RADIO-LISTS: BBC RADIO 3
Unofficial Weekly Listings for BBC Radio 3 — supported by bbc.co.uk/programmes/
SATURDAY 27 JUNE 2026
SAT 00:30 Through the Night (m002xq5m)
Beethoven from Barcelona
The Orchestre des Champs-Elysées and conductor Philippe Herreweghe perform Beethoven's 2nd and 8th symphonies. John Shea presents.
12:31 AM
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Symphony no 2 in D, Op 36
Orchestre des Champs-Élysées, Philippe Herreweghe (conductor)
01:05 AM
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Symphony no 8 in F, Op 93
Orchestre des Champs-Élysées, Philippe Herreweghe (conductor)
01:31 AM
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Adagio from Trio for violin, cello & piano in B flat major, Op 11
Beaux Arts Trio
01:37 AM
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
32 Variations for Piano in C minor, Wo
0.80
Antti Siirala (piano)
01:48 AM
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Septet in E flat major, Op 20
Michel Lethiec (clarinet), Andre Cazalet (horn), Giorgio Mandolesi (bassoon), Agata Szymczewska (violin), Amihai Grosz (viola), Rafal Kwiatkowski (cello), Jurek Dybal (double bass)
02:31 AM
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Cantata - 'Ich hatte viel Bekummernis' BWV 21
Antonella Balducci (soprano), Frieder Lang (tenor), Fulvio Bettini (baritone), Chorus of Swiss-Italian Radio, Ensemble Vanitas Lugano, Diego Fasolis (conductor)
03:06 AM
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Piano Sonata in A major, D.959
Shai Wosner (piano)
03:46 AM
Wojciech Kilar (1931-2013)
Little Overture
National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Stanislav Macura (conductor)
03:53 AM
Béla Bartók (1881-1945)
For Children - Book 1 (nos.1-6)
Martá Fábián (cimbalom), Agnes Szakaly (cimbalom)
03:58 AM
Enrique Granados (1867-1916)
La Maja y el Ruisenor - from Goyescas
Marilyn Richardson (soprano), Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Vladimir Kamirski (conductor)
04:05 AM
Josef Suk (1874-1935)
Elegy Op 23 arr. for piano trio
Trio Lorenz
04:12 AM
Percy Grainger (1882-1961)
O Danny Boy or Irish tune from County Derry
Edmonton Wind Ensemble, Harry Pinchin (conductor)
04:17 AM
Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849)
Mazurka in A minor Op.17 No.4
Jane Coop (piano)
04:22 AM
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
Concerto da Camera in C major, RV.88
Camerata Köln
04:31 AM
Jean-Baptiste Quinault (1687-1745)
Overture and Dances - from the Comedy 'Le Nouveau Monde' (1723)
L'ensemble Arion
04:39 AM
Richard Strauss (1864-1949)
Largo from 5 Klavierstücke, Op 3 no 3
Ludmil Angelov (piano)
04:48 AM
Francesco Cavalli (1602-1676)
Lauda Jerusalem (Psalm 147, 'How good it is to sing praises to our God')
Concerto Palatino
04:58 AM
Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)
Petite Suite
Royal Academy of Music Brass Soloists
05:06 AM
Richard Flury (1896-1967)
Three pieces for violin and piano
Sibylle Tschopp (violin), Isabel Tschopp (piano)
05:14 AM
Luigi Cherubini (1760-1842)
Ballet music from Anacreon
Radio Bratislava Symphony Orchestra, Ondrej Lenárd (conductor)
05:22 AM
Ignaz Moscheles (1794-1870)
Grosse Sonate for Pianoforte in E major, Op 41
Tom Beghin (fortepiano)
05:50 AM
Ole Buck (b.1945), John Keats (author)
Two Faery Songs: "O shed no tear"; "Ah! Woe is me!"
Danish National Radio Choir, Kaare Hansen (conductor)
05:57 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Sinfonia Concertante in E flat major, K364
Götz Rüstig (violin), Werner Ehrbrecht (viola), Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Saarbrücken, Myung-Whun Chung (conductor)
SAT 06:30 Radio 3 Breakfast (m002y272)
Start your day with classical music
Hannah French presents Radio 3’s Breakfast show. You can contact the show by emailing 3breakfast@bbc.co.uk.
To listen on most smart speakers, just say 'Ask BBC Sounds to play 3 Breakfast’.
SAT 09:00 Saturday Morning (m002y274)
3 piano superstars in the studio: Jon Batiste and the Labeque sisters
Tom Service with guests, stories and the perfect classical soundtrack for the weekend!
Tom welcomes pianists Katia and Marielle Labeque to the studio to talk about their incredible lives in music and to play together on the studio piano. The Labeques' new compilation '55' marks their 55 years recording career, which started as teenagers in 1970 when Olivier Messiaen asked them to go into the studio to record his music. They talk to Tom about a musical journey together that spans Mozart to Poulenc to Emahoy to Part, countless world premieres, and how they continue to push boundaries today collaborating with artists like Bryce Dessner.
Also in the studio is the multi-award winning bandleader, singer, composer and pianist Jon Batiste. He's in London for a series of concerts reflecting all the different sides of his musical personality - and he plays live in the studio and chats to Tom about his new album Black Mozart that sees some of Mozart's work through the lens of his jazz and gospel background.
And our Creators series continues with the Grammy and BAFTA award winning conductor and composer Austin Wintory. Best known for his work in video games, his much loved score to the game Journey made history when it was the first game score nominated for a Grammy. Austin tells Tom the story behind his music for Journey and looks forward to his upcoming London concert.
SAT 12:00 Earlier... with Jools Holland (m002y278)
Jools with music for Saturday lunchtime
Jools shares his lifelong passion for classical music and the beautiful connections with jazz and blues. With fascinating guests each week, who bring their own favourite music and occasionally perform live in Jools's studio.
Today, Jools's choices include music by Sibelius, Johnny Hodges and Augusta Holmes, with performances by Ginette Neveu, Edith Piaf and Martin Fröst. His guest is the author, historian and Architectural Editor of Country Life magazine John Goodall, who introduces a castle-inspired selection of music by John Dowland, Thomas Ravenscroft, JS Bach and Arthur Sullivan.
To listen on most smart speakers, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Earlier with Jools Holland".
SAT 13:00 Key Changes: Radio 3's Essential History of Classical Music (m002y27d)
1717: Singing Superstars
1717, Naples. In a modest room, a young boy undergoes a dangerous operation that will determine his future. If he survives, his voice will never break. Carlo Broschi will become Farinelli – one of the greatest and most celebrated singers in history.
This programme explores the rise of opera’s first international superstars. From the extraordinary appeal of the castrati to the fierce rivalries of diva sopranos, it traces how star performers – rather than composers – drive the spread of opera across Europe. As theatres expand and audiences grow, music enters a new age of celebrity, spectacle and commercial ambition.
Gillian Moore is joined by a roster of distinguished historians for this major new BBC Radio 3 series, charting a course through 1000 years of classical music history. For Episodes 9 to 16, Gillian welcomes Suzannah Lipscomb to help her explore the fascinating stories and rich sound worlds of the Late Renaissance and Baroque.
Producer: Chris Taylor
Academic Consultant: Professor Laura Tunbridge, University of Oxford
Story Consultant: Kate Leys
Series Editor for BBC Audio: Emma Harding
Key Changes theme tune composed by Joseph Howard and performed by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, conducted by Kerem Hasan.
MUSIC DETAILS
Riccardo Broschi: Artaserse – Son qual nave ch’agitata
Ewa Małas-Godlewska (soprano)
Derek Lee Ragin (countertenor)
Les Talens Lyriques
Christophe Rousset (conductor)
Gregorio Allegri: Miserere mei, Deus
Alessandro Scarlatti: Il Cambise – “Mi cinga la fama”
Talenti Vulcanici
Carlo Vistoli (countertenor)
Mark-Anthony Turnage: Anna Nicole – “Partay!”
Eva-Maria Westbroek (soprano)
Gerald Finley (baritone)
Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
Antonio Pappano (conductor)
George Frideric Handel: Serse – “Ombra mai fu”
Andreas Scholl (countertenor)
Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin
John Gay (arr. Pepusch): The Beggar’s Opera – “Cease Your Funning” / “Why How Now, Madam Flirt?”
The Broadside Band
Jeremy Barlow (conductor)
George Frideric Handel: Alessandro – “Placa l’alma”
Lucy Crowe (soprano)
Mary Bevan (soprano)
London Early Opera
Bridget Cunningham (conductor)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Die Zauberflöte – Overture
Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin
René Jacobs (conductor)
SAT 14:00 Record Review (m002y27j)
Brahms Op.116-119 in Building a Library with Lucy Parham
Andrew McGregor with the best new classical releases, joined by pianist Lucy Parham, who surveys recordings of Brahms's late piano works Op.116-119 and picks her favourite.
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2.10pm
Journalist Hattie Butterworth joins Andrew to review the latest new releases that have caught her ear.
3pm Building a Library: pianist Lucy Parham joins Andrew to survey recordings of Brahms's Op.116-119 and make a top recommendation.
In his last four collections for solo piano, Brahms reveals his final confidences in some of his most intimate music. Dark and turbulent yet tender and nostalgic, these works explore the human experience with honesty and acceptance.
Nicholas Angelich (piano)
Erato 3793022
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3.45pm Record of the Week: the new release that has most impressed Andrew this week.
SAT 16:00 Sound of Cinema (m002y27l)
Edith speaks to composer Daniel Pemberton about Masters of the Universe
Dive into the week’s most beautiful film scores and unforgettable movie music with Edith Bowman.
This week, there’s a Jungle Book connection as composer Nitin Sawhney presents Harmonising Hollywood, exploring his score for the 2018 adventure drama Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle. And singer-songwriter David Gray shares a classic Disney favourite in his Pick of the Flicks.
Also, Edith will be speaking to composer Daniel Pemberton about a number of his film scores from this year, including The Drama, Project Hail Mary and Masters of the Universe.
And as always, expect a rich mix of new releases alongside classic, nostalgic film scores.
SAT 17:00 This Classical Life (m002y27n)
Jess Gillam with... Eldbjørg Hemsing
Jess Gillam swaps favourite music with the Norwegian violinist Eldbjørg Hemsing, who has performed everywhere from the Lincoln Center to Wigmore Hall. Her albums have earned multiple Norwegian Grammys and Opus Klassik Awards, and she is Artistic Director of the Oslo Chamber Music Festival, Co-Founder of the Hemsing Festival and the Artistic Director of SPIRE, an initiative for young artists. She has also featured on the soundtrack to Netflix’s Frankenstein and she appears as a featured soloist in the acclaimed series Bridgerton.
Eldbjørg's musical choices include David Oistrakh playing Shostakovich, a classic track from Ella Fitzgerald, and Norwegian pop superstar AURORA. Jess brings along VOCES8 performing John Tavener, a contemporary-sounding baroque piece from Carl Friedrich Abel, and music from mandolin virtuoso Sierra Hull.
To listen on most smart speakers, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Radio 3”.
SAT 18:00 Opera on 3 (m002y27q)
Wagner's Siegfried
The third instalment of Barrie Kosky's Royal Opera House Ring Cycle, conducted by Antonio Pappano.
Our hero Siegfried has been raised by the dwarf Mime, whose ulterior motive is to get him to reforge his father's sword, slay the dragon Fafner and steal the cursed ring. Siegfried knows no fear and isn't fazed by anything, until he meets the sleeping Brünnhilde and experiences love for the first time. Superstar heldentenor Andreas Schager sings Siegfried, with Elisabet Strid as Brünnhilde and Christopher Maltman as The Wanderer who foresees the end of the Gods through Siegfried's power.
Recorded on 31st March at the Royal Ballet and Opera. Tom Service presents and is joined in the box by writer and cultural historian Flora Willson.
Wagner: Siegfried
Siegfried ..... Andreas Schager (tenor)
Brünnhilde ….. Elisabet Strid (soprano)
The Wanderer .… Christopher Maltman (baritone)
Mime …. Peter Hoare (tenor)
Alberich … Chrisopher Purves (baritone)
Fafner …. Soloman Howard (bass)
Erda …. Wiebke Lehmkuhl (contralto)
Woodbird …. Sarah Dufresne (soprano)
Orchestra of the Royal Opera
Antonio Pappano (conductor)
SAT 22:30 New Music Show (m002y27s)
A gleaming like ivory
Kate Molleson presents the world premiere of Nicholas Bentz's 'A gleaming like ivory that slowly resoves until it becomes dust', composed for the 125th anniversary of Wigmore Hall and performed by Ensemble intercontemporain, alongside works by Kevin Puts and Anthony Cheung. Plus, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales give the World Premiere of Deborah Pritchard's colourful and radiant trombone Concerto, Light Circle, with trombonist Peter Moore. Kate also introduces new improvisations by the organist and composer Kit Downes and the vocalist Sofia Jernberg, plus tracks from the latest new releases of experimental music.
