SATURDAY 21 JUNE 2025
SAT 00:30 Through the Night (m002d7nw)
Purcell, Rameau and Britten from Bern
Camerata Bern is joined by soprano Anna Prohaska and bassoonist Sergio Azzolini in works by Purcell, Rameau and Britten. Jonathan Swain presents.
12:31 AM
Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764)
Various Works
Anna Prohaska (soprano), Sergio Azzolini (bassoon), Camerata Bern
01:11 AM
Henry Purcell (1659-1695)
Various Works
Anna Prohaska (soprano), Sergio Azzolini (bassoon), Camerata Bern
01:29 AM
Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)
Les Illuminations, Op 18 for soprano and strings
Anna Prohaska (soprano), Camerata Bern
01:51 AM
Erik Gustaf Geijer (1783-1847)
Sonata for Piano (four hands) in F minor
Stefan Bojsten and Anders Kilstrom (piano duo)
02:12 AM
Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
Concerto for Trumpet & Orchestra in E flat major, H.7e.1
Ole Edvard Antonsen (trumpet), Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Nicolae Moldoveanu (conductor)
02:31 AM
Sergey Rachmaninov (1873-1943), Konstantin Balmont (author)
The Bells (Kolokola) for soloists, chorus and orchestra, Op 35
Roumiana Bareva (soprano), Pavel Kourchoumov (tenor), Stoyan Popov (baritone), Sons de la mer Mixed Choir, Bulgarian National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Vassil Stefanov (conductor)
03:09 AM
Friedrich Kuhlau (1786-1832)
Grand Quartet for 4 flutes in E minor, Op 103
Valentinas Kazlauskas (flute), Albertas Stupakas (flute), Lina Baublyte (flute), Giedrius Gelgotas (flute)
03:31 AM
Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)
Ballet music from Otello, Act III
Netherlands Radio Symphony Orchestra, Antoni Ros-Marba (conductor)
03:37 AM
Ferdo Livadic (1799-1878)
Notturno in F sharp minor
Vladimir Krpan (piano)
03:45 AM
Ester Magi (1922-2021)
Ballad 'Tuule Tuba' (House of Wind)
Academic Male Choir of Tallinn Technical University, Estonian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Arvo Volmer (conductor)
03:54 AM
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Sonata for arpeggione and piano in A minor, D.821
Toke Moldrup (cello), Per Salo (piano)
04:03 AM
Frano Parac (b.1948)
Scherzo for Winds
Zagreb Wind Quintet
04:12 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), arr. Edvard Grieg
Sonata for piano in C major, K545
Julie Adam (piano), Daniel Herscovitch (piano)
04:21 AM
Godfrey Ridout (1918-1984)
Fall fair
Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Uri Mayer (conductor)
04:31 AM
Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767)
Trio No.6 from Essercizii Musici
Camerata Koln, Sabine Bauer (organ)
04:39 AM
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Rhapsody for piano in B minor, Op 79 no 1
Steven Osborne (piano)
04:48 AM
Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562-1621)
Psalm 110: Le Toutpuissant a mon Seigneur et maistre
Netherlands Chamber Choir, Peter Phillips (conductor)
04:56 AM
Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
Première rapsodie arr. for clarinet and orchestra
Kari Kriikku (clarinet), Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Jukka-Pekka Saraste (conductor)
05:05 AM
Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992)
Tango Suite for two guitars (Parts 2 and 3)
Tornado Guitar Duo
05:14 AM
Rudolf Matz (1901-1988)
Ballade for violin, cello & piano
Zagreb Piano Trio
05:22 AM
Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826)
Symphony No 1 in C, Op 19
Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Ari Rasilainen (conductor)
05:47 AM
Isaac Albeniz (1860-1909)
Iberia - book 1
Benjamin Grosvenor (piano)
06:06 AM
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-1788)
Concerto for flute and strings no 2 in B flat major, Wq.167
Robert Aitken (flute), CBC Vancouver Orchestra, Mario Bernardi (conductor)
SAT 06:30 Breakfast (m002djlk)
The finest classical music to elevate your morning
Emma Clarke presents Radio 3’s Breakfast show live from Salford. You can contact the show by emailing 3breakfast@bbc.co.uk
To listen on most smart speakers, just say 'Ask BBC Sounds to play 3 Breakfast’
SAT 09:00 Saturday Morning (m002djlm)
Tom Service with music to start your weekend
Tom plays classical music to start your weekend.
Plus the continuation of BBC Radio 3’s 25 for 25: Sounds of the Century – a series of brand new commissions celebrating and commemorating some of the biggest events of the 21st century so far. This week, Composer and saxophonist Cassie Kinoshi’s new work for New Generation Artists the Kleio Quartet is a homage to the remarkable resurgence of the humpback whale which came back from near extinction to record sightings in 2021. It seeks to echo the whales' hauntingly beautiful melodies, celebrating their survival and the enduring mystery of their song.
To listen on most smart speakers just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Saturday Morning”.
SAT 12:00 Earlier... with Jools Holland (m00230c6)
Classical, blues and jazz for the weekend
In a new show for Saturday lunchtimes, Jools shares his lifelong passion for classical music, and the beautiful connections with jazz and blues. With fascinating guests each week, who bring their own favourite music and occasionally perform live in Jools's studio.
