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Three hours of classical sparkle

Join Sarah Walker for a colourful Sunday mix, from Swedish folk celebrations to Spanish-inspired orchestral brilliance and music that hints at the first signs of spring.

This week, Sarah Walker marks the arrival of March with music full of colour, imagination and changing seasons. The morning begins with a trip to Sweden in the company of Hugo AlfvĂ©n’s musical picture of a Swedish folk festival, before moving into the nostalgic English countryside with Gerald Finzi’s beautiful Severn Rhapsody.

For Sarah’s Choral Reflection this week, the American choir Ensemble Altera provide a radiant take on William Harris’s masterpiece Bring Us, O Lord God.

There’s also elegance from Joseph Bologne, witty Beethoven, dazzling Debussy and to accompany a leisurely coffee, Sarah will be bringing the sweeping drama of Sibelius’s Violin Concerto to the airwaves. Best make a big mug.

Plus, a musical flower clock from Jean Françaix. Spring is well and truly here.

A Tandem Production for BBC Radio 3.

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3 hours

Last on

Sun 1 Mar 202609:00
BBC Radio 3

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Music Played

  • Hugo AlfvĂ©n

    Midsummer vigil - Swedish rhapsody no. 1 Op.19

    Orchestra: German Symphony Orchestra Berlin. Conductor: Ɓukasz Borowicz.
    • CPO.

  • FrĂ©dĂ©ric Chopin

    Mazurka No 13 in A minor, Op 17 No 4

    Performer: Leif Ove Andsnes.
    • Warner Classics.

  • Chevalier de Saint-Georges Joseph Bologne

    Symphony in G major, Op 11 No 1 (1st mvt)

    Conductor: Michael HalĂĄsz. Orchestra: Czech Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Pardubice.
    • Naxos.

  • Sergey Rachmaninov

    14 Romances, Op 34 (No 14, 'Vocalise')

    Performer: Edgar Moreau. Conductor: Michael Sanderling. Orchestra: Luzerner Sinfonieorchester.
    • Rococo.
    • Warner Classics.
    • 17.

  • Thomas Linley (the younger)

    Arise! Ye spirits of the storm (The Tempest)

    Choir: The Parley of Instruments. Orchestra: The Parley of Instruments. Conductor: Paul Nicholson.
    • Helios.

  • Nikolai Karlovich Medtner

    Forgotten Melodies I, Op 38 (No 6, 'Canzona serenata')

    Performer: Alexander Malofeev.
    • Sony Classical.

  • William Henry Harris

    Bring Us, O Lord God

    Choir: Ensemble Altera. Conductor: Christopher Lowrey.
    • Dazzling Light.
    • Alpha Classics.
    • 13.

  • Trad.

    Ar Had Y Nos (All through the night)

    Performer: Steve Rosenberg. Performer: Ciaran Jenkins.

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Clarinet Quintet in A major, K 581 (4th mvt)

    Performer: Jörg Widmann. Ensemble: Hagen Quartett.
    • Myrios Classics.

  • Lili Boulanger

    2 Pieces for violin and piano

    Performer: Hana Chang. Performer: Elisabeth Brauss.

  • Trad.

    Lisa Lan (arr. Alis Huws for harp)

    Performer: Alis Huws. Music Arranger: Alis Huws.
    • Lisa LĂąn (Arr. Huws for Harp).
    • Decca Music Group Ltd..
    • 1.

  • Arwel Hughes

    Tydi A Roddaist (Thou Gavest)

    Choir: Treorchy Male Voice Choir. Director: John Cynan Jones.
    • EMI.

  • Trad.

    Codi Angor

    Performer: Bryn Terfel.
    • DG.

  • Gioachino Rossini

    William Tell (Overture)

    Conductor: Claudio Abbado. Orchestra: Chamber Orchestra of Europe.
    • Deutsche Grammophon (DG).
    • 4.

  • Anon.

    Codex Las Huelgas (3rd mvt, 'Eterni numinis')

    Choir: La Capella Reial de Catalunya. Director: Jordi Savall. Ensemble: HespĂšrion XXI.
    • Codex Las Huelgas.
    • Alia Vox.
    • 3.

  • CĂ©cile Chaminade

    Danse créole, Op 94

    Performer: Eric Parkin.
    • Chandos.

  • George Frideric Handel

    Giulio Cesare in Egitto, HWV 17 (Act I, Scene 9: Aria, 'Va tacito')

    Lyricist: Nicola Francesco Haym. Singer: Andreas Scholl. Orchestra: Academy for Ancient Music Berlin.
    • harmonia mundi.

  • Jean Sibelius

    Violin Concerto in D minor, Op 47

    Performer: Augustin Hadelich. Conductor: Hannu Lintu. Orchestra: Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.
    • AVIE Records.

  • Rebecca Clarke

    Ave Maria

    Conductor: Owen Rees. Ensemble: Choir of The Queen's College, Oxford.
    • Ave Maria.
    • Signum Records.
    • 1.

  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Das alte Jahr vergangen ist, BWV 614 (Arr for Piano 4 Hands)

    Performer: VĂ­kingur Ólafsson. Performer: Halla OddnĂœ MagnĂșsdĂłttir. Music Arranger: György KurtĂĄg.
    • J.S. Bach: Das alte Jahr vergangen ist, BWV 614 (Arr. KurtĂĄg for Piano 4 Hands).
    • Deutsche Grammophon (DG).
    • 1.

  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Symphony No 1 in C major, Op 21 (3rd mvt)

    Conductor: Riccardo Chailly. Orchestra: Gewandhausorchester Leipzig.
    • Decca Music Group Ltd.

  • Jean Françaix

    Flora's Clock (4th mvt, 'Noon' to 7th mvt, '9pm')

    Performer: Lajos Lencsés. Conductor: Uri Segal. Orchestra: Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra.
    • CPO.

  • Joseph Haydn

    Mass in C Major, Hob. XXII:5 "Missa Cellensis": XIII.Et resurrexit

    Performer: Johanna Winkel. Performer: Benjamin Bruns. Conductor: Justin Doyle. Orchestra: Academy for Ancient Music Berlin. Choir: RIAS Chamber Choir.
    • Haydn: Missa Cellensis, Hob. XXII:5.
    • harmonia mundi.
    • 113.

  • John Dowland

    Suzanna Galliard

    Conductor: Bjarte Eike. Ensemble: Barokksolistene.
    • The Image of Melancholy.
    • BIS.
    • 18.

  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Cello Suite No 1 in G major, BWV 1007 (1st mvt, Prelude)

    Performer: Alisa Weilerstein.
    • PENTATONE.

Broadcast

  • Sun 1 Mar 202609:00
    BBC Radio 3