SATURDAY 23 DECEMBER 2023

SAT 01:00 Composed (m001k8l3)
Composed with Devonté Hynes

SOUNDTRACKS: Much-loved scores from film, TV and games

Devonté Hynes explores the powerful, evolving sounds of classical music, with playlists from across the musical spectrum.

In the third episode of the series, Devonté shares some of his favourite scores for film, television and video games.

The selection includes Björk, Mica Levi, Trent Reznor and Duke Ellington.

01 00:01:32 John Adams
Fearful Symmetries
Orchestra: The San Francisco Symphony Orchestra
Duration 00:03:01

02 00:04:33 Björk (artist)
New World
Performer: Björk
Duration 00:04:13

03 00:08:50 Jon Brion (artist)
Piano One
Performer: Jon Brion
Duration 00:01:21

04 00:10:11 Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross (artist)
Watch Over This Boy
Performer: Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross
Duration 00:03:28

05 00:14:14 Philip Glass
Mishima/Closing
Ensemble: Kronos Quartet
Duration 00:02:57

06 00:17:11 Mica Levi (artist)
Autopsy
Performer: Mica Levi
Duration 00:02:33

07 00:19:43 Mica Levi (artist)
Decision Made
Performer: Mica Levi
Duration 00:00:30

08 00:20:49 Duke Ellington and His Orchestra (artist)
Sunswept Sunday
Performer: Duke Ellington and His Orchestra
Duration 00:01:50

09 00:22:38 Alain Goraguer (artist)
Ten Et Tiwa Dorment
Performer: Alain Goraguer
Duration 00:00:44

10 00:23:22 Air (artist)
Afternoon Sister
Performer: Air
Duration 00:02:18

11 00:26:29 Jocelyn Pook (artist)
Naval Officer
Performer: Jocelyn Pook
Duration 00:04:43

12 00:31:12 Harold Budd (artist)
The Serpent (in Quicksilver)
Performer: Harold Budd
Duration 00:03:47

13 00:36:09 Junya Nakano (artist)
This Is Your Story
Performer: Junya Nakano
Duration 00:02:15

14 00:38:24 Devonté Hynes (artist)
Extra Time
Performer: Devonté Hynes
Duration 00:01:38

15 00:40:02 Yoko Shimomura (artist)
It Began With A Letter
Performer: Yoko Shimomura
Duration 00:01:29

16 00:41:30 Jonny Greenwood (artist)
Calling The Whipper In
Performer: Jonny Greenwood
Duration 00:02:00

17 00:43:31 Paolo Marzocchi (artist)
Prelude anodin
Performer: Paolo Marzocchi
Duration 00:00:55

18 00:44:27 Hildur Guðnadóttir
Tár: II: Allegro
Orchestra: London Contemporary Orchestra
Duration 00:04:10

19 00:49:27 Bernard Herrmann
The Curtain
Orchestra: National Philharmonic Orchestra
Duration 00:01:11

20 00:50:38 Michael Nyman (artist)
The Piano
Performer: Michael Nyman
Duration 00:02:25

21 00:53:02 Emile Mosseri (artist)
Intro
Performer: Emile Mosseri
Duration 00:01:36

22 00:55:12 Joanna Bruzdowicz
Grandpa
Performer: London Contemporary Orchestra
Duration 00:00:47

23 00:55:59 Ryuichi Sakamoto
The Revenant Theme 2
Ensemble: Ryuichi Sakamoto & Alva Noto
Duration 00:01:48

24 00:58:17 Piero Umiliani (artist)
Tanto Tempo Fa
Performer: Piero Umiliani
Duration 00:01:42


SAT 02:00 Gameplay with Baby Queen (m0011m5v)
Orchestral beats to help you focus

Gaming addict Baby Queen mixes a playlist to focus your mind, featuring tracks from Humankind, Genesis Noir and Untitled Goose Game.

Join the Gameplay community at The Student Room to share stories about your favourite gaming soundtracks. Search The Student Room x Gameplay to be part of the conversation.

01 00:00:00 Arnaud Roy (artist)
Humankind - Main Title
Performer: Arnaud Roy
Duration 00:04:48

02 00:04:47 Alex Rehberg (artist)
Rust - Descent
Performer: Alex Rehberg
Duration 00:03:34

03 00:08:49 Gerard K. Marino (artist)
God of War III - Call to Arms
Performer: Gerard K. Marino
Duration 00:02:33

04 00:11:22 Todd Baker (artist)
Monument Valley 2 - Interwoven Stories
Performer: Todd Baker
Duration 00:03:18

05 00:14:42 Claude Debussy (artist)
Untitled Goose Game - Preludes Book 2, L.123
Performer: Claude Debussy
Duration 00:04:17

06 00:18:59 Arkadiusz Reikowski (artist)
The Blair Witch - The Missing Boy
Performer: Arkadiusz Reikowski
Duration 00:02:46

07 00:21:45 Arkadiusz Reikowski (artist)
The Blair Witch - Into the Woods
Performer: Arkadiusz Reikowski
Duration 00:01:49

08 00:23:34 Arkadiusz Reikowski (artist)
The Blair Witch - Prologue
Performer: Arkadiusz Reikowski
Duration 00:00:30

09 00:24:04 Henry Jackman (artist)
Uncharted 4 - New Devon
Performer: Henry Jackman
Duration 00:03:23

10 00:27:27 The Haxan Cloak (artist)
Returnal - Motionless
Performer: The Haxan Cloak
Duration 00:03:50

11 00:31:17 Eli Rainsberry (artist)
No Longer Home - Starshower
Performer: Eli Rainsberry
Performer: Paws Menu
Duration 00:03:13

12 00:34:31 John Robert Matz (artist)
Ambition: A Minuet in Power - Yvette's Theme
Performer: John Robert Matz
Duration 00:04:03

13 00:38:34 Kristoffer Maddigan (artist)
Cuphead - Introduction
Performer: Kristoffer Maddigan
Duration 00:03:52

14 00:42:26 Skillbard (artist)
Genesis Noir - Miss Mass Theme
Performer: Skillbard
Duration 00:02:39

15 00:45:04 C418 (artist)
Minecraft - Danny
Performer: C418
Duration 00:03:58

16 00:49:02 Gareth Coker (artist)
Ori and the Will of the Wisp - Ori, Embracing the Light
Performer: Gareth Coker
Duration 00:03:45

17 00:52:47 Martin O’Donnell (artist)
Halo 3 - One Final Effort
Performer: Martin O’Donnell
Duration 00:03:05

18 00:55:52 Jukio Kallio (artist)
Fall Guys - Everybody Falls (Theme)
Performer: Jukio Kallio
Performer: Daniel Hagström
Duration 00:04:07

19 00:59:59 Aso (artist)
Coolin Out
Performer: Aso
Duration 00:02:59


SAT 03:00 Through the Night (m001tb3b)
Beethoven's Ninth with Ion Marin

The RAI National Symphony Orchestra and star soloists perform Beethoven's mighty Ninth Symphony in Turin. Presented by John Shea.

03:01 AM
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Symphony No. 9 in D minor, op. 125 ('Choral')
Uliana Alieksiuk (soprano), Valentina Stadler (mezzo-soprano), Nicky Spence (tenor), Tomas Tomasson (bass), Chorus of Teatro Regio, Turin, RAI National Symphony Orchestra, Ion Marin (conductor)

04:13 AM
Sergey Rachmaninov (1873-1943)
Etudes-Tableaux (Op.39) (I to VI only)
Nicholas Angelich (piano)

04:38 AM
Sergey Prokofiev (1891-1953)
Quintet in G minor, Op 39
Hexagon Ensemble

05:01 AM
Alexander Borodin (1833-1887)
Notturno (Andante) - from String Quartet No.2 in D
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Oliver Dohnanyi (conductor)

05:10 AM
Andre Gretry (1741-1813)
Overture and Duo (Le jugement de Midas)
John Elwes (tenor), Jules Bastin (bass), La Petite Bande, Gustav Leonhardt (conductor)

05:19 AM
Antonio Bertali (1605-1669)
Ciacona in C
Daniel Sepec (violin), Hille Perl (viola da gamba), Lee Santana (theorbo), Michael Behringer (harpsichord)

05:31 AM
Ester Magi (1922-2021)
Ballad 'Tuule Tuba' (1981)
Academic Male Choir of Tallinn Technical University, Estonian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Arvo Volmer (conductor)

05:39 AM
Camille Saint-Saens (1835-1921)
Havanaise, Op 83
Vilmos Szabadi (violin), Marta Gulyas (piano)

05:48 AM
Brian Eno (b.1948), Julia Wolfe (arranger)
Music for Airports 1/2 (1978)
Bang on a Can All-Stars, Wayne du Maine (trumpet), Tommy Hoyt (trumpet), Julie Josephson (trombone), Christopher Washburne (trombone), Wu Man (lute), Katie Geissinger (alto), Phyllis Jo Kubey (alto), Alexandra Montano (alto)

06:00 AM
Dietrich Buxtehude (1637-1707)
Herzlich lieb hab ich dich, o Herr, BuxWV 41
Ensemble Polyharmonique, OH! Orkiestra Historyczna, Martyna Pastuszka (conductor)

06:18 AM
Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849)
Three Polonaises
Kevin Kenner (piano)

06:38 AM
Ludomir Rozycki (1883-1953)
Anheli, Op 22
National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Janusz Przybylski (conductor)


SAT 07:00 Breakfast (m001th5q)
Top tunes for the weekend

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 (m001th5x)
Tchaikovsky's ballet Sleeping Beauty with Sarah Lenton and Andrew McGregor

Andrew McGregor with the best new recordings of Christmas music in a special festive edition.

9.30 am
Conductor and composer, John Rutter unwraps the most exciting Christmas releases and shares his 'On Repeat' track – a recording which he is currently listening to again and again.

10.30 am
Building a Library: Sarah Lenton chooses her favourite version of Tchaikovsky's ballet The Sleeping Beauty

The Sleeping Beauty, completed in 1889, is the second of Tchaikovsky's three ballets. The first performance took place at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg in 1890, and has remained one of the most famous of all ballets. Tchaikovsky based his work on the Brothers Grimm's version of the story in which the Princess's parents survive the 100-year sleep to celebrate the Princess's wedding with the Prince. The ballet also incorporates other characters (beloved of Christmas pantomimes) such as Puss in Boots, Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, and Tom Thumb - so a perfect treat for Christmas. At the premiere, Tsar Alexander III summoned Tchaikovsky to the imperial box and made the simple remark 'Very nice,' which seemed to have irritated Tchaikovsky - which is fair enough, as it's one of his best pieces.

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 (m001th63)
The sounds of Christmas

Tom Service hears from one of the most successful British film composers of all time, Patrick Doyle. With a career spanning 50 years and over 60 movies – including Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Henry V, and Rise of the Planet of the Apes – he talks to Tom about composing the Coronation March for the Coronation of Their Majesties The King and The Queen Consort earlier this year, and shares more about his innate feeling for musical drama.

Pianist, composer, and BBC’s Russia Editor, Steven Rosenberg, files a dispatch from Moscow where he reflects on the festive idyll of a song which has come to epitomise Christmas for generations of Russians, the discordant beauty of the capital’s wintery landscape with the reality of the conflict with Ukraine. He shares a specially composed piece he’s written in response to the lived experience of many this yuletide in Moscow.

Tom is also joined by the Academy Award winning composer Rachel Portman who reveals, among other things, how she goes about summoning the sound world of Christmas in the scores of TV adverts she’s penned, and how she evokes a festive mood in a matter of seconds.

And the author, speaker, advocate for music education, and mother to seven virtuosic children, Kadiatu Kanneh-Mason, tells Music Matters how her musical family celebrates Christmas.


SAT 12:30 This Classical Life (m001th6g)
Jess Gillam with... Lise Davidsen (This Classical Christmas)

Jess Gillam is joined by Norwegian soprano and Last Night of the Proms star Lise Davidsen for a very Christmassy edition of This Classical Life. They share their favourite Christmas music and chat about what gives them that festive feeling!

Lise Davidsen has been described as “the greatest soprano in the world right now”, with a “one-in-a-million voice”. Her performance at the Last Night of the Proms 2023 received rave reviews, and she has sung at iconic venues including the Metropolitan Opera House, Royal Opera House, and Teatro alla Scala, Milan. And she’s just released a whole album of seasonal favourites and Nordic delights via Decca, called Christmas From Norway.

Lise brings along a haunting Scandinavian carol, a sugary-sweet soundtrack from a cult Christmas film, and a modern classic from Coldplay. Jess's choices include a traditional English wassail song, a rock'n'roll Rudolph from Chuck Berry, and a Christmas jig from Yo-Yo Ma and Natalie MacMaster.

PLAYLIST:

ADOLPHE ADAM – O helga natt (Adams julsång) [Jussi Björling]
NATALIE MACMASTER/ TRAD. FRENCH-CANADIAN - A Christmas Jig/Mouth of the Tobique Reel [Yo-Yo Ma, Natalie MacMaster]
CHUCK BERRY – Run Rudolph Run
KAREL SVOBODA – Drei Haselnüsse für Aschenbrödel (Three Wishes for Cinderella): Motiv - Einleitung
TRAD. ENGLISH – Wassail Song [John Kirkpatrick and friends]
SAMUEL COLERIDGE-TAYLOR – The Forest of Wild Thyme Op 74: Christmas Overture (arr. Sydney Baynes for orchestra)
TRAD. SCANDINAVIAN – Mitt hjerte alltid vanker (My Heart Forever Dwells) [arr. O. Matre for chorus]
COLDPLAY – Christmas Lights


SAT 13:00 Inside Music (m001th6s)
Organist and conductor Anna Lapwood with music that sparkles

Anna Lapwood shares Christmas memories alongside some of her favourite festive music. There’s technical agility and precision with a recording of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas by Trinity College Choir, Cambridge, and a fresh approach to ensemble playing with saxophonist Jess Gillam and friends playing Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence.

Anna also finds tracks which will give you that warm Christmassy feeling, including the Ayoub Sisters’ A Christmas Fantasy, Anna’s favourite version of Silent Night and a cheeky take on Tchaikovsky by Duke Ellington.

Plus, two different Sleigh Rides will whisk you off to winter wonderland…

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

A Tandem Production for BBC Radio 3




SAT 16:15 Music Planet (m001th7s)
A Folk Christmas

Kathryn Tickell explores Christmas folk music from around Britain and Ireland. Yorkshire and Derbyshire have their own rich folk carol repertoire that's still widely sung in pubs today, and Devon and Cornwall have also kept a distinctive tradition, including the 'Jacobstowe Wassail'. We'll also hear a carol in the Manx language, the song 'Taladh Chriosda' in Scots Gaelic, and there's a track from Ireland's The Chieftains, plus music from a Welsh 'plygain' service, which takes place on Christmas morning between the hours of three and six.


SAT 17:00 J to Z (m001th8g)
Christmas Special

Jumoké Fashola presents a special yuletide edition of J to Z, sharing some of her best-loved festive jazz tracks to welcome in the season. She also returns to one of her favourite J to Z Christmas moments featuring live music from East London Kings of Swing, the Kansas Smitty’s House Band.

Later in the programme, Jumoké shares some of the timeless Christmas jazz recommendations friends of J to Z have shared with us over the years, including from legendary South African pianist Abdullah Ibrahim and American violin virtuoso Regina Carter.

Featuring much-loved classics, as well as newly released winter warmers, expect lulling vocals, soothing horns and even a jingle bell or two.

Produced by Thomas Rees for Somethin’ Else


SAT 18:30 Opera on 3 (m001th8y)
Rimsky-Korsakov's Christmas Eve

With Christmas Eve around the corner, this evening's Opera on 3 is set in the Ukrainian village of Dikanka with Rimsky-Korsakov's 'Christmas Eve'.
A snowstorm has hit the village, where the blacksmith, Wakula, is unhappily in love with Oksana. She'll only marry him if he gets her the Tsarina's golden shoes. The villagers are singing kolyadkas, Ukrainian Christmas Carols, but Wakula is in not in the mood for singing. In desperation, he turns to the devil to fly him to the capital to get the shoes for Oksana. Will this be enough to win her hand?
Tom Service presents this concert performance recorded last year at the Philharmonie, Berlin, in conversation with Rosamund Bartlett. The cast is led by Mikhail Vekua as the blacksmith and Sofia Fomina as Oksana, with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, George Enescu Philharmonic Chorus, conducted by Vladimir Jurowski.