SUNDAY 28 JUNE 2026
SUN 00:30 Through the Night (m002y27v)
Mahler's 4th Symphony from Berlin
Cornelius Meister conducts the German Symphony Orchestra, Berlin in Mahler's 4th Symphony with soprano Hanna-Elisabeth Müller. Unsuk Chin's "Puzzles and Games" from "Alice in Wonderland" completes the programme. John Shea presents.
12:31 AM
Unsuk Chin (b.1961)
Puzzles and Games, from 'Alice in Wonderland'
Hanna-Elisabeth Müller (soprano), Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Cornelius Meister (conductor)
12:56 AM
Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)
Symphony no 4 in G major
Hanna-Elisabeth Müller (soprano), Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Cornelius Meister (conductor)
01:50 AM
Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)
Piano Quartet in A minor
Marianna Shirinyan (piano), Nevena Tochev (violin), Alessandro D'Amico (viola), Rafael Rosenfeld (cello)
02:02 AM
Anton Bruckner (1824-1896)
Ave Maria
Tallinna Poistekoor [Tallinn Boys Choir], Lydia Rahula (conductor)
02:06 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Flute Quartet in C major (KA.171)
Ulla Miilmann (flute), Kroger Quartet
02:25 AM
Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957), Paul Schott (librettist)
Mein Sehnen, mein Wähnen, from 'Die tote Stadt'
Aleksander Nohr (baritone), Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Petr Popelka (conductor)
02:31 AM
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
Serenade for string orchestra in C major, Op 48
Danish Radio Concert Orchestra, Hannu Koivula (conductor)
03:03 AM
Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767)
Overture (Suite) in B flat major, TWV 55:B1
Wroclaw Baroque Orchestra, Jaroslaw Thiel (conductor)
03:27 AM
Clara Schumann (1819-1896)
Prelude and Fugue in B flat major, Op 16 no 2
Angela Cheng (piano)
03:32 AM
Johan Halvorsen (1864-1935)
Norwegian Rhapsody no 1 in A minor
Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Ole Kristian Ruud (conductor)
03:44 AM
Christopher Tye (c.1505-1572)
Omnes gentes, plaudite for 5 voices
BBC Singers, Stephen Cleobury (conductor)
03:50 AM
Édouard Lalo (1823-1892)
2 Aubades for orchestra (1872)
CBC Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Daniel Swift (conductor)
03:59 AM
Francesco Geminiani (1687-1762)
Concerto grosso in E minor, Op 3 no 6
Camerata Bern, Thomas Furi (conductor)
04:08 AM
Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Fantasiestück in A flat, Op 111 no 2
Diana Ketler (piano)
04:14 AM
August de Boeck (1865-1937)
Nocturne (1931)
Vlaams Radio Orkest [Flemish Radio Orchestra], Marc Soustrot (conductor)
04:23 AM
Isaac Albéniz (1860-1909), Andrés Segovia (arr.)
Asturias - Suite española, Op 47
Xavier Díaz-Latorre (guitar)
04:31 AM
Louise Farrenc (1804-1875)
Overture no 2, Op 24
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Anja Bihlmaier (conductor)
04:38 AM
Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849)
Rondo à la Mazur in F major, Op 5
Ludmil Angelov (piano)
04:47 AM
Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber (1644-1704)
Battalia a 10 in D major (C.61)
Ensemble Metamorphosis
04:57 AM
Lili Boulanger (1893-1918)
Psalm XXIV, LB 36 'La terre appartient à l'Éternel'
Ilker Arcayürek (tenor), Basler Madrigalisten, Babette Mondry (organ), Basel Symphony Orchestra, Ivor Bolton (conductor)
05:02 AM
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Piano Sonata no 14 in C sharp minor 'Quasi una fantasia' (Moonlight) Op 27 no 2
Aldo Ciccolini (piano)
05:18 AM
Karol Szymanowski (1882-1937)
Penthesilea, for soprano and orchestra
Elzbieta Szmytka (soprano), Orchestre National de France, Hans Graf (conductor)
05:25 AM
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
Magnificat in G minor, RV.610
Choir of Latvian Radio, Riga Chamber Players, Sigvards Kļava (conductor)
05:39 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Symphony no 39 in E flat, K.543
Australian Chamber Orchestra, Richard Tognetti (director)
06:09 AM
Johan Wikmanson (1753-1800)
String Quartet in E minor, Op 1 no 2
Saulesco Quartet
SUN 06:30 Radio 3 Breakfast (m002y1s9)
Brighten your day with classical music
Mark Forrest presents Radio 3’s Breakfast show live from Salford. You can contact the show by emailing 3breakfast@bbc.co.uk.
To listen on most smart speakers, just say 'Ask BBC Sounds to play 3 Breakfast’.
SUN 09:00 Sunday Morning (m002y1sc)
Three hours of classical sparkle
This week, Sarah’s playlist takes in far away lands, boundless seascapes, and an endless maze of sun-washed streets.
There’ll be soaring, heart-melting harmonies from Rachmaninov, Mel Bonis conjures forgotten scenes of the Orient, while Saint-Saëns whisks us away into a world of mystery.
For this week’s Choral reflection, Sarah heads off to Latvia with ethereal music by Pēteris Vasks sung by the Latvian Radio Choir, and there’s also a chance to hear the shimmering textures of Debussy’s La Mer in full.
Plus, music to capture the golden drift of long summer afternoons by Agustín Barrios…
A Tandem Production for BBC Radio 3.
SUN 12:00 Private Passions (m002y1sf)
John Nichol, writer, former RAF Navigator
Thirty-five years ago, during the Gulf War, the face of the RAF navigator John Nichol appeared on news bulletins around the world. His Tornado jet had been shot down over Iraq, and he was captured, tortured and paraded on Iraqi television.
Together with the pilot John Peters, he wrote about these experiences in their best-selling book Tornado Down. Since then, he's written many more books about military history, on topics ranging from the Spitfire to the Unknown Warrior. His most recent book, Blitz, focuses on the effects of German bombing, not just on London, but in Glasgow, Cardiff, Manchester and his native north east.
John's music includes Chopin, Aaron Copland, Arthur Sullivan and Elgar.
SUN 13:30 Music Map (m002y1sh)
Rameau - Tristes apprêts
Sara Mohr-Pietsch traces musical connections with Jean-Philippe Rameau's 'Tristes apprêts', the exquisite aria from his 1737 opera Castor et Pollux. In its time, the opera was revolutionary, refreshing French opera with influences from Italy, and we are taken on an exploration of music that extends to Germany, Austria and England, as well as the traditions of India.
The aria's extraordinary scoring for bassoon is reflected in pieces by Rossini and Elgar, and its theme of melancholy in music by Gluck and Monteverdi. And its bittersweet major-key setting is echoed in works by Schubert and Mahler.
To listen on most smart speakers, just say: “Ask BBC Sounds to play Music Map.”
SUN 15:00 Music Matters (m002y1sk)
How to Listen
with Sakari Oramo
Ahead of this year's BBC Proms, Sakari Oramo, chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra opens a window into the art - and the joy - of attentive listening. Today, Sakari explores the act of listening itself - what are we doing when we listen to music and what do we actually hear?
He'll also explore how our preconceptions about a piece of music or a composer might influence our listening experience, how different interpretations of the same piece can unlock new ways of listening, and gives his own opinion on how we should prepare ourselves to listen to music we have never heard before.
Presenter: Sakari Oramo
Producer: Sam Phillips
A Tandem Production for BBC Radio 3
SUN 16:00 Jazz Record Requests (m002y1sn)
Sonny Rollins Tribute
Alyn Shipton introduces a selection of your jazz requests, focusing this week on the music and legacy of tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins following his recent passing. The programme covers recordings from across his career, including early collaborations with Miles Davis and the Modern Jazz Quartet, landmark live trio recordings from the Village Vanguard, and his timeless calypso-inspired compositions.
Join our community of jazz lovers. Alyn Shipton is waiting for your requests: email jrr@bbc.co.uk or use #jazzrecordrequests on social.
To listen on most smart speakers, just say “ask BBC Sounds to play Jazz Record Requests”
SUN 17:00 The Early Music Show (m002y1sq)
Pitch Perfect
Hannah French visits trumpeter Crispian Steele-Perkins to explore the vast differences in musical pitch which had an impact on music-making through the centuries.
Crispian explains how the trumpet evolved to cope with these differences, and why we eventually settled on the now fully-accepted A=440.
We'll hear some of Crispian's recordings, and others, including pieces by Lully, Vivaldi, Purcell, Handel and Bach.
SUN 18:00 Choral Evensong (m002xnfg)
Portsmouth Cathedral
From Portsmouth Cathedral.
Introit: Sing joyfully (Byrd)
Responses: Lloyd
Psalms 80, 82 (Howells, Lang)
First Lesson: Malachi 4 vv1-6
Canticles: Octavi toni (Bevan)
Second Lesson: Matthew 11 vv2-19
Anthem: This is the record of John (Gibbons)
Hymn: Hark a herald voice is calling (Merton)
Voluntary: Prelude and Fugue in E flat major 'St Anne', BWV552 (Bach)
David Price (Organist & Master of the Choristers)
Sachin Gunga (Sub-Organist)
Recorded 19 June.
To listen on most smart speakers just say “ask BBC Sounds to play Choral Evensong”.
SUN 19:00 Sunday Feature (m002y1ss)
King of the Beggars - The Music of Billy Waters
"Music does this thing that nothing else can do. Words can't really do it, politics certainly can't do it, but that just seeps in, and that everybody's connected. You're just hearing this sound vibrating through you. It's a sort of miraculous thing..." Paterson Joseph
Actor and author Paterson Joseph explores the extraordinary life and legacy of Billy Waters – Britain’s first popular black musician – who was famous as the ‘King of the Beggars’ in the Regency era but who died in poverty busking outside the Adelphi Theatre, which hosted the hit musical that made his name.
We hear from Dr Mary L Shannon author of 'Billy Waters is Dancing' (Yale University Press), noted historian of the fiddle Paul Roberts, musicians Angeline Morrison (Sorrow Songs: Folk Songs of Black British Experience) and Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne (Radio 2 Folk Award), street performer Chris Welford and the Jump Billy concert at Cecil Sharp House. Also featuring Hamilton Gross, Clarke Camilleri, Maz O'Connor, Tony Montague and Martin Simpson.
Thanks to Ben Marsh (for Jump Billy! title song arrangement and production), everyone at Cecil Sharp House (including Katy Spicer, Sammie Squire & Lucy Grant) and Oskar Cox Jensen.
Presenter, Paterson Joseph
Readings, Joseph Millson
Academic Consultant, Dr Mary L Shannon
Editor, Ross Burman
Producer, Andrew Smith
Exec Producer, Kris Dyer
A Rakkit Production for BBC Radio 3
SUN 19:45 Words and Music (m002y1sv)
Into the American West
We trace the classic migrant trails across the US from the Mississippi River over the Rocky Mountains and out to the Pacific Ocean and you may recognise place names, real and imagined, from Brokeback Mountain to The Oregon Trail and Route 66. The music too evokes open spaces and independent people – from Aaron Copland’s An Outdoor Overture to Ferde Grofé's Grand Canyon Suite to Jessie Montgomery's Starburst. Our readings include passages by indigenous writers from John Rollin Ridge to Louise Erdrich as well as fiction from Amy Tan and Cormac McCarthy and poetry from Walt Whitman and Eliza Snow.
The readers are Henry Goodman and Lorelei King.
READINGS:
On the Mississippi by Hamlin Garland
My Ántonia by Willa Cather
A Cherokee Love Song by John Rollin Ridge
The Jump-Off Creek by Molly Gloss
Shane by Jack Schaeffer
Sometimes I Go About - Chippewa tribal poem
The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt
The Grass on the Mountain by Mary Austin
The Virginian by Owen Wister
Song of the Desert by Eliza Snow
Pioneers! O Pioneers! By Walt Whitman
Children of the Oregon Trail by Anna Rutgers Van der Loeff
The Redwoods by Louis Simpson
News of the World by Paulette Jiles
The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy
When We Sold The Tent by Rhina P Espaillat
Wounded by Percival Everett
The Joy Luck Club By Amy Tan
Brokeback Mountain From Close Range by E Annie Proulx
The Nightwatchman by Louise Erdrich
Field by Ben Myers
If I Should Come Upon Your House Lonely in the West Texas Desert by Natalie Diaz
Produced in Salford by Olive Clancy
SUN 21:00 Sunday Selection (m002y1sx)
2. Alexandra Whittingham
In the second of two programmes, guitarist Alexandra Whittingham chooses a selection of music for Sunday evening, and shines a spotlight on NOVO Quartet. Alexandra shares one of the recordings NOVO have made with the BBC during their time as Radio 3 New Generation Artists.