Today, Jools's choices include music by Antonio Vivaldi, Roxanna Panufnik and Duke Ellington, with performances from Nicola Benedetti and Elgar himself. His guest is musician and composer David Ogilvy who discusses his recently discovered family musical history which includes Roger Wolfe Kahn who was writing and performing jazz in America in the 1920s and 1930s, and the classical composer and pianist Robert Kahn who fled Germany in the 1930s and settled in Kent. David introduces music by both Roger and Robert Kahn as well as a piece written by one of Robert Kahn's friends, Johannes Brahms, and performed by one of his piano pupils, Wilhelm Kempff.
SAT 13:00 Music Matters (m002djlp)
Knowing the Score
Wielding the baton
With the help of virtuoso soloists, charismatic conductors, world champions and famous athletes, presenter Eleanor Oldroyd invites sporting stars and big names in the classical world to share their experiences and draw comparisons between their professions on the stage or in a stadium. The guests introduce music that inspires them, and Eleanor chooses pieces with a sporting theme which have meant something to her in her in her time covering 13 Summer and Winter Olympic Games for the BBC.
As a coach or a conductor, how do you bring the best out of your athletes or musicians? What works best, the carrot or the stick? How do you relinquish control and learn to trust the talented individuals under your leadership? Conductor Edward Gardner speaks of the collective - and personal - excitement of conducting complex symphonies after hours of rehearsals. Are they the same feelings experienced by coach Clive Woodward when, after years of preparation, his England rugby team won the World Cup in 2003? Clive and Ed discuss their own personal approaches to coaching and conducting in order to achieve elite levels of performance. How do they motivate others, and what motivates them? Around their discussion with Eleanor, we hear Ed conducting large-scale works, including extracts from Holst's The Planets, and Berlioz's Grand Messe des Morts.
Producer: Ben Collingwood.
SAT 14:00 Record Review (m002djlt)
Haydn's The Seasons in Building a Library with Jeremy Summerly & Andrew McGregor
Andrew McGregor with the best new recordings of classical music.
1405
Emily MacGregor makes her pick of the best new releases including Brahms from Hamburg, CPE Bach Violin Sonatas and A Prayer For Deliverance from vocal group Tenebrae
1500
Jeremy Summerly chooses his favourite recording of Haydn's The Seasons
Top choice:
Carolyn Sampson (soprano)
Jeremy Ovenden (tenor)
Andrew Foster-Williams (bass)
Wrocław Philharmonic Choir
Wrocław Baroque Orchestra
Gabrieli Consort & Players
Paul McCreesh (conductor)
Signum SIGCD480
1545
Record of the Week: Andrew’s top pick.
To listen on most smart speakers just say “ask BBC Sounds to play Record Review”
SAT 16:00 Sound of Cinema (m00224g2)
Cinema Paradiso and the long hot summer
Matthew Sweet packs his bags in search of the films that bring back memories of summer - with music from the hot sun of Roman Holiday and Jean de Florette, the childhood adventures of Swallows and Amazons and UP and the nostalgia of Cinema Paradiso.
SAT 17:00 This Classical Life (m002djm1)
Jess Gillam with... Dani Howard
Jess Gillam shares favourite music with composer Dani Howard.
British composer Dani Howard’s distinctive music has been commissioned and performed by the likes of London Symphony Orchestra and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. As well as working with orchestras, she collaborates across disciplines, incorporating dance, architecture, film and visual art into her work. She brings this curiosity and open-mindedness to her musical tastes, and has music by composer Mason Bates, singer-songwriter Roo Panes, and gospel musician Kirk Franklin to play to Jess. Jess, in turn, has music by Bach, Fanny Mendelssohn and jazz musician Joe Henderson.
To listen on most smart speakers just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Radio 3”
SAT 18:00 Opera on 3 (m002djm5)
Britten's Peter Grimes
Welsh National Opera, led by Tomáš Hanus, present this gripping production of Britten’s pivotal operatic masterpiece at Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff. In the storm-swept costal community of Borough, fisherman Peter Grimes is an outsider, regarded with distain by many of his neighbours. When tragedy strikes, contempt turns to suspicion. Peter is driven to breaking point, and Borough’s colourful and wittily-drawn inhabitants begin to look and behave like a mob. Tenor, Nicky Spence leads a large ensemble cast, including Sally Matthews, David Kempster, Sarah Connolly and Catherine Wyn-Rogers - alongside the massed voices of the Chorus of Welsh National Opera. Donald Macleod presents, and is joined by theatre historian, Sarah Lenton, to unpack some of the history behind this work and the special qualities of this new production.