Vakula the smith ..... Mikhail Vekua (tenor)
Chubb, an elderly Cossack ..... Dmitry Ulyanov (bass)
Oksana ..... Sofia Fomina (soprano)
Solokha ..... Ksenia Dudnikova (mezzo-soprano)
Tsaritsa ..... Marina Prudenskaja (mezzo-soprano)
Golova, the mayor ..... Sergei Leiferkus (baritone)
Devil ..... Alexander Fedorov (tenor)
Patsyuk/Panas ..... Milan Siljanov (bass-baritone)
Sexton Ossip ..... Vsevolod Grivnov (tenor)
Woman with a violet nose ..... Nadine Weissmann (alto)
Woman with an ordinary nose ..... Josefine Mindus (soprano)

George Enescu Philharmonic Chorus
Iosif Ion Prunner, chorus master
Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra
Vladimir Jurowski, conductor


SAT 22:00 New Music Show (m001th9l)
Landscape of Echoes

Kate Molleson presents a selection of new music for the Christmas season, including snow-inspired works by Kaija Saariaho and Hans Abrahamsen, a Christmas carol re-imagined by Carla Bley and a recording of Jurg Frey's Landscape of Echoes, performed by Exaudi at last month's Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival.

SUNDAY 24 DECEMBER 2023

SUN 00:00 Freeness (m001thb7)
Peace Pieces

On Christmas Eve, Corey Mwamba presents a selection of new free jazz and improvised music to usher in peace and welcome the sacred, taking inspiration from Peace Piece by Bill Evans, one of the most serene and quietly-disarming solo improvisations ever heard.

Musicians and listeners share their ideas for ‘peace pieces’, tracks imbued with atmospheres of tranquillity or performances that express the search and the struggle for serenity and calm. Saxophonist Paul Dunmall offers I Wish You Peace, an anti-war anthem he composed for his 50th birthday; and the trio of Kyoko Kitamura (vocals), Melanie Dyer (viola) and Mara Rosenbloom (piano) share an unreleased live exploration of what amity can sound like.

Violinist Marija Kovacevic sends an improvised response to our theme, specially created for Freeness; plus we receive a musical message of sonic goodwill from Buster Woodruff​-​Bryant (saxophone) and Federico Ughi (drums).

Produced by Silvia Malnati
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio


SUN 01:00 Through the Night (m001thbv)
Christmas with the Romanian Radio Children's Chorus

Răzvan Rădos conducts a festive concert from Bucharest, with a programme mixing Romanian Christmas music and carols from across Europe. Danielle Jalowiecka presents.

01:01 AM
Gheorghe Cucu (1882-1932)
Wake Up Hosts, No Longer Sleep

Nicolae Lungu (1900-1993)
Down in Bethlehem
Glory in the Highest
Romanian Radio Children's Chorus, Razvan Rados (conductor)

01:07 AM
Gheorghe Cucu (1882-1932)
Our Young Lord, Our Lord in Heaven
Romanian Radio Children's Chorus, Razvan Rados (conductor)

01:12 AM
Traditional Romanian
Host, Arrange Your House
Little Apple Tree with Lots of Flowers

Timotei Popovici (1870-1950)
Three Shepherds
Choir School Workshop, Romanian Radio Children's Chorus, Magdalena Faur (piano), Razvan Rados (conductor)

01:20 AM
Radu Zamfirescu (b. 1951), Magdalena Faur (arranger)
White Flowers

Traditional Ukrainian, Mykola Leontovych (arranger)
The Little Swallow (Shchedryk)
Romanian Radio Children's Chorus, Razvan Rados (conductor)

01:25 AM
Traditional Spanish
Riu Riu Chiu

Traditional French
Noel Nouvelet

Anonymous, John Rutter (arranger)
Personent Hodie
Romanian Radio Children's Chorus, Razvan Rados (conductor), Magdalena Faur (piano)

01:32 AM
Franz Gruber (1787-1863), Hermann Josef Dahmen (arranger)
Silent Night

Anonymous, Brian Kay (arranger)
Gaudete
Etheros Vocal Group, Romanian Radio Children's Chorus, Razvan Rados (conductor)

01:38 AM
John Rutter (b.1945)
All Bells in Paradise
Romanian Radio Children's Chorus, Etheros Vocal Group, Eduard Antal (organ), Razvan Rados (conductor)

01:46 AM
Traditional
3 Christmas songs (Adeste Fidelis; Joy to the World; Jingle Bells)
Romanian Radio Children's Chorus, Choir School Workshop, Etheros Vocal Group, Magdalena Faur (piano), Razvan Rados (conductor)

01:53 AM
Dumitru Kiriac-Georgescu (1866-1928)
Santa Claus
Romanian Radio Children's Chorus, Choir School Workshop, Magdalena Faur (piano), Razvan Rados (conductor)

01:56 AM
Dinu Lipatti (1917-1950)
3 Romanian Dances for 2 pianos
Dana Protopopescu (piano), Viniciu Moroianu (piano)


02:55 AM
Gottfried Finger (c.1660-1730)
Sonata for recorder and harpsichord in G major
Antoni Sawicz (recorder), Robert Grac (harpsichord)

03:01 AM
Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Violin Fantasy in C major, Op 131
Thomas Zehetmair (violin), Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Nicholas Harnoncourt (conductor)

03:17 AM
Jan Ladislav Dussek (1760-1812)
Piano Sonata in C minor, Op 35 no 3
Andreas Staier (fortepiano)

03:41 AM
Dmitry Shostakovich (1906-1975)
String Quartet No. 8 in C minor, op. 110
Nerida Quartett

04:04 AM
Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
Three Psalms (Op.78)
Chamber Choir AVE, Andraz Hauptman (conductor)

04:24 AM
Carl Friedrich Abel (1723-1787)
Symphony (K.21) (Op.10 No.3) in E flat major
La Stagione Frankfurt, Michael Schneider (conductor)

04:34 AM
Anonymous
Lullay, Lullow - carol
Zefiro Torna

04:37 AM
Dora Pejacevic (1885-1923)
Nocturne for orchestra
Croatian Radio-Television Symphony Orchestra, Pavle Despalj (conductor)

04:42 AM
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
Violin Concerto in F minor, RV.297 'L'Inverno'
Elizabeth Wallfisch (baroque violin), Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, Paul Dyer (director)

04:50 AM
Engelbert Humperdinck (1854-1921)
Dream Pantomime (Hansel and Gretel)
Symphony Nova Scotia, Georg Tintner (conductor)

05:01 AM
Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713)
Concerto grosso in G minor, Op 6 No 8, 'per la notte di Natale'
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Roy Goodman (conductor)

05:16 AM
Bedrich Smetana (1824-1884)
Pensée Fugitive in D minor, JB 1:24
Alexandra Troussova (piano)

05:20 AM
Georgi Zlatev-Cherkin (1905-1977)
Sevdana for violin and string orchestra (1944)
Valentin Stefanov (violin), Bulgarian National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Vassil Kazandjiev (conductor)

05:26 AM
Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826)
Concertino for clarinet and orchestra in E flat major, Op 26
Hannes Altrov (clarinet), Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Paul Magi (conductor)

05:37 AM
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (c.1525-1594)
Quem vidistis, pastores
Elmer Iseler Singers

05:41 AM
Germaine Tailleferre (1892-1983)
Sonata for harp
Godelieve Schrama (harp)

05:51 AM
Johann Friedrich Fasch (1688-1758)
Concerto in C minor for 2 oboes, bassoon and strings, FaWV L:c2
Shai Kribus (oboe), Mirjam Huttner (oboe), Sergio Azzolini (bassoon), Camerata Bern, Sergio Azzolini (director)

06:01 AM
Sergey Rachmaninov (1873-1943)
Trio élégiaque no 1 in G minor
Esther Hoppe (violin), Christian Poltera (cello), Hiroko Sakagami (piano)

06:15 AM
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Symphony no 6 in F major, Op 68 (Pastoral)
Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos (conductor)


SUN 07:00 Breakfast (m001th7m)
Lazy classical Sunday

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 (m001th88)
Christmas Eve Live with Katie Derham

In a festive edition of Sunday Morning, Katie welcomes a gathering of guests in the studio to celebrate Christmas Eve.

Katie finds fresh takes on familiar seasonal tunes from around the world, from Sussex to New South Wales, and she is joined in the studio by the London Philharmonic Orchestra brass quintet, bringing live music and Christmas cheer.

Plus, Katie welcomes actor Emma Fielding to share festive readings and celebrate the season…

A Tandem Production for BBC Radio 3


SUN 13:00 Clive Myrie at Christmas (m001th8v)
A classical Christmas Eve

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 Christmas Eve show, Clive introduces a beautiful recording of Britten's Corpus Christi Carol, Delius takes us on a ride through the snow, and there are perennial festive favourites from Prokofiev, Handel and Louis Armstrong.

Plus, Clive recalls what Christmas Eve was like when he was a child...


SUN 14:00 The Early Music Show (m001th9g)
Early Music for Christmas Eve

From her home in North London, Hannah French presents a selection of medieval carols, plus Renaissance & Baroque music for Christmas Eve, including festive pieces by Corelli, Vivaldi, Charpentier, Manfredini, Byrd, Manchicourt & Handel.

Join Hannah in the French kitchen as she also tucks in to some Yuletide treats fit for a cosy Christmas Eve.


SUN 15:00 Choral Evensong (m001t9zl)
Norwich Cathedral

From Norwich Cathedral.

Introit: O Clavis David (Kerensa Briggs) (world premiere)
Responses: Michael Nicholas
Office hymn: O come, O come Emmanuel (Veni Emmanuel, arr. Ashley Grote)
Psalms 4, 9 (Martin, Elvey)
First Lesson: Isaiah 51 vv.1-8
Canticles: Collegium Magalenae Oxoniense (Leighton)
Second Lesson: 2 Thessalonians 1 vv.1-12
Anthem: Angelus ad Virginem (Matthew Martin)
Hymn: Lo! he comes with clouds descending (Helmsley)
Voluntary: Symphonie-Passion (Le monde dans l’attente du sauveur) (Dupré)

Ashley Grote (Master of Music)
David Dunnett (Organist)


SUN 16:00 Jazz Record Requests (m001thb2)
Christmas Special

Alyn Shipton presents a Christmassy selection of your favourite jazz records in all styles, with music today from Nat King Cole, Modern Jazz Quartet and Louis Armstrong.

Get in touch: jrr@bbc.co.uk or use #jazzrecordrequests on social.

DISC 1
Artist Nat King Cole
Title The Christmas Song
Composer Mel Torme / Robert Wells
Album The Complete Nelson Riddle Studio Sessions
Label Music Milestones
Number 983200 CD 3 Track 4
Duration 3.16
Performers Nat King Cole, v; Jules Kinsler, Ted Nash, Harry Steinfeld, reeds; Milt Bernhart, Joe Howard, George Roberts, tb; Vince De Rosa, John Graas, frh; Ann Stockton, hp; Buddy Cole, p; John Collins, g; Charlie Harris, b; Lee Young, d. 24 Aug 1953.

DISC 2
Artist Barbara Dennerlein
Title We Three Kings
Composer Trad., and Johnson, Jones, Dunn, Cropper
Album Christmas Soul
Label MPS
Number 0210682 MS1 Track 2
Duration 6.05
Performers Barbara Dennerlein, org; Magnus Lindgren, flute; Luca Alemanno, b; Robert Ikiz, d. 2015

DISC 3
Artist Alison Burns / Martin Taylor
Title The Little Boy That Santa Claus Forgot
Composer Leach / Connor
Album I’ll Be Home For Christmas
Label P3 Music
Number P3MCD 029 Track 5
Duration 2.40
Performers Alison Burns, v; Martin Taylor, g. 2014.

DISC 4
Artist Tommy Smith
Title Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
Composer Martin /Blane
Album The Christmas Concert
Label Spartacus
Number STS006 Track 7
Duration 7.28
Performers Tommy Smith, ts; Gareth Williams, p; Orlando LeFleming, b; Sebastiaan De Krom d. 21 Dec 2001

DISC 5
Artist Modern Jazz Quartet
Title Skating in Central Park
Composer J Lewis / J Spence
Album The Quintessence
Label Fremeaux
Number FA 285 CD 2 Track 7
Duration 6.12
Performers Milt Jackson, vib; John Lewis, p; Percy Heath, b; Connie Kay, d. Oct 1959

DISC 6
Artist Louis Armstrong (with Benny Carter’s Orchestra)
Title Christmas In New Orleans
Composer Joe Van Winkle Dick Sherman
Album [Single]
Label Decca
Number 29710 Side A
Duration 2.55
Performers Louis Armstrong, t, bv; Manny Klein, Pete Candoli, Vito Mangano, t; Trummy Young, Si Zentner, tb; Barney Bigard, Skeets Hurfurt, Harry Klee, Babe Russin, Donald Ruffel, reeds; Billy Kyle, p; Arvell Shaw, b; Barrett Deems, d; Benny Carter, cond. 8 Sept 1955.

DISC 7
Artist Bessie Smith
Title At The Christmas Ball
Composer Fred Longshaw
Album Complete Columbia Recordings Vol 2
Label Columbia
Number 88725403102-364 CD 2 Track 17
Duration 3.17
Performers Bessie Smith, v; Joe Smith, c; Charlie Green, tb; Fletcher Henderson p. 18 Nov 1925.

DISC 8
Artist Chet Baker and Stan Getz
Title Winter Winterland
Composer Bernard / Smith
Album West Coast Live
Label Pacific Jazz
Number CDP 7243 8 35634 2 5 CD 1 Track 6
Duration 4.05
Performers Chet Baker, t; Stan Getz, ts; Carson Smith, b; Larry Bunker, d. 12 June 1953.

DISC 9
Artist Carla Bley / Partyka Brass Quintet
Title Jingle Bells
Composer Pierpont
Album Carla’s Christmas Carols
Label ECM
Number 271 2413 Track 10
Duration 3.09
Performers Tobias Weidlinger, t, glock; Axel Schlosser, t; Adrian Mears, tb; Christine Chapman, frh; Ed Partyka, tu; Carla Bley, arr, celeste. Dec 2008.

DISC 10
Artist Vince Guaraldi
Title O Tannenbaum
Composer Ernst Anschütz
Album A Charlie Brown Christmas
Label Fantasy
Number 85019 Track 1
Duration 5.09
Performers Vince Guaraldi, p; Fred Marshall. b; Jerry Granelli, d. Oct 1964.

DISC 11
Artist Dianne Reeves
Title I’ll Be Home For Christmas
Composer Kim Gannon, Walter Kent
Album Christmas Time Is Here
Label Blue Note
Number 7243 4 73345 2 8 Track 6
Duration 5.25
Performers Dianne Reeves, v; Steve Wilson, sax; Peter Martin, p; Romero Lubambo, g; Reuben Rogers, b; Greg Hutchinson, d; Munyungo Jackson, perc. 2004

DISC 12
Artist Dexter Gordon
Title The Christmas Song
Composer Mel Torme / Robert Wells
Album The Panther
Label Prestige
Number P7829 Track 5
Duration 5.18
Performers Dexter Gordon, ts; Tommy Flanagan, p; Larry Ridley, b; Alan Dawson, d. 7 July 1970.


SUN 17:00 Words and Music (m0012qzt)
Seven Ages of Christmas

Readers Nina Sosanya and Robert Webb delve into a Christmas stocking of poetry and prose covering all ages. According to popular song Christmas is "the most wonderful time of the year", but whether or not you agree might depend on your age. Taking our cue from Shakespeare's Seven Ages of Man, Words and Music explores the varying attitudes to Christmas for different age groups - from the baby in a manger to wide-eyed, Santa-obsessed youngsters; blasé teenagers to relationship-stymmied 20 and 30 somethings; life-weary parents to grumpy old men and women. We hear from Jane Austen's Emma and Mr Knightley's reluctance to leave his fireside on Christmas Eve to visit friends, a cash-strapped teenage Adrian Mole, singleton Queenie, eleven-year-old Anne of Green Gables overcome with wonder at her Christmas dress, eight-year-old Kevin, who finds himself unexpectedly Home Alone for Christmas, fastidious planner and cooking guide for so many of us Delia Smith, T.S. Eliot's Magi, and the ultimate Christmas humbug, Ebenezer Scrooge himself.

The musical soundtrack is packed with seasonal favourites, with carols ranging from a mediaeval lullaby through to Florence Price, Sally Beamish and John Rutter, and popular songs from Louis Armstrong and Mariah Carey. And as it’s Christmas Eve, there’s music especially written for this magical night by Tchaikovsky (The Nutcracker); Corelli (Christmas Concerto); and Puccini (La Bohème).

From the contemplative and spiritual to raucous party fun, whatever your view of Christmas, there will be something that chimes with your festive outlook.

