SATURDAY 02 DECEMBER 2023

SAT 01:00 Mindful Mix (p0gpnss1)
Soothing classical melodies for autumn daydreaming

Sweet textures and melodies to bring you warmth on brisk autumn days.

Wrap yourself up in the warmth of a soothing classical hug - and let your mind find a place to rest.

Featuring sweetly singing melodies by Giya Kancheli, Respighi and Augusta Holmès, plus gentle musical textures from Ravel, Vivaldi and Schubert.

Produced by Steven Rajam
An Overcoat Media production for BBC Sounds


SAT 03:00 Through the Night (m001sm4q)
Kilar, Chopin and Beethoven from Lugano

Pianist Garrick Ohlsson joins the Orchestra della Svizzera italiana and conductor Krzysztof Urbański in Chopin's Second Piano Concerto. Jonathan Swain presents.

03:01 AM
Wojciech Kilar (1931-2013)
Orawa, for string orchestra
Orchestra della Svizzera italiana, Krzysztof Urbanski (conductor)

03:10 AM
Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849)
Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor, op. 21
Garrick Ohlsson (piano), Orchestra della Svizzera italiana, Krzysztof Urbanski (conductor)

03:45 AM
Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849)
Waltz No. 7 in C sharp minor, op.64'2
Garrick Ohlsson (piano)

03:50 AM
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Symphony No. 3 in E flat, op. 55 'Eroica'
Orchestra della Svizzera italiana, Krzysztof Urbanski (conductor)

04:39 AM
Joseph Martin Kraus (1756-1792)
Sinfonie in E flat, Vb.144
Concerto Koln

05:01 AM
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Oboe Concerto in G minor
Hans-Peter Westermann (oboe), Camerata Koln

05:11 AM
Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
Fantasia on an Irish song 'The last rose of summer' for piano, Op 15
Sylviane Deferne (piano)


05:28 AM
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Overture in C minor D.8 for strings
Korean Chamber Orchestra

05:38 AM
Ernest Chausson (1855-1899)
Chanson perpetuelle
Lena Hoel (soprano), Bengt-Ake Lundin (piano), Yggdrasil String Quartet

05:47 AM
Leonardo de Lorenzo (1875-1962)
Capriccio brillante for 3 flutes, Op.31
Vladislav Brunner Sr. (flute), Juraj Brunner (flute), Milan Brunner (flute)

05:56 AM
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
String Quartet in G major, Op.18'2
Bartok String Quartet

06:20 AM
Carl Nielsen (1865-1931)
Chaconne for piano, Op.32
Anders Kilstrom (piano)

06:30 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Violin Concerto No 5 in A major, K 219 'Turkish'
James Ehnes (violin), Mozart Anniversary Orchestra


SAT 07:00 Breakfast (m001sv1j)
Start the weekend with classical music

Elizabeth Alker with a Breakfast melange of classical music, folk, found sounds and the odd Unclassified track. Start your weekend right.


SAT 09:00 Record Review (m001sv1w)
Béla Bartók's The Miraculous Mandarin in Building a Library with Kate Molleson and Andrew McGregor

Andrew McGregor with the best new recordings of classical music.

9.30 am
Iain Burnside is on hand to pick the plums from Warner's recordings of legendary soprano Maria Callas celebrating the 100th anniversary of her birth. And Iain shares his 'On Repeat' track – a recording which he is currently listening to again and again.

10.30 am
Building a Library

Kate Molleson chooses her favourite recording of Béla Bartók's The Miraculous Mandarin.

Three lowlifes force a beautiful woman to lure men into their seedy city den so they can rob them. The third of their victims is a Chinese Mandarin and the woman dances for him. The woman is repelled by the lust she has aroused in the Mandarin and the three thugs repeatedly attempt to kill him. But the Mandarin continues to stare longingly at the woman. Only when she has satisfied his desires does the Mandarin finally die.

With its lurid Expressionist scenario and tawdry urban setting, Bartók's 1919 ballet scandalised the audience at its 1927 premiere and it was closed by the authorities after its first performance. But now, with its dazzling orchestration and satisfying dramatic arc, the score has long been properly regarded as some of Bartók's finest music.

11.20 am
Record of the Week: Andrew’s top pick.

Send us your On Repeat recommendations at recordreview@bbc.co.uk or tweet us @BBCRadio3


SAT 11:45 Music Matters (m001sv2d)
UK Disability History Month, Maria Callas

Tom Service talks to the National Open Youth Orchestra about the Clarion, a digital instrument that is opening up music-making for disabled students in the classroom. Tom also speaks to the One-Handed Musical Instrument Trust about what it takes to design and make adaptive instruments for disabled music students.

And as her centenary approaches, Music Matters visits a new museum dedicated to the legendary Greek opera singer Maria Callas.


SAT 12:30 This Classical Life (m000tm7l)
Jess Gillam with... Benson Wilson

Jess Gillam and baritone Benson Wilson share the music they love, including the voices of Johnny Mathis, Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Samoan gospel singer Lani Alo.

Today we played…

Copland – Appalachian Spring: Allegro (Leonard Bernstein, New York Phil)
Erroll Garner - Misty (Johnny Mathis)
Pulp – Common People
Verdi – Don Carlos: "O Carlo, ascolta" from Act IV Scene 2 (Dmitri Hvorostovsky, BBC Welsh SO, Richard Armstrong, recorded at 1989 Cardiff Singer of the World final)
Interpol – Untitled (from Turn on the Bright Lights)
John Rutter – What sweeter music (Choir of King’s College Cambridge Stephen Cleobury, Robert Quinney (organ)
Lani Alo – Alo i ou faiva (Lani Alo and Livingston Efu)
Poulenc – Double Piano Concerto in D Minor: III. Finale (Mischa Cheung and Yulia Miloslavaskaya (pianos), Giraud Ensemble Chamber Orchestra, Sergey Simakov)

01 00:02:53 Aaron Copland
Appalachian Spring: Allegro
Orchestra: New York Philharmonic
Conductor: Leonard Bernstein
Duration 00:02:41

02 00:09:04 Jarvis Cocker
Common People
Ensemble: Pulp
Duration 00:03:08

03 00:12:12 Giuseppe Verdi
"O Carlo, ascolta" from Don Carlos
Performer: Dmitri Hvorostovsky
Duration 00:03:41

04 00:16:10 Interpol
Untitled from Turn on the Bright Lights
Ensemble: Interpol
Duration 00:02:32

05 00:18:42 John Rutter
What sweeter music
Performer: Robert Quinney
Choir: Choir of King’s College, Cambridge
Conductor: Stephen Cleobury
Duration 00:03:22

06 00:22:05 Lani Alo
Alo i ou faiva
Performer: Lani Alo
Performer: Livingston Efu
Duration 00:03:18

07 00:25:22 Francis Poulenc
Double Piano Concerto in D Minor: III. Finale
Performer: Mischa Cheung
Performer: Yulia Miloslavskaya
Orchestra: Giraud Ensemble Chamber Orchestra
Conductor: Sergey Simakov
Duration 00:04:14


SAT 13:00 Inside Music (m001sv30)
Composer Alex Groves finds motion in music

Alex Groves finds wide open skies in the music of John Luther Adams, a storm whipped up by Benjamin Britten, and a complex but effective representation of the chaos of the internet in choral music by Ben Nobuto.

Alex also explains how you can breathe along to a track played by Liam Byrne on the viol, and shows how Ravel writes for string quartet as if he’s writing for a modern band.

Plus, Alex reveals the process of finding a sound that feels like his own as a composer…

A series in which each week a musician explores a selection of music - from the inside.

A Tandem Production for BBC Radio 3


SAT 15:00 Sound of Cinema (m001sw9m)
Maria Callas Centenary

Matthew Sweet marks the centenary of the birth of soprano Maria Callas with a look back at how she and her recordings have been featured in film. The programme includes music from The First Lady, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Saint Laurent, Yves Saint Laurent, and Callas Forever. We hear Callas in arias from Tosca, Norma, Gianni Schicchi and Andrea Chenier. Matthew also offers some thoughts and extracts from the soundtrack from Callas's starring role in Pasolini's 1968 film Medea.

The programme also takes a look at the relationship between opera and the cinema in general. Music featured includes cues from Citizen Kane, The Fifth Element, Hannibal, and The Godfather.


SAT 16:00 Music Planet (m001sv47)
Rudolstadt Festival

Lopa Kothari introduces highlights from the 2023 Rudolstadt Festival in Germany, with performances from Corsican polyphonic group A Filetta, Scottish band Imar, Dreamers' Circus from Denmark, plus taarab singer from Zanzibar, Siti Muharam.


SAT 17:00 J to Z (m001sv4v)
Hiromi in concert

Kevin Le Gendre presents extended highlights from Hiromi’s dazzling solo piano set on the J to Z Presents stage at the London Jazz Festival 2023. Plus more of the best jazz – past, present and future.

Produced by Thomas Rees for Somethin’ Else


SAT 18:30 Opera on 3 (m001sv5d)
Puccini's Tosca

On the 100th anniversary of Maria Callas' birth, a chance to hear her legendary 1953 recording of Puccini's Tosca, with Giuseppe Di Stefano as Cavaradossi, Tito Gobbi as Scarpia, and Victor de Sabata conducting.

Famous opera singer Floria Tosca's lover, the painter Cavaradossi, has been arrested by the merciless chief of police Scarpia. Tosca knows that only she can save Cavaradossi's life, but how far will she go to do so? Puccini's sweeping melodies are combined with romance, revolution and a final, devastating crisis.

Martin Handley presents and is joined by writer and broadcaster Sarah Lenton to discuss Callas' voice, life and legacy, and also celebrate some of her other signature roles.

Puccini: Tosca
Tosca ….. Maria Callas (soprano)
Cavaradossi ….. Giuseppe Di Stefano (tenor)
Scarpio .…. Tito Gobbi (bass)
Cesare Angelotti ..… Franco Calabrese (bass)
Spoletta ..… Angelo Mercuriali (tenor)
Shepherd boy ..… Alvaro Cordova (boy soprano)
Sciarrone/Gaoler ..… Dario Caselli (bass)
Sacristan ..… Melchiorre Luise (bass)
Chorus and Orchestra of La Scala, Milan
Victor de Sabata (conductor)

Plus highlights from other famous Maria Callas recordings:

Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor - mad scene (Act 3 scene 2)
Lucia ….. Maria Callas (soprano)
Enrico ….. Piero Cappuccilli (baritone)
Raimondo ….. Bernard Ladysz (bass)
Philharmonia Chorus and Orchestra
Tullio Serafin (conductor)

Bellini: Norma - final scene (Act 2 scene 3)
Norma ….. Maria Callas (soprano)
Pollione ….. Mario Filippeschi (tenor)
Oroveso ….. Nicola Rossi-Lemeni (bass)
Clotilde ….. Rina Cavallari (soprano)
Chorus and Orchestra of La Scala, Milan
Tullio Serafin (conductor)

Bizet: Carmen - L’amour est un oiseau rebelle (Act 1); C’est toi… Carmen, il est temps encore… Viva viva! La course et belle! (Act 4)
Carmen ….. Maria Callas (soprano)
Don José ….. Nicolai Gedda (tenor)
Choeurs Rene Duclos
Paris Opera Orchestra
Georges Pretre (conductor)


SAT 22:00 New Music Show (m001sv61)
Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival 2023 (1/2)

Kate Molleson presents the first of two programmes bringing you exclusive recordings from the 2023 Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival.

Today's programme features music by the Lithuanian composer Egidija Medekšaitė performed by Apartment House - Lithuania is one of the featured nations in this year's festival. EXAUDI and James Weeks give the UK premiere of Jürg Frey's 'Polyphonie der Wörter', whilst members of the Lucerne Festival Contemporary Orchestra pay a visit to Huddersfield with a piece by the Nigerian/Swiss composer Charles Uzor that was inspired by the killing of George Floyd. And Kate talks to composer-in-residence Jennifer Walshe, about her featured exhibition illustrating her interest in AI generated text scores. The programme also features the world premiere of a major new work by her, a "radio play", 'Ireland: A Dataset', performed by the Tonnta vocal ensemble, saxophonist Nick Roth and Úna Monaghan.

Plus, news, interviews and other highlights from this major international contemporary music event.

SUNDAY 03 DECEMBER 2023

SUN 00:00 Freeness (m001ptt4)
In Flux

Corey Mwamba presents new music in states of flux.

Inspired by the Fluxus art movement, Darius Jones is joined by drummer Gerald Cleaver, violinists Jesse and Josh Zubot, cellist Peggy Lee and bassist James Mege for ‘suite but sacred’ experimentations. The Fluxus philosophy was one that attempted to integrate art and life, critical processes and flow - here, Jones fuses visual art with performance, blending states through hedonistic visions of sound.