Britten: Peter Grimes
Peter Grimes ..... Nicky Spence (tenor)
Ellen Orford ..... Sally Matthews (soprano)
Captain Balstrode ..... David Kempster (baritone)
Ned Keene ..... Dominic Sedgwick (baritone)
Bob Boles ..... Oliver Johnston (tenor)
Auntie ..... Dame Sarah Connolly (mezzo soprano)
First Niece ..... Fflur Wyn (soprano)
Second Niece ..... Eiry Price (soprano)
Mrs Sedley ..... Catherine Wyn-Rogers (mezzo soprano)
Swallow, a lawyer ..... Sion Goronwy (bass)
Reverend Horace Adams ..... Jeffrey Lloyd-Roberts (tenor)
Hobson, a carrier ..... Callum Thorpe (bass)
Dr Crabbe ..... Helen Jarmany (mezzo soprano)
John ..... Maya Marsh
Orchestra and Chorus of Welsh National Opera
Tomáš Hanus (conductor)
To listen on most smart speakers, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Opera on 3
SAT 21:30 Music Planet (m002djm9)
Modern highlife and musical sisterhood
Lopa Kothari curates a selection of new roots-based music from around the world. There’s a brace of releases from artist-sisters, including the Celtic folk duo Cassie and Maggie MacDonald (hailing from Nova Scotia) alongside Inuksuk Mackay and Tiffany Ayalik who explore Inuit style throat singing traditions under the moniker PIQSIQ. Plus, folk-inspired polyphony from the Baltic Sisters, who offer contemporary interpretations of the vocal traditions of Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia. Elsewhere in the programme, a modern take on highlife courtesy of Amsterdam-based Ghanaian trumpeter Peter Somuah and a live recording from Kurdish/Syrian singer and bouzouki player Mohammad Syfkhan’s recent gig at Oslo in Hackney, London.
Produced by Silvia Malnati and Fatuma Khaireh
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 3
To listen on most smart speakers, just say, “Ask BBC Sounds to play Music Planet”
SAT 22:30 New Music Show (m002djmf)
David Fennessy's 'Blood'
We hear the world premiere recording of David Fennessy's violin concerto 'Blood', with violinist Katherine Hunka and the voices of Chamber Choir Ireland, alongside the strings of the Irish Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Thomas Zehetmair (from Irish broadcaster RTE). Plus music specially recorded last month with vocal ensemble Exaudi at London's Milton Court, and the latest in new releases.
SUNDAY 22 JUNE 2025
SUN 00:30 Through the Night (m002djmj)
Midsummer Night from Sweden
Midsommar is one of the most celebrated holidays in Sweden, taking place every June during the summer solstice. We mark this with a concert from the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and conductor Dinis Sousa, performing works by Saariaho, Haydn and Beethoven, plus music from Swedish composers and performers. Jonathan Swain presents.
12:31 AM
Kaija Saariaho (1952-2023)
Vers toi qui es si loin
Julia Kretz-Larsson (violin), Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Dinis Sousa (conductor)
12:38 AM
Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
Symphony no 49 in F minor, Hob. I:49 'La Passione'
Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Dinis Sousa (conductor)
01:00 AM
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Symphony no 8 in F major, Op 93
Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Dinis Sousa (conductor)
01:26 AM
Wilhelm Stenhammar (1871-1927)
Sverige (Sweden)
Swedish Radio Choir, Eric Ericson (conductor)
01:28 AM
Wilhelm Stenhammar (1871-1927)
Folket i Nifelhem (The people of Nifelhem)
Swedish Radio Choir, Michael Engstrom (piano), Gustav Sjokvist (conductor)
01:43 AM
Emil Sjogren (1853-1918)
Eroticon, Op 10: no 2 in D flat major; no 3 in A flat major for piano
Wilhelm Stenhammar (piano)
01:48 AM
Henri Marteau (1874-1934)
String Quartet no 3 in C major
Yggdrasil String Quartet
02:26 AM
Carl Nielsen (1865-1931)
Irmelin Rose, from 5 Songs to poems of Jacobsen, Op 4 no 4
Mattias Ermedahl (tenor), Anders Kilstrom (piano)
02:31 AM
Franz Berwald (1796-1868)
Piano Concerto in D major
Greta Erikson (piano), Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Sten Frykberg (conductor)
02:52 AM
Erik Gustaf Geijer (1783-1847)
7 Songs Vikingen (The Viking); Den lilla kolargossen
Samuel Jarrick (baritone), Stefan Bojsten (piano)
03:06 AM
Hugo Alfven (1872-1960)
King Gustav II Adolf, Op 49 (Suite)
Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Niklas Willen (conductor)
03:22 AM
Johan Helmich Roman (1694-1758)
Suite (sonata) for clavichord no 12 in E minor
Karin Jonsson-Hazell (harpsichord)
03:29 AM
Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847), transc. Felix Dreyschoeck
A Midsummer Night's Dream - Concert Paraphrase, Op 61 (excerpts)
Felix Dreyschoeck (piano)
03:37 AM
Adolf Fredrik Lindblad (1801-1878)
Drommarne
Swedish Radio Choir, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Gustav Sjokvist (conductor)
03:54 AM
Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
Piano Trio in E flat major, Hob.