Producer: Graham Rogers

READINGS
Sarah Teasdale: Christmas Carol
Nicholas Moore: On Christmas Eve
Esther Freud: Hideous Kinky
John Irving: A Prayer for Owen Meany
Alice Beer: December 24th
LM Montgomery: Anne of Green Gables
Tod Strasser: Home Alone
Marion Strobel: On Christmas
Sue Townsend: The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13 ¾
Sharyn November: Christmas
Candice Carty-Williams: Queenie
Jane Austen: Emma
Shona Kerr-Hill: Christmas Shopping
Delia Smith: Delia Smith's Christmas
Judith Holder: The Secret Diary of a Grumpy Old Woman
Pam Ayres: Goodwill To Men - Give Us Your Money
Agatha Christie: The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding
Elizabeth Strout: Oh William!
TS Eliot: Journey of the Magi
Charles Dickens: A Christmas Carol

01 00:00:00 Trad.
Star Carol
Performer: Simon & Garfunkel
Duration 00:01:13

02 00:01:10
Sarah Teasdale
Christmas Carol, read by Nina Sosanya
Duration 00:00:55

03 00:02:06 Anon.
Coventry Carol
Choir: Tallis Scholars
Conductor: Peter Phillips
Duration 00:01:25

04 00:03:28
Nicholas Moore
On Christmas Eve, read by Robert Webb
Duration 00:00:45

05 00:03:56 Trad.
Away in a manger
Music Arranger: Graham Fitkin
Performer: Ruth Wall
Duration 00:01:45

06 00:05:07
Esther Freud
Hideous Kinky, read by Nina Sosanya
Duration 00:01:58

07 00:07:13 Trad.
Zither Carol
Performer: David Rees-Williams Trio
Duration 00:01:50

08 00:09:07
John Irving
A Prayer for Owen Meaney, read by Robert Webb
Duration 00:01:09

09 00:10:16 Gustav Holst
In the bleak midwinter
Performer: Sheku Kanneh-Mason
Performer: Isata Kanneh-Mason
Duration 00:01:09

10 00:11:07
Alice Beer
December 24th
Duration 00:00:23

11 00:11:30 Franz Xaver Gruber
Stille Nacht
Choir: Taverner Choir
Conductor: Andrew Parrott
Duration 00:02:02

12 00:13:29
Lucy Maud Montgomery
Anne of Green Gables, read by Nina Sosanya
Duration 00:01:53

13 00:15:09 John Williams
Home Alone (Main title)
Conductor: John Williams
Duration 00:03:16

14 00:18:09
Todd Strasser (based on screenplay by John Hughes)
Home Alone, read by Robert Webb
Duration 00:01:57

15 00:20:08 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Trepak (The Nutcracker)
Orchestra: Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor: Sir Simon Rattle
Duration 00:01:06

16 00:21:15 Gerald Finzi
The Salutation (Dies Natalis)
Performer: Amy Dickson
Orchestra: Aurora Orchestra
Conductor: Nicholas Collon
Duration 00:04:15

17 00:25:28
Marion Strobel
On Christmas, read by Nina Sosanya
Duration 00:00:34

18 00:26:03 Sally Beamish
In the stillness
Choir: ORA
Conductor: Suzi Digby
Duration 00:02:01

19 00:28:03 Brendan Brown
Teenage Dirtbag
Performer: Wheatus
Duration 00:01:05

20 00:29:03
Sue Townsend
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13 ¾, read by Robert Webb
Duration 00:01:38

21 00:30:41 Johann Sebastian Bach
In dulci jubilo BWV751
Performer: Wilhelm Kempff
Duration 00:01:50

22 00:30:54
Sharyn November
Christmas, read by Nina Sosanya
Duration 00:01:36

23 00:32:35 Florence Price
Song for Snow
Choir: VocalEssence
Performer: Paul Shaw
Conductor: Philip Brunelle
Duration 00:01:55

24 00:34:30 Chilly Gonzales (artist)
All I want for Christmas is you
Performer: Chilly Gonzales
Duration 00:00:57

25 00:35:06
Candice Carty-Williams
Queenie, read by Nina Sosanya
Duration 00:01:50

26 00:36:59 The King's Men (artist)
All I want for Christmas is you
Performer: The King's Men
Duration 00:01:41

27 00:38:34
Helen Fielding
Bridget Jones’s Diary, read by Nina Sosanya
Duration 00:01:56

28 00:40:28 Giacomo Puccini
La Boheme – Act 2 (conclusion)
Orchestra: Philharmonia Orchestra
Conductor: Sir Antonio Pappano
Duration 00:03:28

29 00:43:51
Jane Austen
Emma, read by Robert Webb
Duration 00:01:50

30 00:45:42 Arcangelo Corelli
Concerto Grosso in G minor Op.6 No.8 “Christmas night” – 6th mvt
Ensemble: Gli Incogniti
Performer: Amandine Beyer
Duration 00:03:18

31 00:40:03
Shona Kerr-Hill
Christmas Shopping, read by Nina Sosanya
Duration 00:00:32

32 00:49:36 Johnny Hawksworth
Ready to Serve (Delia Smith’s Cookery Course)
Performer: Johnny Hawksworth
Duration 00:01:00

33 00:49:44
Delia Smith
Delia Smith’s Christmas, read by Nina Sosanya
Duration 00:00:58

34 00:50:45 John Rutter
Shepherd’s Pipe Carol
Choir: The Cambridge Singers
Orchestra: City of London Sinfonia
Conductor: John Rutter
Duration 00:02:26

35 00:00:53
Judith Holder
The Secret Diary of a Grumpy Old Woman, read by Nina Sosanya
Duration 00:01:06

36 00:54:10 Trad.
Deck the Halls
Music Arranger: Craig Leon
Orchestra: London Chamber Orchestra
Conductor: Christopher Warren‐Green
Duration 00:01:45

37 00:54:25
Pam Ayres
Goodwill To Men - Give Us Your Money, read by Robert Webb
Duration 00:01:22

38 00:55:53 Träd
God rest you merry gentlemen
Performer: Aimee Mann
Duration 00:01:10

39 00:56:56
Agatha Christie
The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding, read by Robert Webb
Duration 00:01:46

40 00:58:40 Victor Hely-Hutchinson
Carol Symphony – 3rd mvt
Orchestra: Pro Arte Orchestra of London
Conductor: Barry Rose
Duration 00:03:31

41 01:02:08
Elizabeth Strout
Oh William!, read by Nina Sosanya
Duration 00:00:56

42 01:03:03 Peter Cornelius
Three Kings
Choir: Choir of King’s College, Cambridge
Conductor: Stephen Cleobury
Duration 00:02:22

43 01:05:25
T.S. Eliot
Journey of the Magi, read by Nina Sosanya
Duration 00:02:12

44 01:07:37 Felix Bernard
Winter Wonderland
Performer: Louis Armstrong
Orchestra: Gordon Jenkins & His Orchestra
Duration 00:01:13

45 01:08:43
Charles Dickens
A Christmas Carol, read by Robert Webb
Duration 00:01:59

46 01:10:45 Isaac Watts
Joy to the World
Performer: Ella Fitzgerald
Duration 00:00:12

47 01:10:56 Isaac Watts
Joy to the World
Performer: Earth, Wind & Fire
Duration 00:01:55


SUN 18:15 Sunday Feature (m001thbn)
While Shepherds Watched: The hidden world of the South Yorkshire village carol sings

Elizabeth Alker explores the ancient tradition of South Yorkshire carolling. Originally sung in churches by musicians and choirs, the carol tradition in the Victorian era suffered what must have appeared to some as a huge reverse. Carols, it seemed, had failed the Victorian humour test and all but a few were driven out of churches. They found a new home, however, in pubs around Sheffield and South Yorkshire, where they found favour and sometimes a licentious edge. They flourish there today where the tradition has survived intact and according to the international carol singing expert, the musicologist Dr Ian Russell, Professor Emeritus of the University of Aberdeen, the movement is proving increasingly popular, spreading across county lines to other part of the UK and abroad. And the tradition of carol composing is still evolving there too - there are over 30 charted versions of While Shepherds Watched, for instance, including revivals of once lost examples. Elizabeth Alker sets out in search of lost carols, a thriving and binding social phenomenon, speaking with Dr. Russell, local punters for whom these carols serve an important social function and folk musicians like Kate Rusby, brought up on the pub carolling tradition and one of the vast array of musicians who are enabling this hidden tradition to flourish.


SUN 19:00 Sara Mohr-Pietsch's Hygge Christmas (m001thc4)
Christmas warmth from Sara Mohr-Pietsch.


SUN 21:00 Christmas at Ronnie’s (m001thcj)
Georgia Mann is at Ronnie Scott's in London for an evening that sparkles with the best Christmas jazz. Emma Smith and band perform new arrangements of well-loved festive tunes, from Ella Fitzgerald's 'I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm' to Barbra Streisand's 'Snowbound', and Director of Music James Pearson takes us on a whistle-stop tour through the venue's Christmas gigs of the past from famous jazz legends including George Melly and Buddy Rich.


SUN 22:30 Ultimate Calm (m001thcy)
Festive sounds for winter warmth ft. Loreen and The Staves

Ward off the winter cold and get cosy by the fire with a special two-hour seasonal episode of Ultimate Calm with Icelandic composer Ólafur Arnalds. Ólafur shares a selection of tracks to transport you out of the hectic noise that comes with this time of year, and reflects on how music can be an escape. With music from the likes of Haruomi Hosono, Anoushka Shankar and Erland Cooper.

We visit two musical safe havens over the course of the episode - hearing the music that Ólafur’s special guests retreat to in times of stress. Swedish singer-songwriter and Eurovision winner Loreen shares a track that combines piano with the sounds of nature which always makes her feel grounded, and Jess and Millie from English indie folk band The Staves pick a soothing song that makes them take a deep breath and gives them respite from the busy chaos of life.

Ólafur also performs a very special live version of his piano piece ‘saman’, which means 'together' in Icelandic, and shares some reflections on the quirky festive folktales of Iceland, with stories of trolls and icy darkness.

Produced by Katie Callin
A Reduced Listening production

MONDAY 25 DECEMBER 2023

MON 00:30 Through the Night (m001thdd)
We Wish You a Merry Christmas

A Christmas concert from the WDR Radio Chorus and Orchestra with former King's Singer, tenor Paul Phoenix. Danielle Jalowiecka presents.

12:31 AM
Nigel Hess (1953-)
A Christmas Overture
WDR Radio Orchestra, Cologne, Fawzi Haimor (conductor)

12:39 AM
Victor Herbert (1859-1924)
March of the Toys from 'Babes in Toyland'

Irving Berlin (1888-1989), Lutz Krajenski (arranger)
White Christmas
Paul Phoenix (tenor), WDR Radio Choir, Fawzi Haimor (conductor)

12:46 AM
Thomas Hewitt Jones (1984-)
On Christmas Night
Child of the Stable's Secret Birth
Paul Phoenix (tenor), WDR Radio Choir and Orchestra, Cologne, Fawzi Haimor (conductor)

12:54 AM
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908)
Polonaise from 'The Night Before Christmas'
WDR Radio Orchestra, Cologne, Fawzi Haimor (conductor)

12:59 AM
English Traditional, David Willcocks (arranger)
Deck the Hall

John Rutter (b.1945),
Cradle Song
WDR Radio Choir, Fawzi Haimor (conductor)

01:03 AM
Emile Waldteufel (1837-1915), Andreas Tarkmann (arranger)
The Skaters' Waltz, Op.183
WDR Radio Orchestra, Cologne, Fawzi Haimor (conductor)

01:07 AM
Howard Blake (b.1938), Barnaby Smith (arranger)
Walking in the Air from 'The Snowman'
Paul Phoenix (tenor), WDR Radio Choir, Fawzi Haimor (conductor)

01:11 AM
Leroy Anderson (1908-1975)
Sleigh Ride
WDR Radio Orchestra, Cologne, Fawzi Haimor (conductor)

01:14 AM
Paul McCartney (1942-), Marc-Aurel Floros (arranger)
Blackbird
Paul Phoenix (tenor), WDR Radio Orchestra, Cologne, Fawzi Haimor (conductor)

01:17 AM
Hugh Martin (1944-2011), Marc-Aurel Floros (arranger)
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
Paul Phoenix (tenor), WDR Radio Orchestra, Cologne, Fawzi Haimor (conductor)

01:21 AM
Leroy Anderson (1908-1975)
Christmas Festival
WDR Radio Orchestra, Cologne, Fawzi Haimor (conductor)

01:28 AM
German Traditional
O Du Fröhliche, O Du Selige
Paul Phoenix (tenor), WDR Radio and Orchestra, Cologne, Fawzi Haimor (conductor)

01:31 AM
English Traditional, Arthur Warrell (arranger)
We Wish You a Merry Christmas
WDR Radio Choir, Fawzi Haimor (conductor)

01:33 AM
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
Symphony no 1 in G minor, Op 13 'Winter daydreams'
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Pavel Semetov (conductor)

02:17 AM
Andre Jolivet (1905-1974)
Pastorale de Noël
Andrea Kolle (flute), Maria Wildhaber (bassoon), Sarah Verrue (harp)

02:31 AM
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Symphony No 5 in B flat major, D485
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Leonard Bernstein (conductor)

03:01 AM
Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849)
Piano Sonata No 3 in B minor Op.58
Jakub Kuszlik (piano)

03:29 AM
Marcel Samuel-Rousseau (1882-1955)
Variations Pastorales sur un vieux Noel
Erica Goodman (harp), Amadeus Ensemble


03:45 AM
Christoph Gluck (1714-1787)
Ballet music from 'Paris e Helena'
Radio Bratislava Symphony Orchestra, Ludovit Rajter (conductor)

03:57 AM
Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
Des pas sur la neige - no 6 from Preludes book 1
Danae O'Callaghan (piano)

04:03 AM
Giuseppe Torelli (1658-1709)
Concerto a quattro in forma Pastorale per il Santo Natale, Op.8 No.6
Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Jeanne Lamon (conductor)

04:09 AM
Stanislaw Moniuszko (1819-1872)
Bajka (The fairy tale) - concert overture
National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Antoni Wit (conductor)

04:23 AM
Isaac Albeniz (1860-1909)
Cordoba (Nocturne) from Cantos de Espana (Op.232 No.4)
Henry-David Varema (cello), Heiki Matlik (guitar)

04:31 AM
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Sinfonia from Christmas Oratorio (BWV.248 Part 2)
Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Ketil Haugsand (conductor)

04:37 AM
Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
Cello Sonata in D minor
Duo Krarup-Shirinyan (duo)

04:48 AM
Carl Friedrich Abel (1723-1787)
Symphony in C major, Op 10 No 4
La Stagione Frankfurt, Michael Schneider (conductor)

04:58 AM
Traditional
Three Carols (The Holly and the Ivy; Lord Jesus hath a Garden; Fantasy on Come All Ye Shepherds)
Brass Consort Koln

05:07 AM
Francesca Caccini (1587-1640)
Maria, dolce Maria - from Il primo libro delle musiche a una, e due voci
Tragicomedia, Stephen Stubbs (director)

05:10 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Three Marches (K.408)
Symphony Nova Scotia, Georg Tintner (conductor)

05:23 AM
Lars-Erik Larsson (1908-1986)
De nakna tradens sanger, Op 7 (Songs of the Naked Trees)
Swedish Radio Choir, Gote Widlund (conductor)

05:38 AM
Gabriel Faure (1845-1924)
Piano Quintet in C minor, Op 115
Sebastian Bohren (violin), Hyunjong Reents-Kang (violin), Hannes Bartschi (viola), Patrick Demenga (cello), Bernd Glemser (piano)

06:13 AM
Josef Suk (1874-1935)
A Winter's tale, Op.9
Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Rudolf Vasata (conductor)


MON 06:30 Breakfast (m001th6m)
Christmas Day sunrise classical

Join Hannah and the team for a Christmas Day special featuring listener requests.

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


MON 09:00 Christmas Morning Live (m001th6z)
Whether you’re celebrating with family or spending the time on your own, your host, Petroc Trelawny has assembled the perfect selection of festive guests to brighten and enliven your morning with great music and heart-warming moments.

As well as featuring music that celebrates the Christmas traditions around the globe, Petroc will be playing personal favourites, and listeners will be able to message the show to request seasonal music of their choice for their Christmas morning.


MON 13:08 A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols (m001th7d)
Christmas 2023

A service of carols, hymns and readings live from the candlelit Chapel of King's College, Cambridge.