Elsewhere, sound artists Tobi Adebajo and petals use sound as a scrying device, tugging on ancestral chords, breath and ephemeral whispers. Through free play and English and Yoruba vocalese, they invite listeners to tune into their ‘unbodies’. Plus, violinists Sana Nagano and Leonor Falcón offer an ebullient ode to Béla Bartók, their twin string instruments slipping and sliding around one other, generating a transcendent haze.

Produced by Tej Adeleye
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 3

01 00:00:11 Lao Dan (artist)
Swordswoman Ingesting The Flying Herb
Performer: Lao Dan
Duration 00:01:42

02 00:03:08 Vitaly Harmash (artist)
Harmonic Fields
Performer: Vitaly Harmash
Duration 00:03:38

03 00:06:45 Maggie Nicols (artist)
On Dizziness
Performer: Maggie Nicols
Performer: Caroline Kraabel
Performer: Charlotte Hug
Duration 00:06:05

04 00:14:02 Camila Nebbia (artist)
Todo Se Borra
Performer: Camila Nebbia
Duration 00:01:54

05 00:15:56 Jessica Ackerley (artist)
Hippocampal Rest
Performer: Jessica Ackerley
Performer: Yuma Uesaka
Performer: Colin Hinton
Duration 00:05:22

06 00:23:28 徐嘉駿 (artist)
Jiang Shan Yi Gai
Performer: 徐嘉駿
Duration 00:09:42

07 00:34:41 Sana Nagano (artist)
Etude 2
Performer: Sana Nagano
Performer: Leonor Falcon
Duration 00:04:53

08 00:39:35 Tobi Adebajo (artist)
alaloota i
Performer: Tobi Adebajo
Performer: petals
Duration 00:04:36

09 00:46:36 Darius Jones (artist)
Damon and Pythias
Performer: Darius Jones
Performer: Gerald Cleaver
Performer: Jesse Zubot
Performer: Josh Zubot
Performer: Peggy Lee
Performer: Peggy Lee
Performer: James Mege
Duration 00:13:24


SUN 01:00 Through the Night (m001sv72)
RIAS Chamber Choir

Justin Doyle conducts the RIAS Chamber Choir in mass settings old and new, including works by Victoria, Poulenc, Guerrero and MacMillan. Presented by Jonathan Swain.

01:01 AM
Einojuhani Rautavaara (1928-2016)
Canticum Mariae Virginis
RIAS Chamber Choir, Justin Doyle (conductor)

01:09 AM
Tomas Luis de Victoria (1548-1611)
Kyrie and Gloria from Missa Ave Maris Stella
RIAS Chamber Choir, Justin Doyle (conductor)

01:19 AM
Rory Wainwright Johnston (1993-)
Ave Regina Caelorum
RIAS Chamber Choir, Justin Doyle (conductor)

01:23 AM
Tomas Luis de Victoria (1548-1611)
Sanctus and Benedictus from Missa Ave maris stella
RIAS Chamber Choir, Justin Doyle (conductor)

01:28 AM
James MacMillan (b.1959)
A Child's Prayer
RIAS Chamber Choir, Justin Doyle (conductor)

01:33 AM
Tomas Luis de Victoria (1548-1611)
Agnus Dei from Missa Ave maris stella
RIAS Chamber Choir, Justin Doyle (conductor)

01:38 AM
Francisco Guerrero (1528-1599)
Ave Virgo Sanctissima
RIAS Chamber Choir, Justin Doyle (conductor)

01:43 AM
Francis Poulenc (1899-1963)
Kyrie and Gloria from Mass in G
RIAS Chamber Choir, Justin Doyle (conductor)

01:50 AM
Francisco Guerrero (1528-1599)
Regina caeli laetare
RIAS Chamber Choir, Justin Doyle (conductor)

01:55 AM
Francis Poulenc (1899-1963)
Sanctus and Benedictus from Mass in G
RIAS Chamber Choir, Justin Doyle (conductor)

02:01 AM
Thomas Tallis (c.1505-1585)
O Sacrum convivium
RIAS Chamber Choir, Justin Doyle (conductor)

02:05 AM
Francis Poulenc (1899-1963)
Agnus Dei from Mass in G
RIAS Chamber Choir, Justin Doyle (conductor)

02:10 AM
Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764)
Dardanus (orchestral suites)
Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Jeanne Lamon (conductor)

02:47 AM
Gaspard Fritz (1716-1783)
Sonata for violin and continuo Op 2 No 4
Sibylle Tschopp (violin), Isabel Tschopp (piano)

03:01 AM
Ernest Chausson (1855-1899)
Symphony in B flat, Op.20
Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Michel Plasson (conductor)

03:37 AM
Edvard Grieg (1843-1907)
Lyric Pieces (excerpts)
Leif Ove Andsnes (piano)

04:00 AM
Sven-Eric Johanson (1919-1997)
Fyra visor om arstiderna (4 songs about the Seasons)
Swedish Radio Choir, Eric Ericson (conductor)

04:07 AM
Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
Concerto in E flat major H.7e.1 for trumpet and orchestra
Gabor Boldoczki (trumpet), Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, Jacek Kaspszyk (conductor)

04:21 AM
Antonio Soler (1729-1783)
Fandango for keyboard in D minor, R 146
Scott Ross (harpsichord)

04:33 AM
Vatroslav Lisinski (1819-1854)
Grand Overture No 7
Croatian Radio-Television Symphony Orchestra, Ilmar Lapinjs (conductor)

04:47 AM
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Der Geist hilft unser Schwachheit auf, BWV.226
Danish National Radio Choir, Stefan Parkman (conductor)

04:55 AM
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937), Jean-Francois Zygel (orchestrator)
Lullaby (Berceuse) on the name of Faure
Ronald Patterson (violin), Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra, Murry Sidlin (conductor)


05:08 AM
Marin Marais (1656-1728)
Les Folies d'Espagne
Lise Daoust (flute)

05:18 AM
Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767)
Cantata "Es wird ein unbarmherzig Gericht" for 4 voices
Veronika Winter (soprano), Patrick Van Goethem (alto), Markus Schafer (tenor), Ekkehard Abele (bass), Rheinische Kantorei, Das Kleine Konzert, Hermann Max (conductor)

05:30 AM
Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179)
Instrumental piece
Sequentia, Ensemble for Medieval Music

05:35 AM
Percy Grainger (1882-1961)
Hill-Song No 1
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Geoffrey Simon (conductor)

05:49 AM
Carl Nielsen (1865-1931)
Chaconne for piano, Op.32
Anders Kilstrom (piano)

05:58 AM
Ernst von Dohnanyi (1877-1960)
Ruralia Hungarica, Op 32b
Hungarian Radio Orchestra, Andras Korodi (conductor)

06:21 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Violin Sonata in G major, K.301
Dene Olding (violin), Max Olding (piano)

06:38 AM
Nino Rota (1911-1979)
Harp Concerto
Esther Peristerakis (harp), WDR Radio Orchestra, Rasmus Baumann (conductor)


SUN 07:00 Breakfast (m001svq3)
Classical lie-in

Martin Handley presents Radio 3's classical breakfast show with music that captures the mood of Sunday morning. Email 3breakfast@bbc.co.uk


SUN 09:00 Sunday Morning (m001svqm)
A classical Sunday selection

Sarah Walker chooses three hours of attractive and uplifting music to complement your morning.

Today, Sarah shares a symphonic poem by Ernst Chausson that mixes high drama with lyrical calm, while pianist Andras Schiff makes Mozart dance across the keys.

There’s also a haunting combination of choir and harp from Roxanna Panufnik, while the Choir of The Queen’s College, Oxford, perform a glorious setting of a Basque carol.

Plus, harpist Ashley Jackson arranges Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s sweeping melodies for her own instrument.

A Tandem Production for BBC Radio 3


SUN 12:00 Private Passions (m001svr2)
Walter Murch

Walter Murch is a Hollywood legend. He’s won three Oscars for his sound and editing work on Apocalypse Now and The English Patient, and his credits include some of the most acclaimed and discussed films of the past half century – The Godfather trilogy, The Conversation, The Talented Mr Ripley.

He co-wrote the first movie George Lucas ever directed – the dystopian science fiction drama THX 1138. In 1985 he made his own directorial debut with Return to Oz – an unofficial sequel to The Wizard of Oz. As an editor and sound mixer - and the only person to win Academy Awards in both categories - he’s thought deeply about the craft of cinema and all its possibilities, ideas which he shared in his book In the Blink of an Eye.

Walter's musical choices include Wagner, Beethoven, Pergolesi and Chopin.


SUN 13:00 Clive Myrie at Christmas (m001sw9p)
A festive classical selection

On Sunday lunchtimes throughout December, Clive Myrie presents four hour-long shows to celebrate the festive season. Clive will gradually build the seasonal atmosphere over the month, with a feast of Advent and Christmas classical music alongside some of his personal discoveries.

In today's show, on the First Sunday of Advent, Clive introduces a Christmas Overture from Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, beautiful carols sung by the Choir of St. John’s College, Cambridge and Voces 8, joyful music from JS Bach, a sleigh ride by Mozart and American jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi’s take on A Charlie Brown Christmas.

Plus, Clive lets us in on one of his own Christmas traditions...


SUN 14:00 The Early Music Show (m001svrk)
Early Music in Derbyshire

The National Trust's Senior Curator John Chu takes Hannah French around two stunning properties in Derbyshire: Hardwick Hall & Kedleston Hall to explore the musical links in the buildings, furnishings and art works.

Plus, your weekly editing of Early Music News from Mark Seow.


SUN 15:00 Choral Evensong (m001svrz)
A Service for Advent with Carols

A Service for Advent with Carols, from the Chapel of St John’s College, Cambridge.

Introit: There is no rose (Gerald Hendrie)
Opening Sentence
Processional Hymn: Come thou redeemer of the earth (Puer nobis nascitur, descant Christopher Gray)
Bidding Prayer
Carol: Deus, Deus meus (Roxanna Panufnik)

I The Message of Advent
Sentence and Collect
Antiphons: O Sapientia and O Adonaï
First Lesson: Mark 13 vv.32-36
Motet: Vigilate (Byrd)
Second Lesson: Isaiah 11 vv.1-5
Carol: A tender shoot (Kerensa Briggs)

II The Word of God
Sentence and Collect
Antiphons: O Radix Jesse and O Clavis David
Third Lesson: Hebrews 4 vv.12-16
Carol: This is the truth (Trad., arr. Vaughan Williams and Christopher Robinson)
Fourth Lesson: Luke 4 vv. 14-21
Hymn: O come, O come Emmanuel (Veni Emmanuel, descant David Hill)

III The Prophetic Call
Sentence and Collect
Antiphons: O Oriens and O Rex Gentium
Fifth Lesson: Malachi 3 vv. 1-7
Motet: Fuit homo missus a Deo (Praetorius)
Sixth Lesson: Matthew 3 vv. 1-11
Hymn: On Jordan’s bank the Baptist’s cry (Winchester New, descant Christopher Robinson)

IV The God-Bearer
Sentence and Collect
Antiphon: O Emmanuel
Anthem: Bogoroditse Dyevo (Rachmaninoff)
Seventh Lesson: Luke 1 vv. 26-38
Magnificat: The Truro Service (Russell Pascoe)
Eighth Lesson: The Annunciation (Edwin Muir)
Anthem: The Hidden Light (Joanna Marsh) – New commission

The Christmas Collect
Carol: Noel – Verbum caro factum est (Tamsin Jones)
Hymn: Of the Father’s heart begotten (Divinum mysterium, arr. Willcocks)
The College Prayer and The Blessing
Organ Voluntary: In dir ist Freude, BWV 615 (Bach)

Christopher Gray (Director of Music)
Alexander Robson (Herbert Howells Organ Scholar)
The Revd Canon Dr Mark Oakley (Dean)
The Revd Andrew Hammond (Chaplain)

Recorded 26 November.


SUN 16:30 Jazz Record Requests (m001svsc)
Jazz for a Sunday afternoon

Alyn Shipton presents jazz records of all styles as requested by you, including music by Miles Davis, Stacey Kent and Tigran Hamasayan.


SUN 17:30 Words and Music (m000p6d2)
Crip Creativity

Beethoven and Smetana, percussionist Evelyn Glennie, Amadou and Mariam, Robert Wyatt and Ian Dury provide some of the music in today's episode which marks the International Day of Disabled Persons (Dec 3rd) with a celebration of "Crip Creativity". The readers Jonathan Keeble and Nadia Albina give us extracts from Milton and Nuala Watt contemplating blindness; Beethoven and Raymond Antrobus looking at sound and echoes; Elizabeth Barrett Browning writing of her love; Jean-Dominique Bauby, locked in and looking out at life and Joanne Limburg imagining The Autistic Alice.