15.10
Niklas Sivelov (piano), Bernt Lysell (violin), Mikael Sjogren (cello)
04:05 AM
Dag Wiren (1905-1986)
Serenade for Strings, Op 11
Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Niklas Willen (conductor)
04:20 AM
Fritz Kreisler (1875-1962)
Berceuse romantique, Op 9
Tobias Ringborg (violin), Anders Kilstrom (piano)
04:25 AM
Hector Berlioz (1803-1869), transc. Franz Liszt
Danse des sylphes (S.475) transc. for piano from "La Damnation de Faust"
Wanda Landowska (piano)
04:31 AM
Oskar Lindberg (1887-1955)
Midsommarnatt
Swedish Radio Choir, Eric Ericson Chamber Choir, Maria Wieslander (piano), Gustav Sjokvist (conductor)
04:34 AM
Traditional
Ack Varmeland du skona (Swedish Folk Melody)
Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Young Danish String Quartet, Thomas Dausgaard (conductor)
04:38 AM
Hugo Alfven (1872-1960)
Nocturne
Valma Rydstrom (piano)
04:41 AM
Hugo Alfven (1872-1960)
Minuet, Op 2
Valma Rydstrom (piano)
04:45 AM
Johan Helmich Roman (1694-1758)
13 pieces from 'Drottningholmsmusiquen' (for the Swedish Royal Wedding of 1744)
Concerto Koln
05:06 AM
Fritz Kreisler (1875-1962)
Four Songs:
Ghasel; The Praise of Islay; Ein altes Lied; The Old Refrain
Fredrick Zetterstrom (baritone), Anders Kilstrom (piano)
05:19 AM
Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)
Pohjola's daughter - symphonic fantasia, Op 49
Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Paavo Berglund (conductor)
05:33 AM
Wilhelm Stenhammar (1871-1927)
Sensommarnätter (Late Summer Nights) Op 33
Dan Franklin (piano)
05:51 AM
Tor Aulin (1866-1914)
Violin Concerto no 3 in C minor Op 14
Stig Nilsson (violin), Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Michel Plasson (conductor)
06:24 AM
Nils Lindberg (1933-2022)
Shall I compare thee to a Summer's day?
Yggdrasil String Quartet
06:26 AM
Adolf Fredrik Lindblad (1801-1878)
En sommerafton (A summer Evening) from 'Om vinterkvall' (Of a Winter's Eve)
Swedish Radio Choir, Eric Ericson (conductor)
SUN 06:30 Breakfast (m002dpqs)
Ease into the day with classical music
Mark Forrest presents Radio 3’s Breakfast show live from Salford with birdsong and the best in classical music. This week's dawn chorus is the sound of the endangered Ring Ouzel, with music including Debussy's depiction of its habitat in the heather, Bruyères.
You can contact the show by emailing 3breakfast@bbc.co.uk
To listen on most smart speakers, just say 'Ask BBC Sounds to play 3 Breakfast’
SUN 09:00 Sunday Morning (m002dpqv)
Your perfect Sunday soundtrack
Sarah Walker brings you three hours of classical music to reflect, restore, and refresh.
Today, Sarah offers a rich mix of well-loved classics and lesser-known gems in the Sunday Morning studio. Among her musical discoveries are an orchestral prelude by Portuguese composer Braga Santos, characterful keyboard music by Elisabetta de Gambarini, and a pair of Minuets by Christian Petzold - long attributed to J.S. Bach.
The real J.S. Bach also makes an appearance, courtesy of pianist Murray Perahia. There’s a masterclass in musical portrait painting from Tchaikovsky in his Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture, and a trip to the fictional Japanese town of Titipu for the overture to Sullivan’s operetta The Mikado.
And for this week’s Choral Reflection, Sarah turns to Radiohead, with a beautifully sonorous and atmospheric arrangement of Pyramid Song performed by VOCES8 and friends.
A Tandem Production for BBC Radio 3.
SUN 12:00 Private Passions (m002dpqx)
Gabriel Zuchtriegel
Gabriel Zuchtriegel is the director of Pompeii, one of the world’s most important ancient historical sites. It sits at the base of Mount Vesuvius, the still active volcano which erupted in 79AD and buried the city under volcanic ash and pumice, preserving a unique snapshot of life there nearly 2000 years ago.
Gabriel grew up in Germany, where ruins and ancient myths first sparked his interest in our ancient past, and led him to study archaeology. Prior to Pompeii he oversaw Paestum, a site about 60 miles south of Vesuvius, celebrated for its three ancient Greek temples, dating back to about 500 BC.
More recently, he has written a book called The Buried City: Unearthing the Real Pompeii - and new finds continue to be unearthed, as around a third of the site is still buried.
Gabriel's music choices include Schubert, Mozart, Vivaldi and Bach.
SUN 13:30 Music Map (m002dpqz)
A journey to the Lacrimosa from Mozart's Requiem
Sara Mohr-Pietsch charts a path to the Lacrimosa from Mozart's Requiem, commissioned in mysterious circumstances, and unfinished at his death at the age of 35. The Lacrimosa is considered to be the last music Mozart wrote. There are stop-offs to hear the Requiem by Tomas Luis de Victoria, an unfinished work by Bach, and posthumously-completed music by Puccini and John Lennon.
To listen to this programme (using most smart speakers), just say: 'Ask BBC Sounds to play Music Map.'
