. Performer: Alastair Ross. Performer: Simon Standage. Conductor: Richard Hickox.
    • Weekend Classics: Baroque Weekend: Pachelbel/Albinoni/Handel/Vivaldi.
    • Decca.
    • 2.
  • Thomas Arne

    Overture No 3 in G major

    Orchestra: Academy of Ancient Music. Orchestra: Academy of Ancient Music. Conductor: Christopher Hogwood. Conductor: Christopher Hogwood.
    • L'Oiseau-Lyre.
  • Amy Beach

    Piano Quintet in F sharp minor Op.67 (3rd mvt)

    Performer: Martin Roscoe. Ensemble: Endellion Quartet.
    • ASV.
  • John Dowland

    Come again: sweet love doth now invite ( First Booke Of Songes, 1597)

    Performer: Jacob Heringman. Singer: Barbara Bonney.
    • Fairest Isle.
    • Decca Music Group Ltd..
    • 1.
  • Sir James MacMillan

    ..fiat mihi...

    Choir: Cappella Nova. Conductor: Alan Tavener.
    • Alpha and Omega.
    • Linn.
  • Carl Davis

    Pride and Prejudice: Main Title

    Performer: Melvyn Tan. Orchestra: Studio Orchestra. Conductor: Carl Davis.
    • Pride and Prejudice.
    • EMI.
    • 1.
  • Sergey Rachmaninov

    Symphony no.2 in E minor Op.27 (2nd mvt)

    Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Sir Simon Rattle.
    • Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 2.
    • Lso Live.
    • 2.
  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Piano Sonata in C sharp minor Op.27 'Moonlight' (1st mvt)

    Performer: Maria João Pires.
    • Beethoven: Piano Sonatas: Maria Joao Pires.
    • Deutsche Grammophon.
    • 5.
  • William Grant Still

    In Memoriam

    Orchestra: Fort Smith Symphony. Conductor: John Jeter.
    • William Grant Still: Afro-American Symphony/In Memoriam/Africa (Symphonic Poem).
    • NAXOS.
    • 1.
  • Ivor Gurney

    Romance

    Performer: Chu-Yu Yang. Performer: Eric McElroy.
    • An English Pastoral.
    • SOMM Recordings.
    • 107.
  • Johnny Pearson

    Piano Parchment

    • Johnny Pearson Piano And Orchestra 1.
    • KPM Main Series.
    • 16.
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Voi, che sapete (The Marriage of Figaro)

    Singer: Cecilia Bartoli. Orchestra: Vienna Philharmonic. Conductor: Claudio Abbado.
    • 111 Years of Deutsche Grammophon.
    • DG.
    • 7.
  • Dario Marianelli

    Pride & Prejudice (Music From The Motion Picture); Dawn

    Performer: Jean‐Yves Thibaudet.
    • Pride & Prejudice (Music From The Motion Picture).
    • Decca.
  • Anthony Collins

    Vanity Fair for orchestra

    Performer: Julian Leaper. Orchestra: The New London Orchestra. Conductor: Ronald Corp.
    • British Light Music Classics: The New London Orchestra/Ronald Corp.
    • Hyperion.
  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Orchestral Suite no.1 in C major, BWV.1066 (Overture)

    Orchestra: Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra. Conductor: Ton Koopman.
    • J.S. Bach, Orchestral Suites, Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra / Ton Koopman.
    • RCA.
    • 1.
  • Madeleine Dring

    Trio for flute, oboe and piano. (2nd mvt. Andante semplice)

    Performer: Nicholas Daniel. Performer: Adam Walker. Performer: Antonio Oyarzabal.
    • Madeleine Dring: Complete Works for Oboe.
    • Chandos.
  • John Sheppard

    Libera nos, salva nos

    Choir: Stile Antico.
    • Music for Compline.
    • Harmonia Mundi.
    • 1.
  • Richard Addinsell

    Warsaw Concerto

    Performer: Jean‐Yves Thibaudet. Orchestra: ѿý Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Hugh Wolff.
    • Addinsell: Warsaw Concerto: Jean-Yves Thibaudet, ѿýSO, Hugh Wolff.
    • Decca.
  • Richard Strauss

    Tod und Verklärung (Death and transfiguration)

    Orchestra: Lucerne Festival Orchestra. Conductor: Riccardo Chailly.
    • Decca.
  • Dieterich Buxtehude

    Membra Jesu nostri, BuxWV 75: No. 7, Ad faciem

    Conductor: Magnus Kjellson. Ensemble: Göteborg Baroque.
    • Buxtehude: Membra Jesu nostri, BuxWV 75.
    • Proprius.
    • 107.
  • Percy Grainger

    Molly on the Shore

    Orchestra: City of London Sinfonia. Conductor: Richard Hickox.
    • Within A Dream: A celebration of the Artistry of Richard Hickox.
    • Chandos.
  • Karen Tanaka

    Echoing Souls

    Performer: ѿý Concert Orchestra. Conductor: George Morton.
  • Padre Antonio Soler

    Keyboard Sonata no.90 in F sharp minor

    Performer: Sir Stephen Hough.
    • Stephen Hough's Spanish Album.
    • Hyperion.
    • 1.
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Horn Concerto no.4 in E flat major K.495 (3rd mvt)

    Performer: Roger Montgomery. Orchestra: Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Director: Margaret Faultless.
    • Mozart: Complete Horn Concertos.
    • Signum Classics.
    • 7.

Broadcast

  • Thursday 09:30

Our Classical Century

Our Classical Century

Radio 3 explores 100 key musical moments that shaped us, from 1918 to the present day.

Time Travellers: the podcast

Time Travellers: the podcast

Eleanor Rosamund Barraclough presents quirky tales gathered from the corners of history.