Producer: Nick Holmes

READINGS:
Janet Frame Scented Gardens for the Blind
Jim Ferris Patience
John Milton Sonnet 19: On his blindness
Nuala Watt On Her Partial Blindness
Alice Walker A Child of One's Own
Virginia Woolf The Voyage Out
Lord Byron She Walks in Beauty
Sue Townsend The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4
Emily Dickinson Much Madness is Divinest Sense
F. Scott Fitzgerald The Beautiful and Damned
Oliver Sacks The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat
Kaite O'Reilly And then Suddenly I Disappear
Elizabeth Barrett Browning How Do I Love Thee?
Ludwig van Beethoven The Heiligenstadt Testament
Jillian Weise Future Biometrics
Raymond Antrobus Echo
Maya Angelou Gather Together in My Name
Fyodor Dostoevsky Crime and Punishment
Jean-Dominique Bauby translated by Jeremy Leggatt The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Joanne Limburg The Alice Case (from The Autistic Alice)

01 Frederick Delius
A Song of summer
Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: John Barbirolli
Duration 00:05:41

02 00:00:29
Janet Frame
Scented Gardens for the Blind read by Nadia Albina
Duration 00:01:16

03 00:04:26
Jim Ferris
Patience read by Jonathan Keeble
Duration 00:01:00

04 00:05:41
John Milton
Sonnet 19: When I Consider how my Light is Spent (‘On his Blindness’) read by Jonathan Keeble
Duration 00:00:51

05 00:06:12 Stevie Wonder
Visions
Performer: Stevie Wonder
Duration 00:04:11

06 00:10:14
Nuala Watt
On Her Partial Blindness read by Jonathan Keeble
Duration 00:00:53

07 00:11:05 Amadou Bagayoko
Je Pense a Toi
Performer: Amadou & Mariam
Duration 00:01:41

08 00:12:36
Alice Walker
A Child of One’s Own read by Nadia Albina
Duration 00:01:23

09 00:13:59 Richard Wagner
Tristan und Isolde; Overture
Orchestra: Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra
Conductor: Pierre Boulez
Duration 00:01:02

10 00:14:17
Virginia Woolf
The Voyage Out read by Nadia Albina
Duration 00:01:17

11 00:15:14 Richard Wagner
Tannhauser; O du, mein holder Abendstern
Singer: Thomas Quasthoff
Orchestrator: Orchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin
Conductor: Christian Thielemann
Duration 00:05:26

12 00:19:32
Lord Byron
She Walks in Beauty read by Nadia Albina
Duration 00:00:55

13 00:19:32
Sue Townsend
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4 read by Jonathan Keeble
Duration 00:01:07


15 00:21:46
Emily Dickinson
Much Madness is Divinest Sense read by Nadia Albina
Duration 00:00:19

16 00:23:11
F.Scott Fitzgerald
The Beautiful and Damned read by Nadia Albina
Duration 00:02:28

17 00:25:37 Scott Joplin
Maple leaf rag arr. for percussion
Performer: Evelyn Glennie
Performer: Ray Russell
Orchestra: National Philharmonic Orchestra
Duration 00:02:13

18 00:27:53
Oliver Sacks
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat read by Jonathan Keeble
Duration 00:01:54

19 00:29:47
Kaite O'Reilly
And then Suddenly I Disappear read by Nadia Albina
Duration 00:01:00

20 00:30:49 Robert Wyatt
Sea Song
Performer: Robert Wyatt
Duration 00:03:37

21 00:34:12
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
How Do I Love Thee? read by Nadia Albina
Duration 00:00:47

22 00:35:00 Bedrich Smetana
String Quartet no. 1 in E minor ‘From my life’; 4th movt.
Performer: Quartetto Energie Nove
Duration 00:06:29

23 00:41:29
Ludwig van Beethoven
The Heiligenstadt Testament read by Jonathan Keeble
Duration 00:01:36

24 00:42:18 Ludwig van Beethoven
Sonata no. 23 in F minor Op.57 ‘Appassionata’; 1st movt.
Performer: Olga Pashchenko
Duration 00:10:24

25 00:52:40
Jillian Weise
Future Biometrics read by Nadia Albina
Duration 00:00:20

26 00:52:59
Raymond Antrobus
Echo read by Jonathan Keeble
Duration 00:00:45

27 00:53:32 Jean Langlais
Messe solonnelle; Benedictus
Choir: Gloucester Cathedral Choir
Performer: Mark Lee
Conductor: David Briggs
Duration 00:03:06

28 00:56:18
Maya Angelou
Gather Together in My Name read by Nadia Albina
Duration 00:01:20

29 00:57:35 Modest Mussorgsky
Songs and dances of death, arr. Shostakovich; Serenade
Singer: Dmitri Hvorostovsky
Orchestra: St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor: Yuri Temirkanov
Duration 00:04:36

30 01:02:06
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Crime and Punishment read by Jonathan Keeble
Duration 00:01:27

31 01:02:06 Hildegard von Bingen
Spiritus Sanctus vivificans vita
Ensemble: Armonico Consort
Singer: Anna Sandström
Conductor: Christopher Monks
Duration 00:02:48

32 01:06:15
Jean-Dominique Bauby translated by Jeremy Leggatt
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly read by Jonathan Keeble
Duration 00:01:09

33 01:07:16 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
The Nutcracker; Dance of the Sugar-plum Fairy
Orchestra: Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor: Sir Simon Rattle
Duration 00:02:24

34 01:09:41 Ian Dury/Chas Jankel/mixed by Leftside Wobble
Spasticus Autisticus (Leftside Wobble Edit)
Performer: Ian Dury
Duration 00:00:40

35 01:10:11
Joanne Limburg
The Alice Case (from The Autistic Alice) read by Nadia Albina
Duration 00:01:24

36 01:11:27 Ian Dury/Chas Jankel
Spasticus Autisticus
Performer: Ian Dury
Duration 00:01:20


SUN 18:45 Sunday Feature (m001svsr)
Turning Picasso

‘Turning Picasso’ is the extraordinary story of the Cold War battle for Picasso's mind. Frances Stonor Saunders, author of Who Paid the Piper? The CIA and the Cultural Cold War, has uncovered recently declassified CIA documents which prove that America's cultural mandarins, together with the CIA, secretly planned to turn Picasso to their cause.

The plot centres around the 1957 Museum of Modern Art exhibition in New York, to celebrate Picasso’s 75th birthday. The head of MoMA, tipped off by a close friend of Picasso’s in France, seizes on it as an ideal opportunity to get the artist over for the exhibition, to promote the cause of Western artistic freedom and anti-Communist liberal ideals. He writes to the head of the CIA to persuade him to help get the artist over in time. The fly in the ointment is, of course, Picasso's long-term membership of the French Communist Party. This made an official invitation impossible, set against the internal cultural battle of McCarthyism and fervent anti-Communist political agenda of the time.

This very secret plot to turn Picasso is part of the wider CIA covert campaign to use contemporary artists to bolster the West’s credentials as the place of creativity and freedom. They wanted to entice Picasso, the most famous artist in the world, away from Communism as a body blow to Russia. The problem was that Picasso was not for hire – and resisted becoming either a Communist apparatchik or a Western propaganda machine - valuing his freedom to live and work independently above all.

Presented by Frances Stonor Saunders
Produced by Anna Horsbrugh-Porter
A Just Radio Production for BBC Radio 3


SUN 19:30 Drama on 3 (m000w3jj)
Angela

Angela is the first autobiographical play by leading dramatist Mark Ravenhill. Written during lockdown specifically for radio, the play centres on his mother, Angela, at the age of 84 and suffering with dementia, looking back across her life. This production was originally created for Sound Stage, by the Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh and Pitlochry Festival Theatre, in association with Naked Productions. Sound Stage is a new audio-digital platform offering audiences the chance to have an ‘at home theatre experience.

Mark Ravenhill says:

“With the death of my mum in 2019, I was drawn for the first time to write an autobiographical play. I was particularly interested to explore the way culture high and low had impacted on Mum's life and our lives as a family. The play is constructed around a series of encounters with children's literature, classical ballet, amateur theatre and popular song - encounters that shaped my mum's sense of self and her relationship with me. Both my parents are from working-class backgrounds, which gives a specific turn to their relationship to culture and to me. As I thought about a form that could move swiftly in time and location and between inner thought and outer action, I realised that this was best written as a radio play. I feel it's the most 'radio' of the radio plays that I've written…”

The drama intercuts between Angela in her old age, her memories and mind failing her, and her youth; growing up, falling in love with Ted, moving away from her roots as the world of amateur dramatics welcomed her, her struggle with postnatal depression, the challenges of her own aspirations, and the roller coaster that is motherhood. The play is poignantly set against Mark’s experience of beginning to learn his lifelong passion of ballet, in his fifties.

Exquisitely observed and full of compassion, Angela is an emotive exploration of working-class motherhood in the 1960s, told by one of Britain’s leading dramatists, as we’ve never heard him before.

The cast
Older Angela ..... Pam Ferris
Young Angela ..... Matti Houghton
Ted ..... oby Jones
Older Mark ..... Joseph Millson
Young Mark ..... Jackson Laing
Angela’s mum, Ballet teacher, Nurse 2 and Ivy ..... Alexandra Mathie,
Julie, Nurse 1 and Plummy woman ..... Nadia Albina
The Fox and Doctor Carter ..... Olivier Huband
Doctor Adetiba, and the Director ..... Dermot Daly
Social Worker, Ballet woman and Nurse 3 ..... Kirsty Stuart
Doctor Mansoor and Plummy man ..... Raj Ghatak

The production team
Director/Producer, Polly Thomas
Assistant director, Emma Lynne Harley
Composer, Alexandra Faye Braithwaite
Recording engineer, Louis Blatherwick
Sound designer, John Scott
Executive Producer, Eloise Whitmore

Angela originally created for Sound Stage, by the Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh and Pitlochry Festival Theatre, in association with Naked Productions

A Naked Production for BBC Radio 3


SUN 21:10 Record Review Extra (m001sw9s)
Bartok's Miraculous Mandarin

Hannah French offers listeners a chance to hear at greater length the recordings reviewed and discussed in yesterday’s Record Review, including the recommended version of the Building a Library work, Bartok's ballet The Miraculous Mandarin.


SUN 23:00 Round the Horn with Felix Klieser (m001svt7)
1. The Evolution of the Horn

As part of the International Day of People with Disabilities, the German French horn player Felix Klieser introduces the first of three programmes all about his instrument. He looks at how it works, how to play it, and how it has changed over the years, as well as how it has shaped his own life. Felix was born without arms, and has become one of the world's most in-demand French horn soloists, wowing BBC Proms audiences earlier this year. He's also a prolific recording artist.

In this first episode he talks about some of the French horn players who have influenced him, celebrating their unique and different sounds. He also demonstrates how to play French horn without an instrument, and delves into the horn's early history as a device for relaying 'signals' over long distances, before being incorporated into the orchestra by baroque composers such as Handel, back when the instrument was still known as the 'Corno da caccia', or 'hunting horn'.

Felix also introduces chamber music by Schubert, a showpiece by Weber, and French horn blockbusters by Mozart and Richard Strauss, alongside lesser-heard gems by Bach, Telemann and Beethoven.

MONDAY 04 DECEMBER 2023

MON 00:00 Classical Fix (m001mtvk)
Athena Kugblenu live at Hay Festival

In a special edition recorded live at Hay Festival 2023, Linton Stephens mixes a classical playlist for comedian Athena Kugblenu.

Athena's playlist:

James Moody - Spanish Fantasy for Harmonica and Orchestra, "Toledo"
Amy Beach - Romance op.23
Valerie Coleman - Red Clay & Mississippi Delta
Heitor Villa-Lobos - Aria from Bachiana Brasileira no.5
Hania Rani - Glass
Ottorino Respighi - Pines of Rome: The Pines of the Appian Way

Classical Fix is a podcast aimed at opening up the world of classical music to anyone who fancies giving it a go. Each week, Linton mixes a bespoke playlist for his guest, who then joins him to share their impressions of their new classical discoveries.

Linton Stephens is a bassoonist with the Chineke! Orchestra and has also performed with the BBC Philharmonic, Halle Orchestra and Opera North, amongst many others.

01 00:05:08 James Moody
Spanish Fantasy for Harmonica and Orchestra, "Toledo"
Performer: Tommy Reilly
Orchestra: Munich Radio Orchestra
Conductor: Robert Farnon
Duration 00:03:58

02 00:09:09 Amy Beach
Romance Op 23 for violin and piano
Performer: Dawn Wohn
Performer: Esther Park
Duration 00:04:46

03 00:13:53 Valerie Coleman
Red Clay & Mississippi Delta
Ensemble: Imani Winds
Duration 00:05:18

04 00:16:48 Heitor Villa‐Lobos
Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5: Aria (Cantilena)
Singer: Netania Davrath
Orchestra: New York Philharmonic
Conductor: Leonard Bernstein
Duration 00:04:50

05 00:21:37 Hania Rani
Glass
Performer: Hania Rani
Duration 00:04:25

06 00:25:00 Ottorino Respighi
The pines of the Appian Way (Pines of Rome)
Orchestra: The Cleveland Orchestra
Conductor: Lorin Maazel
Duration 00:04:11


MON 00:30 Through the Night (m001svtw)
Casals Quartet in Catalonia

Pianist Christian Blackshaw joins the Casals Quartet for Dvorak's Piano Quintet No 2. Jonathan Swain presents.