SUN 15:00 Choral Evensong (m002d7gt)
King's College, Cambridge
Last Wednesday's serviceive from the Chapel of King’s College, Cambridge.
Introit: Lord, grant grace (Gibbons)
Responses: Byrd
Psalms 93, 94 (Marlow, after Gibbons)
First Lesson: Exodus 3 vv1-12
Canticles: Service for trebles (Weelkes)
Second Lesson: Acts 7 vv30-38
Anthem: Great Lord of Lords (Gibbons)
Hymn: Eternal Ruler of the ceaseless round (Song 1)
Voluntary: Fantasia for double organ (Gibbons)
Daniel Hyde (Director of Music)
Harrison Cole (Assisting Organist)
To listen on most smart speakers just say “ask BBC Sounds to play Choral Evensong”.
SUN 16:00 Jazz Record Requests (m002dpr1)
Satie, Miles Davis & Remembering Brian Kellock
Alyn Shipton presents jazz records of all styles as requested by you including music to gear you up for Radio 3's Satie Day on June 28th including versions of Erik Satie's music performed by the Vienna Art Orchestra and British singer Tessa Souter. Plus selections from Miles Davis, Errol Garner and a tribute to the late Scottish pianist Brian Kellock.
Get in touch: jrr@bbc.co.uk or use #jazzrecordrequests on social
To listen on most smart speakers just say “ask BBC Sounds to play Jazz Record Requests”
SUN 17:00 The Early Music Show (m001v4h0)
Chinoiserie
Mark Seow looks at 18th Century Europe's fascination with the Orient, including music by Purcell and Couperin, and he explores the lives of certain musicians living in 18th Century Beijing.
SUN 18:00 Words and Music (m001zvdg)
Portraits of Suffolk
Benjamin Britten founded the Aldeburgh Festival of Music and the Arts in 1948 and each June the concert halls and exhibition venues at Snape Maltings and local churches host performers and artists.
Words and Music takes as its theme the county of Suffolk. The items are all linked to Suffolk and the Festival with music featured in the very first concert, compositions about the county or by musicians associated with it; and prose and poetry, old and new, describe Suffolk life and landscape from writers born or resident there.
Musically the prime mover behind the Festival, Lowestoft-born Benjamin Britten, of course looms large but there are also other Suffolk composers like the eighteenth century Joseph Gibbs and the contemporary Magnus Fiennes, Cevanne Horrocks-Hopayian and Alan Bullard. Plus Michael Tippett, who composed the music for Peter Hall's 1974 film based on the book Akenfield: Portrait of an English Village by Ronald Blythe. Traditional Suffolk folk songs and tunes sit alongside modern pop performers like Ed Sheeran and Nik Kershaw and Brian Eno’s ambient sounds reflect the county of his birth.
The rivers, coast and even Sizewell’s nuclear power station have inspired poets like Stevie Smith, John Betjeman, Blake Morrison and Deryn Rees-Jones while prose writers including Brendan Behan, Esther Freud and Melissa Harrison have explored the lives of the people of Suffolk.
The readings are by Orford’s Miranda Raison and Bury St Edmunds’ Michael Maloney.
Producer: Harry Parker
You can find a series of evening concerts recorded at this year's Aldeburgh Festival being broadcast on Radio 3 from Monday to Thursday next week (June 23rd to 26th) and then available on BBC Sounds. These feature the BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Singers and a piano trio.
READINGS:
Alun Lewis Dawn on the East Coast
Stevie Smith The River Deben
W G Sebald Benacre Broad from The Rings of Saturn
Esther Freud from The Sea House
Ronald Blythe William Russ, Gravedigger from Akenfield
Deryn Rees-Jones Midnight Beach at Sizewell B
George Crabbe Peter Grimes from The Borough Letter XXII
Bernard Barton Dunwich
Edward Thomas Dunwich January 15th 1908 from a letter to Gordon Bottomley
Melissa Harrison from All Among the Barley
Trad. Black Shuck (Bungay)
Brendan Behan from Borstal Boy
John Impit Lushington (Quill) Gleaning Time in Suffolk
Emily Howes from The Painter’s Daughters
John Betjeman Felixstowe or The Last of Her Order
Jean Ingelow The Waveney
Maggie Hemingway from The Bridge
Blake Morrison Covehithe
SUN 19:15 Sunday Feature (m002dpr5)
The February House
For a year during World War II, an unremarkable residence in Brooklyn Heights became the epicentre of Western music and literature. 7 Middagh Street was home to a list of luminaries: novelist Carson McCullers, burlesque dancer Gypsy Rose Lee, as well as three young Englishmen who’d emigrated to America as conflict blasted Europe - composer Benjamin Britten, tenor Peter Pears, and poet W.H. Auden.
85 years on, poet and cultural historian Gregory Woods rebuilds this ramshackle house share, and invite the walls to talk ...