SUN 22:00 Night Tracks (m002y1sz)
Nocturnal music to bewitch the senses
Sara Mohr-Pietsch presents an adventurous, immersive soundtrack for late-night listening, from classical to contemporary and everything in between.
SUN 23:30 Unclassified (m002y1t1)
By moonlight
Elizabeth Alker offers up a playlist of ambient and experimental sounds inspired by the moon, including a duet from Benjamin Burke and Bear Glass recorded under the night sky in the open desert outside Joshua Tree, California. Jon Hopkins and Ólafur Arnalds, meanwhile, combine forces in a piece inspired by the writings of Erica Bernhard, creative director at NASA; and South Korean multi-instrumentalist Park Jiha makes use of traditional flutes, bells and glockenspiel to conjure an atmosphere of moonlit dreaming.
Produced by Geoff Bird
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 3
MONDAY 29 JUNE 2026
MON 00:30 Through the Night (m002y1t3)
Haydn, Mozart and Schubert quartets
The Marmen Quartet and Chiaroscuro Quartet perform at the West Cork Chamber Music Festival in Ireland. Haydn's 'Russian' and Mozart's 'Dissonance' quartets are followed by Schubert's 'Death and the Maiden'. John Shea presents.
12:31 AM
Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
String Quartet no 33 in D major, Op 33 no 6, Hob.III:42 'Russian'
Marmen Quartet
12:46 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
String Quartet no 19 in C major, K.465 'Dissonance'
Marmen Quartet
01:18 AM
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
String Quartet no 14 in D minor, D.810 'Death and the Maiden'
Chiaroscuro Quartet
01:58 AM
Franz Schubert (1797-1828), Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (author)
An die Entfernte, D.765 (To one who is far away)
Christoph Prégardien (tenor), Andreas Staier (pianoforte)
02:01 AM
Marianna Martines (1744-1812)
Sinfonia in C major
BBC Concert Orchestra, Johannes Wildner (conductor)
02:13 AM
Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
Trio for keyboard and strings in E major, H.
15.28
Beaux Arts Trio
02:31 AM
Johann Heinrich Schmelzer (c.1620-1680)
Vesperae solennes
Gradus ad Parnassum, Concerto Palatino, Choralschola der Wiener Hofburgkapelle, Konrad Junghänel (director)
02:53 AM
Hjalmar Borgstrøm (1864-1925)
Violin Concerto in G major, Op 25
Eldbjørg Hemsing (violin), Argovia Philharmonic, Leo McFall (conductor)
03:26 AM
Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
L'isle joyeuse
Roger Woodward (piano)
03:32 AM
Johann Friedrich Fasch (1688-1758)
Quartet in F major for horn, oboe d'amore, violin and basso continuo, FWV N:F3
Les Ambassadeurs
03:39 AM
George Walker (1922-2018)
Lyric for Strings
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Alpesh Chauhan (conductor)
03:47 AM
Jules August Demersseman (1833-1866)
Italian Concerto in F major, Op 82 no 6
Kristina Vaculova (flute), Inna Aslamasova (piano)
03:59 AM
Otto Nicolai (1810-1849)
Fenton's aria "Horch, die Lerche singt im Hain"
Roberto Sacca (tenor), L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Armin Jordan (conductor)
04:05 AM
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
12 Variations on 'Ein Madchen oder Weibchen for cello and piano', Op 66
Antonio Meneses (cello), Menahem Pressler (piano)
04:15 AM
Percy Grainger (1882-1961)
To a Nordic Princess (bridal song) vers. piano
Leslie Howard (piano)
04:22 AM
Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767)
Trio no 7 (Essercizii Musici)
Camerata Köln, Michael Schneider (recorder), Rainer Zipperling (viola da gamba), Ghislaine Wauters (viola da gamba), Yasunori Imamura (theorbo), Sabine Bauer (organ)
04:31 AM
Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904)
Overture to the "King and the Charcoal Burner" (1874)
Bratislava Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Štefan Róbl (conductor)
04:39 AM
Władysław Żeleński (1837-1921), Jan Maklakiewicz (arr.)
2 Choral Songs: Zaczarowana krolewna; Przy rozstaniu
Polish Radio Choir, Marek Kluza (director)
04:45 AM
Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)
Spring Song, Op 16
Kaija Saarikettu (violin), Raija Kerppo (piano)
04:54 AM
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Concerto Grosso in B flat major, Op 3 no 1
Elar Kuiv (violin), Olev Ainomae (oboe), Estonian Radio Chamber Orchestra, Paul Mägi (conductor)
05:04 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Piano Sonata in C major, K.545
Young-Lan Han (piano)
05:14 AM
Blagoje Bersa (1873-1934)
Idila Op 25b (1902)
Croatian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Mladen Tarbuk (conductor)
05:21 AM
Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583-1643)
"Se l'aura spira"; "Voi partite, mio sole"…
Gloria Banditelli (mezzo soprano), Guido Morini (harpsichord)
05:43 AM
Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849)
Piano Concerto no 1 in E minor, Op 11
Dejan Lazić (piano), RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra, Rossen Milanov (conductor)
06:25 AM
James MacMillan (b.1959)
O Radiant Dawn
BBC Singers, David Hill (conductor)
MON 06:30 Radio 3 Breakfast (m002y04b)
The best classical music wake-up call
Tom McKinney presents Radio 3’s Breakfast show live from Salford. With birdsong, Bach Before 7 and the best in classical music. You can contact the show by emailing 3breakfast@bbc.co.uk.
To listen on most smart speakers, just say 'Ask BBC Sounds to play 3 Breakfast’.
MON 09:30 Essential Classics (m002y04d)
A feast of great music
Georgia Mann 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.
To listen on most smart speakers, say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Essential Classics”.
MON 13:00 Classical Live (m002y04g)
La Venexiana live from London's Wigmore Hall
Elizabeth Alker showcases the best performances by BBC orchestras, choirs, ensembles and other great performing groups from Europe and around the globe.
This week, Classical Live presents exclusive live recordings from some of the best youth orchestras in Europe; we’ll also hear performances by some of the brilliant young musicians currently enrolled in the BBC New Generation Artists scheme, in a recent season of lunchtime concerts at St George’s Bristol.
Today there’s music by the Lithuanian composer Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis courtesy of the Swiss National Youth Orchestra, and the Bavarian State Youth Orchestra plays Brahms. Also, young German pianist Julius Asal plays the last of Beethoven’s piano sonatas, No.32 Op.111.
At
1pm live from the Wigmore Hall, the Italian vocal ensemble La Venexiana is joined by soprano Emanuela Galli and harpist Chiara Granata, along with director & theorbo player Gabriele Palomba, for a programme of music by Giulio Caccini and his contemporaries.
LIVE from WIGMORE HALL
La Venexiana
Emanuela Galli (soprano)
Chiara Granata (harp)
Gabriele Palomba (theorbo/director)
GIULIO CACCINI
Le nuove musiche:
Dolcissimo sospiro
Belle rose porporine
Amarilli, mia bella
GIOVANNI DE MACQUE
Libro di Canzone Francese:
Prime Stravaganze
BENEDETTO FERRARI
Musiche varie a voce sola:
Amanti, io vi sò dire
SIGISMONDO D'INDIA
Le musiche da cantar solo (Libro Primo):
Intenerite voi, lagrime mie
Cruda Amarilli
GIOVANNI GIROLAMO KAPSBERGER
Libro IV:
Canario
Capona
MAURIZIO CAZZATI
Arie e Cantate a voce sola libro Primo Op. 11: Fierissime pene
TARQUINIO MERULA
Curtio Precipitato et altri Capricci a voce sola: Folle è ben che si crede
BARBARA STROZZI
L'Eraclito amoroso Op. 2 No. 14
GIOVANNI MARIA TRABACI
Toccata Seconda & Ligature per l'arpa
CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI
Voglio di vita uscir SV337
*****
With Elizabeth Alker
Johannes Brahms
Violin Concerto in D, Op. 77
Korbinian Altenberger, violin
Bavarian State Youth Orchestra
Ivan Fischer, conductor
Ludwig van Beethoven
Piano Sonata in C minor, Op 111
Julius Asal, piano
Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis
Miske ('In the Forest')
Swiss National Youth Orchestra
Modestas Pitrėnas, conductor
MON 16:00 Composer of the Week (m002y04j)
Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990)
Helping Hands
Donald Macleod explores Bernstein’s early years and the influential contacts he made while at Harvard who gave him a head start in his career.
Donald Macleod explores the life and music of Leonard Bernstein - one of the most iconic personalities in the musical life of America and a key figure in the formation of the cultural identity of the United States. Over the course of this week, Donald discovers how Bernstein rose to conquer both the concert hall and the Broadway stage and succeed both as conductor and, more importantly for him personally, as composer.
We will explore Bernstein’s whirlwind life. A journey from a cocksure teenager giving piano lessons in his local neighbourhood to his studies at Harvard where the connections he made – with the composer Aaron Copland and the conductor Dimitri Mitropoulos - prepared him, not as his father hoped for a career in business, but instead for a life in music.
Donald also explores Bernstein’s friendship with the conductor Serge Koussevitsky and the events that led to his headline-grabbing success as a stand-in conductor for Bruno Walter in his mid-twenties. We'll also hear about his rise to prominence as a composer during the days of the Second World War with a pair of Broadway scores.
Donald also details Bernstein’s conflicted personal life – from his marriage to the actress and TV star Felicia Montealegre to his own TV career and his social life mixing with the celebrity set of New York City. And we’ll find out how his marriage hit the rocks as he underwent a difficult period in his personal life like his hero Mahler, “like being two different men locked up in the same body”.
In Monday’s episode, Donald explores the contacts Bernstein made in his early life which gained him an entrance into the elite cultural world of New York. We’ll discover him as a young boy returning home with bleeding fingers from playing piano into the early hours to fund his own piano lessons and discover how the friendships he cultivated with Aaron Copland, Dimitri Mitropoulos and Serge Koussevitsky gave him a helping hand in his ambition to carve out a career in music.
West Side Story – America
Original Broadway Cast: Chita Rivera (Anita)
New York Philharmonic
Max Goberman, conductor
Divertimento
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Paavo Jarvi, conductor
Anniversaries – I. For Aaron Copland
Katie Mahan, piano
Serenade after Plato’s Symposium – IV. Agathon
Esther Yoo, violin
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Long Yu, conductor
Clarinet Sonata - 2nd movement
Sebastian Manz, clarinet
Martin Klett, piano
Symphony No 2 “The Age of Anxiety” – The Epilogue
Krystian Zimerman, piano
Berlin Philharmonic
Sir Simon Rattle, conductor
Producer: Sam Phillips
MON 17:00 In Tune (m002y04m)
Live from Maida Vale
Petroc Trelawny presents In Tune live from BBC Maida Vale Studios in London, marking the end of an era as the BBC prepares to leave this iconic home for its new base at East Bank, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. After more than 90 years at Maida Vale, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and BBC Singers take to the stage for a special live performance, joined by conductors Sakari Oramo and Sofi Jeannin, and mezzo-soprano Helen Charlston.
And if you want to find out more about the history of the Maida Vale studios, you can go to the History of the BBC website which is www.bbc.co.uk/historyofthebbc
MON 19:00 Classical Mixtape (m002y04p)
Half an hour of the finest classical music
This evening's mixtape is inspired by song. We start with a piano arrangement of Granville Bantock's Song to the Seals. This is followed by Laurie's song from Aaron Copland's opera, The Tender land. Other highlights include a lullaby by Brahms, A shepherd's song arranged for String Quartet and part of Holst's Choral hymns from the Rig Veda.
Producer: Kevin Satizabal Carrascal
To listen on most smart speakers, just say 'Ask BBC Sounds to play Classical Mixtape'.
MON 19:30 Radio 3 in Concert (m002y04r)
Death and Transfiguration
The BBC National Orchestra of Wales are joined by conductor Alexandre Bloch to perform a Violin Concerto, a Concerto for Orchestra and, finally, Strauss's Death and Transfiguration. To begin, Veronika Eberle is soloist in Beethoven's Violin Concerto, a work which was not well received when Beethoven was alive but would eventually become considered as one of the greatest German Violin Concertos. George Benjamin's Concerto for Orchestra serves as both a tribute to, and a portrait of, his dear friend and titan of British music, the late Oliver Knussen. The short, vibrant work is bursting with energy, humour, and spirit. To conclude the concert, Richard Strauss's ravishing depiction of a dying artist who laments his failings as a mortal before ascending to achieve immortal redemption in his Death and Transfiguration.
Presented by Shân Cothi in BBC Hoddinott Hall, and recorded on the 14th of May.
Beethoven: Violin Concerto in D major, Op 61
George Benjamin: Concerto for Orchestra
R Strauss: Death and Transfiguration, TrV 158
Veronika Eberle (violin)
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Alexandre Bloch (conductor)
To listen on most smart speakers, just say “ask BBC Sounds to play Radio 3 in Concert”.