12:31 AM
Dmitry Shostakovich (1906-1975)
String Quartet no.1 in C major, Op.49
Casals Quartet

12:46 AM
Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904)
Piano Quintet no.2 in A major, Op.81
Christian Blackshaw (piano), Casals Quartet

01:27 AM
Cesar Franck (1822-1890)
Piano Quintet in F minor, FWV7 (2nd mvt, Lento con molto sentimento)
Christian Blackshaw (piano), Casals Quartet

01:39 AM
Cesar Franck (1822-1890)
Symphony in D minor, M.48
Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Kazuyoshi Akiyama (conductor)

02:19 AM
Johann Adolf Hasse (1699-1783)
Flute Cantata
Maurice Steger (recorder), La Cetra Baroque Orchestra Basle, Maurice Steger (conductor)

02:31 AM
Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
Violin Concerto in E minor, Op.64
Hilary Hahn (violin), Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Hugh Wolff (conductor)

02:58 AM
Johan Duijck (b.1954)
Cantiones Sacrae in honorem Thomas Tallis, Op.26, Book 2
Flemish Radio Choir, Johan Duijck (conductor)

03:18 AM
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Cello Sonata no.3 in A major, Op.69
Anastasia Kobekina (cello), Jean-Selim Abdelmoula (piano)

03:43 AM
Erwin Schulhoff (1894-1942)
5 Pieces for string quartet
Signum Quartet

03:56 AM
Catharina van Rennes (1858-1940)
3 Quartets for women's voices and piano, Op.24
Irene Maessen (soprano), Rachel Ann Morgan (mezzo-soprano), Christa Pfeiler (mezzo-soprano), Corrie Pronk (alto), Franz van Ruth (piano)

04:01 AM
Percy Grainger (1882-1961)
Rustic Dance
Symphony Nova Scotia, Georg Tintner (conductor)

04:05 AM
Francis Poulenc (1899-1963)
Sarabande for guitar
Heiki Matlik (guitar)

04:08 AM
Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767)
Overture (Suite) in G minor for oboe & basso continuo, TWV.41:g4
Ensemble of the Eighteenth Century, Susanne Regel (conductor)

04:19 AM
Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)
5 Flower Songs for chorus (Op.47)
Camerata Chamber Choir, Michael Bojesen (conductor)

04:31 AM
Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757)
Sonata in C major, Kk.133
Andreas Staier (harpsichord)

04:35 AM
Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari (1876-1948)
Two orchestral intermezzi from 'I Gioielli della Madonna', Op 4
KBS Symphony Orchestra, Othmar Maga (conductor)

04:44 AM
Johannes Ockeghem (1410-1497)
Intemerata Dei mater
Hilliard Ensemble

04:53 AM
Joseph Touchemoulin (1727-1801)
Sinfonia in C major
Neue Dusseldorfer Hofmusik

05:13 AM
Vittorio Monti (1868-1922)
Csardas (orig. for violin and piano) arr. unknown for brass ensemble
Hungarian Brass Ensemble

05:17 AM
Thea Musgrave (b.1928)
Loch Ness - a postcard from Scotland for orchestra
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Donald Runnicles (conductor)

05:28 AM
Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826)
Clarinet Quintet in B flat major, Op 34
Joze Kotar (clarinet), Slovenian Philharmonic String Quartet

05:53 AM
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Overture in G minor, BWV.1070
Berlin Academy for Early Music

06:09 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Piano Sonata in B flat major, K.570
Vikingur Olafsson (piano)


MON 06:30 Breakfast (m001svpk)
Classical music to set you up for the day

Petroc Trelawny presents Radio 3's classical breakfast show with music that captures the mood of the morning.

Email your requests to 3breakfast@bbc.co.uk


MON 09:00 Essential Classics (m001svq2)
Celebrating classical greats

Georgia Mann plays the best in classical music, featuring new discoveries, some musical surprises and plenty of familiar favourites.

0930 Playlist starter – listen and send us your ideas for the next step in our musical journey today.

1010 Song of the Day – harnessing the magic of words, music and the human voice.

1045 Playlist reveal – a sequence of music suggested by you in response to our starter today.

1130 Slow Moment – time to take a break for a moment's musical reflection.


MON 12:00 Composer of the Week (m001svql)
A Medieval Christmas

Blowe, Northerne Wynd

Medieval carols and the story of St Nicholas, with Donald Macleod.

This week, Donald Macleod marks the beginning of the season of Advent by exploring Christmas music and stories from the Middle Ages. Christmas celebrations encompassed a great variety of colourful traditions and musical occasions during medieval times. Peasants and nobles alike could look forward to many weeks of festivities, from Advent at the start of December, right through to Candlemas on 2nd February. Some of those customs we still recognise and celebrate today. Many are now lost or significantly altered. Donald is joined by early music expert, William Lyons, to examine how Christmas might have felt and sounded to our medieval ancestors

Today, Donald and William introduce carols from Finland and Winter songs in Old English. Plus we discover the original story of St Nicholas, before he became the Santa Claus figure we know today.

Anon. Gaudete
Steeleye Span

Anon. Personent hodie; Gaudete; Omnis mundus jucundetur
Retrover Ensemble, directed by Markus Tapio

Perotin: Alleluia Nativitas
The Hilliard Ensemble, directed by Paul Hillier

Miri it is while sumer ilast
Blowe, Northerne Wynd (arr. William Lyons)
Voice Trio
The Dufay Collective

Seint Nicholas was borne in the citee of Patras; Cantu mirro, summa laude; Sainte nicholaes; Salve cleri speculum - Salve iubar presulum
Anonymous 4

Dufay: Ce jour de l'an
Alta Bellezza


MON 13:00 Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert (m001svr7)
Santiago Cañón-Valencia

Live from Wigmore Hall: Colombian cellist and Radio 3 New Generation Artist Santiago Cañón-Valencia is joined by pianist Naoko Sonoda to perform a programme of music by Ginastera, Márquez, Shostakovich and New Zealand composer Gareth Farr, whose 1997 avian-inspired piece is influenced by Balinese gamelan music.

Presented by Hannah French

Alberto Ginastera: 5 canciones populares argentinas Op. 10: Triste, Zamba
Arturo Márquez: Lejanía Interior
Dmitry Shostakovich: Cello Sonata in D minor Op. 40
Gareth Farr: Shadow of the Hawk

Santiago Cañón-Valencia, cello
Naoko Sonoda, piano


MON 14:00 Afternoon Concert (m001svrp)
Elgar's Cello Concerto

Ian Skelly presents great concert performances from across Europe and from the BBC performing groups. As part of the BBC's Rethinking Disability week, this week's Artist's Choice works have been chosen by members of the National Youth Open Orchestra. Today's choice, from violinist Cass, is Franz Schrecker's haunting Intermezzo. This week also showcases the BBC National Orchestra of Wales in our 3pm highlight slots. Today, Colombian cellist Santiago Canon-Valencia joins the orchestra in Elgar's brooding Cello Concerto. Plus, brass music from the Wallberg Band.

Eric Coates: The Merrymakers – overture
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Rumon Gamba (cond.)

Hannah Peel: The Universe Before Matter (from The Unfolding)
Paraorchestra
Charles Hazlewood (cond.)

Handel
Concerto Grosso in D, Op.3 No.6
Akademie fur Alte Musik Berlin
Georg Kallweit (director)

Sibelius
The Swan of Tuonela
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Ryan Bancroft (cond.)

Harold Moss: The Nightingale
Christopher Bins (trombone)
Wallberg Band
Ivan Meylemans (cond.)

Mozart: Rondo in A, K386
Alexandre Tharaud (piano)
Les Violons du Roy
Bernard Labadie (cond.)

c3pm
Elgar: Cello Concerto
Santiago Canon-Valencia (cello)
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Gergely Madaras (cond.)

Franz Schrecker: Intermezzo
Sinfonia of London
John Wilson (cond.)

Bach: Orchestral Suite No.4
Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra
Masaaki Suzuki (cond.)

Rossini: Semiramide – Overture
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
Mark Elder (cond.)


MON 16:30 New Generation Artists (m001svs3)
Tom Borrow plays Chopin's Fantasie in F minor

New Generation Artists: Tom Borrow plays Chopin.

Tom Borrow made this recording of Chopin's masterful Fantasie at the BBC studios when he was just 22 years old. He's now in demand throughout the world and is the current recipient of the Terence Judd-Hallé Orchestra Award. Also today, two songs by Brahms sung by the eloquent baritone, Konstantin Krimmel.

Brahms: Mondenschein Op.85/2
Brahms: Auf dem Kirchhofe Op.105/4
Konstantin Krimmel (baritone), Daniel Heide (piano)

Chopin: Fantasie in F minor Op. 49
Tom Borrow (piano)

Charles Aznavour: Hier encore
Rob Luft (guitar), Elina Duni (voice), Fred Thomas (piano)


MON 17:00 In Tune (m001svsh)
Live classical performance and interviews

Katie Derham is joined by soprano Carolyn Sampson, who has just released her 100th recording. Pianist Tom Borrow also joins Katie, to play live in the studio, ahead of his appearance with London Philharmonic Orchestra this week.


MON 19:00 Classical Mixtape (m001svsy)
Half an hour of the finest classical music

This evening's Classical Mixtape celebrates disabled composers and performers. Sit back and enjoy a Trumpet Minuet for Organ by blind organist Alfred Hollins, followed by Frederic Delius' Aquarelles for String Orchestra.
Les Sirenes by French Composer Lili Boulanger who died of Crohn's disease at just 24-years-old precedes dreamy music by the blind Celtic harpist, singer and composer Turlough O'Carolan. Plus, music by Rodrigo and the Left-handed pianist Nicholas McCarthy plays Scriabin. To finish, blind Dutch flautist and composer Jacob van Eyck evokes the beautiful song of the English Nightingale.
Producer: Kevin Satizabal Carrascal


MON 19:30 Radio 3 in Concert (m001svtf)
Debussy, Richard Strauss and Chausson

Debussy's famous and famously erotic 1894 Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune begins this concert from Denmark.

Very little in Richard Strauss's early Violin Concerto anticipates his better-known music and the piece needs the help of a persuasive advocate, which it gets here with Renaud Capuçon as the soloist.

To end, music by a friend of Debussy. Ernest Chausson, like so many French composers of the late 19th century, became obsessed with Wagner but later tried to find a new, more French path. But with its irresistible swagger and full-blooded romantic melodies underpinned by lush harmony, Chausson's Symphony in B flat still has a whiff of the Teutonic. It's the only symphony he wrote before his life came to an abrupt end in 1899 at the age of 44 when he and his bicycle hit a wall.

Recorded in September at the DR Concert House, Copenhagen, and introduced by Fiona Talkington.

Debussy: Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune
Richard Strauss: Violin Concerto in D minor, op. 8
Ernest Chausson: Symphony in B flat, op. 20

Renaud Capuçon (violin)
Danish National Symphony Orchestra
Tugan Sokhiev (conductor)


MON 21:30 Compline (m001svtx)
Advent 1

A reflective service of night prayer for the first week of Advent from Corpus Christi Church, Leeds. With words and music for the end of the day, including works by Sheppard, Tallis, and Byrd, sung by the senior girls and choral scholars of Leeds Cathedral choir.

IIntroit: In pace (Sheppard)
Psalm 7 (Plainsong)
Hymn: Te lucis ante terminum (Tallis)
Reading: Mark 1 vv.1-4
Responsory: In manus tuas (Tallis)
Canticle: Nunc dimittis a5 (Byrd)
Marian Antiphon: Alma redemptoris (Plainsong)

Thomas Leech (conductor)


MON 22:00 Music Matters (m001sv2d)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:45 on Saturday]


MON 22:45 The Essay (m001svv9)
The Enormous Condescension of Posterity

On reading The Making of the English Working Class

Sixty years after it was first published, five essayists reflect on the legacy, ideas and personal inspiration of The Making of the English Working Class – and plot its place in the present day.

EP Thompson's landmark social history, The Making of the English Working Class, is a book that changed lives. In an academic world where history was primarily concerned with power and political reform, EP Thompson sought to rescue working people from, as he put it, "the enormous condescension of posterity".

It's a book that lies at the root of contemporary social history, of cultural studies, sociology and anthropology, where, in the years after its publication, the idea of agency – the 'making' of the title – came to be a defining touchstone in thinking about culture and society. And it was popular too, even if its easily recognisable blue Pelican covers – and almost 1,000 pages – were possibly more dipped into than read cover to cover.

The writer and historian Sheila Rowbotham first met Edward and Dorothy Thompson in 1962, a year before the publication of The Making of the English Working Class. In this essay, she remembers their catalytic influence on her own life and work – and the continuing relevance of the book she first read in proof form as a student.