Hymn: Once in royal David's City (Irby, descant Ledger)
Bidding Prayer (read by the Dean)
Carol: Out of your sleep (Robin Nelson)
First lesson: Genesis 3 vv. 8-19 (read by a Chorister)
Carol: Adam lay ybounden (Matthew Martin)
Second lesson: Genesis 22 vv. 15-19 (read by a College student)
Carol: Illuminare Jerusalem (Judith Weir)
Third lesson: Isaiah 9 vv. 2, 6-7 (read by a member of College staff)
Carol: O radiant dawn (James MacMillan)
Hymn: O Little town of Bethlehem (Forest Green, descant Armstrong)
Fourth lesson: Isaiah 11 vv. 1-9 (read by the Master over the Choristers)
Carol: King Jesus hath a garden (Trad. Dutch arr. Wood, Cleobury)
Carol: A spotless rose (Philip Ledger)
Fifth lesson: Luke 1 vv. 26-38 (read by a Fellow)
Carol: Gabriel’s message (Trad. Basque, arr. Willcocks)
Carol: Hereford Carol (arr. Robinson)
Sixth lesson: Luke 2 vv. 1-7 (read by the Mayor of Cambridge)
Carol: Sir Christemas (Mathias)
Hymn: The first Nowell the angel did say (The first Nowell, arr. Willcocks)
Seventh lesson: Luke 2 vv. 8-20 (read by the Director of Music)
Carol: The Cradle (Cheryl Frances-Hoad) – 2023 Commission
Eighth lesson: Matthew 2 vv. 1-12 (read by the Vice-Provost)
Carol: All the stars looked down (John Rutter)
Carol: Benedicamus Domino (Warlock)
Ninth lesson: John 1 vv. 1-14 (read by the Provost)
Hymn: O come, all ye faithful (Adeste Fideles, arr. Willcocks, Daniel Hyde)
Collect and Blessing
Hymn: Hark, the herald angels sing (Mendelssohn, arr. Willcocks)

Organ voluntaries:
In dulci jubilo, BWV 729 (Bach)
Dieu parmi nous (Messiaen)

Daniel Hyde (Director of Music)
Paul Greally (Organ Scholar)
The Revd Dr Stephen Cherry (Dean)
The Revd Dr Mary Kells (Chaplain)

For millions listening around the world, A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, live from the candlelit Chapel of King's College, Cambridge, marks the beginning of Christmas. The service is based around nine Bible readings which tell the story of the loving purposes of God. They are interspersed with carols old and new, sung by the world-famous Chapel choir who also lead the congregation in traditional Christmas hymns.

A new work has been commissioned for the Christmas Eve service every year since 1983, and this year Cheryl Frances-Hoad has written ‘The Cradle’, a setting of an English translation by Robert Graves of an anonymous seventeenth century Austrian text.

A number of pieces by twentieth century composers such as Robin Nelson, Matthew Martin, Judith Weir, James MacMillian, Philip Ledger, William Mathias, and Peter Warlock, sit alongside traditional carols in arrangements by David Willcocks and Christopher Robinson. The service also includes the carol ‘All the stars looked down’, composed by John Rutter in memory of the former Director of Music at King’s, Stephen Cleobury.

Producer: Ben Collingwood


MON 15:00 Christmas Afternoon with Sean Rafferty (m001th81)
Festive music to thrill, sooth and nourish you on Christmas afternoon, with musical surprises and Sean's special guests.

Music includes favourites by John Rutter, Cecilia McDowall, The Muppets and an exuberant Christmas cantata by Bach.


MON 17:00 Words and Music (m001tk21)
Merry Christmas

Dominic West (The Crown/The Affair) and Gemma Whelan (Game of Thrones/Gentleman Jack) read poetry and prose exploring everything that makes for a magical Christmas, alongside a feast of seasonal music from classical to contemporary. We’ve a winter walk with Robert Louis Stevenson, Christmas dinner with PG Wodehouse, Christmas music with William Wordsworth and Anne Bronte, a school nativity with Clare Bevan, and the King’s speech as imagined by Brian Bilston. And we’ll enter the magical worlds of Narnia when Christmas finally comes, the Wind in the Willows complete with Yule-tide mice, and Little House on the Prairie as Laura and Mary discover that Santa has visited them after all. Along the way we’ll hear traditional carols and festive music by Kate Rusby, Nils Frahm, Louis Armstong, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Harry Gregson-Williams and Arcangelo Corelli.

Producer: Ruth Thomson

READINGS
Brian Bilston - The Kings Speech
Wendy Cope - Motorway Music
Frank O’Connor - Christmas Morning
Kenneth Graeme - Wind in the Willows
Robert Louis Stevenson - Winter Time
Claire Bevan - Just Doing My Job
P.G Wodehouse - Another Christmas Carol
Anne Bronte - Music on Christmas Morning
William Wordsworth – Minstrels
Laura Ingalls Wilder - Little House on the Prairie
Kingsley Amis - Ending Up
L Kiew - December Began With Shopping
C.S Lewis - The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Charles Dickens - Sketches by Boz


MON 18:15 BBC Proms (m001th8q)
Proms at Christmas 2023

Prom 59: Dvořák’s ‘New World’ Symphony

BBC Proms 2023: Another chance to hear the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich perform Tchaikovsky’s passionate Violin Concerto with soloist Augustin Hadelich, and Dvořák’s nostalgic ‘New World’ Symphony.

Presented by Ian Skelly, from the Royal Albert Hall, London.

The Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich performs two Romantic classics: Tchaikovsky’s passionate Violin Concerto and Dvořák’s nostalgic ‘New World’ Symphony.

Beethoven: Overture ‘The Consecration of the House’
Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto in D major
Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 in E minor, ‘From the New World’

Augustin Hadelich, violin
Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich
Paavo Järvi, conductor

Switzerland’s longest-established orchestra, the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, makes a welcome return to the Proms with Tchaikovsky’s passionate Violin Concerto (featuring soloist August Hadelich) and Dvořák’s nostalgic ‘New World’ Symphony, drawing on the African American and Native American melodies he heard during his three years as director of New York’s National Conservatory for Music. The evening opens with Beethoven’s The Consecration of the House, a heartfelt homage to the composer’s musical forefathers, Handel and Bach.


MON 20:05 New Generation Artists (m001th9m)
Performances from Radio 3's young artists scheme

Georgia Mann celebrates the prodigious musical talents of the current members of Radio 3's young artist scheme. In this first of eight programmes over the Christmas season, we'll hear two serene performances of solo music by JS Bach from violinist María Dueñas, and from pianist Alim Beisembayev; accordionist Ryan Corbett plays the enchanting accordion concerto 'Fairy Tales', by the Czech composer Václav Trojan in a performance with the BBC Symphony Orchestra recorded in October. Georgia also introduces the rich tones of mezzo-soprano Niamh O'Sullivan.

Paganini
Cantabile Op.17
María Dueñas, violin
Julien Quentin, piano

J.S. Bach
Prelude and Fugue in E flat minor book 1 BWV.853
Alim Beisembayev, piano


Wolf
Die ihr schwebet um diese palmen (from Spanisches Liederbuch)

Korngold
Glückwunsch (from 5 Songs op.38)
Niamh O'Sullivan, mezzo-soprano
Gary Beecher, piano

J.S.Bach
Partita in D Minor: Chaconne BWV.1004
María Dueñas, violin

The BBC New Generation Artists scheme was founded in 1999 to support some of the world’s finest young instrumentalists, singers and ensembles at the start of their international careers, through performance and broadcast opportunities. The distinguished list of alumni now numbers well over a hundred, among them many of the most exciting musicians working on the world stage today.


MON 21:10 BBC Proms (m001thb8)
Proms at Christmas 2023

Proms at Aberystwyth

BBC Proms 2023: Owain Park directs The Gesualdo Six, exploring five centuries of madrigals, including works from Weelkes and Palestrina to Ligeti and Weir.

Presented by Ian Skelly, from the Aberystwyth Arts Centre.

Luca Marenzio: Potrò viver io più se senza luce
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina: Io son ferito, ahi lasso
Maddalena Casulana: Morir non può il mio cuore
Carlo Gesualdo: Asciugate i begli occhi
Claudio Monteverdi: Sì, ch’ io vorrei morire
Jacques Arcadelt: Il bianco e dolce cigno
Orlando Gibbons: The silver swan
William Byrd: This sweet and merry month of May
Thomas Weelkes: As Vesta was from Latmos hill descending

Thomas Weelkes: Thule the period of cosmographie
György Ligeti: Nonsense Madrigals – No. 1: Two Dreams and Little Bat
György Ligeti: Nonsense Madrigals – No. 2: Cuckoo in the Pear Tree
György Ligeti: Nonsense Madrigals – No. 3: The Alphabet
Thomas Weelkes: The nightingale, the organ of delight
Thomas Weelkes: The ape, the monkey and baboon
György Ligeti Nonsense Madrigals – No. 4: Flying Robert
György Ligeti: Nonsense Madrigals – No. 5: The Lobster Quadrille
György Ligeti: Nonsense Madrigals – No. 6: A Long, Sad Tale
Judith Weir: Madrigal
Sarah Rimkus: My heart is like a singing bird

The Gesualdo Six
Owain Park, director


MON 22:45 The Essay (m001146b)
Sounds of Isolation

The Great White Silence

For many of us, isolation is disconcerting and challenging, but for wildlife sound recordist Chris Watson, it is something he actively seeks, so he can fully immerse himself in a place and capture its unique sounds in his recordings.

In the first of five illustrated essays, Chris recalls a trip to Antarctica, to a landscape which has been described as ‘The Great White Silence’ to record one of the greatest transitional events on the planet; the sounds of a glacier being transformed over the Antarctic summer from a solid mountain of freshwater ice into the salt water of the Ross Sea.

Produced by Sarah Blunt for BBC Audio in Bristol.


MON 23:00 Night Tracks (m001thbt)
Around midnight

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

TUESDAY 26 DECEMBER 2023

TUE 00:30 Through the Night (m001thc9)
Stenhammar, Grieg and Nielsen

The German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor Pietari Inkinen are joined by pianist Rudolf Buchbinder for Grieg's Piano Concerto. Danielle Jalowiecka presents.

12:31 AM
Wilhelm Stenhammar (1871-1927)
'Excelsior' Symphonic Overture, op. 13
German Radio Philharmonic, Pietari Inkinen (conductor)

12:46 AM
Edvard Grieg (1843-1907)
Piano Concerto in A minor, op. 16
Rudolf Buchbinder (piano), German Radio Philharmonic, Pietari Inkinen (conductor)

01:13 AM
Alfred Grunfeld (1852-1924)
Soirée de Vienne, op. 56
Rudolf Buchbinder (piano)

01:18 AM
Carl Nielsen (1865-1931)
Symphony No. 5, op. 50
German Radio Philharmonic, Pietari Inkinen (conductor)

01:53 AM
Wilhelm Stenhammar (1871-1927)
Quartet for strings No 4 in A minor, Op 25
Oslo Quartet

02:31 AM
Henryk Gorecki (1933-2010)
Miserere (Op.44)
Danish National Radio Choir, Jesper Grove Jorgensen (conductor)

03:05 AM
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Piano Sonata No.17 in D major, D.850
Francesco Piemontesi (piano)

03:43 AM
Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904)
Polonaise in E flat major
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Ludovit Rajter (conductor)

03:50 AM
Marcel Grandjany (1891-1975)
Rhapsodie pour la harpe (1921)
Rita Costanzi (harp)

03:59 AM
David Popper (1843-1913)
Hungarian rhapsody, Op 68
Shauna Rolston (cello), Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Mario Bernardi (conductor)

04:08 AM
Marin Marais (1656-1728)
La Sonnerie de Sainte-Genevieve du Mont de Paris
Ricercar Consort, Henri Ledroit (conductor)

04:16 AM
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
An Mignon (D.161), Op.19 No.2 (To Mignon)
Christoph Pregardien (tenor), Andreas Staier (pianoforte)

04:20 AM
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897), Stephanie Haensler (arranger)
Intermezzo, op. 118/2
Camerata Zurich, Igor Karsko (conductor)

04:31 AM
Joseph Haydn (1732-1809), Ignace Joseph Pleyel (1757-1831), Harold Perry (arranger)
Divertimento 'Feldpartita' in B flat major, Hob.2.46
Academic Wind Quintet

04:40 AM
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), Ferruccio Busoni (arranger)
Toccata and Fugue in D Minor (BWV.565)
Valerie Tryon (piano)

04:49 AM
Bernhard Lewkovitch (b.1927)
Tre madrigal di Torquato Tasso Op 13
Jutland Chamber Choir, Camilla Toldi Bugge (soprano), Johanne Bock (mezzo-soprano), Mogens Dahl (conductor)

04:58 AM
Anton Webern (1883-1945)
Langsamer Satz
Scharoun Ensemble Berlin, Zermatt Music Festival Academy Students

05:07 AM
Nikita Koshkin (b.1956)
The Fall of Birds
Goran Listes (guitar)

05:16 AM
Camille Saint-Saens (1835-1921), Eugene Ysaye (arranger)
Caprice d'après l'étude en forme de valse de Saint-Saëns
David Petrlik (violin), Renata Ardasevova (piano)

05:25 AM
Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
String Quartet in G minor, Op 10
Silesian Quartet

05:51 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), Edvard Grieg (arranger)
Sonata in G major (K.283) arr. for two pianos
Julie Adam (piano), Daniel Herscovitch (piano)

06:04 AM
Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957)
Violin Concerto in D, Op 35
James Ehnes (violin), Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Bramwell Tovey (conductor)


TUE 06:30 Breakfast (m001th6c)
Boost your Boxing Day morning with classical

Petroc Trelawny presents a Boxing Day edition of Radio 3's classical Breakfast show, featuring listener requests.

Email 3breakfast@bbc.co.uk


TUE 09:00 Essential Classics (m001th6t)
Your perfect classical playlist

Tom McKinney 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.

1005 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 (m001th76)
Greatest Showstoppers

Teresa Carreño

Donald Macleod explores the life and music of the 'Valkyrie of the Piano', Teresa Carreño.

The 19th century was an exciting time for classical musicians. Urban centres across Europe and the New World were expanding rapidly, creating a profitable music circuit for touring performers – particularly if you had the talent and star-power to attract audiences in large numbers! A new breed of performer began to emerge: extraordinary virtuosos whose dazzling abilities made them into international sensations. Liszt, Chopin, Clara Schumann and Paganini are among the names best remembered today, but there were many others. This week, Donald Macleod explores the life and music of four more 19th-century ‘showstoppers’ who were equally celebrated in their day, and who also turned their talents to composing.

Venezuelan pianist Teresa Carreño was a formidable character. She was revered as the Lioness, the Empress, the Valkyrie of the piano, and lauded for the power and precision of her performances. Audiences loved her, including President Abraham Lincoln; she performed for him at the White House while still a child. However, Carreño sometimes struggled to balance her family life with her professional ambitions, and her complicated love life made her a magnet for the gossip columns.

Vals gayo
Clara Rodriguez, piano

Florence, Cantilène Op.34
Rosario Marciano, piano

Souvenirs de mon pays, Op. 10
Alexandra Oehler, piano

Le printemps, Op. 25
Clara Rodriguez, piano

String quartet in B minor: I. Allegro, II. Andante
Arriaga String Quartet

Elégie Op. 22, No. 6, ‘Plaintes au borde d'une tombe’
Alexandra Oehler, piano

Little Waltz ‘Mi Teresita’
Teresa Carreño, piano [Welte-Mignon piano roll recording]


TUE 13:00 Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert (m001th82)
Oboist Albrecht Mayer and friends at the Edinburgh International Festival

In a performance recorded at the Queen's Hall, international oboe soloist Albrecht Mayer and friends perform two Phantasy works, both written for the oboist Leon Goosens. The first is a student work by Benjamin Britten and the second a mature work by Ernest Moeran. Between these, Mozart’s dazzling work for oboe and strings and another early Britten composition, his Solo Viola Elegy, written after an unhappy few years at boarding school.

Britten: Phantasy Quartet for Oboe and Strings
Mozart: Oboe Quartet K.370
Britten: "Elegy" for Viola solo
Moeran: Fantasy Quartet for Oboe and Strings

Albrecht Mayer - oboe
Diana Tishchenko - Violin
Liisa Randalu - Viola
István Várdai - Cello

Stephen Broad - presenter
Laura Metcalfe - producer


TUE 14:00 Afternoon Concert (m001th8s)
Brahms's Second Piano Concerto

Igor Levit plays Brahms's Second Piano Concerto, plus there's the start of Bach's Mass in B minor and plenty of festive music.

Presented by Penny Gore

The second of Johannes Brahms's piano concertos is cast on an epic scale, combining drama and passion with delicacy and great beauty - especially in the hands of pianist Igor Levit. We also have part of Bach's Mass in B minor in a specially recorded performance conducted by Philippe Herreweghe.