MON 21:45 The Essay (m002y04t)
Our Island Music
Isle of Mull
Colin MacIntyre is a musician and author who performs as Mull Historical Society. Growing up in the Hebrides his access to music came from family and community first, then via an unreliable radio signal from "the mainland" beaming in John Peel's Radio 1 show. In this series he sets out to explore what being a musician on five different British islands means for the creative process. How is their music shaped by being separated from the mainland?
He begins his journey on his home island of Mull which he describes as both character and muse in his songwriting and fiction. Although he no longer lives there he feels connected to the island "like sheep's wool caught on a barbed wire fence". In conversation and music with fellow island musician Gordon Maclean, Colin reflects on Mull's musical landscape.
Producer: Maggie Ayre
MON 22:00 Night Tracks (m002y04x)
Bewitching sounds for after dark
Sara Mohr-Pietsch presents an adventurous, immersive soundtrack for late-night listening, from classical to contemporary and everything in between.
MON 23:30 'Round Midnight (m002ksp7)
Yazmin Lacey’s 4/4
‘Round Midnight is presented by award-winning saxophonist Soweto Kinch. This weekday late-night show celebrates the thriving UK jazz scene and spotlights the best new music alongside incredible acts from past decades.
Soweto’s guest this week is East London-born, Nottingham based singer Yazmin Lacey. She draws everything from jazz, R&B, soul and electronic influences into her music, and most recently has collaborated with fellow leading UK lights including Ezra Collective and Joe Armon-Jones.
Yazmin’s new album Teal Dreams releases this Friday. Ahead of it, Yazmin has four albums to share for our 4/4 series, which will take us into her musical world. To start her week, Yazmin chooses a favourite album from a Melbourne group who have forged a distinctive sound.
Also in the programme, there is music from Milena Casado, DoomCannon, and Mulatu Astatke.
To listen on most smart speakers, just say: 'Ask BBC Sounds to play Round Midnight.'
TUESDAY 30 JUNE 2026
TUE 00:30 Through the Night (m002y04z)
Prokofiev from Shanghai
Spanish pianist Mario Alonso Herrero delivers a compelling performance of Prokofiev's second piano concerto with the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor Zhang Liang. Mozart's Idomeneo Overture and Prokofiev's fifth symphony complete the programme. John Shea presents.
12:31 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Overture to 'Idomeneo'
Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra, Liang Zhang (conductor)
12:36 AM
Sergey Prokofiev (1891-1953)
Piano Concerto no 2 in G minor, Op 16
Mario Alonso Herrero (piano), Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra, Liang Zhang (conductor)
01:10 AM
Sergey Prokofiev (1891-1953)
Symphony no 5 in B flat, Op 100
Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra, Liang Zhang (conductor)
01:54 AM
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
Six Pieces, Op 19
Duncan Gifford (piano)
02:25 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Ridente la calma, K.152
Sally Matthews (soprano), Simon Lepper (piano)
02:31 AM
André Grétry (1741-1813)
Selections from 'Le Jugement de Midas'
John Elwes (tenor), Mieke van der Sluis (soprano), Françoise Vanheck (soprano), Suzanne Gari (soprano), Jules Bastin (bass), Michel Verschaeve (bass), La Petite Bande, Gustav Leonhardt (conductor)
03:07 AM
Carl Reinecke (1824-1910)
Flute Sonata in E minor, Op 167 "Undine"
Ivica Gabrisova-Encingerova (flute), Matej Vrabel (piano)
03:29 AM
Claude Debussy (1862-1918), Maurice Ravel (arr.)
Tarantelle styrienne
Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Jerzy Maksymiuk (conductor)
03:35 AM
George Gershwin (1898-1937)
3 Preludes (1926): No 1 in B flat; No 2 in C sharp minor; No 3 in E flat
Bengt-Åke Lundin (piano)
03:42 AM
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
Trio Sonata in D minor, Op 1 no 12, 'La Folia' (1705)
Florilegium Collinda
03:51 AM
Peter Erasmus Lange-Muller (1850-1926)
Tre Madonnasange, Op 65
Danish National Radio Choir, Stefan Parkman (conductor)
03:58 AM
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Overture in C minor for strings, D.8
Korean Chamber Orchestra
04:08 AM
Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826)
Aufforderung zum Tanz
Niklas Sivelöv (piano)
04:17 AM
Johan Halvorsen (1864-1935)
Norwegian Rhapsody no 1 in A major
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Christopher Warren-Green (conductor)
04:31 AM
Mindaugas Urbaitis (b.1952)
Lacrimosa
Polifonija (Lithuanian State Chamber Choir), Sigitas Vaiciulionis (conductor)
04:36 AM
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), Rinaldo Alessandrini (arr.)
Aria variata alla maniera italiana in A minor BWV989; Canzona in D minor BWV588
Concerto Italiano, Rinaldo Alessandrini (conductor)
04:43 AM
Edvard Grieg (1843-1907)
In my native country
Tom Borrow (piano)
04:46 AM
Alice Mary Smith (1839-1884)
The Masque of Pandora (Overture)
BBC Concert Orchestra, Bramwell Tovey (conductor)
04:57 AM
Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992)
Milonga del Angel, arr. for string quartet
Artemis Quartet
05:04 AM
Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)
5 Rückert-Lieder
Jadwiga Rappé (alto), Ewa Poblocka (piano)
05:23 AM
Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)
En Saga
Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Jukka-Pekka Saraste (conductor)
05:44 AM
Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778-1837)
Sonata for viola and piano in E flat major, Op 5 no 3
Michael Gieler (viola), Lauretta Bloomer (pianoforte)
06:05 AM
Richard Strauss (1864-1949)
Suite in B flat major for 13 wind instruments, Op 4
Ottawa Winds, Michael Goodwin (conductor)
TUE 06:30 Radio 3 Breakfast (m002y2qs)
Radio 3's breakfast show, waking the UK up with the finest classical music.
TUE 09:30 Essential Classics (m002y2qv)
Your perfect classical playlist
Georgia Mann 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.
To listen on most smart speakers, say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Essential Classics”.
TUE 13:00 Classical Live (m002y2qx)
Hummel's Trumpet Concerto in E flat from the National Youth Orchestra of Slovakia
Elizabeth Alker showcases the best performances by BBC orchestras, choirs, ensembles and other great performing groups from Europe and around the globe.
This week, Classical Live presents exclusive live recordings from some of the best youth orchestras in Europe; we’ll also hear performances by some of the brilliant young musicians currently enrolled in the BBC New Generation Artists scheme, in a recent season of lunchtime concerts at St George’s Bristol.
Today, we’ll hear British baritone Andrew Hamilton performing songs by Wolf, Schubert, Debussy and others; and the National Youth Orchestra of Slovakia performs Hummel’s Trumpet Concert with soloist Stanislav Masaryk. Elizabeth will also play some highlights of a special concert by the Academy of St Martin in the Fields from Tonhalle Zurich, featuring three exceptional young soloists from the Orpheum Foundation.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Sinfonia concertante in E flat, K.364
Sarang Seohyun Kim, violin
Sao Soulez Lariviere, viola
Academy of St Martin in the Fields
Tomo Keller, director
Johann Nepomuk Hummel
Trumpet Concerto in E flat
Stanislav Masaryk, trumpet
National Youth Orchestra of Slovakia
Sophie Dervaux, conductor
Grażyna Bacewicz
Concerto for String Orchestra
Academy of St Martin in the Fields
Tomo Keller, director
Carlos Simon
Fate Now Conquers
Nicolas Altstaedt, cello
European Union Youth Orchestra
Gianandrea Noseda, conductor
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Piano Concerto No. 9 in E flat, K271 “Jenamy”
Eva Gevorgyan, piano
Academy of St Martin in the Fields
Tomo Keller, director
TUE 16:00 Composer of the Week (m002y2qz)
Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990)
Wartime success
Donald Macleod explores Bernstein’s meteoric rise to fame as a conductor and a composer as America goes to war.
Donald Macleod explores the life and music of Leonard Bernstein - one of the most iconic personalities in the musical life of America, and a key figure in the formation of the cultural identity of the United States. Over the course of this week, Donald discovers how Bernstein rose to conquer both the concert hall and the Broadway stage, and succeed both as conductor, and, more importantly for him personally, as composer.
We will explore Bernstein’s whirlwind life. A journey from a cocksure teenager giving piano lessons in his local neighbourhood to his studies at Harvard, where the connections he made – with the composer Aaron Copland and the conductor Dimitri Mitropoulos - prepared him, not as his father hoped, for a career in business, but instead for a life in music.
Donald also explores Bernstein’s friendship with the conductor Serge Koussevitsky and the events that led to his headline-grabbing success as a stand-in conductor for Bruno Walter in his mid-twenties. We'll also hear about his rise to prominence as a composer during the days of the Second World War with a pair of Broadway scores.
Donald also details Bernstein’s conflicted personal life – from his marriage to the actress and TV star Felicia Montealegre to his own TV career and his social life mixing with the celebrity set of New York City. And we’ll find out how his marriage hit the rocks as he underwent a difficult period in his personal life, like his hero Mahler, “like being two different men locked up in the same body”.
In Tuesday’s programme, Donald explores Bernstein’s reaction as America joined World War II. We’ll discover the ailment which meant that he received a medical discharge and track his remarkable rise to fame – as conductor when deputising for the stricken Bruno Walter, and as composer on Broadway with the dual success of his ballet Fancy Free and the musical On the Town.
On the Town - New York New York
Thomas Hampson, baritone (Gabey)
Kurt Ollman, baritone (Chip)
David Garrison, vocalist (Ozzie)
London Symphony Orchestra
Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor
Symphony No 1 “Jeremiah”
Marie-Nicole Lemieux, mezzo-soprano
Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia
Antonio Pappano, conductor
Three Dance Episodes from On the Town
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
Marin Alsop, conductor
Fancy Free – Finale
New York Philharmonic
Leonard Bernstein, conductor
Slava! A Political Overture
Israel Philharmonic
Leonard Bernstein, conductor
Producer: Sam Phillips
TUE 17:00 In Tune (m002y2r1)
Composer Robin Holloway and jazz pianist Joe Webb
Composer Robin Holloway plays live from his new transcriptions of Haydn String Quartets for piano with pianist Rob Keeley.
Petroc also welcomes celebrated jazz pianist Joe Webb to the studio, ahead of his performance at Love Supreme Jazz Festival.
TUE 19:00 Classical Mixtape (m002y2r3)
Classical music to inspire you
Take time out with a 30-minute soundscape of classical favourites.
TUE 19:30 Radio 3 in Concert (m002y2r5)
Sally Beamish 70th Birthday Concert
The Academy of St Martin in the Fields celebrates Sally Beamish’s 70th birthday with a programme centred on her music. A former violist with the orchestra and its first Composer in Residence, this concert reflects her long association with the ensemble.
The programme begins with Bach, alongside Beamish’s reflective slow movement woven into the Brandenburg Concerto No. 3. The UK premiere of IZAKHI, a new basset clarinet concerto written for Michael Collins, forms the centrepiece, inspired by Beamish’s travels in South Africa and her reflections on the natural world. Chris Stout (fiddle) and Catriona McKay (harp) join the orchestra for Beamish’s Seavaigers, drawing on Celtic traditions and seascapes. Respighi’s colourful suite The Birds brings the programme to a vibrant close.
Recorded last month at St Martin-in-the-Fields in London, and presented by Ian Skelly.
J.S. Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 (with slow movement by Sally Beamish)
Sally Beamish: IZAKHI (new commission)
Sally Beamish: Seavaigers
Ottorino Respighi: The Birds
Michael Collins (basset clarinet)
Chris Stout (fiddle)
Catriona McKay (harp)
Academy of St Martin in the Fields
Benjamin Marquise Gilmore (director)
To listen on most smart speakers just say “ask BBC Sounds to play Radio 3 In Concert”
TUE 21:45 The Essay (m002y2r7)
Our Island Music
Isle of Man
Colin MacIntyre is a singer-songwriter who performs as Mull Historical Society. He is on a journey to learn what being an islander means for musicians around and off the British coastline. Today, he is with award-winning composer Mera Royle, a harpist and violinist from the Isle of Man whose work is deeply rooted in the island’s distinct Manx culture. Although not part of the UK, the Isle of Man has its own parliament, Tynwald, and a strong sense of identity that continues to shape Mera’s music even after leaving as Colin did to further pursue her career.
Together, Colin and Mera discuss what being Manx means for a musician, how geography and heritage inform creativity, and why islanders often carry their home with them long after they’ve stepped away from its shores.
Producer: Maggie Ayre
TUE 22:00 Night Tracks (m002y2r9)
A meditative moonlight soundtrack
Sara Mohr-Pietsch presents an adventurous, immersive soundtrack for late-night listening, from classical to contemporary and everything in between.
TUE 23:30 'Round Midnight (m002kst7)
New from anaiis
‘Round Midnight is presented by award-winning saxophonist Soweto Kinch. This weekday late-night show celebrates the thriving UK jazz scene and spotlights the best new music alongside incredible acts from past decades.