Sheila Rowbotham is a historian of feminism and radical social movements. Her latest book is Daring to Hope: My Life in the 1970s.


MON 23:00 Night Tracks (m001svvx)
A little night music

Sara Mohr-Pietsch presents an adventurous, immersive soundtrack for late-night listening, from classical to contemporary and everything in between.

TUESDAY 05 DECEMBER 2023

TUE 00:30 Through the Night (m001svwb)
Purcell, Rameau and Britten from Bonn

Camerata Bern are joined by soprano Anna Prohaska and bassoonist Sergio Azzolini to perform works by Purcell, Rameau and Britten. Jonathan Swain presents.

12:31 AM
Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764)
1. Prélude – Air accompagné Tristes apprêts from 'Castor et Pollux'; 2. Musette et Tambourin en Rondeau from 'Les Fêtes d'Hébé'; 3. Vaste Empire des Mers from 'Les Indes galantes'; 4. Dieux vengeurs from 'Hippolyte et Aricie'; 5. Sommeil from 'Dardanus'; 6. Les Vents from 'Les Boréades'; 7. Contredanse en Rondeau from 'Les Boréades'; 8. Bruit de guerre, pour entr’acte 'Dardanus'; 9. Aux langueurs d’Apollon from 'Platée'; 10. Tambourin I und Tambourin II from 'Dardanus'; 11. Entrée de Polymnie from 'Les Boréades'; 12. Forêts paisibles (Danse des Sauvages) from 'Les Indes galantes'
Anna Prohaska (soprano), Sergio Azzolini (bassoon), Camerata Bern

01:11 AM
Henry Purcell (1659-1695)
1. See, Even Night Herself Is Here from 'The Fairy Queen'; 2. Curtain Tune on a Ground from 'Timon of Athens'; 3. Hornpipe d-Moll from 'The Fairy Queen'; 4. Hornpipe g-Moll from 'The Fairy Queen'; 5. Dance of the Bacchanals from 'Dioclesian'; 6. The Old Bachelor Hornpipe; 7. Ouverture, Minuet und Rondeau from 'Abdelazer Suite'
Anna Prohaska (soprano), Sergio Azzolini (bassoon), Camerata Bern

01:29 AM
Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)
Les Illuminations, op. 18, for soprano and strings
Anna Prohaska (soprano), Camerata Bern

01:51 AM
Erik Gustaf Geijer (1783-1847)
Sonata for Piano (four hands) in F minor
Stefan Bojsten (piano duo), Anders Kilstrom (piano duo)

02:12 AM
Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
Concerto for Trumpet & Orchestra in E flat major (H.7e.1)
Ole Edvard Antonsen (trumpet), Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Nicolae Moldoveanu (conductor)

02:31 AM
Sergey Rachmaninov (1873-1943), Konstantin Balmont (author)
The Bells (Kolokola) for soloists, chorus and orchestra, Op 35
Pavel Kourchoumov (tenor), Roumiana Bareva (soprano), Stoyan Popov (baritone), Sons de la mer Mixed Choir, Bulgarian National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Vassil Stefanov (conductor)

03:09 AM
Friedrich Kuhlau (1786-1832)
Grand Quartet for 4 flutes in E minor (Op.103)
Valentinas Kazlauskas (flute), Albertas Stupakas (flute), Lina Baublyte (flute), Giedrius Gelgotas (flute)

03:31 AM
Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)
Ballet music from Otello, Act III
Netherlands Radio Symphony Orchestra, Antoni Ros-Marba (conductor)

03:37 AM
Ferdo Livadic (1799-1878)
Notturno in F sharp minor
Vladimir Krpan (piano)

03:45 AM
Ester Magi (1922-2021)
Ballad 'Tuule Tuba' (1981)
Academic Male Choir of Tallinn Technical University, Estonian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Arvo Volmer (conductor)

03:54 AM
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Sonata for arpeggione and piano (D.821) in A minor
Toke Moldrup (cello), Per Salo (piano)

04:03 AM
Frano Parac (b.1948)
Scherzo for Winds
Zagreb Wind Quintet

04:12 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), Edvard Grieg (arranger)
Sonata for piano in C major, K545 (arr. Grieg)
Julie Adam (piano), Daniel Herscovitch (piano)

04:21 AM
Godfrey Ridout (1918-1984)
Fall fair (1961)
Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Uri Mayer (conductor)

04:31 AM
Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767)
Trio No.6 from Essercizii Musici
Camerata Koln, Sabine Bauer (organ)

04:39 AM
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Rhapsody for piano in B minor, Op 79 No 1
Steven Osborne (piano)

04:48 AM
Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562-1621)
Psalm 110: Le Toutpuissant a mon Seigneur et maistre
Netherlands Chamber Choir, Peter Phillips (conductor)

04:56 AM
Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
Première rapsodie arr. for clarinet and orchestra
Kari Kriikku (clarinet), Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Jukka-Pekka Saraste (conductor)

05:05 AM
Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992)
Tango Suite for two guitars (Parts 2 and 3)
Tornado Guitar Duo (duo)

05:14 AM
Rudolf Matz (1901-1988)
Ballade for violin, cello & piano
Zagreb Piano Trio

05:22 AM
Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826)
Symphony No 1 in C, Op 19
Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Ari Rasilainen (conductor)

05:47 AM
Isaac Albeniz (1860-1909)
Iberia - book 1
Benjamin Grosvenor (piano)

06:06 AM
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-1788)
Concerto for flute and strings no 2 in B flat major, Wq.167
Robert Aitken (flute), CBC Vancouver Orchestra, Mario Bernardi (conductor)


TUE 06:30 Breakfast (m001svvt)
Sunny side up classical

Petroc Trelawny presents Radio 3's classical breakfast show with music that captures the mood of the morning.

Email your requests to 3breakfast@bbc.co.uk


TUE 09:00 Essential Classics (m001svw6)
The very best of classical music

Georgia Mann plays the best in classical music, with familiar favourites alongside new discoveries and musical surprises.

0930 Playlist starter – listen and send us your ideas for the next step in our musical journey today.

1010 Song of the Day – harnessing the magic of words, music and the human voice.

1045 Playlist reveal – a sequence of music suggested by you in response to our starter today.

1130 Slow Moment – time to take a break for a moment's musical reflection.


TUE 12:00 Composer of the Week (m001svwm)
A Medieval Christmas

Daniel and the Feast of Fools

Donald Macleod investigates some unusual festive celebrations, popular in the Middle Ages.

This week, Donald Macleod marks the beginning of the season of Advent by exploring Christmas music and stories from the Middle Ages. Christmas celebrations encompassed a great variety of colourful traditions and musical occasions during medieval times. Peasants and nobles alike could look forward to many weeks of festivities, from Advent at the start of December, right through to Candlemas on 2nd February. Some of those customs we still recognise and celebrate today. Many are now lost or significantly altered. Donald is joined by early music expert, William Lyons, to examine how Christmas might have felt and sounded to our medieval ancestors.

Today, Donald and William look at how churches in the Middle Ages used theatre to press home their Christmas messages, plus they focus their attention on the much misunderstood church festival of the ‘Feast of Fools’.

Orientis partibus
Ensemble Obsidienne, directed by Emmanuel Bonnardot,

Orientis partibus
Ensemble Discantus, directed by Brigitte Lesne

The Play of Daniel (Ludus Danielis): Prelude & extracts from Part 1
The Dufay Collective, directed by William Lyons

Hec est Clara dies
Ensemble Obsidienne, directed by Emmanuel Bonnardot,

Procedenti puero
Ensemble Discantus, directed by Brigitte Lesne

Pérotin: Salvatoris hodie
Diabolus In Musica

The Play of Daniel (Ludus Danielis): Extracts from Part 2
The Dufay Collective, directed by William Lyons


TUE 13:00 Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert (m001svww)
Belfast International Arts Festival 2023 (1/4)

John Toal introduces the first of four recitals featuring the German pianist Elisabeth Brauss and friends.

They were recorded as part of the 2023 Belfast International Arts Festival in St. Mark’s Church, Dundela, in east Belfast: the church in which CW Lewis was baptised and where his grandfather was rector.

Elisabeth Brauss graduated from BBC Radio 3’s New Generation Artist Scheme in 2021 and is widely respected for her collaborative music-making. Today she’s joined by the Chaos Quartet, part of the Scheme’s most recent cohort, for performances of works by Schumann and Mozart.

Schumann: Piano Quintet in E Flat Major, Op. 44
Chaos Quartet
Elisabeth Brauss, piano

Mozart: String Quartet No.1 in G Major, K.80
Chaos Quartet


TUE 14:00 Afternoon Concert (m001svx4)
Sibelius's Symphony No 5

Ian Skelly presents great concert performances from across Europe and from the BBC performing groups. As part of the BBC's Rethinking Disability week, this week's Artist's Choices have been picked by members of the National Youth Open Orchestra. Today's choice, from trombonist Jonah, is an Italian aria sung by Cecilia Bartoli. This week also showcases the BBC National Orchestra of Wales in our 3pm highlight slots. Today, Ryan Bancroft conducts them in Sibelius's Symphony No 5. Plus, more brass music from the Wallberg Band.

Parry: Bridal March of the Birds (from The Birds)
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Neeme Jarvi (cond.)

Schubert: Rosamunde – No.5 Entr’act
Swedish Chamber Orchestra
Thomas Dausgaard (cond.)

Tommaso Giordani: Caro mio bem
Cecilia Bartoli (mezzo soprano)
Gyorgy Fischer (piano)

Brahms: Academic Festival Overture
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Grant Llewellyn (cond.)
Rec. Theatr Hafren, Newtown 01/10/00

Saint-Saens: Clarinet Sonata
Annelien Van Wauwe (clarinet)
Simon Lepper (piano)

Jonathan Bates: Mirror of the Heart
Wallberg Band
Ivan Meylemans (cond.)

c3pm
Sibelius: Symphony No.5
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Ryan Bancroft (cond.)

Valentin Silvestrov: Bagatelle No.3
Helene Grimaud (piano)

Mozart: Oboe Concerto in C
Steven Hudson (oboe)
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Anthony Hermus (cond.)

Peter Graham: Angels and Demons
Wallberg Band
Ivan Meylemans (cond.)


Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: Forest Scenes - No.3 The Phantom tells his tale of longing
Waka Hasegawa (piano)

Khachaturian: Violin Concerto – 3rd mvt
Rachel Barton-Pine (violin)
Royal Scottish National Orchestra
Teddy Abrams (cond.)


TUE 17:00 In Tune (m001svxc)
Discover classical music and artists

Violinist Johan Dalene and pianist Nicola Eimer join Katie Derham to play live in the studio. Katie is also joined by the French pianist Sofiane Pamart, a classical artist also know for his numerous collaborations with French rappers. He's currently playing a run of solo shows in London.


TUE 19:00 Classical Mixtape (m001svxk)
Classical music to inspire you

Take time out with a 30-minute soundscape of classical music.


TUE 19:30 Radio 3 in Concert (m001svxs)
Beethoven's Second Symphony and Rossini's Stabat Mater

Rossini’s late Stabat Mater is a choral masterwork which he completed well over a decade after the end of his operatic career. In setting the medieval Latin text recounting the sorrows of the Virgin Mary at the crucifixion, Rossini responded with music that exudes qualities of granite and grandeur. Such was the success of its premiere that within the following year it had been performed all over Europe 29 times!

Beethoven’s Second Symphony, full of the wit and high spirits we also associate with Rossini, make it the perfect companion to the Stabat Mater, and a great opener to the concert.

Recorded at Bridgewater Hall in Manchester last month.

Presented by Miriam Skinner.

Beethoven: Symphony No.2 in D major, Op.36
Rossini: Stabat Mater

Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha (soprano)
Claudia Huckle (contralto)
Enea Scala (tenor)
William Thomas (bass)
Hallé Choir
Hallé Orchestra
Sir Mark Elder (conductor)


TUE 22:00 Free Thinking (m001svxz)
Humboldt, soil, gardens and Frank Walter

7th Prince of the West Indies was the title that Frank Walter gave himself. An artist who created over 5,000 paintings, 1,000 drawings, 600 sculptures, 2,000 photographs, 468 hours of recordings, and a 50,000-page archive, tried to become Prime Minister and was the first Black man to manage a sugar plantation in Antigua - a show about him at the Garden Museum in London has been curated by Professor Barbara Paca. She talks to Jade Munslow Ong, alongside New Generation Thinker Jim Scown, who's been researching Alexander Humboldt and Camilla Allen who's looked at tree planting and landscape design, and Jago Cooper, director of the Sainsbury Centre in Norwich discusses their new approach to exhibitions about climate change.

Producer in Salford: Olive Clancy

Frank Walter: Artist, Gardener, Radical runs at the Garden Museum in London until 25 Feb 2024
At the Sainsbury Centre in Norwich The Stuff of Life | The Life of Stuff which runs until Jan 14th 2024 is part of a season: Planet for our Future: How do we adapt to a Transforming World? Sediment Spirit: The Activation of Art in the Anthropocene runs until March 31st 2024
On the Free Thinking programme website you can find a collection of episodes exploring Green Thinking, all available as the Arts & Ideas podcast.


