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Wind down for the evening with a sleep-inspired classical playlist

Niall Breslin brings you a sleep-inspired playlist of calming classical music to help you release the stresses of the day, recharge and prepare to rest.

Three hours of calming classical music to help you release the stresses of the day, recharge and prepare to rest - presented by Irish musician and mindfulness expert Niall Breslin.

This episode features a rich blend of sleep-related music from the likes of Jacob Collier, Karen Tanaka and Vivaldi. Plus a chance to Press Pause with Niall and some essential Wind Down Wisdom from science podcaster Caroline Steel on how setting the right temperature can help you sleep.

To listen on most smart speakers, just ask BBC Sounds to play Classical Wind Down.

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3 hours

Last on

Fri 13 Mar 202617:00
BBC Radio 3 Unwind

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Music Played

  • Frédéric Chopin

    Berceuse in D flat major, Op 57

    Performer: Hayato Sumino.
    • Berceuse.
    • Sony Classical.
    • 1.

  • Jacob Collier

    Something Heavy (Sleep Version)

    Performer: Jacob Collier.
    • Something Heavy.
    • Decca (UMO).
    • 3.

  • John Dowland

    Come, heavy sleep (arr for string quartet)

    Music Arranger: Sini Simonen. Ensemble: Castalian String Quartet.
    • Delphian.

  • Olivia Belli

    Anima 2 - Sleep Rework

    Performer: Olivia Belli.
    • Anima Flow.
    • XXIM Records.
    • 1.

  • Antonio Vivaldi

    Bassoon concerto in B flat major, 'La notte' (3rd mvt - Sleep)

    Performer: Sophie Dervaux. Orchestra: La Folia Barockorchester.
    • Berlin Classics.

  • R. Nathaniel Dett

    Noon Siesta from Tropic Winter

    Performer: Clipper Erickson.
    • My Cup Runneth Over.
    • NAVONA.
    • 6.

  • Anoushka Shankar

    Daydreaming

    Performer: Nils Frahm. Performer: Anoushka Shankar.
    • Chapter I: Forever, For Now.
    • Leiter.

  • Felix Mendelssohn

    Nocturne from A Midsummer Night's Dream

    Orchestra: BBC Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Jiří Bělohlávek.

  • Carl Nielsen

    A Dream about Silent Night

    Performer: Jean-Baptiste Doulcet.
    • søleils blancs.
    • Mirare.
    • 12.

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Romance from Serenade in G major, K 525, 'Eine kleine Nachtmusik'

    Orchestra: Münchener Kammerorchester. Conductor: Enrico Onofri.
    • Mozart: Serenata (Eine kleine Nachtmusik - Posthorn - Haffner).
    • Harmonia Mundi.
    • 11.

  • Anna Clyne

    Mothers Lullaby

    Ensemble: Miró Quartet.
    • Hearth.
    • Pentatone.
    • 108.

  • Robert Schumann

    Marchenbilder, Op 113 (No 4)

    Performer: Rachel Roberts. Performer: Lars Vogt.
    • Brahms: Viola Sonatas Op. 120: Rachel Roberts/Lars Vogt.
    • Avi Music.
    • 7.

  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-Sharp Minor, No. 2 'Moonlight': I. Adagio sostenuto

    Performer: Paul Lewis.
    • Beethoven: Piano Sonatas, Vol. 3.
    • harmonia mundi.
    • 9.

  • William Lloyd Webber

    The Moon

    Orchestra: English Chamber Orchestra. Conductor: Julian Lloyd Webber.
    • Naxos.

  • Marta Cascales Alimbau

    Moonlit

    Performer: Marta Cascales Alimbau.
    • Moonlit.
    • Deutsche Grammophon.
    • 1.

  • Karen Tanaka

    Night Bird

    Performer: Gerard McChrystal.
    • Aria.
    • First Hand Records.
    • 14.

  • Leo Brouwer

    Cancion de cuna (Berceuse)

    Performer: Miloš Karadaglić.
    • Sound Of Silence.
    • Mercury Classics.
    • 12.

  • Isaac Hirshow

    Shlof Mayn Kind [Sleep My Child]

    Choir: BBC Singers. Conductor: Paul Brough.

  • Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

    The young prince and princess (Sheherazade)

    Orchestra: BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Ilan Volkov.

  • Tom Waits

    Ol' 55

    • Closing Time.
    • Asylum.
    • 1.

  • Tom Waits

    Grapefruit Moon

    • Closing Time.
    • Asylum.
    • 11.

  • Erland Cooper & Freya Goldmark

    Asleep On The Wing (Edit)

    • Asleep On The Wing.
    • Mercury Classics.
    • 6.

  • Richard Strauss

    Dreaming by the Fireside (4 orchestral interludes from Intermezzo)

    Orchestra: Boston Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Andris Nelsons.
    • Strauss.
    • Deutsche Grammophon (DG).

  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 645

    Music Arranger: Ferruccio Busoni.
    • Timeline.
    • Universal Music Ltd..
    • 2.

  • JB Dunckel

    Wake

    Performer: Gautier Capuçon. Ensemble: Capucelli.
    • Dunckel: Wake.
    • Warner Classics.
    • 1.

  • Cécile Seraud

    Wake Up

    Performer: Cécile Seraud.
    • Psykhe.
    • Cecile Seraud.
    • 9.

  • Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    Panorama from Sleeping Beauty Suite, Op 66a

    Orchestra: BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Conductor: Xian Zhang.

  • Alexander Litvinovsky

    Snow White's Canzonetta

    Ensemble: Metamorphose String Orchestra. Conductor: Pavel Lyubomudrov.
    • Halidon.

  • Maddy Chassar-Hesketh

    Dream Song/In 4 (tell me what you know!)

    Orchestra: BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.

  • Philip Glass

    Truman Sleeps (arranged for guitar)

    Performer: Alexandra Whittingham.
    • Stars of Sand (From \"Trigun\").
    • Decca Music Group Ltd..
    • 2.

  • Brandee Younger

    Restful Place

    Performer: Brandee Younger.
    • Serenity: A Collection Of Mindful Meditations.
    • Impulse!.
    • 3.

  • Grace Williams

    Sailing Song (Sea Sketches, No 2)

    Orchestra: BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: John Andrews.
    • Grace Williams: Orchestral Works.
    • Resonus Classics.
    • 11.

  • Piers Connor Kennedy

    Wind down for the evening

    Choir: BBC Singers.

  • Eric Whitacre

    Sleep

    Orchestrator: Jim Clements. Choir: VOCES8 Foundation Choir. Orchestra: VOCES8 Foundation Orchestra. Conductor: Barnaby Smith.
    • Voces8.

  • Hiroshi Yoshimura

    Dream

    Performer: Hiroshi Yoshimura.
    • Music for Nine Postcards.
    • Empire of Signs.
    • 9.

  • Germaine Tailleferre

    Berceuse

    Performer: Geneva Lewis. Performer: Sam Armstrong.

Broadcast

  • Fri 13 Mar 202617:00
    BBC Radio 3 Unwind