Vocalist Yazmin Lacey is back tonight to share her second 4/4 selection of the week. Tonight she calls on a seminal reggae album that soundtracked much of her childhood.
Plus there is music from Ancient Infinity Orchestra, Sofie Birch and Antonina Nowacka, and Jeong Lim Yang.
To listen on most smart speakers, just say: 'Ask BBC Sounds to play Round Midnight.'
WEDNESDAY 01 JULY 2026
WED 00:30 Through the Night (m002y2rc)
Tchaikovsky and Schumann from Auckland
Cellist Johannes Moser joins the Auckland Philharmonia and conductor Giordano Bellincampi in Tchaikovsky's Rococo Variations. The orchestra also plays Tchaikovsky's Capriccio Italien and Schumann's 'Rhenish' Symphony. John Shea presents.
12:31 AM
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
Capriccio Italien, Op 45
Auckland Philharmonia, Giordano Bellincampi (conductor)
12:46 AM
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
Variations on a Rococo Theme, Op 33 (original version)
Johannes Moser (cello), Auckland Philharmonia, Giordano Bellincampi (conductor)
01:06 AM
Edvard Grieg (1843-1907), Werner Thomas (arr.)
Sarabande, from 'Holberg Suite, Op 40'
Johannes Moser (cello)
01:10 AM
Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Symphony No. 3 in E flat, Op 97 'Rhenish'
Auckland Philharmonia, Giordano Bellincampi (conductor)
01:40 AM
Robert Schumann (1810-1856), Heinrich Heine (author)
Du bist wie eine Blume, Op.25 No.24 (from Myrthen) (You are so like a flower)
Jean Stilwell (mezzo soprano), Robert Kortgaard (piano)
01:42 AM
Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Von fremden Ländern und Menschen (Kinderszenen, op 15)
André Laplante (piano)
01:45 AM
Robert Schumann (1810-1856), Titus Ulrich (author), Eduard Mörike (author), Paul Heyse (author), Wolfgang Muller von Konigswinter (author), Johann Gottfried Kinkel (author)
6 Songs, Op 107
Jan Van Elsacker (tenor), Claire Chevallier (fortepiano)
01:56 AM
Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Piano Trio no 1 in D minor, Op 63
Stefan Bojsten (piano), Dan Almgren (violin), Torleif Thedéen (cello)
02:31 AM
Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764)
Dardanus (orchestral suites)
Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Jeanne Lamon (conductor)
03:08 AM
Francis Poulenc (1899-1963)
Sonata for Two Pianos (1953)
Roland Pöntinen (piano), Love Derwinger (piano)
03:31 AM
Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga (1806-1826)
Stabat Mater
Grieg Academy Choir, Bergen Philharmonic Choir, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Juanjo Mena (conductor)
03:39 AM
Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre (1665-1729)
Sonata in D major for 2 violins and continuo
Musica Fiorita, Daniela Dolci (director)
03:48 AM
Joseph Haydn (1732-1809), Harold Perry (arr.)
Divertimento 'Feldpartita' in B flat major, Hob.
2.46
Galliard Ensemble
03:57 AM
Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
Rondes de Printemps, from 'Images' for Orchestra
BBC Philharmonic, Juanjo Mena (conductor)
04:04 AM
Dario Castello (1602-1631)
Sonata XII, a due soprani e trombone
Musica Fiata Köln
04:12 AM
Bohuslav Martinů (1890-1959)
3 Czech dances for piano
Anastasia Vorotnaya (piano)
04:21 AM
Nils-Eric Fougstedt (1910-1961)
Concert Overture (1941)
Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Jukka-Pekka Saraste (conductor)
04:31 AM
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
Concerto for 4 violins, cello and orchestra in F major, RV.567
Paul Wright (violin), Natsumi Wakamatsu (violin), Sayuri Yamagata (violin), Staas Swierstra (violin), Hidemi Suzuki (cello), Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, Paul Dyer (conductor)
04:40 AM
Karol Szymanowski (1882-1937)
Sheherazade - no 1 of 'Masques' for piano, Op 34
Natalya Pasichnyk (piano)
04:49 AM
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Fürchte dich nicht, ich bin bei dir, BWV.228
Tafelmusik Chamber Choir, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Ivars Taurins (conductor)
04:58 AM
Luigi Donorà (1935-2022)
There where Kvarner lies… for viola and strings
Francesco Squarcia (viola), I Cameristi Italiani
05:06 AM
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908)
Salieri's Aria from Mozart and Salieri - opera in 1 act, Op 48
Robert Holl (bass), Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Kenneth Montgomery (conductor)
05:14 AM
Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757), arr. Mauricio Sotelo
Sonata in B minor, K.87
Chen Halevi (clarinet), Daniel Borovitzky (piano), Gringolts Quartet, Agustin Diassera (percussion)
05:22 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Symphony no 38 in D major K.504 'Prague'
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Ivor Bolton (conductor)
05:52 AM
Antonio Bertali (1605-1669)
Sonata Prima a 3 for two recorders, bass viol and bass continuo
Le Nouveau Concert
05:58 AM
Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849)
Piano Sonata no 3 in B minor, Op 58
Marc-André Hamelin (piano)
WED 06:30 Radio 3 Breakfast (m002y0bv)
Rise and shine with classical music
Tom McKinney presents Radio 3’s Breakfast show live from Salford. With birdsong, Bach Before 7 and the best in classical music. You can contact the show by emailing 3breakfast@bbc.co.uk.
To listen on most smart speakers, just say 'Ask BBC Sounds to play 3 Breakfast’.
WED 09:30 Essential Classics (m002y0bx)
Great classical music for your morning
Georgia Mann 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.
To listen on most smart speakers, say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Essential Classics”.
WED 13:00 Classical Live (m002y0bz)
Britten's The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra played by the European Union Youth Orchestra
Elizabeth Alker showcases the best performances by BBC orchestras, choirs, ensembles and other great performing groups from Europe and around the globe.
This week, Classical Live presents exclusive live recordings from some of the best youth orchestras in Europe; we’ll also hear performances by some of the brilliant young musicians currently enrolled in the BBC New Generation Artists scheme, in a recent season of lunchtime concerts at St George’s Bristol.
Included in today’s programme, the Bavarian State Youth Orchestra performs Bartok and the Swiss National Youth Orchestra performs Tchaikovsky; also, we’ll hear Caroline Shaw’s Entr’acte played by the Danish ensemble NOVO Quartet.
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Symphony No. 1 in G minor, op. 13 ('Winter Daydreams')
Swiss National Youth Orchestra
Modestas Pitrėnas, conductor
Caroline Shaw
Entr’acte
NOVO Quartet
Benjamin Britten
The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra, Op.34
European Union Youth Orchestra
Gianandrea Noseda, conductor
Béla Bartók
Concerto for Orchestra, Sz.116
Korbinian Altenberger, violin
Bavarian State Youth Orchestra
Ivan Fischer, conductor
WED 15:00 Choral Evensong (m002y0c1)
The Queen’s College, Oxford
From the Chapel of The Queen’s College, Oxford.
Introit: O brother man (Darke)
Responses: Radcliffe
Psalms 91, 93 (Woodward, Ley)
First Lesson: Nehemiah 6 v1-14
Office Hymn: Holy Spirit, ever dwelling (Salisbury)
Canticles: Gloucester Service (Howells)
Second Lesson: Romans 15 vv14-21
Anthem: Be strong and of a good courage (Darke)
Hymn: We have a Gospel to proclaim (Fulda)
Voluntary: Jesus Christus, unser Heiland, BWV 665 (Bach)
Owen Rees (Director of Music)
Rudyard Cook, Arthur Barton (Organ Scholars)
Recorded 27 April.
To listen on most smart speakers, just say “ask BBC Sounds to play Choral Evensong”.
WED 16:00 Composer of the Week (m002y0c3)
Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990)
Marriage
Donald Macleod finds Bernstein beginning married life as he flirts with Hollywood and hits the heights of his fame in America - starting a TV career and finding himself gracing the front cover of Time magazine.
Donald Macleod explores the life and music of Leonard Bernstein - one of the most iconic personalities in the musical life of America, and a key figure in the formation of the cultural identity of the United States. Over the course of this week, Donald discovers how Bernstein rose to conquer both the concert hall and the Broadway stage, and succeed both as conductor, and, more importantly for him personally, as composer.
We will explore Bernstein’s whirlwind life. A journey from a cocksure teenager giving piano lessons in his local neighbourhood to his studies at Harvard, where the connections he made – with the composer Aaron Copland and the conductor Dimitri Mitropoulos - prepared him, not as his father hoped, for a career in business, but instead for a life in music.
Donald also explores Bernstein’s friendship with the conductor Serge Koussevitsky and the events that led to his headline-grabbing success as a stand-in conductor for Bruno Walter in his mid-twenties. We'll also hear about his rise to prominence as a composer during the days of the Second World War with a pair of Broadway scores.
Donald also details Bernstein’s conflicted personal life – from his marriage to the actress and TV star Felicia Montealegre to his own TV career and his social life mixing with the celebrity set of New York City. And we’ll find out how his marriage hit the rocks as he underwent a difficult period in his personal life, like his hero Mahler, “like being two different men locked up in the same body”.
In Wednesday’s programme, we find Bernstein beginning married life as he flirts with Hollywood and hits the heights of his fame in America - starting a TV career and finding himself gracing the front cover of Time magazine. Also, he makes history with the New York Philharmonic!
Trouble in Tahiti -Prelude
Orchestre de Picardie
Pascal Verrot, conductor
Wonderful Town – Overture; Act II: Ballet at the Village Vortex; Wrong note rag
London Symphony Orchestra
Simon Rattle, conductor
Symphonic Suite from the film On the Waterfront
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
Christian Lindberg, conductor
Prelude, Fugue and Riffs
Benny Goodman, clarinet
Columbia Jazz Combo
Leonard Bernstein, conductor
Facsimile - 1st movement
New York Philharmonic
Leonard Bernstein, conductor
Producer: Sam Phillips
WED 17:00 In Tune (m002y0c5)
Tamsin Greig, Adrian Brendel, Elmore Quartet
Petroc Trelawny talks to the acclaimed actor Tamsin Greig who will play the Duchesse de Crakentorp in Royal Opera's production of Donizetti’s La Fille du régiment.
Cellist Adrian Brendel talks about his new charitable music project Tree of Strings and there's live music from the Elmore Quartet ahead of their appearance at the Tree of Strings Festival.
WED 19:00 Classical Mixtape (m002y0c7)
Music for a summer's evening
Choral music spanning 750 years bookends this episode of Radio 3’s Classical Mixtape – from the anonymous 13th-century round Sumer is icumen in to Eric Whitacre’s Sleep, composed in 2000. Also included are beautiful works by composers Johann Christian Bach, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Claude Debussy, Florence Price and Paul Reade, plus film music by Snorri Hallgrímsson.
This edition of the Classical Mixtape was produced by Christina Kenny for BBC Audio.
WED 19:30 Radio 3 in Concert (m002y0c9)
The National Youth Orchestra: Collide
Love, longing and conflict take centre stage in this concert from the National Youth Orchestra, conducted by Alpesh Chauhan. From the enchanting orchestral world of Joe Hisaishi’s music for Howl's Moving Castle to the unresolved passion of Tristan und Isolde and the tragic drama of Romeo and Juliet, this programme explores some of music’s most compelling portrayals of human emotion. Performed with the energy and ambition of the nation’s leading youth orchestra, these works reveal enduring stories of desire, destiny and transformation.
Recorded on the 9th April and presented by Elizabeth Alker.
Hisaishi: Symphonic Variation “Merry-Go-Round + Cave of Mind” from Howl’s Moving Castle
Wagner: Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde
Prokofiev: excerpts from Romeo and Juliet
The National Youth Orchestra
Alpesh Chauhan (conductor)
To listen on most smart speakers, just say "ask BBC Sounds to play Radio 3 in Concert".
WED 21:45 The Essay (m002y0cc)
Our Island Music
Isle of Anglesey
Singer‑songwriter Colin MacIntyre - known to many as Mull Historical Society - continues his exploration of how island life shapes musical identity around the British coastline. This episode takes him to Anglesey, where he meets renowned Welsh composer Gareth Glyn, a leading figure in contemporary classical music and a passionate advocate for the island’s cultural life.
Together, they discuss the deep importance of music on Anglesey, from its choral traditions and community ensembles to the role of the Welsh language in shaping artistic expression. In a warm and insightful conversation, Colin and Gareth explore how place, language and heritage intertwine - and why, for islanders, music is not just an art form but a living expression of who they are.
Producer: Maggie Ayre
WED 22:00 Night Tracks (m002y0cf)
Music for the darkling hour
Sara Mohr-Pietsch presents an adventurous, immersive soundtrack for late-night listening, from classical to contemporary and everything in between.