TUE 22:45 The Essay (m001svy9)
The Enormous Condescension of Posterity

The Making of EP Thompson

Sixty years after it was first published, five essayists reflect on the legacy, ideas and personal inspiration of The Making of the English Working Class – and plot its place in the present day.

EP Thompson's landmark social history, The Making of the English Working Class, is a book that changed lives. In an academic world where history was primarily concerned with power and political reform, EP Thompson sought to rescue working people from, as he put it, "the enormous condescension of posterity".

It's a book that lies at the root of contemporary social history, of cultural studies, sociology and anthropology, where, in the years after its publication, the idea of agency – the 'making' of the title – came to be a defining touchstone in thinking about culture and society. And it was popular too, even if its easily recognisable blue Pelican covers – and almost 1,000 pages – were possibly more dipped into than read cover to cover.

EP Thompson spent many years as an adult education tutor among industrial communities in the West Riding of Yorkshire. When The Making of the English Working Class was published in 1963 he dedicated it to his students. In this essay, the historian and biographer Geoff Andrews recalls his own experiences of adult education in the 1980s and explores the ways in which these democratic classroom encounters might have provided an opportunity for EP Thompson to learn as well as teach.

Geoff Andrews is a historian and biographer, currently writing a new history of the labour movement.


TUE 23:00 Night Tracks (m001svyl)
Music after dark

Sara Mohr-Pietsch presents an adventurous, immersive soundtrack for late-night listening, from classical to contemporary and everything in between.

WEDNESDAY 06 DECEMBER 2023

WED 00:30 Through the Night (m001svyy)
The Carnivals of the Animals

Pianists Eric Le Sage and Albert Guinovart, clarinettist Paul Meyer and flautist Magali Mosnier are joined by other soloists in works by Poulenc, Saint-Saens and Guinovart. Jonathan Swain presents.

12:31 AM
Francis Poulenc (1899-1963)
Clarinet Sonata, FP 184
Paul Meyer (clarinet), Eric le Sage (piano)

12:44 AM
Camille Saint-Saens (1835-1921)
Le Carnaval des animaux
Paul Meyer (clarinet), Magali Mosnier (flute), Patricia Cordero (violin), Maria Tio (violin), Agnes Mauri (violin), Ferran Bardolet (cello), Jorge Toledo (double bass), Eric le Sage (piano), Albert Guinovart (piano), Ferran Carceller (percussion)

01:07 AM
Francis Poulenc (1899-1963)
Flute Sonata, FP 164
Magali Mosnier (flute), Albert Guinovart (piano)

01:19 AM
Albert Guinovart (b.1962)
Le cortège des animaux
Paul Meyer (clarinet), Magali Mosnier (flute), Patricia Cordero (violin), Maria Tio (violin), Agnes Mauri (viola), Ferran Bardolet (cello), Jorge Toledo (double bass), Eric le Sage (piano), Albert Guinovart (piano), Ferran Carceller (percussion)

01:56 AM
Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
Symphony no 5 in D major "Reformation", Op 107
Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Takuo Yuasa (conductor)

02:31 AM
Pierre de la Rue (1452-1518)
Missa Sancto Job (complete)
Orlando Consort

03:06 AM
Louis Vierne (1870-1937)
Cello Sonata in B minor (Op.27)
Elizabeth Dolin (cello), Carmen Picard (piano)

03:29 AM
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Overture: Egmont
Trondheim Symphony Orchestra, Eivind Aadland (conductor)

03:38 AM
Carl Czerny (1791-1857)
Marcia funebre sulla morte di Luigi van Beethoven, op. 146
Jose Gallardo (piano)

03:47 AM
Ivo Parac (1890-1954)
Andante amoroso
Zagreb Quartet

03:53 AM
Fernando Sor (1778-1839)
Introduction and variations on Mozart's 'O cara armonia' for guitar (Op 9)
Xavier Diaz-Latorre (guitar)


04:09 AM
Camille Saint-Saens (1835-1921), Eugene Ysaye (arranger)
Caprice for violin and piano, arr. Ysaye after Saint-Saens
Minami Yoshida (violin), Jean Desmarais (piano)

04:18 AM
Franz Schubert (1797-1828), Friedrich Schiller (author)
Die Gotter Griechenlands D.677b
Christoph Pregardien (tenor), Andreas Staier (pianoforte)

04:23 AM
Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713)
Trio sonata in C minor, Op 1 no 8
London Baroque

04:31 AM
Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904)
Two Slavonic Dances, op.46 - No.8 in G Minor and No.3 in A flat major
Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Arvid Engegard (conductor)

04:39 AM
Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757)
Sonata in D minor Fugue (K.41); Presto (K. 18)
Eduardo Lopez Banzo (harpsichord)

04:48 AM
Primoz Ramovs (1921-1999)
Pihalni kvintet (Wind Quintet) in 7 parts
Ariart Woodwind Quintet


05:06 AM
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Sonata in A major, HWV 361 (transposed to B flat)
Blagoj Angelovski (trumpet), Velin Iliev (organ)

05:16 AM
Hermann Ambrosius (1897-1983)
Suite
Zagreb Guitar Trio

05:23 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Piano Concerto No.12 in A, K.414
Igor Levit (piano), WDR Symphony Orchestra, Cologne, Cristian Macelaru (conductor)

05:48 AM
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912)
Four African Dances, Op.58
Samuel Nebyu (violin), Charles Abramovic (piano)

06:07 AM
Richard Strauss (1864-1949)
Der Rosenkavalier - Grand Suite
Orchestre du Conservatoire de Musique du Quebec, Franz-Paul Decker (conductor)


WED 06:30 Breakfast (m001sw8q)
Perk up your morning with classical music

Petroc Trelawny presents Radio 3's classical breakfast show with music that captures the mood of the morning.

Email your requests to 3breakfast@bbc.co.uk


WED 09:00 Essential Classics (m001sw8s)
Classical coffee break

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

0930 Playlist starter – listen and send us your ideas for the next step in our musical journey today.

1010 Song of the Day – harnessing the magic of words, music and the human voice.

1045 Playlist reveal – a sequence of music suggested by you in response to our starter today.

1130 Slow Moment – time to take a break for a moment's musical reflection.


WED 12:00 Composer of the Week (m001sw8v)
A Medieval Christmas

Christmas at Notre-Dame

Donald Macleod explores musical innovations at Paris’s newly built gothic cathedral

This week, Donald Macleod marks the beginning of the season of Advent by exploring Christmas music and stories from the Middle Ages. Christmas celebrations encompassed a great variety of colourful traditions and musical occasions during medieval times. Peasants and nobles alike could look forward to many weeks of festivities, from Advent at the start of December, right through to Candlemas on 2nd February. Some of those customs we still recognise and celebrate today. Many are now lost or significantly altered. Donald is joined by early music expert, William Lyons, to examine how Christmas might have felt and sounded to our medieval ancestors

The gothic architectural wonder that is Notre-Dame Cathedral first rose above the streets of Paris during the 12th and 13th centuries. The composers employed there, to write music for this brand new building, were working at the cutting edge of medieval musical thought. Today, Donald and William introduce sacred Christmas music from medieval Notre-Dame and discuss what makes it so extraordinary.

Dum sigillum summi patris [instrumental]
Ensemble Anonymus

Perotin: Viderunt Omnes
The Hilliard Ensemble, dir. Paul Hillier

Hodie Christus natus est
Viderunt Emmanuel
Lux hodie, Lux leticie
Ensemble Discantus, directed by Brigitte Lesne

Psallat chorus; Eximie pater et regie; Aptatur
Descendit de cælis
In natali Domini
Ensemble Anonymus

Isaias Cecinit
Perotin: Sederunt Principes
The Hilliard Ensemble, dir. Paul Hillier


WED 13:00 Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert (m001sw8x)
Belfast International Arts Festival 2023 (2/4)

John Toal introduces the second of four recitals featuring the German pianist Elisabeth Brauss and friends.

They were recorded as part of the 2023 Belfast International Arts Festival in St. Mark’s Church, Dundela, in east Belfast: the church in which CW Lewis was baptised and where his grandfather was rector.

Elisabeth Brauss graduated from BBC Radio 3’s New Generation Artist Scheme in 2021 and is widely respected for her collaborative music-making. Today she’s joined by cellist Leonard Elschenbroich, another graduate of the Scheme, for performances of works by Schubert and Franck.

Schubert: Piano Sonata in A major D.664
Elisabeth Brauss, piano

Franck: Sonata A Major
Leonard Elschenbroich, cello
Elisabeth Brauss, piano


WED 14:00 Afternoon Concert (m001sw8z)
Prokofiev's Classical Symphony

Ian Skelly presents great concert performances from across Europe and from the BBC performing groups, this week shining the spotlight on the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Today's 3pm highlight is a performance of Prokofiev's sprightly Symphony No.1, the "Classical", from a concert given in Cardiff in June. Plus, more brass music from the Wallberg Band.

Berlioz: Beatrice and Benedict – overture
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Ryan Bancroft (cond.)

c2.20
Ravel: Daphnis and Chloe – Suite No.2
Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra
Yannick Nezet-Seguin (cond.)

Mozart: Horn Concerto No.2 in E flat K417
Felix Klieser (horn)
Camerata Salzburg

3pm
Prokofiev: Symphony No.1 in C “Classical”
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Maxim Rysanov (cond.)

Debussy: Nocturnes
Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra & Chorus
Mikko Franck (cond.)


WED 16:00 Choral Evensong (m001sw91)
Church of Our Lady of Victories, Kensington, London

Choral Vespers from the Church of Our Lady of Victories, Kensington, London, with the Schola Cantorum of Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School.

Introit: O Radiant Dawn (James MacMillan)
Hymn: Conditor alme siderum (Plainsong)
Psalm 26 (Plainsong)
Canticle: Colossians 1 vv. 12-20
Magnificat Secundi Toni (Valls)
Motet: Laetentur coeli (Byrd)
Antiphon: Alma redemptoris mater a8 (Victoria)
Voluntary: Prelude in C minor, BWV 546

Scott Price (Director of Music)
Iestyn Evans (Organ)

Recorded 30 November.


WED 17:00 In Tune (m001sw93)
Wind down from work with classical music

Katie Derham is joined by pianist Simon Trpčeski, to talk about his new recording of the Brahms Piano concertos, both of which he also performs with London Symphony Orchestra this week. And there's live music from The Telling, bringing their 'Carols Through Time' show to the In Tune studio.


WED 19:00 Classical Mixtape (m001sw95)
Expand your horizons with classical music

Take time out with a 30-minute soundscape of classical music.


WED 19:30 Radio 3 in Concert (m001sw97)
Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla conducts the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra

Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla takes us on a very personal tour of Eastern Europe, from Georgia to the Baltic. There will be gripping new discoveries from her personal favourite Mieczyslaw Weinberg and Ciurlionis, the “Lithuanian Elgar”, takes us on a walk through the forests.

Andrew McGregor presents live from Symphony Hall, Birmingham.

CIURLIONIS Miske (In the Forest);
WEINBERG Clarinet Concerto;
LOBODA Requiem for Ukraine;
WEINBERG 12 Miniatures for flute and orchestra;
KAKHIDZE Bruderschaft (Brotherhood)

Eugene Tzikindelean, violin
Oliver Janes, clarinet
Marie-Christine Zupancic, flute
Adam Römer, viola
Onute Grazinyte, piano
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla, conductor


WED 22:00 Free Thinking (m001sw99)
Narnia and CS Lewis

Exploring the literary and theological terrain of CS Lewis's Narnia.


WED 22:45 The Essay (m001sw9c)
The Enormous Condescension of Posterity

Those Thompson Left Behind

Sixty years after it was first published, five essayists reflect on the legacy, ideas and personal inspiration of The Making of the English Working Class – and plot its place in the present day.

EP Thompson's landmark social history, The Making of the English Working Class, is a book that changed lives. In an academic world where history was primarily concerned with power and political reform, EP Thompson sought to rescue working people from, as he put it, "the enormous condescension of posterity".

It's a book that lies at the root of contemporary social history, of cultural studies, sociology and anthropology, where, in the years after its publication, the idea of agency – the 'making' of the title – came to be a defining touchstone in thinking about culture and society. And it was popular too, even if its easily recognisable blue Pelican covers – and almost 1,000 pages – were possibly more dipped into than read cover to cover.

In this essay, writer and historian Christienna Fryar reflects on EP Thompson's silence about slavery – and remembers how his account of Methodism resonated with her own experiences growing up in the United States and her first research interests as a working historian.


WED 23:00 Night Tracks (m001sw9f)
The constant harmony machine

Sara Mohr-Pietsch presents an adventurous, immersive soundtrack for late-night listening, from classical to contemporary and everything in between.

