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Celebrating classical greats

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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21 days left to listen

3 hours, 30 minutes

Last on

Last Thursday09:30
BBC Radio 3

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Music Played

  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Prelude and Fugue in C minor BWV.847 (Well-tempered Clavier, Bk 1)

    Performer: Víkingur Ólafsson.
    • DG.

  • Erich Wolfgang Korngold

    Symphony in F sharp major, Op.40 (2nd mvt)

    Orchestra: Sinfonia of London. Conductor: John Wilson.
    • Chandos.

  • Manuel Cardoso

    Lamentations for Holy Thursday (2nd Lesson; Vau)

    Choir: El León de Oro. Conductor: Peter Phillips.
    • Amarae Morti.
    • Hyperion.
    • 16.

  • Robert Schumann

    Piano Quartet in E flat major, Op 47 (4th mvt)

    Performer: Christophe Gaugué. Ensemble: Trio Wanderer.
    • Robert Schumann: Complete Piano Trios, Quartet & Quintet.
    • harmonia mundi.
    • 104.

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Clarinet Concerto in A major K.622 (3rd mvt)

    Performer: Martin Frost. Orchestra: The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen.
    • Mozart: Clarinet Concerto & Kegelstatt Trio.
    • BIS.
    • 3.

  • Trad.

    The Turtle Dove

    Music Arranger: Ralph Vaughan Williams. Singer: Michael George. Choir: Holst Singers. Conductor: Stephen Layton.
    • Vaughan Williams: Over Hill, Over Dale – Partsongs, Folksongs & Shakespeare.
    • Hyperion.
    • 25.

  • Grażyna Bacewicz

    Symphony no.3 (3rd mvt)

    Orchestra: WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne. Conductor: Łukasz Borowicz.
    • Bacewicz: Complete Symphonic Works, Vol. 1.
    • CPO.
    • 103.

  • Claude Debussy

    String Quartet in G Minor (2nd mvt)

    Ensemble: Quatuor Arod.
    • Debussy, Attahir, Ravel.
    • ERATO.
    • 2.

  • Hans Rott

    Symphony no.1 in E major (1st mvt)

    Orchestra: Frankfurt Radio Symphony. Conductor: Paavo Järvi.
    • RCA.

  • George Frideric Handel

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

    Singer: Robin Blaze. Performer: David Blackadder. Ensemble: Academy of Ancient Music. Conductor: Stephen Cleobury.
    • Handel: Coronation Anthems: Choir of King's College Cambridge/Cleobury.
    • EMI.
    • 16.

  • Peter Philips

    Bonjour mon cueur

    Performer: Pierre Gallon.
    • After Dark: A Midnight Fantasia.
    • harmonia mundi.
    • 117.

  • Jan Václav Hugo Voříšek

    Symphony in D Major (4th mvt)

    Orchestra: Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Conductor: Charles Mackerras.
    • Arriaga & Voříšek: Symphonies.
    • Hyperion.
    • 4.

  • Trad.

    The Turtle Dove

    Music Arranger: Ralph Vaughan Williams. Singer: Michael George. Choir: Holst Singers. Conductor: Stephen Layton.
    • Vaughan Williams: Over Hill, Over Dale – Partsongs, Folksongs & Shakespeare.
    • Hyperion.
    • 25.

  • Teresa Carreño

    Mi Teresita [Little Waltz]

    Performer: Gabriela Montero.
    • WARNER.

  • Camille Saint‐Saëns

    Cello Concerto no.2 in D minor Op.119 (2nd mvt)

    Performer: Lynn Harrell. Orchestra: German Symphony Orchestra Berlin. Conductor: Riccardo Chailly.
    • DECCA.

  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Violin Sonata no.5 in F major, Op.24 'Spring' (1st mvt)

    Performer: Alina Ibragimova. Performer: Cédric Tiberghien.
    • Beethoven: Violin Sonatas Volume 2: Alina Ibragimova/ Cédric Tiberghien.
    • Wigmore Hall Live.
    • 1.

  • Béla Bartók

    Dance Suite (3rd mvt)

    Orchestra: Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Zoltán Kocsis.
    • Hungaroton.

  • Henri Mulet

    Carillon-sortie in D major

    Performer: Christopher Herrick.
    • Organ Fireworks V.
    • Hyperion.
    • 8.

  • George Frideric Handel

    As when the dove (Acis and Galatea)

    Singer: Sophie Daneman. Ensemble: Les Arts Florissants. Conductor: William Christie.
    • Handel : Acis & Galatea.
    • ERATO.
    • 11.

  • Ottorino Respighi

    La colomba (The Birds)

    Orchestra: Orpheus Chamber Orchestra.
    • Respighi: Ancient Airs and Dances: Orpheus Chamber Orchestra.
    • Deutsche Grammophon.
    • 2.

  • Felix Mendelssohn

    Hear my prayer

    Choir: St Paul's Cathedral Choir. Singer: Jeremy Budd. Performer: Andrew Lucas. Director: John Scott.
    • Hear my Prayer: Budd/St Paul's Cathedral Choir/Scott.
    • Hyperion.
    • 1.

  • Hector Berlioz

    The Damnation of Faust (Hungarian March)

    Orchestra: Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Leonard Slatkin.
    • Classic Marches: Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra/Slatkin.
    • RCA.
    • 1.

  • Caroline Shaw

    Plan & Elevation: I. The Ellipse

    Music Arranger: Caroline Shaw. Music Arranger: BufoBufo. Orchestra: Norwegian Chamber Orchestra. Conductor: Pekka Kuusisto.
    • Willows.
    • Platoon.
    • 2.

  • Alexander von Zemlinsky

    Humoreske

    Ensemble: Les Vents Français.
    • French Music for Winds.
    • WARNER.
    • 7.

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Symphony No 29 in A Major (1st mvt)

    Orchestra: CHAARTS Chamber Artists. Conductor: Gábor Takács‐Nagy.
    • Mozart: Violin Concertos Nos. 3 & 5, Symphony No. 29.
    • AVIE Records.
    • 4.

  • Claude Debussy

    Rêverie

    Performer: Noriko Ogawa.
    • Noriko Ogawa - Debussy Piano Music, Volume 5.
    • BIS.
    • 6.

  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Orchestral Suite No 4 in D major, BWV1069

    Orchestra: Freiburg Baroque Orchestra.
    • HARMONIA MUNDI.

  • Frédéric Chopin

    Fantaisie-impromptu in C sharp minor, Op.66

    Performer: Pavel Kolesnikov.
    • Chopin: Impromptus, Waltzes & Mazurkas.
    • Hyperion.
    • 001.

  • Robert White

    Ad te levavi oculos meos a 6

    Choir: Choir of Clare College, Cambridge. Conductor: Graham Ross.
    • Palestrina Revealed - Byrd, White, Mundy.
    • harmonia mundi.
    • 109.

  • Jennifer Higdon

    Jumble Dance (Dance Card)

    Orchestra: Chicago Sinfonietta. Conductor: Mei-Ann Chen.
    • Project W: Works by Diverse Women Composers.
    • Cedille.
    • 603.

  • Gabriel Fauré

    Chanson d'Amour (2 Songs Op.27)

    Singer: Sabine Devieilhe. Performer: Alexandre Tharaud.
    • ERATO.

  • Modest Mussorgsky

    A Night on a Bare Mountain

    Music Arranger: Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Orchestra: New York Philharmonic. Conductor: Leonard Bernstein.
    • French and Russian Orchestral Works: New York Philharmonic/Bernstein.
    • Sony Classical.
    • 1.

Broadcast

  • Last Thursday09:30
    BBC Radio 3