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Illuminate your morning with calming classical music

Calming classical music to inspire focus and set you up for the day ahead. Presented by broadcaster, author and counselling psychologist Dr Sian Williams.

Calming classical music to help you focus and set you up for the day ahead. Presented by broadcaster, author and counselling psychologist Dr Sian Williams.

Featuring soothing and enriching melodies from John Barry, Julie Cooper, and John Barry, Sian ponders on the effect of us having so much choice in our lives while exploring an orchard, and Professor Catherine Loveday explains what happens in our brain when we hear pleasurable music. Plus there's another chance to Find Your Focus as Sian plays a mesmerising arrangement of a Prelude by Olivia Belli for two guitars.

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3 hours

Last on

Saturday09:00
BBC Radio 3 Unwind

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Music Played

  • Eric Coates

    Joyous Youth Suite (2nd mvt, Serenade)

    Conductor: Rumon Gamba. Orchestra: BBC Philharmonic Orchestra.
    • Chandos.

  • Alban Claudin

    Sunken Dreams

    Performer: Esther Abrami. Performer: Alban Claudin.
    • Sony.

  • Gabriel Fauré

    8 Pièces brèves, Op 84 (No 5, 'Improvisation in C sharp minor')

    Performer: Christine Croshaw.
    • Meridian.

  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Goldberg Variations, BWV 988, arr for ensemble (Var XIII)

    Music Arranger: Nevermind. Ensemble: Nevermind.
    • Alpha.

  • Alexandre Grogg

    3 Variations on La Folia (2nd mvt, Promenade)

    Performer: Valérie Milot. Performer: Stéphane Tétreault. Performer: Bernard Riche.
    • Atma Classique.

  • Antonín Dvořák

    Bagatelles No 1, Op 47

    Ensemble: Scharoun Ensemble.
    • Tudor.

  • Olivia Belli

    Prelude (arr for 2 guitars)

    Performer: Alexandra Whittingham. Performer: Plínio Fernandes. Music Arranger: Michael Lewin.
    • Decca.

  • Teresa Carreño

    Souvenirs de mon pays, Op 10

    Performer: Alexandra Oehler.
    • Grand Piano.

  • John Barry

    Give me a smile

    Conductor: John Barry. Orchestra: English Chamber Orchestra.
    • Decca.

  • Robert Schumann

    Five Pieces in Folk Style, Op 102 (2nd mvt)

    Performer: Martin Frost. Orchestra: Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra.
    • Sony.

  • Joseph Haydn

    Symphony No 85 in B flat major, Hob I:85, 'La Reine' (2nd mvt, 'Romance')

    Conductor: Frans Brüggen. Orchestra: Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century.
    • Philips.

  • Ola Gjeilo

    The Ground

    Choir: Tenebrae. Orchestra: The Chamber Orchestra of London.
    • Decca.

  • Gabriela Montero

    Beyond Bach (arr for accordion)

    Performer: Ksenija Sidorova. Music Arranger: George Morton. Music Arranger: Ksenija Sidorova.
    • Alpha.

  • Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    Serenade for Strings in C major, Op 48 (3rd mvt, 'Elegie')

    Performer: Roman Simović. Ensemble: LSO String Ensemble.
    • LSO Live.

  • Béla Bartók

    3 Hungarian Folksongs from Csik, BB 45b, Sz 35a

    Performer: Víkingur Ólafsson.
    • DG.

  • Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

    Four Characteristic Waltzes, Op 22 (No 1, 'Valse Bohémienne')

    Performer: Maya Magub. Performer: Matthew Schellhorn.
    • Crd.

  • Julie Cooper

    The Renaissance Suite (4th mvt, 'Passacaglia in Klimt Gold')

    Performer: Eliza Marshall. Performer: Clio Gould. Performer: Camilla Pay. Ensemble: Oculus Ensemble.
    • Signum.

  • Ottorino Respighi

    Ancient Airs & Dances, Suite III, P 172 (1st mvt, 'Italiana')

    Conductor: Riccardo Chailly. Orchestra: La Scala Philharmonic.
    • Decca.

  • Koji Kondo

    Zelda's Lullaby

    Music Arranger: Jim Clements. Choir: VOCES8. Conductor: Lise Vandersmissen.
    • Decca.

  • Edward Elgar

    Organ Soanata No 1 in G major, Op 28, arr for orchestra (3rd mvt)

    Conductor: Richard Hickox. Orchestra: BBC National Orchestra of Wales.
    • Chandos.

  • Gustav Holst

    Brook Green Suite (2nd mvt, Air)

    Conductor: Howard Griffiths. Orchestra: English Sinfonia.
    • Naxos.

  • Rachel Portman

    Piano & Cello Suite (Never Let Me Go)

    Performer: Raphaela Gromes. Performer: Rachel Portman.
    • Sony.

  • Percy Grainger

    Harvest Hymn

    Conductor: Neville Marriner. Orchestra: Academy of St Martin in the Fields.
    • DG.

  • Eleanor Daley

    Requiem (4th mvt, 'In Remembrance')

    Choir: The Gesualdo Six. Conductor: Owain Park.
    • Hyperion.

  • Florence Price

    Symphony No 4 in D minor (2nd mvt)

    Conductor: Yannick Nézet‐Séguin. Orchestra: The Philadelphia Orchestra.
    • DG.

  • Carl Stamitz

    Sinfonia Concertante in C major (3rd mvt)

    Performer: Robert Korn. Performer: Hans‐Peter Hofmann. Conductor: Paul Meyer. Orchestra: Kurpfälzisches Kammerorchester.
    • CPO.

  • Edgar Bainton

    The Golden River, Op 16 (2nd mvt, 'Little Gluck')

    Conductor: Paul Daniel. Orchestra: BBC Philharmonic Orchestra.
    • Chandos.

  • Iris de Cairos-Rego

    Albatross

    Performer: Jeanell Carrigan.
    • Wirripang.

  • Franz Schubert

    Sonata in A minor, D 821, 'Arpeggione' (2nd mvt)

    Performer: Dionysis Grammenos. Performer: Anneleen Lenaerts.
    • Warner.

  • Andreas Romberg

    Symphony No 4 in C major, Op 51, 'Alla Turca' (3rd mvt)

    Conductor: Kevin Griffiths. Orchestra: Collegium Musicum Basel.
    • CPO.

  • Vladimir Martynov

    Come in! (3rd mvt)

    Conductor: Gidon Kremer. Orchestra: Kremerata Baltica.
    • Nonesuch.

  • Jean Sibelius

    3 Pieces for Orchestra, Op 96 (No 1, 'Valse Lirique')

    Conductor: Leif Segerstam. Orchestra: Turku Philharmonic Orchestra.
    • Naxos Special Projects.

  • Hubert Parry

    Symphony No 4 in E minor (4th mvt, Scherzo)

    Conductor: Rumon Gamba. Orchestra: BBC National Orchestra of Wales.
    • Chandos.

  • Nainita Desai

    Tessellations

    • Silva Screen Records.

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Serenade for Winds in E flat major, K 375 (3rd mvt)

    Orchestra: Orpheus Chamber Orchestra.
    • DG.

  • John Rutter

    A Gaelic Blessing

    Choir: The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square. Orchestra: Orchestra at Temple Square. Conductor: Craig Jessop.
    • Intellectual Reserve.

Broadcasts

  • Mon 16 Feb 202609:00
    BBC Radio 3 Unwind
  • Saturday09:00
    BBC Radio 3 Unwind