THURSDAY 07 DECEMBER 2023

THU 00:30 Through the Night (m001sw9h)
Martha Argerich plays Beethoven's First Piano Concerto

Renaud Capuçon conducts the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra in music by Prokofiev, Beethoven and Ravel. Presented by Jonathan Swain.

12:31 AM
Sergey Prokofiev (1891-1953)
Symphony No. 1 in D, op. 25 'Classical'
Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, Renaud Capuçon (conductor)

12:45 AM
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Piano Concerto No. 1 in C, op. 15
Martha Argerich (piano), Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, Renaud Capuçon (conductor)

01:20 AM
Gabriel Faure (1845 - 1924)
Suite from Pelléas et Mélisande, op. 80
Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, Renaud Capuçon (conductor)

01:36 AM
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)
Ma mère l'oye (suite)
Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, Renaud Capuçon (conductor)

01:54 AM
Pedro Miguel Marques y Garcia (1843-1918)
Symphony no 4 in E major
Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Ari Rasilainen (conductor)

02:31 AM
Johann Joachim Quantz (1697-1773)
Concerto in G minor, for 2 flutes, 2 oboes & bassoon
Alexis Kossenko (flute), Anne Freitag (flute), Anna Starr (oboe), Markus Muller (oboe), moni Fischaleck (bassoon), Les Ambassadeurs

02:49 AM
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)
Gaspard de la nuit for piano
Anna Vinnitskaya (piano)

03:11 AM
Joaquin Rodrigo (1901-1999)
Concierto de Aranjuez
Norbert Kraft (guitar), Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Kazuhiro Koizumi (conductor)

03:33 AM
Cesar Franck (1822-1890)
Prelude, Fugue and Variation
Robert Silverman (piano)

03:46 AM
Francesco Geminiani (1687-1762)
Concerto grosso in D minor, Op 7 No 2
La Petite Bande, Sigiswald Kuijken (conductor)

03:55 AM
Frederick Jacobi (1891-1952)
Viola Fantasy (1941)
Cathy Basrak (viola), William Koehler (piano)

04:06 AM
Edvard Grieg (1843-1907)
Symphonic Dance No.4 (Andante)
Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Goran W. Nilson (conductor)

04:17 AM
Ester Magi (1922-2021)
Murdunud aer (The broken oar)
Estonian National Male Choir, Ants Soots (director)

04:22 AM
Christopher Simpson (c.1605-1669)
Prelude and Divisions upon a Ground
Vittorio Ghielmi (viola da gamba), Luca Pianca (lute)

04:31 AM
Albertus Groneman (c.1710-1778)
Concerto in G major for solo flute, two flutes, viola & basso continuo
Jed Wentz (flute), Marion Moonen (flute), Cordula Breuer (flute), Musica ad Rhenum

04:39 AM
Franz Liszt (1811-1886), Delphine Gay (author)
Il m'aimait tant! (S.271)
Katalin Szokefalvi-Nagy (soprano), Magda Freymann (piano)

04:46 AM
Arthur Butterworth (1923-2014)
Romanza for horn and strings (1954)
Martin Hackleman (horn), CBC Vancouver Orchestra, Mario Bernardi (conductor)

04:56 AM
Camille Saint-Saens (1835-1921), Eugen d'Albert (transcriber)
Danse macabre - symphonic poem transcr. for piano
Eugen d'Albert (piano)

05:04 AM
Alessandro Scarlatti (1660-1725)
Cantata 'Ero e Leandro'
Gerard Lesne (countertenor), Il Seminario Musicale

05:15 AM
Bohuslav Martinu (1890-1959)
Sonatina for clarinet & piano (1956)
Jozef Luptacik (clarinet), Pavol Kovac (piano)

05:26 AM
Leo Delibes (1836-1891)
Sylvia, suite from the ballet
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Oliver Dohnanyi (conductor)

05:44 AM
Johann Heinrich Schmelzer (c.1620-1680)
Vesperae sollennes
Gradus ad Parnassum, Concerto Palatino, Choral scholars from Wiener Hofburgkapelle, Konrad Junghanel (director)

06:07 AM
Franz Schubert (1797-1828), Franz Liszt (arranger)
Wandererfantasie, D760 arranged by Liszt (S.366)
Anton Dikov (piano), Bulgarian National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Alipi Naydenov (conductor)


THU 06:30 Breakfast (m001svxw)
Daybreak classics

Petroc Trelawny presents Radio 3's classical breakfast show with music that captures the mood of the morning.

Email your requests to 3breakfast@bbc.co.uk


THU 09:00 Essential Classics (m001svy5)
A feast of great music

Georgia Mann plays the best in classical music, featuring new discoveries, some musical surprises and plenty of familiar favourites.

0930 Playlist starter – listen and send us your ideas for the next step in our musical journey today.

1010 Song of the Day – harnessing the magic of words, music and the human voice.

1045 Playlist reveal – a sequence of music suggested by you in response to our starter today.

1130 Slow Moment – time to take a break for a moment's musical reflection.


THU 12:00 Composer of the Week (m001svyh)
A Medieval Christmas

The Cult of the Virgin

Donald Macleod presents songs for Mary and lullabies to the infant Jesus.

This week, Donald Macleod marks the beginning of the season of Advent by exploring Christmas music and stories from the Middle Ages. Christmas celebrations encompassed a great variety of colourful traditions and musical occasions during medieval times. Peasants and nobles alike could look forward to many weeks of festivities, from Advent at the start of December, right through to Candlemas on 2nd February. Some of those customs we still recognise and celebrate today. Many are now lost or significantly altered. Donald is joined by early music expert, William Lyons, to examine how Christmas might have felt and sounded to our medieval ancestors

Mary, mother of Jesus, became a huge figure of veneration during the Middle Ages, particularly during the Christmas period. In today’s programme, Donald and William explore the wealth of medieval music written in Mary’s honour, and the emerging tradition of lullabies to the infant Jesus.

Verbum patris umanatur O O
Sequentia, directed by Barbara Thornton and Benjamin Bagby

Edi beo thu hevene-queene
John Potter, tenor
The Dufay Collective, directed by William Lyons

Angelus ad virginem
Gothic Voices

Ecce quod natura
Ther is no rose of swych vertu
Anonymous 4

Verbum Patris humanatur
Ensemble Discantus directed by Brigitte Lesne

Verbum Patris (intrumental)
William Lyons, Nicholas Perry

Thys endere nyght
Voice Trio
The Dufay Collective, directed by William Lyons

Ave Maris Stella
Ensemble Gilles Binchois, directed by Dominique Vellard


THU 13:00 Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert (m001svys)
Belfast International Arts Festival 2023 (3/4)

John Toal introduces the third of four recitals featuring the German pianist Elisabeth Brauss and friends.

They were recorded as part of the 2023 Belfast International Arts Festival in St. Mark’s Church, Dundela, in east Belfast: the church in which CW Lewis was baptised and where his grandfather was rector.

Elisabeth Brauss graduated from BBC Radio 3’s New Generation Artist Scheme in 2021 and is widely respected for her collaborative music-making. Today she’s joined by the Chaos Quartet, part of the Scheme’s most recent cohort, for performances of works by Schumann and Fanny Hensel – Felix Mendelssohn’s sister.

Schumann: Carnaval, Op. 9
Elisabeth Brauss, piano

Fanny Hensel: String Quartet in E Flat Major
Chaos Quartet


THU 14:00 Afternoon Concert (m001svz5)
Elgar's Symphony No.2

Ian Skelly presents great concert performances from across Europe and from the BBC performing groups. As part of the BBC's Rethinking Disability week, this week's Artist's Choices have been picked by members of the National Youth Open Orchestra. Today's choice, from violinist Cass, is Esenvald's choral piece O salutaris hostia. This week also showcases the BBC National Orchestra of Wales in our 3pm highlight slots. Today, a performance of Elgar's Symphony No.2

Bach: Cantata No.29 – Sinfonia
Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra
Ton Koopman (organ/dir.)

Bruch: Kol Nidrei
Camille Thomas (cello)
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Nil Venditti (cond.)

Tom Davoren: Valaisa Variants
Wallberg Band
Ivan Meylemans (cond.)

Mozart: Serenade in D K239 “Serenata Notturna”
Camerata Nordica
Terje Tønnesen (cond.)

Eriks Esenvalds: O salutaris hostia
Kate Ledington (soprano), Maeve Stier (soprano)
Portland State University Chamber Choir
Ethan Sperry (cond.)

Weber: Invitation to the Dance
Stephen Hough (piano)

3pm
Elgar: Symphony No.2
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Tadaaki Otaka (cond.)


Peter Meechan: Song of Hope
Wallberg Band
Ivan Meylemans (cond.)


THU 17:00 In Tune (m001svzg)
Classical artists live in session

Katie Derham is joined by composer and organist Naji Hakim, to talk about his latest recordings. The Solem Quartet also joins Katie, to play live in the studio.


THU 19:00 Classical Mixtape (m001svzs)
Take 30 minutes out with a relaxing classical mix

Take time out with a 30-minute soundscape of classical music.


THU 19:30 Radio 3 in Concert (m001sw01)
Debussy and Shostakovich

Martyn Brabbins conducts evocative music by Debussy, plus both of Shostakovich’s Piano Concertos, in one sparkling concert with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, pianist Federico Colli and trumpeter Matilda Lloyd.

Live from City Halls Glasgow
Presented by Kate Molleson

Debussy: Iberia
Shostakovich: Piano Concerto No. 2
Debussy: Gigues
Debussy: Rondes de printemps
Shostakovich: Concerto for piano, trumpet and string orchestra

Federico Colli (piano)
Matilda Lloyd (trumpet)
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Martyn Brabbins (conductor)

Please note change to previously advertised conductor.


THU 22:00 Free Thinking (m001sw09)
JG Ballard's Crash

The controversial 1973 novel by JG Ballard about car crash fetishists was, according to its author, "a total metaphor for man's life in today's society". Matthew Sweet is joined by the author and Ballard fan Iain Sinclair, by the film critic Muriel Zagha, by Mark Blacklock editor of Ballard's Selected Nonfiction, 1962-2007 and by Jo Stanley, who took part in an exhibition Ballard staged when he was developing the ideas that led to Crash.

Producer: Luke Mulhall

You can find previous episodes exploring film and fiction on the Free Thinking website, all available to download as Arts and Ideas podcasts.


THU 22:45 The Essay (m001sw0k)
The Enormous Condescension of Posterity

The Rescuer

Sixty years after it was first published, five essayists reflect on the legacy, ideas and personal inspiration of The Making of the English Working Class – and plot its place in the present day.

EP Thompson's landmark social history, The Making of the English Working Class, is a book that changed lives. In an academic world where history was primarily concerned with power and political reform, EP Thompson sought to rescue working people from, as he put it, "the enormous condescension of posterity".

It's a book that lies at the root of contemporary social history, of cultural studies, sociology and anthropology, where, in the years after its publication, the idea of agency – the 'making' of the title – came to be a defining touchstone in thinking about culture and society. And it was popular too, even if its easily recognisable blue Pelican covers – and almost 1000 pages – were possibly more dipped into than read cover to cover.

The Making of the English Working Class was written in the years after EP Thompson left the Communist Party of Great Britain in 1956. In this essay, David Aaronovitch explores how, as well as his experience of leaving the Party, EP Thompson's communism was essential to the writing of his great book.


THU 23:00 The Night Tracks Mix (m001sw0t)
Music for the night

Sara Mohr-Pietsch with a magical sonic journey for late-night listening. Subscribe to receive your weekly mix on BBC Sounds.


THU 23:30 Unclassified (m001sw14)
Minimalist seas, molten drones

Lose yourself in all manner of ambient and experimental worlds of sound with Elizabeth Alker. There’ll be synth swells on minimalist seas from Yorkshire-born artist Kirk Barley, and drones inspired by the characteristics of molten rock from Australian trio Panghalina. Introspective reflections on hometowns and Japanese culture come courtesy of Hiroshima-based experimental composer Meitei; plus we’ll hear a new collaboration between electronic duo BON and cellist Lucinda Chua which explores fantasy dream spaces and imaginary landscapes.

Produced by Katie Callin
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 3

FRIDAY 08 DECEMBER 2023

FRI 00:30 Through the Night (m001sw1f)
Five wind instruments and a piano

Wind music by Edward Elgar, Paul Taffanel, Malcolm Arnold, Franz Strauss, François René Gebauer, Philippe Gaubert and Karl Joachim Andersen, performed at the Hirschengraben School in Zurich. Jonathan Swain presents.