WED 23:30 'Round Midnight (m002ksj9)
A classic from Abbey Lincoln
‘Round Midnight is presented by award-winning saxophonist Soweto Kinch. This weekday late-night show celebrates the thriving UK jazz scene and spotlights the best new music alongside incredible acts from past decades.
This Wednesday night, Yazmin Lacey returns with another best loved album, and tonight she chooses a release from an American singer and rapper that continues to be one of neo soul and hip hop's defining albums.
Also in the programme, music from Babo Moreno, Myele Manzanza, and Chaerin Im.
To listen on most smart speakers, just say: 'Ask BBC Sounds to play Round Midnight.'
THURSDAY 02 JULY 2026
THU 00:30 Through the Night (m002y0ch)
Mozart and Debussy from Croatia
The Zagreb String Quartet play quartets by Mozart and Debussy. John Shea presents.
12:31 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
String Quartet no 17 in B flat, K. 458 'Hunt'
Zagreb String Quartet
12:58 AM
Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
String Quartet in G minor, Op 10
Zagreb String Quartet
01:25 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Overture to Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail – singspiel in 3 acts, K.384
Romanian Radio National Orchestra, Vladimir Lungu (conductor)
01:31 AM
Boris Papandopulo (1906-1991)
Croatian Mass in D minor, Op 86
Nada Ruzdjak (soprano), Marija Klasic (alto), Zrinko Soco (tenor), Vladimir Ruždjak (baritone), Ivan Goran Kovacic Academic Choir of Zagreb, Vladimir Kranjčević (conductor)
02:31 AM
Jan van Gilse (1881-1944)
Nonet (4 wind and 5 strings) (1916)
Viotta Ensemble
03:05 AM
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
8 Pieces for Piano, Op 76
Robert Silverman (piano)
03:33 AM
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
Eugene Onegin, Op 24 (Act 2: Introduction & waltz)
BBC Philharmonic, Vassily Sinaisky (conductor)
03:41 AM
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
Nulla in mundo pax sincera, RV 630
Emma Kirkby (soprano), Academy of Ancient Music, Andrew Manze (director)
03:49 AM
William Walton (1902-1983)
Orb and sceptre - coronation march
BBC Philharmonic, John Storgårds (conductor)
03:57 AM
Santiago de Murcia (1673-1739)
Mariona por la B
Eduardo Egüez (guitar)
04:03 AM
Rudolf Matz (1901-1988)
Ballade for violin, cello & piano
Zagreb Piano Trio
04:11 AM
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Suite no 2 in F major, HWV.427 (1720)
Christian Ihle Hadland (piano)
04:20 AM
Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767)
Recorder Sonata in D minor
Camerata Köln
04:31 AM
Franz Schubert (1797-1828), Anton Webern (orch.)
6 Deutsche Tänze, D.820
Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra, Justin Brown (conductor)
04:40 AM
Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849)
Four Mazurkas, Op 30
Jakub Kuszlik (piano)
04:50 AM
Claude Le Jeune (c.1528-1600)
Dieu, nous te louons
Ensemble Vocal Sagittarius, Christina Pluhar (lute), Michel Laplenie (conductor)
04:58 AM
Pavle Dešpalj (1934-2021)
String Whim no 2 for violin solo
Ana Savicka (violin)
05:06 AM
Arthur Honegger (1892-1955)
Pastorale d'été
Argovia Philharmonic, Rune Bergmann (conductor)
05:15 AM
Carl Ludwig Lithander (1773-1843)
Divertimento no 1 for flute and fortepiano
Mikael Helasvuo (flute), Tuija Hakkila (pianoforte)
05:24 AM
Joseph Martin Kraus (1756-1792)
7 Divertissements for Moliere's comedy 'Amphitryon' (VB.27)
L'Arte del mondo, Werner Ehrhardt (conductor)
05:51 AM
Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921)
Oboe Sonata in D major, Op 166
Roger Cole (oboe), Linda Lee Thomas (piano)
06:02 AM
Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
Symphony no 4 in A major, Op 90 'Italian'
Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Ruben Silva (conductor)
THU 06:30 Radio 3 Breakfast (m002y2sx)
Roll out of bed into classical music
Tom McKinney presents Radio 3’s Breakfast show live from Salford. With birdsong, Bach Before 7 and the best in classical music. You can contact the show by emailing 3breakfast@bbc.co.uk.
To listen on most smart speakers, just say 'Ask BBC Sounds to play 3 Breakfast’.
THU 09:30 Essential Classics (m002y2sz)
The best classical morning music
Georgia Mann 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.
To listen on most smart speakers, say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Essential Classics”.
THU 13:00 Classical Live (m002y2t1)
Renaud Capuçon plays Korngold's Violin Concerto in D
Elizabeth Alker showcases the best performances by BBC orchestras, choirs, ensembles and other great performing groups from Europe and around the globe.
This week, Classical Live presents exclusive live recordings from some of the best youth orchestras in Europe; we’ll also hear performances by some of the brilliant young musicians currently enrolled in the BBC New Generation Artists scheme, in a recent season of lunchtime concerts at St George’s Bristol.
Included in today’s programme - the joint forces of the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra and the Romanian Youth Orchestra with conductor Manfred Honeck in a concert last September at the Palace Grand Hall Budapest, performing music by Mozart and Korngold.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Overture to 'Don Giovanni'
Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra / Romanian Youth Orchestra
Manfred Honeck, conductor
Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Violin Concerto in D, op. 35
Renaud Capuçon, violin
Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra / Romanian Youth Orchestra
Manfred Honeck, conductor
Camille Saint-Saëns
Cello Concerto No. 1 in A minor. op. 33
Samuel Niederhauser (cello)
Swiss National Youth Orchestra
Félix Mildenberger (conductor)
THU 16:00 Composer of the Week (m002y2t3)
Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990)
“A Double Man”
Donald Macleod explores as cracks appear in the Bernstein’s personal life, and Leonard has his first flop with the musical 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Donald Macleod explores the life and music of Leonard Bernstein - one of the most iconic personalities in the musical life of America, and a key figure in the formation of the cultural identity of the United States. Over the course of this week, Donald discovers how Bernstein rose to conquer both the concert hall and the Broadway stage, and succeed both as conductor, and, more importantly for him personally, as composer.
We will explore Bernstein’s whirlwind life. A journey from a cocksure teenager giving piano lessons in his local neighbourhood to his studies at Harvard, where the connections he made – with the composer Aaron Copland and the conductor Dimitri Mitropoulos - prepared him, not as his father hoped, for a career in business, but instead for a life in music.
Donald also explores Bernstein’s friendship with the conductor Serge Koussevitsky and the events that led to his headline-grabbing success as a stand-in conductor for Bruno Walter in his mid-twenties. We'll also hear about his rise to prominence as a composer during the days of the Second World War with a pair of Broadway scores.
Donald also details Bernstein’s conflicted personal life – from his marriage to the actress and TV star Felicia Montealegre to his own TV career and his social life mixing with the celebrity set of New York City. And we’ll find out how his marriage hit the rocks as he underwent a difficult period in his personal life, like his hero Mahler, “like being two different men locked up in the same body”.
By the late 1950s, Leonard Bernstein was feted by all sides – his new hit West Side Story was greeted by rave reviews, and his first season as principal conductor of the New York Philharmonic revived the orchestra’s fortunes. However, this high wasn’t to last. In his personal life, crack were beginning to show, and they soon spread.
In Thursday’s programme, Donald explores this period in Bernstein’s life when his marriage began to struggle under the strain of his promiscuity and absences. Bernstein also began to see his creative endeavours fall short with a troubling reception for his opera Candide and his new musical 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue beset by difficulties. And there were also the first ominous signs of health problems for both Bernstein and his wife.
West Side Story – Overture
West Side Story Orchestra
Johnny Green, conductor
Mass – Pax: Communion - movements II & III
Douglas Butler, boy soprano
Kevin Vortmann, tenor (Celebrant)
Vocal Soloists
Westminster Symphonic Choir
Temple University Concert Choir
Philadelphia Orchestra
Yannick Nezet-Seguin, conductor
Candide: Overture
Vienna Philharmonic
Gustavo Dudamel, conductor
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Suite
São Paulo Symphony Orchestra
Marin Alsop, conductor
SongFest - excerpt
National Symphony Orchestra of Washington
Leonard Bernstein, conductor
Producer: Sam Phillips
THU 17:00 In Tune (m002y2t5)
Brodsky Quartet play live
Petroc introduces live music from the Brodsky Quartet ahead of appearances in London, the Cambridge Summer Festival and Music on the Moor Festival. Petroc also chats to Luke Styles, artistic director of the Deal Festival.
THU 19:00 Classical Mixtape (m001w1yx)
Your daily classical soundtrack
The perfect mix to enjoy as you relax after a hard day featuring Thomas Ades's emotive O Albion and Max Richter's On the Nature of Daylight. With the odd surprise thrown in too, including a favourite, Ronald Binge's The Watermill.
Produced by Calantha Bonnissent
THU 19:30 Radio 3 in Concert (m002y2t7)
BBC Singers with the Maîtrise of Notre Dame, Paris
The BBC Singers travel to France to join forces with the Maîtrise Notre-Dame de Paris for a concert in the glorious setting of Notre-Dame Cathedral, under the batons of their Chief Conductor Sofi Jeannin and the Principal Conductor at the Maîtrise, Henri Chalet.
The concert opens with a song without words written in 1933 by Jehan Alain, a French composer and organist who died tragically young at the age of just 29, killed in action during the Second World War. This short piece, Chanson à bouche fermée (Song for closed mouth), is one of Alain‘s rare secular choral works and unfolds like a lullaby thanks to the gentle rhythmic sway of its simple melodic motifs.
Johann Sebastian Bach's motets represent the pinnacle of the composer's contrapuntal artistry, towering monuments that dominate all Western religious music. They frequently feature a double choir structure and captivate with their variety of colours, which richly illustrate the meaning of the text. Tonight, the choirs perform Komm, Jesu, komm (Come, Jesus come) which describes Jesus as the path to salvation and Singet dem Herrn ein neue Lied (Sing unto the Lord a new song).
Between these motets the BBC Singers perform a piece written by their Composer in Association Roderick Williams. His Ave Verum Corpus Re-imagined takes William Byrd’s famous motet and re-imagines it for three unaccompanied SATB choirs. The conductor’s baton then passes to Henri Chalet and the Maîtrise Notre-Dame de Paris re-join the BBC Singers to perform Swiss composer Frank Martin's Mass for Double Choir, written in 1922 with its stunning Agnus Dei being added in 1926. It is one of the pinnacles of vocal art, with its use of a double a cappella choir, both highly demanding and extremely liberated in its fervour. It is truly wonderful work, combining intensely personal moments of religious contemplation with outbursts of overwhelming glory.
Recorded on 2 June 2026 at Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris and presented by Ian Skelly.
Alain: Chanson à bouche fermée
Bach: Komm, Jesu komm, BWV 229
Roderick Williams: Ave Verum Corpus Re-Imagined
Bach: Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied, BWV 225
Martin: Mass for Double Choir
BBC Singers
Maîtrise Notre-Dame de Paris
Yves Castagnet, organ
Sofi Jeannin & Henri Chalet, conductors
To listen on most smart speakers, just say "ask BBC Sounds to play Radio 3 in Concert".
THU 21:45 The Essay (m002y2t9)
Our Island Music
Isle of Wight
Singer‑songwriter and author Colin MacIntyre, known for his work as Mull Historical Society, continues his essay series exploring how island life shapes musical identity around Britain’s shores. This episode takes him to the Isle of Wight, where he meets violinist James Humphries of the Isle of Wight Symphony Orchestra and award-winning pianist Thomas Luke.
What impact does having a major international music festival taking place on your doorstep each year have on aspiring musicians? Thomas Luke comes from a long line of island musicians but remembers the excitement of hearing world-famous musicians from his bedroom window and credits this with nurturing his musical ambition.
Together, they explore the cultural ecosystem that sustains music on the island - from community ensembles and orchestral traditions to the challenges and opportunities of creating art just a short stretch of water from the English South Coast. Humphries reflects on how proximity to the mainland influences the island’s musicians: offering access to wider artistic networks while also strengthening the desire to preserve a unique local identity.
Producer: Maggie Ayre
THU 22:00 Night Tracks (m002y2tc)
Immersive music for late night listening
Sara Mohr-Pietsch presents an adventurous, immersive soundtrack for late-night listening, from classical to contemporary and everything in between.
THU 23:30 'Round Midnight (m002ksl7)
New from Sarah Elizabeth Charles
‘Round Midnight is presented by award-winning saxophonist Soweto Kinch. This weekday late-night show celebrates the thriving UK jazz scene and spotlights the best new music alongside incredible acts from past decades.
Yazmin Lacey concludes her 4/4 feature week tonight with an album by a late jazz vocalist who deeply influenced contemporary music, many artists and audiences, including Yazmin.
