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Refresh your morning with calming melodies

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 gently moving music from Rachmaninov, Haydn, and Avril Coleridge-Taylor, Sian marvels at the resilience of nature while out to Take a Breath. Plus, Professor Catherine Loveday explains why it is that classical music can make us feel more serene.

3 hours

Last on

Sun 22 Feb 202609:00
BBC Radio 3 Unwind

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Music Played

  • John Rutter

    Suite for Strings (3rd mvt, 'O, Waly Waly')

    Conductor: Tzelaw Chan. Orchestra: Orchestra of the Music Makers.
    • OMM.

  • Guido Santorsola

    Suite all'antica (3rd mvt, 'Piccola arietta')

    Performer: Luis Orlandini. Performer: Raimundo Luco.
    • Naxos.

  • Gerald Finzi

    Come away, come away death, Op 18 No 1 (Instrumental)

    Performer: Amy Dickson. Conductor: Nicholas Collon. Orchestra: Aurora Orchestra.
    • Decca.

  • Edward Elgar

    Four Choral Songs, Op 53 (Deep in my soul)

    Choir: The Rodolfus Choir. Conductor: Ralph Allwood.
    • Signum.

  • Philip Glass

    Metamorphosis (3rd mvt)

    Performer: Floraleda Sacchi.
    • Decca.

  • Albert Roussel

    Symphony No 1 Op 7, 'Le Poeme dans la foret' (3rd mvt, 'Soir d'ete')

    Conductor: Stéphane Denève. Orchestra: Royal Scottish National Orchestra.
    • Naxos.

  • Margaret Bonds

    Montgomery Variations (No 7, 'Benediction')

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

  • Fanny Mendelssohn

    3 Melodies, Op 4 (No 2 in C sharp minor)

    Performer: Pierpaola Porqueddu.
    • Halidon.

  • Arthur Bliss

    Miracle in the Gorbals (4th mvt, 'The Young Lovers')

    Conductor: Michael Seal. Orchestra: BBC Philharmonic Orchestra.
    • Chandos.

  • Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    The Seasons, Op 37a (3rd mvt, 'March, Song of the lark')

    Performer: Bruce Liu.
    • DG.

  • Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

    African Suite, Op 35 (2nd mvt, 'A Love Song')

    Orchestrator: Chris Cameron. Conductor: Kevin John Edusei. Orchestra: Chineke! Orchestra.
    • Decca.

  • Joseph Haydn

    Piano Sonata in E flat, H XVI No 49 (2nd mvt)

    Performer: Alfred Brendel.
    • PHILIPS.

  • Florence Price

    Song for Snow

    Performer: Chloe Flower. Conductor: Jessica Cottis. Orchestra: Academy of St Martin in the Fields.
    • Popsical Music Group.

  • Robert Schumann

    Fantasiestücke, Op 73 (1st mvt)

    Performer: Alexei Ogrintchouk. Performer: Leonid Ogrintchouk.
    • Harmonia mundi.

  • Alexander Scriabin

    Reverie, Op 24

    Conductor: Fabio Luisi. Orchestra: Danish National Symphony Orchestra.
    • DG.

  • Peter Phillips

    Ecce panis angelorum a 8

    Choir: Choir of Royal Holloway. Ensemble: The English Cornett and Sackbut Ensemble. Conductor: Rupert Gough.
    • Hyperion.

  • John Ireland

    Two Pieces for Piano (1st mvt, April)

    Performer: Rebeca Omordia.
    • Resonus Classics.

  • Franz Schubert

    Symphony no. 2 in B flat major D.125 (2nd mvt)

    Orchestra: Berliner Philharmoniker. Conductor: Nikolaus Harnoncourt.
    • Berlin Phil.

  • Joe Hisaishi

    Spring

    Performer: Lang Lang.
    • DG.

  • Alan Hovhaness

    Hymn to Glacier Peak (2nd mvt, 'Love Song to Hinako')

    Conductor: Gerard Schwarz. Orchestra: Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.
    • TELARC.

  • Eugen d’Albert

    Cello Concerto in C major, Op.20 (2nd mvt)

    Performer: Alban Gerhardt. Orchestra: BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Carlos Kalmar.
    • Hyperion.

  • William Walton

    Sinfonia Concertante (2nd mvt)

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

  • Margaret Rizza

    Trinity Blessing

    Ensemble: Gaudete Ensemble. Conductor: Eamonn Dougan.
    • Convivium Records.

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Piano Concerto in D major, K 107 No 1, after Bach (2nd mvt)

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

  • Domenico Scarlatti

    Sonata in D minor, K 32

    Performer: Martin Fröst. Performer: Sebastien Dubé.
    • Sony.

  • Elfrida Andrée

    Sommarminnen från Bjurslätt (2nd mvt)

    Performer: Mats Larsson Gothe. Performer: David Bergström. Performer: Mattais Johansson. Performer: Lars-Erik Persson. Performer: Bengt Erson.
    • Altfiol i Väst.

  • Cyril Scott

    Early One Morning

    Performer: Howard Shelley. Conductor: Martyn Brabbins. Orchestra: BBC Philharmonic Orchestra.
    • Chandos.

  • Avril Coleridge-Taylor

    Piano Concerto in F minor (2nd mvt)

    Performer: Samantha Ege. Conductor: John Andrews. Orchestra: BBC Philharmonic Orchestra.
    • Resonus Classics.

  • Sara Dowling

    Adios (arr for cello & guitar quartet)

    Performer: Sara Dowling. Music Arranger: Giorgio Serci. Ensemble: Aquarelle Guitar Quartet.
    • Chandos.

  • Frédéric Chopin

    Nocturne No 20 in C sharp minor (arr for violin and orchestra)

    Performer: Joshua Bell. Conductor: Michael Stern. Orchestra: Academy of St Martin in the Fields.
    • SONY.

  • Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka

    Nocturne in E flat major

    Performer: Valery Kamyshov.
    • Melodiya.

  • Sergei Rachmaninov

    Aleko (Intermezzo)

    Conductor: Gianandrea Noseda. Orchestra: BBC Philharmonic Orchestra.
    • Chandos.

  • Franz Liszt

    Ave Maria (1st mvt)

    Performer: Anna Pasetti.
    • Brilliant Classics.

  • Antonín Dvořák

    Legends, Op 59 (No 8)

    Conductor: Tomáš Netopil. Orchestra: Czech Philharmonic.
    • Pentatone.

  • Mårten Jansson

    Requiem Novum (Pie Jesu)

    Choir: VOCES8. Choir: Apollo5.
    • Voces8 Records.

Broadcasts

  • Thu 5 Feb 202609:00
    BBC Radio 3 Unwind
  • Sun 22 Feb 202609:00
    BBC Radio 3 Unwind