12:31 AM
François René Gebauer (1773-1845)
Trio in E minor for flute, clarinet & bassoon, Op 32 no 2
Andrea Kolle (flute), Fabio di Casola (clarinet), Maria Wildhaber (bassoon)

12:43 AM
Franz Strauss (1822-1905)
Theme and Variations for horn and piano, Op 13
Joan Bautista Bernat Sanchis (horn), Alexander Boeschoten (piano)

12:55 AM
Edward Elgar (1857-1934)
Romance for bassoon and piano Op 62
Maria Wildhaber (bassoon), Alexander Boeschoten (piano)

01:01 AM
Philippe Gaubert (1879-1941)
Tarantelle for flute, oboe and piano
Andrea Kolle (flute), Silvia Zabarella (oboe), Alexander Boeschoten (piano)

01:06 AM
Malcolm Arnold (1921-2006)
Sonatina for clarinet and piano Op 29
Fabio di Casola (clarinet), Alexander Boeschoten (piano)

01:14 AM
Karl Joachim Andersen (1847-1909)
Au Bord de la Mer for flute and piano, Op 9
Andrea Kolle (flute), Alexander Boeschoten (piano)

01:21 AM
Paul Taffanel (1844-1908)
Wind Quintet in G minor
Andrea Kolle (flute), Silvia Zabarella (oboe), Fabio di Casola (clarinet), Maria Wildhaber (bassoon), Joan Bautista Bernat Sanchis (horn)

01:45 AM
Fritz Brun (1878-1959)
Symphony No.2 in B flat
Bern Symphony Orchestra, Dmitri Kitaenjko (conductor)

02:25 AM
Anonymous, Marc Lewon (arranger)
Isbrüg jch (Innsbruck, I must part)
Grace Newcombe (soprano), Jacob Lawrence (tenor), Katharina Haun (cornetto), Baptiste Romain (fiddle), Tabea Schwartz (viola d'arco), Elizabeth Rumsey (gamba), Marc Lewon (lute)

02:31 AM
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Piano Sonata no 3 in F minor, Op 5
Cristina Ortiz (piano)

03:09 AM
Jean Sibelius (1865-1957), Jan Hemmer (author)
Jordens sang (Song of the Earth), Op 93
Academic Choral Society, Helsinki Cathedral Chorus, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Ulf Soderblom (conductor)

03:28 AM
Carl Ludwig Lithander (1773-1843)
Divertimento No.1 for flute and fortepiano
Mikael Helasvuo (flute), Tuija Hakkila (pianoforte)

03:37 AM
Karl Goldmark (1830-1915)
Ein Wintermarchen (Overture)
Hungarian Radio Orchestra, Ervin Lukacs (conductor)

03:46 AM
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893), Alexei Tolstoy (author), Heinrich Heine (author), Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (author)
3 Songs from Op.6 - Nos.4 to 6
Mikael Axelsson (bass), Niklas Sivelov (piano)

03:58 AM
Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713)
Sonata da chiesa in D minor, Op 3 no 5
Camerata Tallinn

04:05 AM
Inocente Carreno (1919-2016)
Margaretiña. Glosa sinfonica
Polish Radio Orchestra in Warsaw, Christian Vasquez (conductor)

04:20 AM
Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757)
Sonata for keyboard (L.23) in E major
Sae-Jung Kim (piano)

04:25 AM
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Aria "Ombra mai fu" from Act 1 of the opera 'Serse'
Sergejs Jegers (countertenor), Sinfonietta Riga Chamber Orchestra

04:31 AM
Eivind Groven (1901-1977)
Hjalarljod Overture, op. 38
WDR Radio Orchestra, Rasmus Baumann (conductor)

04:37 AM
Edvard Grieg (1843-1907)
Wedding Day at Troldhaugen, from 'Lyric Pieces' Op.65 No.6
Carl Wendling (piano)

04:44 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), Zoltan Kocsis (arranger)
Rondo (Concert rondo) for horn and orchestra in E flat major, K371
Laszlo Gal (horn), Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra, Zoltan Kocsis (conductor)

04:51 AM
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)
Sonatine, arr flute, bassoon and harp
Andrea Kolle (flute), Maria Wildhaber (bassoon), Sarah Verrue (harp)

05:03 AM
Ivan Spassov (1934-1995)
Solveig's Songs
Sofia Chamber Choir, Vassil Arnaudov (conductor)

05:12 AM
Richard Strauss (1864-1949)
Tod und Verklarung , Op 24
RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra, Samo Hubad (conductor)

05:36 AM
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Violin Sonata No.3 in C (BWV.1005)
Vilde Frang Bjaerke (violin)

06:00 AM
Anton Arensky (1861-1906)
Suite No 1 in G major for 2 pianos, Op 15
James Anagnason (piano), Leslie Kinton (piano)

06:15 AM
Pietro Locatelli
Concerto for violin (Op.7 No.6) in E flat, "Il Pianto d'Arianna"
Europa Galante, Fabio Biondi (director)


FRI 06:30 Breakfast (m001sw2c)
Classical music to brighten your morning

Petroc Trelawny presents Radio 3's classical breakfast show with the Friday poem and music that captures the mood of the morning.

Email your requests to 3breakfast@bbc.co.uk


FRI 09:00 Essential Classics (m001sw2f)
Your perfect classical playlist

Georgia Mann plays the best in classical music, with familiar favourites alongside new discoveries and musical surprises.

0930 Playlist starter – listen and send us your ideas for the next step in our musical journey today.

1010 Song of the Day – harnessing the magic of words, music and the human voice.

1045 Playlist reveal – a sequence of music suggested by you in response to our starter today.

1130 Slow Moment – time to take a break for a moment's musical reflection.


FRI 12:00 Composer of the Week (m001sw2h)
A Medieval Christmas

Carols and Revelries

Donald Macleod presents seasonal music for dancing, feasting and social occasions.

This week, Donald Macleod marks the beginning of the season of Advent by exploring Christmas music and stories from the Middle Ages. Christmas celebrations encompassed a great variety of colourful traditions and musical occasions during medieval times. Peasants and nobles alike could look forward to many weeks of festivities, from Advent at the start of December, right through to Candlemas on 2nd February. Some of those customs we still recognise and celebrate today. Many are now lost or significantly altered. Donald is joined by early music expert, William Lyons, to examine how Christmas might have felt and sounded to our medieval ancestors

In their final programme, Donald and William explore community Christmas traditions during the Middle Ages. Including carol singing, Christmas plays and gift giving.

Nowell, owt of youre sleep aryse
Adam lay ibowndyn (arr. William Lyons)
Ye have so longe kepe schepe (instrumental)
Voice Trio
The Dufay Collective, directed by William Lyons

Nowell, nowell, nowell
Gothic Voices

Hayl Mary ful of grace
Voice Trio
The Dufay Collective, directed by William Lyons

Coventry Carol
The King's Singers

Halle: Dieus soit en cheste maison
Sequentia

Dufay: Bonjour, bon mois
Ensemble Allégorie

Lantins, A: Ce jour de l’an, belle je vous supply
Le miroir de musique, directed by Baptiste Romain

Dufay: Ce jour de l'an
The Hilliard Ensemble

Gresley Dances (arr. William Lyons)
The Dufay Collective, directed by William Lyons


FRI 13:00 Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert (m001sw2k)
Belfast International Arts Festival 2023 (4/4)

John Toal introduces the last of four recitals featuring the German pianist Elisabeth Brauss and friends.

They were recorded as part of the 2023 Belfast International Arts Festival in St. Mark’s Church, Dundela, in east Belfast: the church in which CW Lewis was baptised and where his grandfather was rector.

Elisabeth Brauss graduated from BBC Radio 3’s New Generation Artist Scheme in 2021 and is widely respected for her collaborative music-making. Today she’s joined by cellist Leonard Elschenbroich, another graduate of the scheme, for performances of works by Brahms and Ravel.

Brahms: Cello Sonata No. 1 in E minor, Op. 38
Leonard Elschenbroich, cello
Elisabeth Brauss, piano

Ravel: Le Tombeau de Couperin
Elisabeth Brauss, piano


FRI 14:00 Afternoon Concert (m001sw2m)
Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms

Ian Skelly presents concert performances from the BBC performing groups and from across Europe. As part of the BBC's Rethinking Disability week, this week's Artist's Choices have been picked by members of the National Youth Open Orchestra. Today's choice, from trombonist Jonah, is music from Ennio Morricone's classic film score to The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. This week also showcases the BBC National Orchestra of Wales in our 3pm highlight slots. Today, the orchestra is joined by the BBC National Chorus of Wales and conductor Sofi Jeannin for Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms. Plus, more brass music from the Wallberg Band.

Duke Ellington: Caravan
Christopher Bins (trombone)
Wallberg Band
Ivan Meylemans (cond.)

Johann Wagenaar: Cyrano de Bergerac
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Anthony Hermus (cond.)

Gluck: Dance of the Blessed Spirits (Orpheus and Euridice)
Emmanuel Pahud (flute)
Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra
Yannick Nezet-Seguin (cond.)

Ennio Morricone: The Ecstasy of Gold (from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly)
Danish National Symphony Orchestra and Concert Choir
Sarah Hicks (cond.)

Schubert: Piano Trio in E flat D897 “Notturno”
Christian Tetzlaff (violin), Tanja Tetzlaff (viola), Lars Vogt (piano)


3pm
Stravinsky: Symphony of Psalms
BBC National Orchestra & Chorus of Wales
Sofi Jeannin (cond.)

c3.30
Crusell: Introduction and Variations on a Swedish Song
Martin Frost (clarinet)
Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra

Ida Moberg: Sunrise
Ulster Orchestra
Jac van Steen (cond.)

Joe Zawinul: Birdland
Wallberg Band
Ivan Meylemans (cond.)

c4.10
Sibelius: Finlandia
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Thomas Sondergaard (cond.)


FRI 16:30 The Listening Service (m0001ss8)
The Nutcracker - Strange Enchantments

Think of The Nutcracker as a super-saccharine classic for the feel-good season? Think again. Is everything really all sweetness and light in the world of sugar-plum fairy? No! But don't let the tale's dark undertones spoil your enjoyment of the wonderful music.

Tom Service tears the gaudy wrapping paper from Tchaikovsky's balletic masterpiece to remind us you don't always get what you want. Behind the tinsel and fluffy snowflakes lies a story imbued with darkness and death. But maybe that is the secret of its unfading allure and beauty.

Tom is joined by Marina Frolova-Walker and Peggy Reynolds to crack the most popular nut in the repertoire.


FRI 17:00 In Tune (m001sw2p)
Music news and live classical music

Katie Derham is joined by award-winning folk singer Bella Hardy, playing live in the studio. The Adelphi Quartet also perform live.


FRI 19:00 Classical Mixtape (m001sw2r)
Classical music for focus or relaxation

Take time out with a 30-minute soundscape of classical music.




FRI 22:00 The Verb (m001sw2w)
Rapper and Playwright Testament presents 50 years of Hip Hop Culture. He's joined by UK rapper Jehst, writer and spoken word performer Michelle Scally Clarke and hip hop luminary Paul Oddball Edmeade to discuss the poetics of raps, rhymes and flows, and to reflect on hip hop’s influence on the literary world and beyond. And in the first of four dramas specially commissioned for The Verb a woman brings her lost love back to life with the help of an AI chatbot. But all is not what it seems.


FRI 22:45 The Essay (m001sw2y)
The Enormous Condescension of Posterity

Breaking Class

Sixty years after it was first published, five essayists reflect on the legacy, ideas and personal inspiration of The Making of the English Working Class – and plot its place in the present day.

EP Thompson's landmark social history, The Making of the English Working Class, is a book that changed lives. In an academic world where history was primarily concerned with power and political reform, EP Thompson sought to rescue working people from, as he put it, "the enormous condescension of posterity".

It's a book that lies at the root of contemporary social history, of cultural studies, sociology and anthropology, where, in the years after its publication, the idea of agency – the 'making' of the title – came to be a defining touchstone in thinking about culture and society. And it was popular too, even if its easily recognisable blue Pelican covers – and almost 1,000 pages – were possibly more dipped into than read cover to cover.

Drawing on her own experiences of growing up in rural poverty, the writer Natasha Carthew explores the personal resonances and inspiration of EP Thompson's classic work of social history.


FRI 23:00 Late Junction (m001sw30)
Winter Is Icumen In

“Welcome, fool. You have come of your own free will to the appointed place. The game is over.”

Take a spin around the musical maypole with Verity Sharp as Late Junction marks the 50th anniversary of cult classic The Wicker Man. With a soundtrack that weaves together traditional song, nursery rhymes, psychedelic folk, Robert Burns’s ballads and medieval polyphony, the film has set the tone and the bar for folk horror since its release in December 1973. Over the past 50 years, it has inspired countless artists, filmmakers and musicians, and become synonymous with a certain kind of sound and aesthetic.

As the seasons change and we approach the end of the wheel of the year’s current cycle, Verity reaches for some dark eerie folk, sonic rituals and pagan techno as well as ballads of seduction and fertility. Plus an exclusive mixtape from the composer Gary Carpenter, who worked as the associate music director on the film and assembled Magnet, the band that performed most of the soundtrack. Gary’s mixtape gives us an insight into the musical world that informed the soundtrack, as well as some of his own inspirations and favourites.

Produced by Katie Callin
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 3