Also tonight, there is music from Harper Trio, Gogo Penguin, and Kahil El'Zabar's Ethnic Heritage Ensemble.
To listen on most smart speakers, just say: 'Ask BBC Sounds to play Round Midnight.'
FRIDAY 03 JULY 2026
FRI 00:30 Through the Night (m002y2tf)
Francisco Coll with the Basel Chamber Orchestra
Works by Turina, Martinů, de Falla and the premiere of Francisco Coll's Cello Concerto featuring soloist Sol Gabetta. John Shea presents.
12:31 AM
Joaquin Turina (1882-1949)
La Oración del torero, Op 34
Basel Chamber Orchestra, Francisco Coll (conductor)
12:41 AM
Francisco Coll (b.1985)
Cello Concerto
Sol Gabetta (cello), Basel Chamber Orchestra, Francisco Coll (conductor)
01:06 AM
Bohuslav Martinů (1890-1959)
Double Concerto for Two String Orchestras, Piano and Timpani, H.271
Basel Chamber Orchestra, Riccardo Bovino (piano), Alexander Wäber (timpani), Francisco Coll (conductor)
01:29 AM
Manuel de Falla (1876-1946)
El amor brujo (Love, the Magician), ballet suite
Basel Chamber Orchestra, Francisco Coll (conductor)
01:52 AM
Joaquín Rodrigo (1901-1999)
3 Piezas espanolas for guitar
Goran Listes (guitar)
02:06 AM
Manuel de Falla (1876-1946)
'Vivan los que rien' - Salud's aria from Act I scene 1 of "La Vida Breve"
Manon Feubel (soprano), Orchestre Symphonique de Laval, Jacques Lacombe (conductor)
02:11 AM
Luigi Boccherini (1743-1805)
String Quintet no 6 in C major, Op 30, 'Musica notturna delle strade di Madrid'
Gringolts Quartet, Christophe Coin (cello)
02:24 AM
Francisco Guerrero (1528-1599)
Prado verde y florido - sacred vilancico
Montserrat Figueras (soprano), Maite Arruabarrena (mezzo soprano), Lambert Climent (tenor), Francesc Garrigosa (tenor), Hesperion XX, Jordi Savall (director)
02:31 AM
Ignacy Feliks Dobrzyński (1807-1867)
Symphony no 2 in C minor, Op 15 "Caracteristique"
Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Ruben Silva (conductor)
03:10 AM
Rolande Falcinelli (1920-2006)
Messe de Saint-Dominique, Op 25
Helen Neeves (soprano), Margaret Cameron (alto), Stephen Jeffes (tenor), Jamie W Hall (bass), BBC Singers, Grace Rossiter (conductor)
03:30 AM
Sergey Prokofiev (1891-1953)
Nocturne, Op 43 no 2
Roger Woodward (piano)
03:36 AM
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
Bassoon Concerto in E minor, RV.484
Aleksander Radosavljevič (bassoon), RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra, Günter Pichler (conductor)
03:47 AM
Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
Piano Trio in E flat major (Hob.
15.10)
Niklas Sivelöv (piano), Bernt Lysell (violin), Mikael Sjögren (cello)
03:58 AM
Samuel Barber (1910-1981)
Adagio for Strings, Op 11
Netherlands Radio Symphony Orchestra, Richard Dufallo (conductor)
04:09 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Aria: 'Rivolgete a lui lo sguardo' (from "Cosí fan tutte", Act 1)
Allan Monk (baritone), Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Mario Bernardi (conductor)
04:14 AM
Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Arabeske, Op 18
Eric Lu (piano)
04:23 AM
Dall'Abaco, Evaristo Felice (1675-1742)
Concerto a piu istrumenti in C major, Op 6 no 10
Il Tempio Armonico
04:31 AM
Peter Benoit (1834-1901)
Panis Angelicus
Karen Lemaire (soprano), Flemish Radio Choir, Joris Verdin (harmonium), Vic Nees (conductor)
04:36 AM
Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849)
Preludes, Op 28 nos 16-20
Krzysztof Jablonski (piano)
04:44 AM
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-1788)
Fantasia in F sharp minor, Wq 67 for keyboard
Dirk Börner (harpsichord)
04:55 AM
Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
Two Dances for Harp and Strings
Joel von Lerber (harp), Berner Kammerorchester, Philippe Bach (conductor)
05:05 AM
Erik Satie (1866-1925)
Trois morceaux en forme de poire
Pianoduo Kolacny (piano duo), Steven Kolacny (piano), Stijn Kolacny (piano)
05:23 AM
Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
Violin Concerto in E minor, Op 64
Hilary Hahn (violin), Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Hugh Wolff (conductor)
05:50 AM
François Dufault (1604-1672),Honoré d'Ambruys (c. C17th)
Pièce pour harpe (Dufaut); Air de cour “Le doux silence de nos bois" (d'Ambruys)
Angélique Mauillon (harp), Marc Mauillon (tenor), Étienne Galletier (theorbo)
05:57 AM
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Cantata: Geist und Seele wird verwirret, BWV.35
Jan Borner (counter tenor), Capricornus Consort Basel, Peter Barczi (director)
06:24 AM
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), Edwin York Bowen (arr.)
Moonlight Sonata arranged for viola
Timothy Ridout (viola), James Baillieu (piano)
FRI 06:30 Radio 3 Breakfast (m002y0s5)
Breakfast with the best classical music
Tom McKinney presents Radio 3’s Breakfast show live from Salford. With birdsong, Bach Before 7 and the best in classical music. You can contact the show by emailing 3breakfast@bbc.co.uk.
To listen on most smart speakers, just say 'Ask BBC Sounds to play 3 Breakfast’.
FRI 09:30 Essential Classics (m002y0s7)
The ideal mix of classical music
Georgia Mann 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.
To listen on most smart speakers, say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Essential Classics”.
FRI 13:00 Classical Live (m002y0s9)
Strauss' Don Quixote played by the European Union Youth Orchestra
Elizabeth Alker showcases the best performances by BBC orchestras, choirs, ensembles and other great performing groups from Europe and around the globe.
This week, Classical Live presents exclusive live recordings from some of the best youth orchestras in Europe; we’ll also hear performances by some of the brilliant young musicians currently enrolled in the BBC New Generation Artists scheme, in a recent season of lunchtime concerts at St George’s Bristol.
We finish the week with the European Union Youth Orchestra, which has members drawn from the 27 members states of the European Union, and their performance of Don Quixote Op.35 by Richard Strauss. We’ll also hear more from BBC Radio 3 New Generation artists Julius Asal and the NOVO Quartet.
Johannes Brahms
Quintet for clarinet and strings in B minor, Op.115
Oleg Shebeta-Dragan, clarinet
NOVO Quartet
Richard Strauss
Don Quixote Op.35
Nicolas Altstaedt, cello
European Union Youth Orchestra
Gianandrea Noseda, conductor
Franz Schubert
Piano Sonata in F-sharp minor, D 571: 1st movement (Allegro moderato)
Julius Asal, piano
Sergei Prokofiev
Pensees Op.62
Julius Asal, piano
Antonín Dvořák
Symphony No. 6 in D, op. 60
National Youth Orchestra of Slovakia
Sophie Dervaux, conductor
FRI 16:00 Composer of the Week (m002y0sc)
Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990)
Final years - hubris and charity
Donald Macleod explores the final years in the life of Leonard Bernstein, when his behaviour became more erratic, but he also became more active in his work for charitable causes.
Donald Macleod explores the life and music of Leonard Bernstein - one of the most iconic personalities in the musical life of America, and a key figure in the formation of the cultural identity of the United States. Over the course of this week, Donald discovers how Bernstein rose to conquer both the concert hall and the Broadway stage, and succeed both as conductor, and, more importantly for him personally, as composer.
We will explore Bernstein’s whirlwind life. A journey from a cocksure teenager giving piano lessons in his local neighbourhood to his studies at Harvard, where the connections he made – with the composer Aaron Copland and the conductor Dimitri Mitropoulos - prepared him, not as his father hoped, for a career in business, but instead for a life in music.
Donald also explores Bernstein’s friendship with the conductor Serge Koussevitsky and the events that led to his headline-grabbing success as a stand-in conductor for Bruno Walter in his mid-twenties. We'll also hear about his rise to prominence as a composer during the days of the Second World War with a pair of Broadway scores.
Donald also details Bernstein’s conflicted personal life – from his marriage to the actress and TV star Felicia Montealegre to his own TV career and his social life mixing with the celebrity set of New York City. And we’ll find out how his marriage hit the rocks as he underwent a difficult period in his personal life, like his hero Mahler, “like being two different men locked up in the same body”.
In Friday’s programme, Donald explores the final years in the life of Leonard Bernstein, when, following the death of Felicia, Bernstein’s behaviour became more erratic, as he began self-medicating with alcohol and prescription drugs. However, he also became more active in his work for charitable causes, including memorable concerts to mark the fall of the Berlin Wall and the outbreak of World War II.
His compositions of this last period are more sporadic and more autobiographical in tone, including the opera “A Quiet Place” and “Arias and Barcarolles”. However, the frenetic pace of his life didn’t slow down, with an almost constant stream of trips abroad to conduct.
Four Anniversaries 1. For Felicia Montealegre
Katie Mahan, piano
Quiet Place: Postlude
Montreal Symphony Orchestra
Kent Nagano, conductor
West Side Story – Tonight
José Carreras, tenor (Tony)
Kiri te Kanawa, soprano (Maria)
Leonard Bernstein Orchestra
Leonard Bernstein, conductor
Concerto for Orchestra – 3rd and 4th movements
Nathan Gunn, baritone
New Zealand SO
James Judd, conductor
Chichester Psalms
David Allsopp, countertenor
Tenebrae
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Nigel Short, conductor
Arias and Barcarolles (arr. for orch): VIII. Nachtspiel (Postlude)
Isabel Leonard, mezzo-soprano
Ryan McKinny, baritone
San Francisco Symphony Orchestra
Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor
Producer: Sam Phillips
FRI 17:00 In Tune (m002y0sf)
Matthew Barley and Mishka Rushdie Momen perform live
There's live music from cellist Matthew Barley with pianist Mishka Rushdie Momen ahead of their Wigmore Hall recital. Petroc also chats to soprano Ellie Neate about starring in Wild Arts production of The Marriage of Figaro.
FRI 19:00 Classical Mixtape (m002y0sh)
Classical music for your journey
30 minutes of back to back classical music to help wind down at the end of a busy day. Longing and yearning are a recurring theme in today's mix, opening in amongst the stars with Ēriks Ešenvalds' shimmering choral depiction, followed by one of the most beautiful of Rachmaninov's piano preludes. The Norwegian composer Pauline Hall is inspired in her orchestral writing by the poetry of Verlaine, and Reynaldo Hahn's seductive Venetian love song conjures up scenes of gondolas and lapping water along the Grand Canal. There is more yearning emotion in a harp miniature by Grace Williams, and the sad but exquisite setting of the Requiem by Herbert Howells, with a little light relief provide by a comedic clog dance.
Producer: Helen Garrison
To listen on most smart speakers, just say 'Ask BBC Sounds to play Radio 3'.
FRI 19:30 Friday Night is Music Night (m002d7nm)
Midsummer from Snape
The Iceland Philharmonic Choir join the BBC Concert Orchestra and Chief Conductor Anna-Maria Helsing at the Maltings in Snape for a concert of Nordic summer music.
Presented by Sarah Walker.
Hugo Alfvén: Midsommarvaka (Midsummer Vigil)/Swedish Rhapsody No 1, op. 19
Nielsen: Fynsk Forår, op. 42, "Som en græsgrøn plet" (Like a grassy green spot)
Páll Ísólfsson: Brennið þið, vitar (Let the lighthouse shine)
Jón Ásgeirsson: Maístjarnan (The Star of May)
Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night's Dream: Wedding March
Heikki Aaltoila: Akselin ja Elinan häävalssi (The Wedding Waltz of Akseli and Elina) from the film Täällä Pohjantähden alla (Here Beneath a North Star)
Hugo Alfvén: Och jungfrun hon går i ringen (And the Maiden, She Goes in a Ring)
Mia Makeroff: Butterfly
Jaakko Mäntyjärvi: El Hambo
Hugo Alfvén: Vallflickans dans (Dance of the Herdsmaiden) from Bergakungen (The Mountain King) Suite, op. 37 No 4
INTERVAL
Wilhelm Peterson-Berger: 1. Summer Song; 2. At Frösö Church (Frösöblomster)
Jón Nordal: Vorkvæði um Ísland
Snorri Sigfús Birgisson: Afmorsvísa
Nils Lindberg: Shall I compare thee to a summer's day
Karin Rehnqvist: Hymn
Max Richter: On the Nature of Daylight
Grieg: Olav Trygvason, Op. 50, Scene 3 - Giv alla Guder gammens og gledesskal (Give to all Gods a Grace-Cup of Gratitude)
Iceland Philharmonic Choir
Conductor Magnus Ragnarsson
BBC Concert Orchestra
Conductor Anna-Maria Helsing
FRI 21:45 The Essay (m002y0sk)
Our Island Music
Eel Pie Island
Singer‑songwriter and storyteller Colin MacIntyre, known for his work as Mull Historical Society, continues his exploration of how island communities shape musical identity. This time, he travels not to a remote coastline but to one of Britain’s most famous musical enclaves: Eel Pie Island on the Thames.