With contributions from:
Katherine Bucknell, scholar, author, and a founder of The W.H. Auden Society
Paul Kildea, Australian composer and Britten expert
Paul Muldoon, Pulitzer Prize-winning Irish poet
Hugh Ryan, historian and author of ‘When Brooklyn Was Queer’
Sherill Tippins, historian whose book “February House” won the LAMBDA Literary Award For Biography and the National Prize For Arts Writing
Presented by Gregory Woods
Produced by Jude Shapiro
Exec Produced by Jack Howson
Mixed by Louis Blatherwick
With additional production from Will Coley and extra research from Saskia Cookson & Joy Nkoyo
A Peanut & Crumb production for BBC Radio 3
SUN 20:00 Brass Banding with Hannah Peel (m002dpr7)
An all female brass band
Hannah discovers the first all female brass band in the USA as she drops another pin on her map of banding. Conductor Duncan Beckley recounts a joyous story of overcoming adversity and finding community through banding. He recommends a piece from the BBC archives that represents a pivotal moment in his career. Plus a piece combining Indian classical music with British brass bands, and a new release from euphonium player David Childs.
Produced by Olivia Swift
A Reform Radio production for BBC Radio 3
SUN 21:00 20th Century Radicals (m002dpr9)
Eastman: sexuality, race and repetition
Kate Molleson and Gillian Moore present BBC Radio 3's series exploring the pivotal 'modern' musical works of the 20th century, the groundbreaking composers who created them, and the radical cultural and artistic movements which gave rise to them. In this episode, Gillian explores the controversial and visionary musical world of Julius Eastman, leading to full performance of his work Evil N****r from 1979. Along the way, we visit a mad English king via the Manchester School and dive headlong into the hedonistic New York scene of the late 1970s, when queer identity and Black culture were finding their voices, disco was queen and hip hop emerging, and minimalism represented a scandalous new art form.
Produced by Sam Phillips
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 3
SUN 22:00 Ultimate Calm (m002bhs7)
Hania Rani: Series 4
Music to drift through memories ft Joachim Trier
Polish composer, pianist and vocalist Hania Rani believes that forgetting can be just as powerful as remembering, allowing space for softness, drifting and reinvention. In this episode, she shares evocative musical selections that capture the sensation of memory dissolving: from the ambient minimalism of Peter Conradin Zumthor and Romeo Poirier to the cinematic textures of Mica Levi and Tangerine Dream.
Hania also reflects on film music as an art form, exploring how spaces, sounds, and emotions are woven together in memory.
And we’re transported to the musical safe haven of acclaimed Norwegian filmmaker Joachim Trier, who shares the song that brings him ultimate calm.
Produced by Silas Gray
A Reduced Listening production
SUN 23:00 The Night Tracks Mix (m00194qm)
Music for the darkling hour
Sara Mohr-Pietsch with a magical sonic journey for late-night listening.
SUN 23:30 Unclassified (m002dprc)
High Summer
Elizabeth Alker returns with a selection of fresh music from genre-defying artists as we journey through landscapes of ambient and experimental sounds that this week reflect the glorious light, joy and mystery of high summer. Peter Chilvers, best known for his work with David Byrne and his 20 year collaboration with Brian Eno, sends our eyes up towards The Unbroken Sky, while Liverpool songsmith Lein Sangster invites us to run through the Summer Rain. And as no summer would be complete without a trip to the sea, Coco Francovilla takes us on a deep dive through the Mediterranean’s ancient Posidonia Oceanica meadows with her captivating track Ocean Womb.
Produced by Geoff Bird
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 3
To listen on most smart speakers just say “ask BBC Sounds to play Unclassified”
MONDAY 23 JUNE 2025
MON 00:30 Through the Night (m002dprf)
Vaughan Williams, Wolf and Schubert
Baritone Konstantin Krimmel and pianist Marcelo Amaral perform Vaughan Williams's Songs of Travel, four songs from Wolf's 'Goethe Lieder', and songs by Schubert. Jonathan Swain presents.