2.00pm
Hely-Hutchinson
A Carol Symphony: Oh Come All Ye Faithful
City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra
Gavin Sutherland, conductor

Shostakovich
Prelude & Fugue No 5 in D
Igor Levit, piano

Gordon Thornett
Festive Overture: The Joy of Christmas
RTE Concert Orchestra
Gavin Sutherland, conductor

Vivaldi
Trio sonata in C major
Avi Avital, mandolin
Mahan Esfahani, harpsichord
Ophira Zakai, lute
Patrick Sepec, cello


3.00pm
Brahms
Piano Concerto No 2 in B flat
Igor Levit, piano
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
Jakub Hrusa, conductor

Bach
Mass in B minor: Kyrie
Dorothee Mields, soprano
Margot Oitzinger, mezzo
Choir & Orchestra of the Collegium Vocale, Ghent
Philippe Herreweghe, conductor

Bloch
Schelomo
Steven Isserlis, cello
German Symphony Orchestra, Berlin
Hugh Wolff, conductor

Copland
Danzon Cubano
Detroit Symphony Orchestra
Leonard Slatkin, conductor


TUE 17:00 Words and Music (m0001dcw)
The Gift

Readers Kenneth Cranham and Nadine Marshall explore the excitement, and occasional disappointment, of giving and receiving. From the beleaguered sisters in Little Women, contemplating Christmas without presents, to the court of the Ottoman emperor in the 16th century, where Elizabeth I's envoys are presenting an extravagant musical gift. The gift of love and sex is explored by Shakespeare, John Donne and Andrew McMillan, and Sue Townsend's Adrian Mole reminds us how important totally useless gifts can be at Christmastime. The mildly festive musical gift wrap for this edition ranges from Nina Simone's Little Girl Blue to Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty and Poveri fiori from Francesco Cilèa's opera Adriana Lecouvreur, where the tragic Adriana has just opened a mysterious birthday present containing the wilted remains of the violets she once gave her beloved Maurizio.

Producer: Georgia Mann-Smith

01 00:01:18 Nina Simone
Little Girl Blue
Performer: Nina Simone
Duration 00:00:04

02 00:01:26
Louisa M. Allcott
Extract from Little Women read by Nadine Marshall
Duration 00:00:01

03 00:06:15 Grace Williams
Extract from Fantasia on Welsh nursery tunes
Performer: Royal Ballet Sinfonia / Andrew Penny
Duration 00:00:02

04 00:08:43
Robert Frost
The Gift Outright read by Robert Frost
Duration 00:00:02

05 00:09:40 Aaron Copland
Appalachian spring - Thema and variations ('The Gift to be Simple')
Performer: Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra / Hugh Wolff
Duration 00:00:03

06 00:13:00 Johnny Cash
Christmas As I Knew It
Performer: Johnny Cash
Duration 00:00:03

07 00:16:30
Harper Lee
Extract from To Kill A Mockingbird read by Nadine Marshall
Duration 00:00:01

08 00:18:15 Claude Debussy
Children's corner for piano, Serenade for the doll
Performer: Noriko Ogawa
Duration 00:00:02

09 00:20:46
Sue Townsend
Extract from The Diary of Adrian Mole read by Kenneth Cranham
Duration 00:00:01

10 00:22:27 Michael Carr, Tommie Connor and Jimmy Leach
The Little Boy That Santa Claus Forgot
Performer: Nat King Cole
Duration 00:00:02

11 00:24:58 Terje Isungset and Sidsel Endresen
Igloo - extract
Performer: Terje Isungset and
Duration 00:00:01

12 00:25:14
Simon Armitage
The Present read by Nadine Marshall
Duration 00:00:01

13 00:26:55 Max Richter arrangement of Vivaldi
Vivaldi Recomposed: Winter 1
Performer: Daniel Hope (violin), Konzerthaus Kammerorchester Berlin / Andre de Ridder
Duration 00:00:02

14 00:29:50 John Dowland
Queene Elizabeth, her galliard (K Darcies galliard) P.41 for lute
Performer: Ian Watt (lute)
Duration 00:00:01

15 00:31:10
Shakespeare
Sonnet 122 read by Kenneth Cranham
Duration 00:00:01

16 00:32:18 Orlando Gibbons
Fantasia a 4
Performer: Parley of Instruments
Duration 00:00:04

17 00:37:00
Andrew McMillan
A Gift read by Kenneth Cranham
Duration 00:00:01

18 00:38:22
Amy Lowell
A Gift read by Nadine Marshall
Duration 00:00:01

19 00:38:52 Cilea
Adriana Lecouvreur, Act 4: "Poveri fiori" (Adriana Lecouvreur)
Performer: Maria Callas (soprano), Philharmonia Orchestra / Tullio Serafin
Duration 00:00:03

20 00:42:01
Hillaire Belloc
On the Gift of a Book to a Child read by Kenneth Cranham
Duration 00:00:01

21 00:43:01 Ravel
Ma mere l'oye - suite vers. for orchestra, Le Jardin feerique
Performer: Los Angeles Philharmonic / Carlo Maria Giulini
Duration 00:00:02

22 00:45:31 Träd
Raag Pahadi
Performer: Pandit Shivkumar Sharma (sitar), Hariprasad Chaurasia (flute), Brij Bhushan Kabra (guitar), Manikrao Popatkar (table)
Duration 00:00:03

23 00:47:13
Rabindranath Tagore
The Gift read by Nadine Marshall
Duration 00:00:01

24 00:49:46 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
The Sleeping beauty - suite (Op.66a), Introduction (The lilac fairy)
Performer: Berlin Philharmonic / Mstislav Rostropovich
Duration 00:00:05

25 00:50:35
Alexandre Perrault translated by
Extract from The Sleeping Beauty read by Kenneth Cranham
Duration 00:00:02

26 00:55:00
Helen Fielding
Extract from Bridget Jones’ Diary read by Nadine Marshall
Duration 00:00:01

27 00:56:50 Vince Guaraldi Trio
O Tannenbaum
Performer: Vince Guaraldi Trio
Duration 00:00:05

28 01:02:00
Thomas Dallam
Extract from the Diaries of Thomas Dallam read by Kenneth Cranham
Duration 00:00:01

29 01:03:53 ANON
A Solis Ortus, Verse IV
Performer: Carl Smith (organ)
Duration 00:00:01

30 01:04:34 Leopold Mozart
Symphony in C major "Toy": 1st movement; Allegro
Performer: Orchestra of St John's / John Lubbock
Duration 00:00:04

31 01:08:53
Carol Ann Duffy
December read by Nadine Marshall
Duration 00:00:04

32 01:09:26 Leigh Harline
When You Wish Upon a Star
Performer: The Dave Brubeck Quartet
Duration 00:00:04




TUE 20:05 New Generation Artists (m001thbc)
Music from talented young classical artists

Georgia Mann continues her series of programmes celebrating the prodigious musical talents of the current members of Radio 3's young artist scheme. Today Georgia introduces the pianist Giorgi Gigashvili in music by Chopin from his debut studio recording session; Hugh Cutting sings a selection of songs from Stanford to John Denver, recorded in Holywell Music Room in October as part of Oxford International Song Festival. One of the gems of the New Generation Artists scheme is musical collaborations between the performers, and we'll hear a recent partnership with cellist Santiago Cañón-Valencia and pianist Fergus McCreadie. Mezzo-soprano Helen Charlston is joined by lutenist Toby Carr in Strozzi's beautiful L'amante segreto, and the programme ends with Beethoven played by the multi-award winning Leonkoro Quartet.

Chopin
Nocturne in E-flat Major Op.55 No.2
Giorgi Gigashvili, piano

Stanford: A Soft Day
Ireland: Sea Fever
Vaughan Williams: The splendour falls
Errolyn Wallen: About here (1999)
John Denver: Rhymes and Reasons
Hugh Cutting, counter-tenor
Dylan Perez, piano

Improvisation: Modinha / Ohla Maria
Santiago Canon Valencia, cello
Fergus McCreadie, piano

Strozzi:
L'amante segreto
Helen Charlston, mezzo
Toby Carr, lute

Beethoven
String Quartet No. 7 in F Op. 59 No. 1 ‘Razumovsky‘
Leonkoro Quartet

The BBC New Generation Artists scheme was founded in 1999 to support some of the world’s finest young instrumentalists, singers and ensembles at the start of their international careers, through performance and broadcast opportunities. The distinguished list of alumni now numbers well over a hundred, among them many of the most exciting musicians working on the world stage today.


TUE 21:28 BBC Proms (m001thbw)
Proms at Christmas 2023

Prom 34: Mindful Mix Prom

BBC Proms 2023: Relax into a late-night musical meditation with Grammy-nominated vocal group VOCES8 and a playlist that drifts from the Renaissance to Radiohead.

Presented by Elizabeth Alker, from the Royal Albert Hall, London.

Jake Runestad:
Let My Love Be Heard

Ola Gjeilo:
Still

Philip Glass:
String Quartet No. 3, ‘Mishima’ – Mishima/Closing

Eric Whitacre:
All Seems Beautiful to Me

Ola Gjeilo:
The Rose

Caroline Shaw:
and the swallow (with violin solo written by Christopher Moore)

Radiohead:
Pyramid Song arr. G. Lawson

Peter Gregson:
The Day Before

Ken Burton:
A Prayer

Arvo Pärt:
The Deer’s Cry

Ola Gjeilo:
Ubi caritas
Serenity

Roxanna Panufnik:
Floral Tribute (BBC co-commission: world premiere)

William Byrd:
Diliges Dominum

Samuel Barber:
Agnus Dei

Ola Gjeilo, piano
Carducci String Quartet
(Matthew Denton, Michelle Fleming, violins; Eoin Schmidt-Martin, viola, Emma Denton, cello)
Ruby Aspinall, harp
VOCES8

Relax into a late-night musical meditation with Grammy-nominated vocal group VOCES8 and a playlist that drifts from the Renaissance to Radiohead. This Prom explores the universal, timeless themes of night, stillness and prayer through the lens of composers old and new, from William Byrd to Ola Gjeilo, Eric Whitacre and Caroline Shaw. Leave your troubles at the door and join us for a stress-busting, soul-nourishing treat.


TUE 22:45 The Essay (m0011506)
Sounds of Isolation

Island Isolation

For many of us, isolation is disconcerting and challenging, but for wildlife sound recordist Chris Watson, it is something he actively seeks, so he can fully immerse himself in a place and capture its unique sounds in his recordings.

In the second of five illustrated essays, Chris recalls an exhausting and chilling climb to the pinnacle of Skellig Michael, an isolated rock which rises over 700ft out of the Atlantic Ocean off the south west coast of Ireland to capture the wailing cries of the inhabitants which return here at night under the cover of darkness.

Produced by Sarah Blunt for BBC Audio in Bristol.


TUE 23:00 Night Tracks (m001thcc)
Music for the evening

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

WEDNESDAY 27 DECEMBER 2023

WED 00:30 Through the Night (m001thcs)
Celebrating Pablo Casals

Cellist Miklós Perényi pays tribute to his teacher Pablo Casals in the closing concert of a festival marking the 50th anniversary of Casals's death. Danielle Jalowiecka presents.

12:31 AM
Zoltan Kodaly (1882-1967)
Excerpts from 'Epigrammák' (Epigrams)
Miklos Perenyi (cello), Denes Varjon (piano)

12:41 AM
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Cello Sonata no 4 in C major, Op 102 no 1
Miklos Perenyi (cello), Denes Varjon (piano)

12:56 AM
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Cello Sonata no 1 in E minor, Op 38
Miklos Perenyi (cello), Denes Varjon (piano)

01:23 AM
Bela Bartok (1881-1945)
Rhapsody no 1, Sz.87
Miklos Perenyi (cello), Denes Varjon (piano)

01:33 AM
Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Lebhaft, leicht (from 'Fantasiestücke, Op 73')
Miklos Perenyi (cello), Denes Varjon (piano)

01:37 AM
Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849)
Cello Sonata in G minor, Op 65 (3rd mvt, Largo)
Miklos Perenyi (cello), Denes Varjon (piano)

01:42 AM
Isaac Albeniz (1860-1909)
Rapsodia española, Op 70
Angela Cheng (piano), Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Hans Graf (conductor)

01:59 AM
Manuel de Falla (1876-1946)
Siete canciones populares espanolas
Jard van Nes (mezzo-soprano), Gerard van Blerk (piano)


02:31 AM
Edward Elgar (1857-1934)
Violin Sonata in E minor, Op 82
Elena Urioste (violin), Zhang Zuo (piano)

02:56 AM
Bartlomiej Pekiel (?-c.1670)
Missa Pulcherrima
Camerata Silesia, Julian Gembalski (positive organ), Anna Szostak (conductor)

03:27 AM
Dietrich Buxtehude (1637-1707)
Prelude and Fugue in G minor (BuxWV.149)
Mario Penzar (organ)

03:36 AM
Edouard Lalo (1823-1892)
2 Aubades for orchestra (1872)
CBC Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Daniel Swift (conductor)

03:45 AM
Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Three Romances Op 94
Hyong-Sup Kim (oboe), Ja-Eun Ku (piano)

03:57 AM
Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849)
Mazurka in C sharp minor, Op 50 no 3
Garrick Ohlsson (piano)

04:02 AM
Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (1710-1784)
Sinfonia (F.67) in F major (1745)
Berlin Academy for Early Music, Stephan Mai (director)

04:14 AM
Ambroise Thomas (1811-1896)
Aria: "Elle ne croyait pas" (from "Mignon", Act 3)
Benjamin Butterfield (tenor), Canadian Opera Company Orchestra, Richard Bradshaw (conductor)

04:18 AM
Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757), Timothy Kain (arranger)
Sonata in F major, K518 (arr. for guitar quartet)
Guitar Trek

04:23 AM
Maciej Radziwill (1749-1800)
Divertimento in D major
Polish Radio Orchestra, Warsaw, Michal Klauza (conductor)

04:31 AM
Jacobus Gallus Carniolus (1550-1591)
2 Motets from Opus Musicum (Virgines prudentes a 8; Trinitas, te invocamus a 8)
Ljubljanski madrigalisti, Matjaz Scek (director)

04:35 AM
Antonio Lotti (1667-1740)
Sonata for 2 oboes, bassoon and continuo in F major, 'Echo sonata'
Ensemble Zefiro, Rinaldo Alessandrini (director)

04:45 AM
Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)
Courtly Dances from Gloriana, Op 53
Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Lukasz Borowicz (conductor)

04:55 AM
Edvard Grieg (1843-1907)
5 Lyric Pieces
Leif Ove Andsnes (piano)

05:09 AM
Bernhard Henrik Crusell (1775-1838)
Farval (Farewell)
Eeva-Liisa Saarinen (mezzo-soprano), Ilmo Ranta (piano)

05:14 AM
Edward MacDowell (1860-1908)
Hamlet and Ophelia, Op.22
Orchestra of the Zurich University of the Arts, Marc Kissoczy (conductor)

05:29 AM
Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
Piano Trio in G, L. 3
Ilya Gringolts (violin), Nicolas Altstaedt (cello), Alexander Lonquich (piano)

05:53 AM
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Vergnügte Ruh, beliebte Seelenlust, BWV 170, cantata
Jan Borner (countertenor), Capricornus Consort Basel, Peter Barczi (director)



WED 06:30 Breakfast (m001tj9q)
Get going with 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


WED 09:00 Essential Classics (m001tj9x)
The very best of classical music

Tom McKinney plays the best in classical music, with familiar favourites, new discoveries and the occasional musical surprise.

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 (m001tjb4)
Greatest Showstoppers

Elias Parish Alvars

Donald Macleod explores the story of Devon-born harp virtuoso Elias Parish Alvars.

The 19th century was an exciting time for classical musicians. Urban centres across Europe and the New World were expanding rapidly, creating a profitable music circuit for touring performers – particularly if you had the talent and star-power to attract audiences in large numbers! A new breed of performer began to emerge: extraordinary virtuosos whose dazzling abilities made them into international sensations. Liszt, Chopin, Clara Schumann and Paganini are among the names best remembered today but there were many others. This week, Donald Macleod explores the life and music of four more 19th-century ‘showstoppers’ who were equally celebrated in their day, and who also turned their talents to composing.

Today, Elias Parish Alvars steps into the spotlight. He was born in Teignmouth, Devon in relatively humble circumstances, but his talents as a harpist took him right across the world. Elias had travelled to Europe, Moscow, Constantinople, Kiev, Odessa and the Black Sea, all by the time he was 26. We meet him as he arrives in Vienna, now craving a more settled life and looking for love.

