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Open your day with tranquil classical 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 a chance to Find Your Focus for the morning with music by the Icelandic composer-pianist Eydis Evensen and peaceful, reviving pieces from Copland, Beethoven, and Anne Dudley. Sian Takes a Breath in Manchester and muses on the importance of green spaces in cityscapes, and Professor Catherine Loveday explores "proof reader error" and explains how the phenomenon can help us to understand the way our brains process music.

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3 hours

On radio

Sun 12 Apr 202609:00
BBC Radio 3 Unwind

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Music Played

  • Susan Spain-Dunk

    Suite in B minor for String Orchestra (3rd mvt, Romance)

    Conductor: Douglas Bostock. Orchestra: South-West German Chamber Orchestra Pforzheim.
    • CPO.

  • Franz Schubert

    Die schöne Müllerin, D 795 (No 19, 'The Miller and the Brook')

    Performer: Mischa Maisky. Performer: Daria Hovora.
    • DG.

  • Antonín Dvořák

    Symphony No 1 in C minor, 'The Bells of Zlonice' (2nd mvt)

    Conductor: Karel Mark Chichon. Orchestra: Saarbrucken German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra.
    • SWR.

  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Minuet in G major, WoO 10, No 2

    Ensemble: I Musici.
    • DG.

  • John Rutter

    When Music Sounds

    Performer: Matthew Jorysz. Choir: The Cambridge Singers. Conductor: John Rutter.
    • Collegium.

  • Fela Sowande

    African Suite (2nd mvt, 'Nostalgia')

    Conductor: Paul Freeman. Orchestra: Chicago Sinfonietta.
    • Cedille.

  • Eydís Evensen

    Drifter

    Performer: Eydís Evensen. Performer: Sólveig Vaka Eyþórsdóttir. Performer: Guðbjartur Hákonarson. Performer: Karl Pestka. Performer: Hrafnhildur Marta Guðmundsdóttir.
    • XXIM.

  • Jean Sibelius

    The Swan of Tuonela, Op 22 No 2

    Conductor: Thomas Søndergård. Orchestra: BBC National Orchestra of Wales.
    • Linn.

  • Gabriel Fauré

    Requiem, Op 48 (3rd mvt, Sanctus)

    Ensemble: Le Concert Spirituel. Conductor: Hervé Niquet.
    • Alpha.

  • Jean‐Michel Damase

    Piano Concerto No 2 (2nd mvt)

    Performer: Ashley Wass. Conductor: Martin Yates. Orchestra: BBC Concert Orchestra.
    • Dutton Epoch.

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Adagio in E major, K 261

    Performer: Julia Fischer. Conductor: Yakov Kreizberg. Orchestra: Nederlands Kamerorkest.
    • Pentatone.

  • Musashi Project

    Sadness and Sorrow arr for piano (Naruto)

    Performer: Lang Lang. Music Arranger: Rayan Telleria.
    • DG.

  • Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach

    Cello Concerto in B flat major, H 436 (2nd mvt)

    Performer: Nicolas Altstaedt. Performer: Jonathan Cohen. Ensemble: Arcangelo.
    • Hyperion.

  • Florence Price

    Reverie

    Performer: Kirsten Johnson.
    • Guild Music.

  • Aaron Copland

    Quiet City

    Performer: Alison Balsom. Conductor: Scott Stroman. Orchestra: Britten Sinfonia.
    • WARNER CLASSICS.

  • Georges Bizet

    Petite Suite, WD 39 (No 2, 'La poupée')

    Conductor: Jean-Luc Tingaud. Orchestra: National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland.
    • Naxos.

  • George Frideric Handel

    Concerto grosso in F major, Op 3 No 4, HWV 315 (2nd mvt)

    Conductor: Sir John Eliot Gardiner. Orchestra: English Baroque Soloists.
    • Warner.

  • Nikolai Yakovlevich Myaskovsky

    Symphony No 9 in E minor, Op 28 (3rd mvt)

    Conductor: Sir Edward Downes. Orchestra: BBC Philharmonic Orchestra.
    • Marco Polo.

  • Anne Dudley

    Medhel an Gwyns

    Performer: Esther Abrami. Conductor: Irene Delgado-Jiménez. Orchestra: Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra.
    • Sony.

  • Clara Schumann

    Romanze in B minor (posth)

    Performer: Sylviane Deferne.
    • Aparte.

  • Arvo Pärt

    Swansong

    Conductor: Paavo Järvi. Orchestra: Estonian Festival Orchestra.
    • Alpha Classics.

  • Rachel Portman

    The Little Prince (The Taming)

    Conductor: David Charles Abell. Orchestra: BBC Concert Orchestra. Orchestra: The Little Prince Orchestra.
    • Sony.

  • Johannes Brahms

    6 Piano Pieces, Op 118 (No 2, Intermezzo in A major)

    Performer: Martin James Bartlett.
    • Warner.

  • Jeno Hubay

    Violin Concerto No 1 in A minor, Op 21, 'Dramatique' (2nd mvt)

    Performer: Hagai Shaham. Conductor: Martyn Brabbins. Orchestra: BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.
    • Hyperion.

  • Isata Kanneh‐Mason

    Hiraeth

    Ensemble: The Kanneh‐Masons.
    • Decca.

  • Sergey Prokofiev

    Romeo and Juliet Suite No 2, Op 64 (5th mvt, 'Romeo and Juliet Before Parting')

    Conductor: Andrew Litton. Orchestra: Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra.
    • BIS.

  • Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

    Suite from '24 Folk Melodies' (4th mvt, Lament / They Will Not Lend Me a Child)

    Conductor: Michael Repper. Orchestra: National Philharmonic.
    • Avie.

  • Louise Farrenc

    Nonet in E flat major, Op 38 (2nd mvt)

    Ensemble: Consortium Classicum.
    • Divox.

  • Giacomo Puccini

    Adagetto in F major

    Conductor: Riccardo Chailly. Orchestra: Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi.
    • Decca.

  • Henry Purcell

    Suite from Abdelzar (5th mvt, Hornpipe)

    Conductor: Jeanne Lamon. Orchestra: Tafelmusik.
    • ANALEKTA.

Broadcasts

  • Thursday09:00
    BBC Radio 3 Unwind
  • Sun 12 Apr 202609:00
    BBC Radio 3 Unwind