12:31 AM
Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)
Songs of Travel
Konstantin Krimmel (baritone), Marcelo Amaral (piano)
12:55 AM
Hugo Wolf (1860-1903)
Four Songs from 'Goethe Lieder':
1. Harfenspieler I; 2. Harfenspieler II; 3. Harfenspieler III, 4. Anakreons Grab
Konstantin Krimmel (baritone), Marcelo Amaral (piano)
01:08 AM
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Four Lieder: Der Pilgrim, D. 794; Totengräbers Heimweh, D. 842; An den Mond, D. 193; Nachtstück, D. 672
Konstantin Krimmel (baritone), Marcelo Amaral (piano)
01:33 AM
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Willkommen und Abschied, D767
Konstantin Krimmel (baritone), Marcelo Amaral (piano)
01:37 AM
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Abendstern, D806
Konstantin Krimmel (baritone), Marcelo Amaral (piano)
01:40 AM
Richard Wagner (1813-1883)
Prologue: Dawn music & Siegfried's Rhine journey from Gotterdammerung
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Riccardo Chailly (conductor)
01:53 AM
Franz Schubert (1797-1828), arr. Franz Liszt
Wandererfantasie, D760 arranged by Liszt (S.366)
Anton Dikov (piano), Bulgarian National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Alipi Naydenov (conductor)
02:16 AM
Boris Papandopulo (1906-1991)
Trio Sonata
Zagreb Guitar Trio
02:31 AM
William Walton (1902-1983)
Concerto in B minor for violin and orchestra
James Ehnes (violin), Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Bramwell Tovey (conductor)
03:01 AM
Carl Reinecke (1824-1910)
Trio for oboe, horn and piano in A minor, Op 188
Maarten Karres (oboe), Jaap Prinsen (horn), Ariane Veelo-Karres (piano)
03:24 AM
Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)
Rakastava - suite for string orchestra, Op 14
Danish Radio Concert Orchestra, Hannu Koivula (conductor)
03:38 AM
Dietrich Buxtehude (1637-1707)
Sonate IV for violin, viola da gamba and cembalo in B flat major, BuxWV 255
Ensemble CordArte
03:46 AM
Paul Dukas (1865-1935)
The Sorcerer's apprentice - symphonic scherzo for orchestra
Hungarian Radio Orchestra, Adam Medveczky (conductor)
03:57 AM
Petko Stainov (1896-1977)
Horsemen, ballad for men's choir
Kaval Men's Choir, Mikhail Angelov (conductor)
04:04 AM
Edvard Grieg (1843-1907)
Wedding Day at Troldhaugen, from 'Lyric Pieces' Op 65 no 6
Carl Wendling (piano)
04:11 AM
Louis Spohr (1784-1859)
Fantasia and Variations on a theme by Franz Danzi in B flat Op 81
Laszlo Horvath (clarinet), New Budapest Quartet
04:19 AM
William Boyce (1711-1779), Maurice Greene (1696-1755)
Suite for two trumpets and organ
Ivan Hadliyski (trumpet), Roman Hajiyski (trumpet), Velin Iliev (organ)
04:31 AM
Franz von Suppe (1819-1895)
Overture from Die Leichte Kavallerie (Light cavalry) - operetta
RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra, Marko Munih (conductor)
04:39 AM
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Schmucke dich, O liebe Seele – chorale-prelude for organ, BWV.654
Bine Katrine Bryndorf (organ)
04:46 AM
Johannes Ockeghem (1410-1497)
Intemerata Dei mater
Hilliard Ensemble
Paul Hillier (director)
04:55 AM
Carl Czerny (1791-1857)
Fantasie for piano duet in F minor
Stefan Lindgren (piano), Daniel Propper (piano)
05:05 AM
Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
Two Dances for Harp and Strings
Joel von Lerber (harp), Bern Chamber Orchestra, Philippe Bach (conductor)
05:15 AM
Fernando Sor (1778-1839)
Introduction and variations on a theme from Mozart's Magic Flute, Op 9
Ana Vidovic (guitar)
05:23 AM
Barbara Strozzi (1619-1677)
Hor che Apollo - Serenade for soprano, 2 violins & continuo
Susanne Ryden (soprano), Musica Fiorita, Daniela Dolci (director)
05:36 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Symphony no 39 in E flat major, K.543
Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Andre Previn (conductor)
06:04 AM
Ruth Gipps (1921-1999)
Wind Sinfonietta, Op 73
BBC National Orchestra of Wales (conductor), Jonathan Bloxham (conductor)
06:22 AM
Gabriel Faure (1845 - 1924)
Elegie, Op 24 arr. for cello and orchestra
Shauna Rolston (cello), Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Uri Mayer (conductor)
MON 06:30 Breakfast (m002djt0)
Wake up with classical music
Tom McKinney presents Radio 3’s Breakfast show live from Salford, including BBC Radio 3’s 25 for 25: Sounds of the Century – a series of brand new commissions celebrating and commemorating some of the biggest events of the 21st century so far. This week, composer and saxophonist Cassie Kinoshi’s new work for New Generation Artists the Kleio Quartet is a homage to the remarkable resurgence of the humpback whale which came back from near extinction to record sightings in 2021. It seeks to echo the whales' hauntingly beautiful melodies, celebrating their survival and the enduring mystery of their song.
You can contact the show by emailing 3breakfast@bbc.co.uk
To listen on most smart speakers, just say 'Ask BBC Sounds to play 3 Breakfast’
MON 09:30 Essential Classics (m002djt2)
Celebrating classical greats
Ian Skelly plays the best in classical music, with discoveries and surprises rubbing shoulders with familiar favourites.
1000 Playlist starter – listen and send us your ideas for the next step in our musical journey today.
1030 Song of the Day – harnessing the magic of words, music and the human voice.
1115 Playlist reveal – a sequence of music suggested by you in response to our starter today.
1145 Slow Moment – time to take a break for a moment's musical reflection.
1230 Album of the Week.
To listen on most smart speakers say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Essential Classics”.
MON 13:00 Classical Live (m002djt4)
Soprano Ailish Tynan live at Wigmore Hall in London
Mark Forrest showcases the best performances by BBC orchestras, choirs, ensembles and other great performing groups from Europe and around the globe.
The week begins with a live concert from London’s Wigmore Hall given by soprano Ailish Tynan, clarinettist Michael Collins and pianist Malcolm Martineau. Their programme features songs by Schumann, Spohr and Mozart alongside Mendelssohn’s Clarinet Sonata in E flat, and culminates in a performance of Schubert’s song The Shepherd on the Rock.