Introduction, Cadenza & Rondo (extract)
Judy Loman, harp

Grand March Op.67
Katherine Thomas, harp, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, conducted by Jonathan Bloxham

Grand Duo on Donizetti’s Linda di Chamounix, Op.65
Simon Callaghan, piano
Clíodna Shanahan, piano

Harp Concerto in E flat Op.98, I. Allegro brillante
Marielle Nordmann, harp, Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Theodor Guschlbauer

Grand Study in Imitation of a Mandolin Op.84
Joel von Lerber, harp


WED 13:00 Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert (m001tjbd)
Catriona Morison and Malcolm Martineau at the Edinburgh International Festival

Award-winning mezzo soprano Catriona Morison and renowned pianist Malcolm Martineau recorded in performance at this year’s Edinburgh International Festival. Today’s programme travels through Schubert’s songs of dreams and love before Josephine Lang’s depictions of swallows and the heart’s inner world. Mahler’s settings of folk tales from ‘The Boy’s Magic Horn’ close the programme after songs by the famed Spanish opera singer and composer Pauline Viardot.

Franz Schubert: Die Junge Nonne D828
Franz Schubert: An Den Mond D193
Franz Schubert: Nacht und Traume D827
Franz Schubert: Rastlose Liebe D138
Franz Schubert: Fruhlingsglaube D686
Franz Schubert: Gretchen Am Spinnrade D118
Josephine Lang: Scheideblick Op.10 No 5
Josephine Lang: Ob Ich Manchmal Dein Gedenke Op.27 No 3
Josephine Lang: Die Schwalben Op.10 No 3
Josephine Lang: Mignons Klage Op. 10 No 2
Pauline Viardot: Nixe Binsefuss VWV 1132
Pauline Viardot: In Der Fruhe VWV 1090
Pauline Viardot: Der Gartner VWV1097
Gustav Mahler: Rheinlegendchen
Gustav Mahler: Das Irdische Leben
Gustav Mahler: Urlicht
Gustav Mahler: Wer Hat Dies Liedlein Erdacht


Catriona Morison - mezzo-soprano
Malcolm Martineau - piano


Stephen Broad - presenter
Laura Metcalfe - producer


WED 14:00 Afternoon Concert (m001tjbn)
Dvorak's Eighth Symphony

Jakub Hrusa conducts Dvorak's Eighth Symphony and there's more of Bach's Mass in B minor.

Presented by Penny Gore

Music director-designate of London's Royal Opera, Jakub Hrusa is a noted interpreter of Dvorak's music - here he leads the composer's sunny Eighth Symphony. There's more from the week's specially-recorded performance of Bach's Mass in B minor and plenty of festive music.

2.00pm
Hely-Hutchinson
A Carol Symphony: God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra
Gavin Sutherland, conductor

Sasha Johnson Manning
Christmas Flowers
The Manchester Carollers
Northern Chamber Orchestra
Richard Tanner, conductor

Dvorak
Serenade for Strings: Finale
Prague Philharmonia
Jakub Hrusa, conductor

Bach
Mass in B minor: Gloria
Dorothee Mields, soprano
Margot Oitzinger, mezzo
Alex Potter, countertenor
Guy Cutting, tenor
Peter Kooij, Baritone
Choir & Orchestra of the Collegium Vocale, Ghent
Philippe Herreweghe, conductor

3.00pm
Dvorak
Symphony No 8 in G
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
Jakub Hrusa, conductor

Mozart
Clarinet Quintet: Larghetto
Janet Hilton, clarinet
The Lindsays



WED 16:00 Choral Evensong (m001tjbx)
Lancing College

From the Chapel of Lancing College for the Feast of John, Apostle and Evangelist.

Introit: Torches (Joubert)
Responses: Sanders
Office hymn: Word supreme, before creation (Grafton)
Psalm 97 (Middleton)
First Lesson: Isaiah 6 vv.1-8
Canticles: Darke in F
Second Lesson: 1 John 5 vv.1-12
Anthem: Angelus ad Virginem (Carter)
Prayer Anthem: No small wonder (Edwards)
Hymn: Hark the herald angels sing (Mendelssohn)
Te Deum: Stanford in B flat
Voluntary: Pièce Héroique (Franck)

Alexander Mason (Director of Music)
Philip White-Jones (Organist)


WED 17:00 Slow Radio (m000cm9l)
Arctic Sound Walk

Freezing and Finding

With a rich, varied and immersive listening experience, in the latest of his Slow Radio Sound Walks, as the winter draws and the snows threaten, Horatio Clare follows Greenland’s Arctic Circle Trail from the west coast of the country towards the vast ice-sheet. In a series of alien worlds, the scapes are changing all the time. The light, shapes and colours, the skies, waters and prospects are limitless.

Recorded in October when the tundra still has life, but the season changes, staying overnight in fishermen’s shacks overlooking fjords, Horatio Clare brings to life the harsh and scenic beauty of one of the classic walks of the world.

Remote, historic, silent, yet full of wildlife, on the first day of the three-day trek he’s joined by three stray huskies. The birdlife is out in force with snow buntings, displaying ravens and skeins of migrating geese. He crosses frozen mountain streams, high hanging valleys, tundra, bogs and natural amphitheatres. The hues are otherworldly with moon dust coloured lichen, burnt umbers, bronzed brass and dulled vermilions of endless reefs of moss. The atmospheres are all suspended under the fine pale blue and pearly white skies.

Specialist location sound recordings capture the zephyrs of wind, wing beats of birds in the sky above, the trickling water of streams and the effort of a challenging hike across the stunningly beautiful and remote Arctic tundra.

This first programme of three explores how Greenland came to be, from the early lives of the Inuit to the explorers and settlers in the early twentieth century.

Music accompanying the trek includes works by Peter Gregson, John Luther Adams, Einojuhani Rautavaara, Vikingur Olaffson, John Harle, Morton Feldman, Arvo Part, and the ice music of Terje Isungset.

01 00:01:22 Peter Gregson
Found
Performer: Peter Gregson
Duration 00:05:17

02 00:07:51 Peter Gregson
Turn
Performer: Peter Gregson
Duration 00:01:59

03 00:09:51 John Luther Adams
In the White Silence - Beginning
Ensemble: Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble
Conductor: Tim Weiss
Duration 00:02:32

04 00:12:23 John Luther Adams
In the White Silence - Letter B
Ensemble: Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble
Conductor: Tim Weiss
Duration 00:02:31

05 00:18:26 Einojuhani Rautavaara
Cantus Arcticus, Op. 61 (Concerto for Birds & Orchestra) - III. Swans Migrating
Orchestra: Lahti Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Osmo Vänskä
Duration 00:05:35

06 00:22:58 Johann Sebastian Bach
Glassworks: Opening
Performer: Víkingur Ólafsson
Music Arranger: Christian Badzura
Duration 00:02:22

07 00:25:26 John Harle
The Three Ravens
Performer: Alexander Bălănescu
Performer: John Harle
Singer: Sarah Leonard
Ensemble: John Harle Band
Duration 00:04:51

08 00:36:14 Morton Feldman
Rothko Chapel
Ensemble: UC Berkeley Chamber Chorus
Duration 00:02:41

09 00:38:17 John Luther Adams
In the White Silence - Letter C
Ensemble: Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble
Conductor: Tim Weiss
Duration 00:02:44

10 00:41:12 Terje Isungset
Silent Blue
Performer: Terje Isungset
Performer: Per Jørgensen
Duration 00:03:30

11 00:45:51 John Luther Adams
Become Ocean
Orchestra: Seattle Symphony
Conductor: Ludovic Morlot
Duration 00:02:41

12 00:49:17 Camille Saint‐Saëns
Le Carnaval des animaux, no.7; Aquarium
Orchestra: Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: André Previn
Duration 00:01:34

13 00:58:00 Arvo Pärt
Spiegel im Spiegel
Performer: Daniel Hope
Performer: Simon Mulligan
Duration 00:07:26

14 01:09:18 John Luther Adams
In the White Silence - Letters E & G
Ensemble: Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble
Conductor: Tim Weiss
Duration 00:05:07


WED 18:15 BBC Proms (m001tjc5)
Proms at Christmas 2023

Prom 69: Mozart’s ‘Requiem’

BBC Proms 2023: Raphaël Pichon conducts Pygmalion and soloists Sandrine Piau, Beth Taylor, Laurence Kilsby and Alex Rosen in Mozart's last masterpiece, his incomplete Requiem.

Presented by Hannah French from the Royal Albert Hall, London.

Trad.: Plainsong ‘In paradisum’
Mozart: Requiem in D minor (compl. Süssmayr), interspersed with:
Ach, zu kurz ist unsers Lebenslauf
Masonic Funeral Music
Kyrie in D minor, K 90
Thamos, King of Egypt – ‘Ne pulvis et cinis’
Five Solfeggios – No 2
Quis te comprehendat
Two Church Songs – No 2: ‘O Gottes Lamm’

Sandrine Piau (soprano)
Beth Taylor (mezzo-soprano)
Laurence Kilsby (tenor)
Alex Rosen (bass)
Pygmalion
Raphaël Pichon (conductor)

Raphaël Pichon and his exciting ensemble Pygmalion present an alternative vision of Mozart’s Requiem, famously left incomplete at the composer’s death. Tonight’s reimagining swells the popular completion by Mozart’s pupil Süssmayr with additional pieces to create a compelling alternative sequence.


WED 19:40 New Generation Artists (m001tjcf)
Classical music from the brightest rising stars

Georgia Mann continues her series of programmes over the Christmas period celebrating the wealth of musical talents of the current members of Radio 3's young artist scheme. In the third programme, Georgia introduces the baritone James Atkinson who sings Schubert songs with the scheme's new collaborative pianist Michael Pandya. Violinist Geneva Lewis is known for her classy, accomplished performances and we'll hear her with pianist Sam Armstrong in one of Handel's elegant violin sonatas. The programme ends with a performance of Saint-Saens's first Cello Concerto with Santiago Canon Valencia, one of the most exciting young cellists on the scene, in a recent recording with the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Pierre Bleuse.

Schubert
An Silvia D.891
James Atkinson, baritone
Michael Pandya, piano

Handel
Sonata No. 3 in A Major
Geneva Lewis, violin
Sam Armstrong, piano

Haydn
String Quartet in F major op.77 no.2
Chaos Quartet

Schumann
Arabeske Op.18
Giorgi Gigashvili, piano

Schubert
Prometheus D.674
James Atkinson, baritone
Michael Pandya, piano


The BBC New Generation Artists scheme was founded in 1999 to support some of the world’s finest young instrumentalists, singers and ensembles at the start of their international careers, through performance and broadcast opportunities. The distinguished list of alumni now numbers well over a hundred, among them many of the most exciting musicians working on the world stage today.


WED 20:55 BBC Proms (m001tjcp)
Proms at Christmas 2023

Prom 61: Chineke! perform Beethoven’s Fourth Symphony

BBC Proms 2023: Chineke! Orchestra conducted by Anthony Parnther in music by Valerie Coleman, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, Haydn and Beethoven.

Presented by Linton Stephens from the Royal Albert Hall, London.

Valerie Coleman: Seven O’Clock Shout
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: Four Noveletten for String Orchestra, Op. 52
Joseph Haydn: Trumpet Concerto in E flat major
Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson: Sinfonietta No. 1 – Rondo
Beethoven: Symphony No. 4 in B flat major

Aaron Azunda Akugbo (trumpet)
Chineke! Orchestra
Conductor Anthony Parnther

Europe’s first majority Black and ethnically diverse orchestra returns to the Proms with Beethoven’s joyful Fourth Symphony and Haydn’s exuberant Trumpet Concerto. On a mission to champion change and celebrate diversity in classical music, Chineke! also showcases music by pioneering Black British composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and his American namesake, Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson. Plus there’s an opportunity to hear Valerie Coleman’s pandemic anthem, Seven O’Clock Shout.


WED 22:45 The Essay (m00113z5)
Sounds of Isolation

The Wake

For many of us, isolation is disconcerting and challenging, but for wildlife sound recordist Chris Watson, it is something he actively seeks, so he can fully immerse himself in a place and capture its unique sounds in his recordings.

In the third of five illustrated essays, Chris vividly recalls his quest to capture the voices of a black throated diver or, 'musta kuikka', on an isolated lake in Finland having been inspired by a painting of Lake Keitele by Akseli Gallen-Kallela. Surrounded by a vast forest, he experiences a powerful sense and spirit of place as he watches, waits and listens.

Produced by Sarah Blunt for BBC Audio in Bristol.


WED 23:00 Night Tracks (m001tjcv)
Dissolve into sound

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

THURSDAY 28 DECEMBER 2023

THU 00:30 Through the Night (m001tjd2)
Chamber Symphonies by Franz Schreker and Claude Debussy

Heinz Holliger conducts the Basel Chamber Orchestra. Presented by Catriona Young.

12:31 AM
Claude Debussy (1862-1918), Benno Sachs (arranger), Arnold Schoenberg (arranger), Heinz Holliger (arranger)
Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune
Basel Chamber Orchestra, Heinz Holliger (conductor)

12:43 AM
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), Anton Webern (arranger)
Fuga canonica, from 'The Musical Offering, BWV 1079'
Basel Chamber Orchestra, Heinz Holliger (conductor)

12:52 AM
Franz Schreker (1878-1934)
Chamber Symphony
Basel Chamber Orchestra, Heinz Holliger (conductor)

01:21 AM
Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881)
Pictures at an Exhibition
Teo Gheorghiu (piano)

01:53 AM
Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber (1644-1704)
Missa Sancti Henrici (1701)
James Griffett (tenor), Michael Schopper (bass), Regensburger Domspatzen, Collegium Aureum, Herbert Metzger (organ), Georg Ratzinger (leader)

02:31 AM
Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764)
Dardanus (orchestral suites)
Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Jeanne Lamon (conductor)

03:08 AM
Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924)
Fantasia and Toccata in D minor
David Drury (organ)

03:20 AM
Jan Engel (?-1788)
Symphony in G major
Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Andrzej Straszynski (conductor)

03:38 AM
Anonymous
Folías de España (1764)
Eniko Ginzery (cimbalom)

03:45 AM
Isaac Albeniz (1860-1909)
Cordoba - from Cantos de Espana (Op.232 No.4)
Eolina Quartet

03:51 AM
Jules August Demersseman (1833-1866)
Concert Fantasy for 2 flutes and piano (Op.36)
Matej Zupan (flute), Karolina Santl-Zupan (flute), Dijana Tanovic (piano)

04:03 AM
Hjalmar Borgstrom (1864-1925)
Music to Johan Gabriel Borkman
Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Kjell Seim (conductor)

04:15 AM
Juan de Navas (1650-1719)
Ay, divino amor
Olga Pitarch (soprano), Accentus Austria, Thomas Wimmer (director)

04:21 AM
Moritz Moszkowski (1854-1924)
Valse for piano in E major, Op 34 No 1
Dennis Hennig (piano)

04:31 AM
Antonio Cesti (1623-1669)
Filosofia's Aria 'Sciolta il crin' from the prologue of 'Orontea'
Andrea Bierbaum (alto), Cettina Cadelo (soprano), Concerto Vocale, Rene Jacobs (conductor)


04:48 AM
William Walton (1902-1983)
3 Pieces for organ from the film Richard III (March; Elegy; Scherzetto)
Ian Sadler (organ)

04:54 AM
Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625), William Walton (1902-1983)
Drop, Drop, Slow Tears
Gabrieli Consort, Paul McCreesh (director)

05:00 AM
Francois Francoeur (1698-1787), Arnold Trowell (arranger)
Sonata in E major arr. for cello and piano
Monica Leskhovar (cello), Ivana Schwartz (piano)

05:11 AM
John Corigliano (b.1938)
Elegy for orchestra (1965)
CBC Vancouver Orchestra, Mario Bernardi (conductor)

05:20 AM
Domenico Auletta (1723-1753)
Concerto for harpsichord and strings in C major
Enrico Baiano (harpsichord), Cappella della Pieta de'Turchini, Antonio Florio (conductor)

05:39 AM
Ramona Luengen (b.1960)
O Lacrimosa (1993)
Phoenix Chamber Choir, Ramona Luengen (conductor)

05:52 AM
Aram Khachaturian (1903-1978)
Piano concerto in D flat major
Patrik Jablonski (piano), Polish Radio Orchestra, Warsaw, Wojciech Rajski (conductor)


THU 06:30 Breakfast (m001tk0s)
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


THU 09:00 Essential Classics (m001tk10)
Refresh your morning with classical music

Tom McKinney 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.


THU 12:00 Composer of the Week (m001tk16)
Greatest Showstoppers

Maria Szymanowska

Donald Macleod follows Polish pianist Maria Szymanowska as she strikes out on her own.

