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Settle into the day with flowing classical harmonies

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 uplifting and enriching melodies from Leo Delibes, Margaret Bonds, and Benjamin Britten. Sian ponders on the positives of an unexpected diversion while out to Take a Breath, there's a chance to Find Your Focus with the music of Marie Awadis, and Professor Catherine Loveday explores how music stimulates the brain's "printing press for our memories" - the hippocampus.

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3 hours

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Sun 19 Apr 202609:00
BBC Radio 3 Unwind

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Music Played

  • Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    Suite No 4 in G, 'Mozartiana' (Preghiera)

    Conductor: Neeme JĂ€rvi. Orchestra: Detroit Symphony Orchestra.
    • Chandos.

  • Jean‐Philippe Rameau

    L'enharmonique

    Performer: Víkingur Ólafsson.
    • DG.

  • Camille Saint‐SaĂ«ns

    Musette guerriere (Etienne Marcel)

    Conductor: Jun MĂ€rkl. Orchestra: Residentie Orkest.
    • Naxos.

  • Sir Stephen Hough

    Musical Jewellery Box

    Performer: Sir Stephen Hough.
    • Hyperion.

  • Frederick Delius

    Summer Night on the River

    Conductor: Sir Andrew Davis. Orchestra: BBC Symphony Orchestra.
    • Warner.

  • Marie Awadis

    Etude No 5 (Traces)

    Performer: Marie Awadis.
    • DG.

  • Imogen Holst

    Agnus Dei

    Choir: Pembroke College Chapel Choir. Choir: Pembroke College Girls' Choir. Conductor: Anna Lapwood.
    • Signum.

  • Rune Tonsgaard Sorensen

    Once a Shoemaker

    Ensemble: Danish String Quartet.
    • ECM.

  • Leo Brouwer

    An Idea

    Performer: ZsĂłfia Boros.
    • ECM.

  • Gang Chen

    Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto (3rd mvt)

    Performer: Chloe Chua. Conductor: Mario Venzago. Orchestra: Singapore Symphony Orchestra.
    • Pentatone.

  • Friedrich Gernsheim

    Piano Concerto in C minor, Op 16 (2nd mvt)

    Performer: Oliver Treindl. Conductor: Hermann BĂ€umer. Orchestra: Mainz Philharmonic State Orchestra.
    • CPO.

  • Agnes Tyrrell

    8 Choruses, Op 7 (Abschied)

    Choir: Gewandhauschor Leipzig. Conductor: Gregor Meyer.
    • CPO.

  • John Foulds

    Strophes from an Antique Song

    Conductor: Ronald Corp. Orchestra: BBC Concert Orchestra.
    • Vocalion.

  • Undine Smith Moore

    Is there anybody here who loves my Jesus

    Performer: Chloe Flower.
    • Popsical.

  • Louis Spohr

    Symphony No 5 in C minor, Op102 (2nd mvt)

    Conductor: Howard Griffiths. Orchestra: North German Radio Symphony, Hannover.
    • CPO.

  • FrĂ©dĂ©ric Chopin

    Mazurka No 31 in A flat major, Op 50 No 2

    Performer: Pavel Kolesnikov.
    • Hyperion.

  • Felix Weingartner

    Serenade for Strings in F major, Op 6 (3rd mvt)

    Conductor: Marko Letonja. Orchestra: Symphony Orchestra Basel.
    • CPO.

  • Max Bruch

    Violin Concerto No 3 in D minor, Op 58 (2nd mvt)

    Performer: Jack Liebeck. Conductor: Martyn Brabbins. Orchestra: BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.
    • Hyperion.

  • Benjamin Britten

    Diversions, Op 21 (Variation VI, 'Nocturne')

    Performer: Clare Hammond. Conductor: George Vass. Orchestra: BBC Symphony Orchestra.
    • BIS.

  • Paul Leonard‐Morgan

    Aftermath (A History of Scotland)

    Conductor: Paul Leonard‐Morgan. Orchestra: BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.
    • Rage Music.

  • Dora Bright

    Variations for Piano and Orchestra (Var 3)

    Performer: Samantha Ward. Conductor: Charles Peebles. Orchestra: Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.
    • SOMM.

  • Rosalind Ellicott

    Second Trio (2nd mvt)

    Ensemble: The Summerhayes Piano Trio.
    • Meridian.

  • Einojuhani Rautavaara

    Vigilia

    Choir: Choir of Clare College, Cambridge. Conductor: Timothy Brown.
    • Collegium.

  • John Ireland

    The Holy Boy

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

  • Helene Liebmann

    Cello Sonata in B flat major, Op 11 (2nd mvt)

    Performer: Ramon Jaffé. Performer: Monica Gutman.
    • CPO.

  • Margaret Bonds

    Montgomery Variations (No 6, 'Lament')

    Conductor: Kellen Gray. Orchestra: Royal Scottish National Orchestra.
    • Outhere.

  • Nikolai Girshevich Kapustin

    Piano Sonata No 6, Op 62 (2nd mvt)

    Performer: Marc‐AndrĂ© Hamelin.
    • Hyperion.

  • Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

    Othello, Op 79 (2nd mvt, 'Children's Intermezzo')

    Conductor: Adrian Leaper. Orchestra: RTÉ Concert Orchestra.
    • Naxos.

  • Alberto Ginastera

    3 Pieces, Op 6 (1st mvt, 'Cuyana')

    Performer: François-Xavier Poizat.
    • Piano Classics.

  • George Frideric Handel

    Organ Concerto in F major, HWV293 (1st mvt)

    Performer: Xavier de Maistre. Orchestra: Lucerne Festival Strings.
    • Sony.

  • Felix Mendelssohn

    String Symphony No 11 in F minor (3rd mvt)

    Conductor: Jörg Faerber. Orchestra: WĂŒrttembergisches Kammerorchester Heilbronn.
    • VOX.

  • Arthur Sullivan

    Symphony in E major 'Irish' (2nd mvt)

    Orchestra: BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Richard Hickox.
    • Chandos.

  • Jung Jae-il

    Remember

    Conductor: Eun Hye Jung. Orchestra: Budapest Scoring Orchestra.
    • Jung Jaeil.

  • LĂ©o Delibes

    Sylvia (Pizzicato)

    Conductor: Michael HalĂĄsz. Orchestra: Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra.
    • Naxos.

  • Kate Loder

    3 Romances (No 2 in A flat major)

    Performer: Ian Hobson.
    • Toccata.

  • Robert Schumann

    Marchenbilder for Viola and Piano, Op 113 (4th mvt)

    Performer: Maxim Rysanov. Performer: Dasol Kim.
    • Maxim Rysanov.

  • AgustĂ­n Barrios MangorĂ©

    Julia Florida

    Performer: Sean Shibe.
    • Pentatone.

  • Ruth Gipps

    Symphony No 5, Op 64 (IVe, 'Missa brevia - Agnus Dei')

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

  • Christopher Tin

    I shall not see the shadows

    Choir: VOCES8.
    • Decca.

  • John Barry

    Child's Play from My Life (OST)

    • Epic Soundtrax.

Broadcasts

  • Today09:00
    BBC Radio 3 Unwind
  • Sun 19 Apr 202609:00
    BBC Radio 3 Unwind