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Bring balance to your morning with peaceful classical music

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 serene, and enchanting melodies from composers including Arvo Pärt, Fanny Mendelssohn, and Dvořák, there's also your daily opportunity to Find your Focus, encouraged today with music by Lambert. Professor Catherine Loveday joins the show to explore why children might be more relaxed when listening to unfamiliar music, and Sian Takes a Breath by a babbling brook to find a brief moment of rest.

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3 hours

On radio

Sat 11 Apr 202609:00
BBC Radio 3 Unwind

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Open your day with tranquil classical melodies

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Music Played

  • Sir George Dyson

    Three Songs of Praise (No 2, 'Lauds')

    Choir: BBC Symphony Chorus. Orchestra: BBC Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Richard Hickox.
    • Chandos.

  • Eugène Ysaÿe

    Reve d'enfant [Childhood Dream], Op 14

    Performer: Renaud Capuçon. Performer: Guillaume Bellom.
    • Erato.

  • Josef Myslivecek

    Symphony in B flat major (2nd mvt)

    Conductor: Matthias Bamert. Orchestra: London Mozart Players.
    • Chandos.

  • Giuseppe Verdi

    Nabucco Piano Variation (arr for piano from Nabucco: Va' pensiero)

    Performer: Gabriele Bagnati. Music Arranger: Jan-Peter Klöpfel.
    • Sony Music.

  • Victor Herbert

    Yesterthoughts, Op 37

    Performer: Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt. Orchestra: Metamorphosen Berlin.
    • Sony.

  • Frank Bridge

    Souvenir (arr for viola & piano)

    Music Arranger: Veronica Leigh Jacobs. Performer: Eniko Magyar. Performer: Eniko Magyar. Performer: Tadashi Imai. Performer: Tadashi Imai.
    • Naxos.

  • Lambert

    As Ballad

    Performer: Lavinia Meijer.
    • Sony.

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Rondo in C major, K 373

    Performer: Chloe Chua. Conductor: Hans Graf. Orchestra: Singapore Symphony Orchestra.
    • Pentatone.

  • Yu‐Peng Chen

    Reminiscence

    Performer: Yu‐Peng Chen. Conductor: Robert Ziegler. Orchestra: London Philharmonic Orchestra.
    • DG.

  • Gabriel Fauré

    Romance in B flat major, Op 28 (arr for violin & orchestra)

    Performer: Pierre Fouchenneret. Music Arranger: Philippe Gaubert. Conductor: Jean-Luc Tingaud. Orchestra: National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland.
    • Naxos.

  • Fanny Mendelssohn

    Klavierstuck in B flat major

    Performer: Sontraud Speidel.
    • ARS Produktion.

  • Eric Coates

    For Your Delight

    Conductor: John Wilson. Orchestra: BBC Philharmonic Orchestra.
    • Chandos.

  • Johann Stamitz

    Sinfonia in D major WolS I D-23 (2nd mvt)

    Conductor: Timo Handschuh. Orchestra: South-West German Chamber Orchestra Pforzheim.
    • CPO.

  • Ola Gjeilo

    Ecce Novum

    Choir: Choir of Royal Holloway. Ensemble: 12 Ensemble.
    • Decca.

  • Alec Templeton

    Pocket Size Sonata No 1 (1st mvt, 'Improvisation')

    Performer: Andreas Ottensamer. Performer: José Gallardo.
    • DG.

  • Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

    Serenade in B flat major, Op 37 (version for cello and orchestra)

    Performer: Li-Wei Qin. Conductor: Michael Halász. Orchestra: Czech Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra.
    • Naxos.

  • Dobrinka Tabakova

    Sun Triptych (3rd mvt, 'Dusk')

    Conductor: David Hill. Orchestra: BBC Concert Orchestra.
    • ECM.

  • Ethel Smyth

    Nocturne

    Performer: David Kadouch.
    • Mirare.

  • Arvo Pärt

    The Deer's Cry

    Choir: Vox Clamantis. Conductor: Jaan-Eik Tulve.
    • ECM.

  • Robert Schumann

    Symphony No 3 in E flat major, Op 97, 'Rhenish' (2nd mvt, Scherzo)

    Conductor: Michael Tilson Thomas. Orchestra: San Francisco Symphony.
    • SFS Media.

  • Franz Liszt

    Years of Pilgrimage (1st year, Switzerland: 'By a Spring')

    Performer: Roger Muraro.
    • Universal.

  • Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

    Romance for String Orchestra in B major

    Conductor: Charles Peebles. Orchestra: Ulster Orchestra.
    • Somm.

  • Anna Lapwood

    Arise, Shine

    Choir: Pembroke College Chapel Choir.
    • Sony.

  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Piano Sonata No 15 in D major, Op 28, 'Pastorale' (2nd mvt)

    Performer: Igor Levit.
    • Sony.

  • Rachel Portman

    Tipping Points (5th mvt, 'Earth')

    Performer: Niklas Liepe. Conductor: Erina Yashima. Orchestra: WDR Funkhausorchester.
    • Sony.

  • Toru Takemitsu

    12 Songs for Guitar (No 8, 'Here, There and Everywhere')

    Performer: Shin-Ichi Fukuda.
    • Naxos.

  • Alexis Ffrench

    The Time of Your Life

    Performer: Alexis Ffrench.
    • Sony.

  • Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    Serenade Melancolique, Op 26

    Performer: Guy Braunstein. Conductor: Kirill Karabits. Orchestra: BBC Symphony Orchestra.
    • Pentatone.

  • Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    Friday Afternoons, Op 7 (Fishing Song)

    Composer: Benjamin Britten. Performer: Guy Braunstein. Conductor: Kirill Karabits. Orchestra: BBC Symphony Orchestra. Choir: New London Children’s Choir. Conductor: Alexander Wells.
    • Naxos.

  • Florence Price

    String Quartet in G major (2nd mvt)

    Ensemble: Delirium Musicum. Conductor: Etienne Gara.
    • Erato.

  • Eleanor Daley

    Set me as a seal

    Choir: Choir of Royal Holloway. Conductor: Rupert Gough.
    • Signum.

  • Sergei Rachmaninov

    How Fair This Spot, Op 21 No 7

    Performer: Nobuyuki Tsujii. Music Arranger: Arcadi Volodos.
    • DG.

  • Ernest Shand

    Legende, Op 201

    Performer: Alexandra Whittingham.
    • Delphian.

  • Antonín Dvořák

    7 Gypsy Melodies, Op 55 (No 4, 'Songs My Mother Taught Me')

    Performer: Tine Thing Helseth. Conductor: Eivind Aadland. Orchestra: Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.
    • Warner.

  • Charlotte Sohy

    Tryptique champêtre, Op 21 (2nd mvt, 'Au fil de l'eau')

    Performer: Mathilde Caldérini. Performer: Omer Bouchez. Performer: Lou Yung-Hsin Chang. Performer: Yan Levionnois. Performer: Constance Luzzati.
    • La Boîte à Pépites.

  • Joe Hisaishi

    Symphonic Suite, 'Castle in the Sky' (The Castle of Time)

    Orchestra: New Japan Philharmonic World Dream Orchestra.
    • Decca.

  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Nach dir Herr verlanget mich, BWV 150 (No 6)

    Choir: VOCES8. Conductor: Barnaby Smith.
    • VOCES8 Records.

Broadcasts

  • Yesterday09:00
    BBC Radio 3 Unwind
  • Sat 11 Apr 202609:00
    BBC Radio 3 Unwind