The 19th century was an exciting time for classical musicians. Urban centres across Europe and the New World were expanding rapidly, creating a profitable music circuit for touring performers – particularly if you had the talent and star-power to attract audiences in large numbers! A new breed of performer began to emerge: extraordinary virtuosos whose dazzling abilities made them into international sensations. Liszt, Chopin, Clara Schumann and Paganini are among the names best remembered today, but there were many others. This week, Donald Macleod explores the life and music of four more 19th-century ‘showstoppers’ who were equally celebrated in their day, and who also turned their talents to composing.

Today, Donald follows the storied career of Polish pianist Maria Szymanowska, who might have settled for a comfortable and relatively cloistered existence as the wife of a wealth landowner in Warsaw. Instead, she chose to break free from her marriage, and embark on an international performing career. Audiences admired her brilliant musical style, which is often brimming with good humour and a sense of fun.

Polonaise in C major
Alexander Kostritsa, piano

Prélude No. 18 in E major
24 Mazurkas, Nos. 21-24
Anna Ciborowska, piano

Caprice sur la romance de Joconde in E major
Carole Carniel, piano

Fantaisie in F major
Anna Ciborowska, piano

Cotillon, ou valse figurée
Nocturne in B flat major
Sławomir P Dobrzański, piano

18 Dances of Different Genres, Nos. 9-12 & No.18
Alexander Kostritsa, piano


THU 13:00 Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert (m001tk1d)
The Isidore String Quartet at the Edinburgh International Festival

The young American Isidore String Quartet formed at the Julliard School in New York. Their performance recorded this year at the Queen's Hall includes a spirited work by Felix Mendelssohn, written the same year he got married and music written by Billy Childs in 2012, following his wife’s recovery from a serious illness.

Felix Mendelssohn: String Quartet in E flat major, Opus 44, No. 3
Billy Childs: String Quartet No 2 'Awakening'

The Isidore String Quartet

Stephen Broad - presenter
Laura Metcalfe - producer


THU 14:00 Afternoon Concert (m001tk1l)
Mozart's 40th Symphony

Ivor Bolton conducts Mozart's Symphony No 40, and there's more from Bach's Mass in B minor.

Presented by Penny Gore

A specially-recorded performance of Mozart's best-loved symphony with, appropriately enough, the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg. There's more of Bach's Mass in B minor and plenty of festive music.

2.00pm
Hely-Hutchinson
A Carol Symphony: The First Nowell
City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra
Gavin Sutherland, conductor

Greg Lake
I believe in Father Christmas
Vasari Singers
Jeremy Backhouse, conductor

Rossini
Quartet No 4 in B flat for flute, clarinet, horn and bassoon
Ensemble Wien-Berlin

Leroy Anderson
A Christmas Festival
Royal Scottish National Orchestra
Christopher Bell, conductor

Schubert
Symphony No 9 in C: Andante con moto
Orchestra Mozart
Claudio Abbado, conductor

3.00pm
Mozart
Symphony No 40 in G minor
Mozarteum Orchestra, Salzburg
Ivor Bolton, conductor

Bach
Mass in B minor: Credo
Dorothee Mields, soprano
Alex Potter, countertenor
Peter Kooij, Baritone
Choir & Orchestra of the Collegium Vocale, Ghent
Philippe Herreweghe, conductor

Liszt/Jacob
Polish (Christmas Tree Suite)
RTE Concert Orchestra
Gavin Sutherland, conductor

Shostakovich
Violin Concerto No 1 in A minor
Augustin Hadelich, violin
Danish National Symphony Orchestra
Juraj Valcuha, conductor


THU 17:00 Slow Radio (m000cnmt)
Arctic Sound Walk

Being and Belonging

Fording frozen streams, skirting lakes and fjords, and crossing a landscape scarred by fires that swept the area during the summer of 2019, Horatio Clare spends a second day trekking Greenland’s Arctic Circle Trail in this immersive Slow Radio sound walk. Awaiting the arctic sunrise whilst breakfasting, he sets out from his overnight hut and hikes across the frozen bogs of the west coast under a silvery arctic light, accompanied by three runaway huskies.

Silent valleys, mackerel skies, screaming winds, the northern lights and sublime mountain scapes are brought to life by Horatio's commentary and specialist location sounds recordings as they capture the beating of raven’s wings, the cracking of ice, the sound of seabirds over remote coasts and the lapping of lake water on a Greenlandic beach of gold and white sand.

Focusing on the Greenlandic story up to the recent past and considering the establishment of Inuit and Norse communities across the generations, we hear about the rich culture early 20th century explorers discovered when they arrived at the world’s largest island. There’s the juxtaposition of Christian and Shamanic traditions as well as the expression of Inuit identity through music and dance with specially recorded Drum Dance performances.

As well as live performances by Fali Kleist, Nuka Alice Lund and Jose Joelsen, music in the programme includes works by John Luther Adams, Olafur Arnalds, Edmund Finnis and Jean Sibelius. There are also Max Richter’s arrangements of Vivaldi, music by the group Nordic Affect, and the ice music of Terje Isungset.

01 00:01:47 John Luther Adams
Canticles of the Sky - IV. Sky with Endless Stars
Ensemble: JACK Quartet
Duration 00:03:08

02 00:04:55 John Luther Adams
Canticles of the Sky - I. Sky with Four Suns
Ensemble: JACK Quartet
Duration 00:04:14

03 00:08:31 Max Richter
Vivaldi Recomposed - Winter 2
Performer: Daniel Hope
Orchestra: Konzerthaus Kammerorchester Berlin
Conductor: André de Ridder
Duration 00:02:33

04 00:12:24 Ólafur Arnalds
Brot
Performer: Ólafur Arnalds
Orchestra: London Recording Orchestra
Duration 00:01:57

05 00:17:20 María Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir
Spirals
Ensemble: Nordic Affect
Duration 00:05:01

06 00:26:43 Terje Isungset
Silent Blue
Performer: Terje Isungset
Performer: Per Jørgensen
Duration 00:03:30

07 00:32:37 John Luther Adams
In the White Silence - Letter H
Ensemble: Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble
Conductor: Tim Weiss
Duration 00:02:29

08 00:43:11 Biosphere
Lysbotn
Performer: Biosphere
Duration 00:01:39

09 00:50:48 Edmund Finnis
The Air, Turning
Orchestra: BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Ilan Volkov
Duration 00:01:06

10 00:55:34 Jean Sibelius
Symphony No.7
Orchestra: Lahti Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Osmo Vänskä
Duration 00:04:46

11 01:01:56 John Luther Adams
In the White Silence - Letter K
Ensemble: Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble
Conductor: Tim Weiss
Duration 00:02:16

12 01:06:11 John Luther Adams
In the White Silence - Letter L
Ensemble: Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble
Conductor: Tim Weiss
Duration 00:02:07

13 01:11:21 John Luther Adams
Canticles of the Sky - III. Sky with Nameless Colors
Ensemble: JACK Quartet
Duration 00:03:43


THU 18:15 BBC Proms (m001tk1q)
Proms at Christmas 2023

Prom 55: Gershwin’s Piano Concerto

BBC Proms 2023: Jean‐Yves Thibaudet joins the Boston Symphony Orchestra and conductor Andris Nelsons for Gershwin’s Piano Concerto. Plus Carlos Simon, Stravinsky and Ravel.

Presented by Kate Molleson from the Royal Albert Hall.

Carlos Simon: Four Black American Dances (European premiere)
Stravinsky: Petrushka (1947 version)
Gershwin: Piano Concerto in F major
Ravel: La valse

Jean‐Yves Thibaudet (piano)
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Andris Nelsons (conductor)

Dance pulses through this concert from Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony Orchestra.. Jean-Yves Thibaudet is the soloist in Gershwin’s Piano Concerto, with its bluesy slow movement and hot, frenzied finale. Ravel’s La valse dances to the edge of the abyss, while Stravinsky’s ballet Petrushka projects the earthy rhythms and bold colours of Russian folk music. The concert opens with the European premiere of US composer Carlos Simon’s Four Black American Dances, drawing on dances that chart the Black American experience from slavery through to today.


THU 20:20 New Generation Artists (m001tk1t)
Performances from Radio 3 New Generation Artists

Georgia Mann continues her winter series showcasing some of the brightest classical stars of the future with two songs from Berlioz's shimmering Summer Nights sung by the South-African soprano Masabane Cecilia Rangwansha. Also today, New-Zealand-born Geneva Lewis brings her eloquent musicianship to one of Bach's partitas for solo violin and the Mithras Trio delight in the piano trio with which the young Beethoven announced himself to Viennese musical circles.

Rachmaninov: Prelude Op.23 no.2 in B flat major
Tom Borrow (piano)

Berlioz: L'île inconnue and Villanelle from Les nuits d'été
Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha (soprano)
Simon Lepper (piano)

Bach: Partita No. 3 in E major, BWV 1006
Geneva Lewis (violin)

Scarlatti: Sonata in D minor K.213
Alim Beisembayev (piano)

Beethoven: Piano Trio Op.1, no.1 in E-flat major
Mithras Trio

Schubert:
Auf der Bruck D.853
Konstantin Krimmel (baritone)
Ammiel Bushakevitz (piano)

The BBC New Generation Artists scheme was founded in 1999 to support some of the world’s finest young instrumentalists, singers and ensembles at the start of their international careers, through performance and broadcast opportunities. The distinguished list of alumni now numbers well over a hundred, among them many of the most exciting musicians working on the world stage today.


THU 21:35 BBC Proms (m001tk1w)
Proms at Christmas 2023

BBC Proms at Dewsbury

Former BBC Young Musician of the Year Laura van der Heijden and pianist Jâms Coleman present a programme of 20th- and 21st-century music for cello and piano. Rachmaninov’s Cello Sonata is a work suffused with the mystical spirit of Russian Orthodoxy. That spiritual journey in sound becomes a spatial one in Lara Weaver’s A Thing That Holds – an exploration of the cello as a vessel that contains and releases. This season’s spotlight on Croatian composer Dora Pejačević continues with the composer’s Cello Sonata, with echoes of Brahms and Mendelssohn running through its melody-filled movements. The concert opens with Rachmaninov’s lyrical Vocalise.

Rachmaninov, arr. Raphael Wallfisch: Vocalise
Pejačević: Cello Sonata
Lara Weaver: A Thing That Holds
Rachmaninov: Cello Sonata

Laura van der Heijden, cello
Jâms Coleman, piano

Presented by Tom McKinney.


THU 23:15 The Essay (m00114q0)
Sounds of Isolation

Voices in the Dark

For many of us, isolation is disconcerting and challenging, but for wildlife sound recordist Chris Watson, it is something he actively seeks, so he can fully immerse himself in a place and capture its unique sounds in his recordings.

In the fourth of five illustrated essays, Chris recalls his quest to record wild voices in the darkness and isolation of Dryburn Moor in Northumberland. It can be a real challenge to find a truly isolated place in the UK, but here on the high Pennines, Chris was rewarded with a serenade of birds, which he can hear but can’t see until the night evolves into day.

Produced by Sarah Blunt for BBC Audio in Bristol.

FRIDAY 29 DECEMBER 2023

FRI 00:30 Through the Night (m001tk1y)
A baroque kind of love

La florida Capella with soprano Federico Fiorio delight at the Herne Early Music Days festival in Germany with music from Venice to Vienna. Danielle Jalowiecka presents.

12:31 AM
Giovanni Battista Vitali (1632-1692)
Sonata III

Barbara Strozzi (1619-1677)
Lagrime mie, lament for voice and continuo
Federico Fiorio (soprano), La florida Capella, Marian Polin (director)

12:42 AM
Giovanni Antonio Pandolfi Mealli (1630-1670)
Il Drago, capriccetto terzo a 3

Antonio Cesti (1623-1669)
Alpi nevose dure
Federico Fiorio (soprano), La florida Capella, Marian Polin (director)

12:51 AM
Bernardo Storace (1637-1707)
La Follia, for harpsichord
Marian Polin (harpsichord)

12:56 AM
Barbara Strozzi (1619-1677)
Hor che Apollo, serenata for voice, two violins and continuo
Federico Fiorio (soprano), La florida Capella, Marian Polin (director)

01:08 AM
Maurizio Cazzati (1616-1678)
Capriccio sopra le sette note, for two violins and continuo

Barbara Strozzi (1619-1677)
La sol fa mi re do. La mia donna perché canta, for voice and continuo
Federico Fiorio (soprano), La florida Capella, Marian Polin (director)

01:21 AM
Bernardo Gianoncelli ((d. c.1650))
Tasteggiata, Gagliarda and Corrente, for lute
Alessandro Baldessarini (lute)

01:27 AM
Barbara Strozzi (1619-1677)
La Vendetta, for voice and continuo
Federico Fiorio (soprano), La florida Capella, Marian Polin (director)

01:30 AM
Giovanni Buonaventura Viviani (c.1638-1693)
Sonata undecima 'La Barbara', for two violins and continuo

Antonio Cesti (1623-1669)
Non si parli più d’amore, cantata for voice and continuo
Federico Fiorio (soprano), La florida Capella, Marian Polin (director)

01:42 AM
Alessandro Stradella (1639-1682)
Ed io che farò, Zefiro's aria for voice, two violins and continuo
Federico Fiorio (soprano), La florida Capella, Marian Polin (director)

01:45 AM
Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936)
Rossiniana - suite from Rossini's "Les riens"
West Australian Symphony Orchestra, Jorge Mester (conductor)

02:11 AM
Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868)
String Sonata no 5 in E flat major
Camerata Bern

02:26 AM
Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757)
Sonata in D minor K. 517
Bjarke Mogensen (accordion)

02:31 AM
Xavier Montsalvatge (1912-2002)
Concierto Breve
Angela Cheng (piano), Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Hans Graf (conductor)

02:54 AM
Nino Rota (1911-1979)
Divertimento Concertante for double bass and orchestra
Jurek Dybal (double bass), Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Ruben Silva (conductor)

03:18 AM
Bela Bartok (1881-1945), Leo Weiner (arranger)
Ten Excerpts from For Children, Sz 42
Camerata Zurich, Igor Karsko (conductor)

03:27 AM
John Tavener (1944-2013)
Funeral Ikos (The Greek funeral sentences) for chorus
Norwegian Soloists' Choir, Grete Helgerod (conductor)

03:34 AM
Sebastian Le Camus (c.1610--1677),Gaspard le Roux,Michel Lambert (1610-1696)
2 French airs and 1 piece for harpsichord
Ground Floor, Juliette Perret (soprano), Marc Mauillon (tenor), Elena Andreyev (cello), Etienne Galletier (theorbo), Gwennaelle Alibert (harpsichord), Angelique Mauillon (harp)

03:42 AM
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908)
Concerto for trombone and military band in B flat major
Tibor Winkler (trombone), Chamber Wind Orchestra, Zdenek Machacek (conductor)

03:54 AM
Pavle Merku (1927-2014)
Astrazioni (Abstractions), Op 23
Trio Luwigana

04:06 AM
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Concerto Grosso in F major, Op 6, No 2, HWV 320
European Union Baroque Orchestra, Lars Ulrik Mortensen (conductor)


04:31 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Overture from Die Zauberflote (K 620)
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Michael Christie (conductor)

04:38 AM
William Babell (c.1690-1723)
Violin Sonata No. 1 in B flat
Ilia Korol (violin), Jermaine Sprosse (harpsichord)

04:44 AM
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Excerpts from 'Messiah, HWV 56' and 'Ode for the Birthday of Queen Anne'
Dmitry Sinkovsky (counter tenor), Istvan Palotal (trumpet), Hungarian Radio Chorus, Budapest, Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Budapest, Soma Dinyes (conductor)

04:55 AM
Darius Milhaud (1892-1974)
4 Visages for viola and piano, Op 238
Silvia Simionescu (viola), Alice Burla (piano)

05:05 AM
Jan Wanski (c.1762-1830)
Symphony in G major on themes from the opera Kmiotek (The Peasant) (1786/7)
Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Andrzej Mysinski (conductor)

05:21 AM
Henry Purcell (1659-1695)
Chacony in G minor, Z730
Psophos Quartet


05:44 AM
Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
Violin Concerto in E minor, Op 64
Renaud Capucon (violin), Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, Paul McCreesh (conductor)

06:10 AM
Percy Grainger (1882-1961)
Suite on Danish folk songs vers. orchestral
Claire Clements (piano), Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Geoffrey Simon (conductor)


FRI 06:30 Breakfast (m001tk4k)
Sunny side up classical

Martin Handley 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 (m001tk4m)
Classical soundtrack for your morning

Tom McKinney 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.


