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A feast of great music

Ian Skelly plays the best in classical music, with discoveries and surprises rubbing shoulders with familiar favourites.

Ian Skelly 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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29 days left to listen

3 hours, 30 minutes

Last on

Today09:30
BBC Radio 3

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Music Played

  • Johannes Brahms

    Double Concerto in A minor Op.102 (3rd mvt)

    Performer: Joshua Bell. Performer: Steven Isserlis. Orchestra: Academy of St Martin in the Fields. Conductor: Joshua Bell.
    • III. Vivace non troppo.
    • Sony Classical.
    • 3.

  • Jules Massenet

    Sevillana (Don César de Bazan)

    Orchestra: Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. Conductor: Neeme Järvi.
    • Massenet: Fantaisie etc..
    • Chandos.
    • 15.

  • Franz Schubert

    Piano Sonata in E major D.157 (1st mvt)

    Performer: Arcadi Volodos.
    • SONY.

  • Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

    Dance of the Tumblers (Snow Maiden)

    Orchestra: Seattle Symphony. Conductor: Gerard Schwarz.
    • Rimsky-Korsakov: Orchestral Suites.
    • Naxos.
    • 4.

  • King João IV of Portugal

    Crux fidelis

    Choir: Monteverdi Choir. Conductor: Sir John Eliot Gardiner.
    • SOLI DEO GLORIA.

  • Fanny Mendelssohn

    String Quartet in E flat major (4th mvt)

    Ensemble: Quatuor Ébène.
    • Felix & Fanny Mendelssohn: String Quartets Op. 13 in A minor, Op. 80 in F minor:.
    • Virgin.
    • 8.

  • Gustav Mahler

    Symphony No 9 (3rd mvt)

    Orchestra: Mahler Academy Orchestra. Conductor: Philipp von Steinaecker.
    • ALPHA.

  • Edvard Grieg

    Holberg Suite; 1vt mvt Praeludium

    Orchestra: Australian Chamber Orchestra. Director: Richard Tognetti.
    • BIS.

  • Johannes de Quadris

    Cum autem venissem ad locum

    Ensemble: Le Miroir de Musique. Director: Baptiste Romain.
    • Ubi caritas. Italian Laude in Early Renaissance.
    • Ricercar.
    • 1.

  • Jean‐Joseph de Mondonville

    Sonate en symphonie in F major Op.3 no.2

    Ensemble: Les Musiciens du Louvre. Conductor: Marc Minkowski.
    • ARCHIV.

  • Lennox Berkeley

    String Serenade - 1st movement, Vivace

    Orchestra: BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Conductor: Richard Hickox.
    • The Berkeley Edition, Volume 1.
    • Chandos.
    • 7.

  • Madeleine Dring

    3 Pieces for Oboe & Piano (1983); 2. Tango

    Performer: Nicholas Daniel. Performer: Antonio Oyarzabal.
    • CHANDOS.

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Piano Concerto no.23 in A major K.488 (1st mvt)

    Performer: Jean‐Efflam Bavouzet. Orchestra: Manchester Camerata. Conductor: Gábor Takács‐Nagy.
    • CHANDOS.

  • Tomás Luis de Victoria

    Caligaverunt oculi mei (Tenebrae Responsories for Good Friday)

    Choir: Tenebrae. Conductor: Nigel Short.
    • Tomás Luis De Victoria: Tenebrae Responsories.
    • SIGNUM.
    • 12.

  • William Walton

    Viola Concerto (2nd mvt)

    Performer: Lawrence Power. Orchestra: BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Ilan Volkov.
    • Walton, Rubbra: Viola Concertos: Lawrence Power, BBCSSO, Ilan Volkov.
    • Hyperion.

  • Léo Delibes

    Le Roi s'amuse (Pavane)

    Orchestra: Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Thomas Beecham.
    • Bizet: Carmen Suite etc..
    • EMI.
    • 14-20.

  • Carlo Gesualdo

    Tradiderunt me in manus impiorum (Tenebrae Responses for Good Friday)

    Ensemble: The Hilliard Ensemble.
    • Gesualdo: Tenebrae.
    • ECM New Series.

  • George Butterworth

    A Shropshire lad - rhapsody for orchestra (conclusion)

    Orchestra: Hallé. Conductor: Mark Elder.
    • Halle.

  • Antonio Lotti

    Crucifixus à 8

    Performer: Peter Stevens. Choir: Westminster Cathedral Choir. Conductor: Martin Baker.
    • Ad Fontes.

  • Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    Symphony no.5 in E minor Op.64 (3rd mvt)

    Orchestra: Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Manfred Honeck.
    • Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5 & Schulhoff: Five Pieces for String Quartet.
    • Reference Recordings.
    • 03.

  • Cécile Chaminade

    Capriccio Op.18

    Performer: Nils‐Erik Sparf. Performer: Bengt Forsberg.
    • DG.

  • Giuseppe Verdi

    Otello: Ave Maria

    Singer: Elsa Dreisig. Orchestra: Teatro San Carlo Orchestra. Conductor: Massimo Zanetti.
    • Invocation.
    • Erato.

  • Antonín Dvořák

    Czech Suite (5th mvt)

    Orchestra: Czech Philharmonic. Conductor: Libor Pešek.
    • Dvorak: American Suite, Czech Suite; Overtures and Tone Poems.
    • Warner Classics.
    • 5.

  • Sergei Rachmaninov

    13 Preludes Op.32 (no.5 in G major)

    Performer: Boris Giltburg.
    • Rachmaninoff: 24 Préludes.
    • Naxos.
    • 16.

  • Joseph Haydn

    Symphony No 49 in F minor "La Passione"

    Orchestra: Il Giardino Armonico. Conductor: Giovanni Antonini.
    • Haydn 2032, Vol. 1: La Passione.
    • ALPHA.
    • 19.

  • George Frideric Handel

    Suite no.4 in D minor HWV.437 (Sarabande)

    Ensemble: Jupiter. Conductor: Thomas Dunford.
    • Handel - Eternal Heaven.
    • ERATO.
    • 1.

  • Gerald Finzi

    Lo, the Full, Final Sacrifice

    Performer: Alexander Hamilton. Choir: The Choir Of Trinity College, Cambridge. Conductor: Stephen Layton.
    • Finzi: Lo, the Full, Final Sacrifice & Other Choral Works.
    • Hyperion.
    • 15.

  • Henryk Wieniawski

    Caprice in E flat major [Alla saltarella]

    Music Arranger: Fritz Kreisler. Performer: Vilde Frang. Performer: José Gallardo.
    • Homage.
    • Warner Classics.
    • 8.

  • Giovanni Pacoloni

    Passamezzo milanese

    Performer: Jakob Lindberg. Performer: Nigel North. Performer: Paul O’Dette.
    • Three, Four and Twenty Lutes, Lindberg etc..
    • BIS.
    • 13.

  • Johann Pachelbel

    Improvisation on Pachelbel's Canon in D major

    Performer: Gabriela Montero. Music Arranger: Gabriela Montero.
    • WARNER CLASSICS.

Broadcast

  • Today09:30
    BBC Radio 3