Colin meets Henry and Blaine Harrison of Mystery Jets, the band whose early years were forged on the island’s bohemian shores. Together, they reflect on Eel Pie’s extraordinary musical past - from its legendary jazz and blues clubs of the 1950s and 60s to the creative commune that nurtured generations of artists from the Rolling Stones to David Bowie - and how that history continues to echo through their own work as they endeavour to keep the island's rebellious artistic spirit alive.
Producer: Maggie Ayre
FRI 22:00 Late Junction (m002y0sn)
Prathap Ramachandra and Loula Yorke in session
Jennifer Lucy Allan presents the latest in our series of improvised collaboration sessions, bringing South Indian percussionist Prathap Ramachandra and modular synthesist Loula Yorke together for the first time in the Late Junction studio.
Born and raised in Bangalore, Prathap Ramachandra is an internationally acclaimed percussionist specialising in Carnatic music and rhythms, having begun his training at the age of two. Now based in London, he combines his classical practice with a deep commitment to cross-cultural collaboration. Loula Yorke is an award-winning composer, sound artist and modular synthesist. Exploring movement and psychoacoustics in her work, she uses a custom-built wide-frequency analogue modular synthesiser to create deep, trance-inducing sounds at the intersection of rave, minimalism and drone. Together, they create a new suite of improvised music exclusively for Late Junction.
Produced by Gabriel Francis
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 3
FRI 23:30 'Round Midnight (m002kr5t)
Harben Kay's mixtape
‘Round Midnight is presented by award-winning saxophonist Soweto Kinch. This weekday late-night show celebrates the thriving UK jazz scene and spotlights the best new music alongside incredible acts from past decades.
Soweto welcomes leading Scottish saxophonist Harben Kay as his Friday night guest. Harben has curated a mixtape exploring the theme of "the world I live in", which is also the title of their brand-new album. Over 30 minutes, Harben gives us insight into some of the music that has inspired them.
To listen on most smart speakers, just say: 'Ask BBC Sounds to play Round Midnight.'
LIST OF THIS WEEK'S PROGRAMMES
(Note: the times link back to the details; the pids link to the BBC page, including iPlayer)
'Round Midnight
23:30 MON (m002ksp7)
'Round Midnight
23:30 TUE (m002kst7)
'Round Midnight
23:30 WED (m002ksj9)
'Round Midnight
23:30 THU (m002ksl7)
'Round Midnight
23:30 FRI (m002kr5t)
Choral Evensong
18:00 SUN (m002xnfg)
Choral Evensong
15:00 WED (m002y0c1)
Classical Live
13:00 MON (m002y04g)
Classical Live
13:00 TUE (m002y2qx)
Classical Live
13:00 WED (m002y0bz)
Classical Live
13:00 THU (m002y2t1)
Classical Live
13:00 FRI (m002y0s9)
Classical Mixtape
19:00 MON (m002y04p)
Classical Mixtape
19:00 TUE (m002y2r3)
Classical Mixtape
19:00 WED (m002y0c7)
Classical Mixtape
19:00 THU (m001w1yx)
Classical Mixtape
19:00 FRI (m002y0sh)
Composer of the Week
16:00 MON (m002y04j)
Composer of the Week
16:00 TUE (m002y2qz)
Composer of the Week
16:00 WED (m002y0c3)
Composer of the Week
16:00 THU (m002y2t3)
Composer of the Week
16:00 FRI (m002y0sc)
Earlier... with Jools Holland
12:00 SAT (m002y278)
Essential Classics
09:30 MON (m002y04d)
Essential Classics
09:30 TUE (m002y2qv)
Essential Classics
09:30 WED (m002y0bx)
Essential Classics
09:30 THU (m002y2sz)
Essential Classics
09:30 FRI (m002y0s7)
Friday Night is Music Night
19:30 FRI (m002d7nm)
In Tune
17:00 MON (m002y04m)
In Tune
17:00 TUE (m002y2r1)
In Tune
17:00 WED (m002y0c5)
In Tune
17:00 THU (m002y2t5)
In Tune
17:00 FRI (m002y0sf)
Jazz Record Requests
16:00 SUN (m002y1sn)
Key Changes: Radio 3's Essential History of Classical Music
13:00 SAT (m002y27d)
Late Junction
22:00 FRI (m002y0sn)
Music Map
13:30 SUN (m002y1sh)
Music Matters
15:00 SUN (m002y1sk)
New Music Show
22:30 SAT (m002y27s)
Night Tracks
22:00 SUN (m002y1sz)
Night Tracks
22:00 MON (m002y04x)
Night Tracks
22:00 TUE (m002y2r9)
Night Tracks
22:00 WED (m002y0cf)
Night Tracks
22:00 THU (m002y2tc)
Opera on 3
18:00 SAT (m002y27q)
Private Passions
12:00 SUN (m002y1sf)
Radio 3 Breakfast
06:30 SAT (m002y272)
Radio 3 Breakfast
06:30 SUN (m002y1s9)
Radio 3 Breakfast
06:30 MON (m002y04b)
Radio 3 Breakfast
06:30 TUE (m002y2qs)
Radio 3 Breakfast
06:30 WED (m002y0bv)
Radio 3 Breakfast
06:30 THU (m002y2sx)
Radio 3 Breakfast
06:30 FRI (m002y0s5)
Radio 3 in Concert
19:30 MON (m002y04r)
Radio 3 in Concert
19:30 TUE (m002y2r5)
Radio 3 in Concert
19:30 WED (m002y0c9)
Radio 3 in Concert
19:30 THU (m002y2t7)
Record Review
14:00 SAT (m002y27j)
Saturday Morning
09:00 SAT (m002y274)
Sound of Cinema
16:00 SAT (m002y27l)
Sunday Feature
19:00 SUN (m002y1ss)
Sunday Morning
09:00 SUN (m002y1sc)
Sunday Selection
21:00 SUN (m002y1sx)
The Early Music Show
17:00 SUN (m002y1sq)
The Essay
21:45 MON (m002y04t)
The Essay
21:45 TUE (m002y2r7)
The Essay
21:45 WED (m002y0cc)
The Essay
21:45 THU (m002y2t9)
The Essay
21:45 FRI (m002y0sk)
This Classical Life
17:00 SAT (m002y27n)
Through the Night
00:30 SAT (m002xq5m)
Through the Night
00:30 SUN (m002y27v)
Through the Night
00:30 MON (m002y1t3)
Through the Night
00:30 TUE (m002y04z)
Through the Night
00:30 WED (m002y2rc)
Through the Night
00:30 THU (m002y0ch)
Through the Night
00:30 FRI (m002y2tf)
Unclassified
23:30 SUN (m002y1t1)
Words and Music
19:45 SUN (m002y1sv)
LIST OF THIS WEEK'S PROGRAMMES ORDERED BY GENRE
(Note: the times link back to the details; the pids link to the BBC page, including iPlayer)
Drama
Words and Music
19:45 SUN (m002y1sv)
Factual
Sunday Feature
19:00 SUN (m002y1ss)
Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media
Music Matters
15:00 SUN (m002y1sk)
The Essay
21:45 MON (m002y04t)
The Essay
21:45 TUE (m002y2r7)
The Essay
21:45 WED (m002y0cc)
The Essay
21:45 THU (m002y2t9)
The Essay
21:45 FRI (m002y0sk)
Factual: History
Key Changes: Radio 3's Essential History of Classical Music
13:00 SAT (m002y27d)
Music
Late Junction
22:00 FRI (m002y0sn)
Music: Classical
Classical Live
13:00 MON (m002y04g)
Classical Live
13:00 TUE (m002y2qx)
Classical Live
13:00 WED (m002y0bz)
Classical Live
13:00 THU (m002y2t1)
Classical Live
13:00 FRI (m002y0s9)
Classical Mixtape
19:00 MON (m002y04p)
Classical Mixtape
19:00 TUE (m002y2r3)
Classical Mixtape
19:00 WED (m002y0c7)
Classical Mixtape
19:00 THU (m001w1yx)
Classical Mixtape
19:00 FRI (m002y0sh)
Composer of the Week
16:00 MON (m002y04j)
Composer of the Week
16:00 TUE (m002y2qz)
Composer of the Week
16:00 WED (m002y0c3)
Composer of the Week
16:00 THU (m002y2t3)
Composer of the Week
16:00 FRI (m002y0sc)
Earlier... with Jools Holland
12:00 SAT (m002y278)
Essential Classics
09:30 MON (m002y04d)
Essential Classics
09:30 TUE (m002y2qv)
Essential Classics
09:30 WED (m002y0bx)
Essential Classics
09:30 THU (m002y2sz)
Essential Classics
09:30 FRI (m002y0s7)
In Tune
17:00 MON (m002y04m)
In Tune
17:00 TUE (m002y2r1)
In Tune
17:00 WED (m002y0c5)
In Tune
17:00 THU (m002y2t5)
In Tune
17:00 FRI (m002y0sf)
Key Changes: Radio 3's Essential History of Classical Music
13:00 SAT (m002y27d)
Music Map
13:30 SUN (m002y1sh)
Night Tracks
22:00 SUN (m002y1sz)
Night Tracks
22:00 MON (m002y04x)
Night Tracks
22:00 TUE (m002y2r9)
Night Tracks
22:00 WED (m002y0cf)
Night Tracks
22:00 THU (m002y2tc)
Private Passions
12:00 SUN (m002y1sf)
Radio 3 Breakfast
06:30 SAT (m002y272)
Radio 3 Breakfast
06:30 SUN (m002y1s9)
Radio 3 Breakfast
06:30 MON (m002y04b)
Radio 3 Breakfast
06:30 TUE (m002y2qs)
Radio 3 Breakfast
06:30 WED (m002y0bv)
Radio 3 Breakfast
06:30 THU (m002y2sx)
Radio 3 Breakfast
06:30 FRI (m002y0s5)
Radio 3 in Concert
19:30 MON (m002y04r)
Radio 3 in Concert
19:30 TUE (m002y2r5)
Radio 3 in Concert
19:30 WED (m002y0c9)
Radio 3 in Concert
19:30 THU (m002y2t7)
Record Review
14:00 SAT (m002y27j)
Saturday Morning
09:00 SAT (m002y274)
Sunday Morning
09:00 SUN (m002y1sc)
Sunday Selection
21:00 SUN (m002y1sx)
This Classical Life
17:00 SAT (m002y27n)
Through the Night
00:30 SAT (m002xq5m)
Through the Night
00:30 SUN (m002y27v)
Through the Night
00:30 MON (m002y1t3)
Through the Night
00:30 TUE (m002y04z)
Through the Night
00:30 WED (m002y2rc)
Through the Night
00:30 THU (m002y0ch)
Through the Night
00:30 FRI (m002y2tf)
Words and Music
19:45 SUN (m002y1sv)
Music: Classical: Choral
Choral Evensong
18:00 SUN (m002xnfg)
Choral Evensong
15:00 WED (m002y0c1)
Music: Classical: Early Music
The Early Music Show
17:00 SUN (m002y1sq)
Music: Classical: Experimental & New
New Music Show
22:30 SAT (m002y27s)
Unclassified
23:30 SUN (m002y1t1)
Music: Classical: Opera
Opera on 3
18:00 SAT (m002y27q)
Music: Easy Listening, Soundtracks & Musicals
Friday Night is Music Night
19:30 FRI (m002d7nm)
Sound of Cinema
16:00 SAT (m002y27l)
Music: Jazz & Blues
Jazz Record Requests
16:00 SUN (m002y1sn)
Music: Jazz & Blues: Jazz
'Round Midnight
23:30 MON (m002ksp7)
'Round Midnight
23:30 TUE (m002kst7)
'Round Midnight
23:30 WED (m002ksj9)
'Round Midnight
23:30 THU (m002ksl7)
'Round Midnight
23:30 FRI (m002kr5t)
Jazz Record Requests
16:00 SUN (m002y1sn)
Music: World
Late Junction
22:00 FRI (m002y0sn)
Night Tracks
22:00 SUN (m002y1sz)
Night Tracks
22:00 MON (m002y04x)
Night Tracks
22:00 TUE (m002y2r9)
Night Tracks
22:00 WED (m002y0cf)
Night Tracks
22:00 THU (m002y2tc)
Religion & Ethics
Choral Evensong
18:00 SUN (m002xnfg)
Choral Evensong
15:00 WED (m002y0c1)