FRI 12:00 Composer of the Week (m001tk4p)
Greatest Showstoppers

Joseph Joachim

Donald Macleod examines how violinist Joseph Joachim found himself at the centre of fierce musical and personal rivalries.

The 19th century was an exciting time for classical musicians. Urban centres across Europe and the New World were expanding rapidly, creating a profitable music circuit for touring performers – particularly if you had the talent and star-power to attract audiences in large numbers! A new breed of performer began to emerge: extraordinary virtuosos whose dazzling abilities made them into international sensations. Liszt, Chopin, Clara Schumann and Paganini are among the names best remembered today but there were many others. This week, Donald Macleod explores the life and music of four more 19th-century ‘showstoppers’ who were equally celebrated in their day, and who also turned their talents to composing.

Today, we follow the fortunes of one of the greatest violinists of the 19th century. Joseph Joachim was a new breed of virtuoso, a humble and generous musician who was determined to put his considerable abilities at the service of the music and composers he most admired. But he could also be stubborn and jealous, leading him to fall out with friends and mentors, and even to sabotage his own marriage.

3 Stücke, Op.2, No.1, Romanze
Rainer Schmidt, violin; Saiko Sasaki, piano

Beethoven: Violin Concerto in D major (1st movt cadenza by Joseph Joachim)
Henryk Szeryng, violin, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, conducted by Bernard Haitink

Joachim: Notturno Op.12
Daniel Hope, violin, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Sakari Oramo

Quartettsatz
Israel String Quartet

Violin Concerto No.2 in D minor, Op.11 'A la hongroise': III. Finale alla Zingara: Allegro con spirito
Christian Tetzlaff, violin, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, directed by Thomas Dausgaard


FRI 13:00 Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert (m001tk4r)
A taste of chamber music from the Edinburgh International Festival 2023

Chamber music highlights from the 2023 Edinburgh International Festival.

From the Queen's Hall, the young American Isidore String Quartet plays the second of Haydn’s Opus 20 quartets, where he breaks from tradition and gives each instrument an equal share of the limelight. A selection of French and Catalonian songs follow by international mezzo-soprano Catriona Morison and renowned pianist Malcolm Martineau. To close, a set of variations on a regal theme from violinist Diana Tishchenko and cellist István Várdai.

Please note that Xavier Montsalvatge's five songs from 1945 contain archaic language reflective of outdated attitudes.

Haydn: String Quartet Op.20 No 2
Pierre Vellones: Cinq Epitaphes Op.73
Xavier Montsalvatge: Five Black Songs 1945
Adrien-François Servais/Joseph Ghys: Variations brilliantes et concertantes sur l'air God Save The King' Op.38

The Isidore String Quartet
Catriona Morison - mezzo-soprano
Malcolm Martineau - piano
Diana Tishchenko - violin
István Várdai - cello

Stephen Broad - presenter
Laura Metcalfe - producer


FRI 14:00 Afternoon Concert (m001tk4t)
Mozart's Jeunehomme

Seong-Jin Cho play's Mozart's Piano Concerto No 9, the so-called 'Jeunehomme', and there's the final instalment of Bach's Mass in B minor.

Presented by Penny Gore

Chopin Competition-winner, Korean pianist Seong-Jin Cho, plays early Mozart. There's the final part of this week's Bach's Mass in B minor, and plenty of festive music.

2.00pm
Hely-Hutchinson
A Carol Symphony: Here We Come A-Wassailin
City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra
Gavin Sutherland, conductor

Robin Milford
On Christmas Night (Sussex Carol)
Philip Brunelle, organ

Bernstein
CBS Music
Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestra
Marin Alsop, conductor

Haydn
Sonata in A flat, Hob.XVI:43
Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, piano

3.00pm
Mozart
Piano Concerto No 9 in E flat, 'Jeunehomme'
Seong-Jin Cho, piano
Mozarteum Orchestra, Salzburg
Ivor Bolton, conductor

Bach
Mass in B minor: Sanctus
Alex Potter, countertenor
Guy Cutting, tenor
Choir & Orchestra of the Collegium Vocale, Ghent
Philippe Herreweghe, conductor

Gershwin
Overture: Strike up the Band
Dresden State Orchestra
Christian Thielemann, conductor

1615
Dvorak
The Noonday Witch
Montreal Symphony Orchestra
Kent Nagano, conductor


FRI 16:30 The Listening Service (m00147jm)
Finishing the Hat

Tom Service explores the unique relationship between music and lyrics in the work of Stephen Sondheim who died in 2021. Credited with 'reinventing the American musical' his works include Follies, Passion, Company, Into the Woods, and Sweeney Todd. Our witnesses are musical director Jason Carr, and thanks to archive interviews, Stephen Sondheim himself.

Producer: Ruth Thomson


FRI 17:00 Slow Radio (m000cnqg)
Arctic Sound Walk

Melting and Changing

There's a spring in Horatio Clare's step as he starts out on the third and final day of his trek along Greenland's Arctic Circle Trail in this immersive Slow Radio sound walk.

Crossing a landscape of extremes as he heads to the small town of Sarfannguit, he considers the changes Greenland is experiencing because of both climate change and international interest in its mineral wealth.

With specialist sound recordings bringing to life the torrents of streams, the howling wind and the gentle lapping of waves on a picturesque Greenlandic tarn, one of the challenges is how to feed the three huskies who have adopted Horatio along the trail.

The programme includes music by John Luther Adams, Maurice Ravel, Sergei Rachmaninov and Pablo Casals. There is also the minimalist folk music of British group, Spiro, works by Steve Reich, Michael Gordon, Víkingur Ólafsson, Jonas Bonnetta, Meredith Monk, the Norwegian artist Biosphere and Estonian folk singer Mari Kalkun.

01 00:00:05 Spiro (artist)
The White Hart
Performer: Spiro
Duration 00:03:48

02 00:07:48 John Luther Adams
In the White Silence - Letter L
Ensemble: Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble
Conductor: Tim Weiss
Duration 00:02:07

03 00:13:36 Steve Reich
Electric Counterpoint 3
Performer: Pat Metheny
Duration 00:01:35

04 00:16:24 Jonas Bonnetta
All this here: Interlude IV
Performer: Jonas Bonnetta
Duration 00:04:49

05 00:20:04 Jonas Bonnetta
All this here: Interlude 1
Performer: Jonas Bonnetta
Duration 00:01:06

06 00:21:09 Jonas Bonnetta
All this here: Little seldom
Performer: Jonas Bonnetta
Duration 00:02:12

07 00:25:09 Maurice Ravel
Daphnis and Chloe Suite No 2 – 'Lever du Jour'
Conductor: André Previn
Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra
Duration 00:03:35

08 00:29:51 John Luther Adams
In the White Silence - Letter M
Ensemble: Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble
Conductor: Tim Weiss
Duration 00:03:44

09 00:33:35 Biosphere
Stordjupta (From The Senja Recordings)
Performer: Biosphere
Duration 00:00:41

10 00:36:44 Biosphere
Berg (From The Senja Recordings)
Performer: Biosphere
Duration 00:00:35

11 00:37:20 Pau Casals
El Cant Dels Ocells [Song of the Birds]
Performer: Sol Gabetta
Orchestra: Kammerorchester Basel
Duration 00:03:43

12 00:41:15 Biosphere
Gilberg (From The Senja Recordings)
Performer: Biosphere
Duration 00:00:26

13 00:41:41 Sergey Rachmaninov
Symphony No 2 in E minor, Op 27 (2nd Mvt)
Orchestra: Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor: André Previn
Duration 00:05:33

14 00:49:26 John Luther Adams
In the White Silence - Letter O
Ensemble: Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble
Conductor: Tim Weiss
Duration 00:03:08

15 00:52:34 Mari Kalkun
Riinukese Valss
Performer: Mari Kalkun
Performer: Tanel Kadalipp
Performer: Triin Arak
Duration 00:03:22

16 00:59:47 John Luther Adams
In the White Silence - Letter Q
Ensemble: Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble
Conductor: Tim Weiss
Duration 00:02:52

17 01:02:53 Michael Gordon
Timber - Part IV
Ensemble: Slagwerk Den Haag
Duration 00:01:22

18 01:04:15 Meredith Monk
Ellis Island
Performer: Bruce Brubaker
Performer: Ursula Oppens
Duration 00:02:54

19 01:09:28 John Luther Adams
In the White Silence - Letter S
Ensemble: Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble
Conductor: Tim Weiss
Duration 00:03:48


FRI 18:15 BBC Proms (m001tk4w)
Proms at Christmas 2023

Prom 68: Max Richter: Recomposed

BBC Proms 2023: another chance to hear violinist Thomas Gould direct the Britten Sinfonia in music by Lera Auerbach, Corelli, Tippett and Max Richter.

Presented by Hannah French, from the Royal Albert Hall, London

Lera Auerbach: Sogno di Stabat Mater
Corelli: Concerto grosso in F major
Tippett: Fantasia Concertante on a Theme of Corelli
Max Richter: Recomposed: Vivaldi – The Four Seasons

Britten Sinfonia
Thomas Gould (violin/director)

Max Richter’s Recomposed is the composer’s celebrated 21st-century reimagining of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons. Here, violinist Thomas Gould and the Britten Sinfonia give the Proms debut performance of Richter’s heady blend of acoustic and electronic sounds. Lera Auerbach’s reworking of Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater looks back to the 18th century, in the same way that Michael Tippett drew inspiration from Corelli in his Fantasia concertante.


FRI 19:55 New Generation Artists (m001tk4y)
Exclusive recordings from rising classical stars

Georgia Mann continues her winter series showcasing Radio 3's New Generation Artists as the Chaos Quartet enjoy one of the first quartets that the 17-year-old Mozart wrote in Vienna. Also today, Tom Borrow explores the many faces of the first of Prokofiev's War Sonatas - first performed in Moscow in 1940. And the burnished baritone, Konstantin Krimmel is heard in Brahms's Autumnal Four Serious Songs in a performance recorded at the BBC studios last month when he was partnered by the BBC Symphony Orchestra and its chief conductor.

Mozart: String Quartet in F major K.168
Chaos Quartet

Mahler: Ich atmet’ einen linden Duft! From Rückert-Lieder
Helen Charlston (mezzo-soprano)
Kunal Lahiry (piano)

Prokofiev: Piano Sonata No. 6 in A major, Op.82
Tom Borrow (piano)


The BBC New Generation Artists scheme was founded in 1999 to support some of the world’s finest young instrumentalists, singers and ensembles at the start of their international careers, through performance and broadcast opportunities. The distinguished list of alumni now numbers well over a hundred, among them many of the most exciting musicians working on the world stage today.


FRI 21:10 BBC Proms (m001tk50)
Proms at Christmas 2023

Prom 63: The Rite by Heart

BBC Proms 2023: Another chance to hear Nicholas Collon conduct Aurora Orchestra in Stravinsky's groundbreaking ballet The Rite of Spring, performed at the Proms from memory.

Presented by Katie Derham, from the Royal Albert Hall, London

Various Artists: A dramatic and musical exploration of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring
Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring

Charlotte Ritchie (actor)
Karl Queensborough (actor)
Aurora Orchestra
Nicholas Collon (conductor)

‘I dreamed of a pagan ritual in which a sacrificial virgin danced herself to death.’ A vision was the inspiration for Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, a ballet that caused a riot at its premiere in 1913. This Prom is an unprecedented opportunity to get under the skin of the work that shook the worlds of music and ballet with its stamping, jagged rhythms and modern harmony. Nicholas Collon and the pioneering Aurora Orchestra dramatise the Rite’s origins, reliving the scene of its notorious concert premiere and finally performing the whole thing from memory.


FRI 22:45 The Essay (m00115cb)
Sounds of Isolation

Journey to the Centre of the Earth

For many of us, isolation is disconcerting and challenging, but for wildlife sound recordist Chris Watson, it is something he actively seeks, so he can fully immerse himself in a place and capture its unique sounds in his recordings.

In the last of five illustrated essays, Chris vividly recalls his quest to capture the sounds of isolation when he goes in search of the entrance to the centre of the earth. Inspired by Jules Verne’s novel he travels from sea level to volcanic crater drawn by the unique sounds of Iceland.

Produced by Sarah Blunt for BBC Audio in Bristol.


FRI 23:00 Late Junction (m001p2jp)
Bonjo Iyabinghi Noah and GAIKA in session

Verity Sharp shares the sounds of our latest exclusive collaboration session - a musical meeting of minds between vocalist and producer GAIKA and master percussionist Bonjo Iyabinghi Noah of the dub ensemble African Head Charge.

GAIKA is an artist once described as ‘Britain’s most vital rapper’. His sound is wide-ranging and sometimes cinematic, combining elements of grime, dancehall, R&B, electronic and soundscape, with lyrics that often reflect social issues and the causes he champions. His latest album Drift will be released in September, and is an experimental ensemble work of ‘nostalgic escapism’ made alongside collaborators including Bbymutha and Kidä.

Bonjo Iyabinghi Noah is a master percussionist and frontman for the psychedelic dub ensemble African Head Charge, which he formed in 1981. Bonjo started in the 1970s as a session hand percussionist with artists like Desmond Dekker, before meeting the producer Adrian Sherwood, his collaborator of more than forty years. Their new album A Trip To Bolgatanga is their first release in twelve years, and takes the form of a musical journey to Bonjo’s current hometown in north Ghana.

Elsewhere in the show, Verity serves up new releases galore, including hydrophone recordings of goings-on under the sea, the gamelan soundtrack of a purification ritual in Bali, and a reissue of 1980s bikutsi from Cameroon.

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

01 00:00:11 Oxn (artist)
Love Henry
Performer: Oxn
Duration 00:05:22

02 00:07:20 Gaika (artist)
PINATA
Performer: Gaika
Duration 00:02:52

03 00:10:12 African Head Charge (artist)
Far Away Chant
Performer: African Head Charge
Duration 00:04:03

04 00:15:24 Fuensanta (artist)
No Sera Regresar
Performer: Fuensanta
Duration 00:04:59

05 00:20:23 Bali Gamelan Sound (artist)
Baris Upacara
Performer: Bali Gamelan Sound
Duration 00:03:10

06 00:24:18 Geoff Leigh (artist)
C-Rallus limicola
Performer: Geoff Leigh
Performer: Mike Cooper
Performer: Okapi & Aldo Kapi's Orchestra
Duration 00:02:40

07 00:27:17 Speaker Music (artist)
Jes Grew
Performer: Speaker Music
Duration 00:05:48

08 00:33:04 Unknown performer (artist)
Jenibecre Habibere
Performer: Unknown performer
Duration 00:04:10

09 00:38:44 Sinéad O’Connor (artist)
I do not want what i haven't got
Performer: Sinéad O’Connor
Duration 00:05:44

10 00:44:28 Xylouris White (artist)
Missing Heart
Performer: Xylouris White
Duration 00:02:19

11 00:48:35 Gaika (artist)
1
Performer: Gaika
Performer: Bonjo Iyabinghi Noah
Duration 00:06:04

12 00:58:11 Bonjo Iyabinghi Noah (artist)
2
Performer: Bonjo Iyabinghi Noah
Performer: Gaika
Duration 00:05:50

13 01:08:15 Bonjo Iyabinghi Noah (artist)
3
Performer: Bonjo Iyabinghi Noah
Performer: Gaika
Duration 00:07:04

14 01:16:14 Oliver Leith (artist)
Tongue in Ear
Performer: Oliver Leith
Duration 00:05:15

15 01:21:29 Josephine Foster (artist)
I am a Guest in Here
Performer: Josephine Foster
Duration 00:04:11

16 01:26:12 Laura Cannell (artist)
Amplify the Purrrsitive
Performer: Laura Cannell
Duration 00:03:40

17 01:29:52 Courtis Possett (artist)
MG04
Performer: Courtis Possett
Duration 00:02:51

18 01:34:03 Lori Vambe (artist)
Drumsong (Three)
Performer: Lori Vambe
Duration 00:01:59

19 01:36:03 Gibraltar Drakus (artist)
Exode Rural
Performer: Gibraltar Drakus
Duration 00:06:04

20 01:42:55 Steve Roden (artist)
Undulant Spores
Performer: Steve Roden
Duration 00:02:56

21 01:45:51 Mari Kalkun (artist)
Kui Kivid Olid Veel Pehmed (When the Stones Were Still Soft)
Performer: Mari Kalkun
Duration 00:03:16

22 01:50:02 Nyokabi Kariũki (artist)
Subira
Performer: Nyokabi Kariũki
Duration 00:04:18

23 01:54:21 Jana Winderen (artist)
Du Petit Risoud aux Profondeurs du Lac de Joux
Performer: Jana Winderen
Duration 00:05:50