There’s more chamber music throughout the week from concerts specially recorded for Classical Live at this year’s Chipping Campden Music Festival. Today we hear two pieces from cellist Steven Isserlis’s Czech-themed concert, and pianist and composer Tom Poster works his magic on a funny folksong for tenor Allan Clayton and the Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective.
And in orchestral music the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra perform Wagner’s radiant Siegfried Idyll and Beethoven’s riveting Symphony No. 7.
1pm
Live from Wigmore Hall, London, presented by Petroc Trelawny.
Franz Lachner
Seit ich ihn gesehen (Frauenliebe und -leben)
Robert Schumann
Seit ich ihn gesehen (Frauenliebe und -leben)
Felix Mendelssohn
Clarinet Sonata in E flat major
Louis Spohr
Sei still mein Herz, Op. 103 No. 1
Das heimliche Lied, Op. 103 No. 5
Wach auf, Op. 103 No. 6
Franz Schubert
Nacht und Träume, D827
Die Taubenpost, D965a
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Nehmt meinen Dank K383
Franz Schubert
Der Hirt auf dem Felsen D 965
2pm
Richard Wagner
Siegfried Idyll
Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra
Maxim Emelyanychev (conductor)
Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer
Suite in D minor, Op. 1 No. 4 (Le journal de printemps)
Freiburg Baroque Orchestra
Gottfried van der Goltz (director)
Jan Šťastný
Theme and Variations
Steven Isserlis (cello)
Connie Shih (piano)
Ludwig van Beethoven
Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92
Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra
Marta Gardolińska (conductor)
Bohuslav Martinu
Cello Sonata No. 1
Steven Isserlis (cello)
Connie Shih (piano)
Traditional arr. Tom Poster
Frog Went a-Courtin'
Allan Clayton (tenor)
Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective
To listen to this programme (using most smart speakers) just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Classical Live".
MON 16:00 Composer of the Week (m002djt6)
Gavin Bryars
On the outside, looking out
Kate Molleson meets Gavin Bryars, the celebrated and much-loved composer whose kaleidoscopic career defies categorisation. As an inveterate collaborator, Bryars has worked alongside figures as diverse as Brian Eno, Tom Waites, the Hilliard Ensemble, Mainz Opera and Faroese singer-songwriter, Eivør Pálsdottír. He has collected a lifetime’s-worth of amazing stories along the way, and Kate invites Gavin to share some of the many surprising twists and turns in his journey from experimental outsider to concert hall favourite. Today he discusses his early steps into composing, rejecting a traditional path in classical music for something more adventurous.
Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet (excerpt)
The Cockpit Ensemble, directed by Gavin Bryars
The Stopping Train (I. Goole to Gilberdyke (Eastwards)
Blake Morrison, narrator
James Woodrow, electric guitar
Morgan Goff, viola
Nick Cooper, cello
Gavin Bryars, double bass
Crookesmoor (excerpt)
Joseph Holbrooke Trio
The Sinking of the Titanic (excerpt)
Philip Jeck, improvising turntablist
Gavin Bryars Ensemble
My First Homage
Dave Smith, piano
Gavin Bryars, piano
Andrew Bilham, vibraphone
Ronald Reah, vibraphone
Andrew Renshaw, sizzle cymbal
Andrew Wilson-Dickson, tuba
MON 17:00 In Tune (m002djt9)
Discover classical music and artists
Petroc Trelawny has live music from Mark Padmore and Joseph Middleton ahead of their performance of Winterreise at Crail Church. Also, Petroc is joined by John Frederick Hudson, Artistic Director of JAM on the Marsh Festival.
MON 19:00 Classical Mixtape (m002djtc)
Switch up your listening with classical music
Take time out with a 30-minute soundscape of classical music.
MON 19:30 Radio 3 in Concert (m002djtf)
BBC Symphony Orchestra at the Aldeburgh Festival 2025
The BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sakari Oramo. Helen Grime's Violin Concerto, Richard Strauss's Death and Transfiguration and Four Last Songs, and Awake by Daniel Kidane.
The first of two concerts from Snape Maltings Concert Hall by the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Sakari Oramo features two masterpieces by Richard Strauss in which darkness is transformed into light. Death and Transfiguration depicts the death of an artist and his ascension to heaven; and in The Four Last Songs – performed by soprano Anu Komsi – the singer reflects on the passing of life's seasons in achingly beautiful music.
Festival artist composer Helen Grime describes her Violin Concerto as “violent, virtuosic music covering the whole range of the violin, contrasted with more delicate and reflective filigree material and searching melodies”. And she adds, referring to her soloist, Festival artist Leila Josefowicz "Every time she plays the Concerto she has something new to say and to bring to it, so it's a very exciting experience every time I hear it”.
"Be awake, focus on the positives, be open-minded. Really listen. I wanted to create a piece that was hopeful”. The words of fellow featured Festival composer artist Daniel Kidane’s whose 'Awake' begins the concert.
Recorded at Snape Maltings on Saturday 21st June 2025. Presented by Martin Handley
Daniel Kidane: Awake
Helen Grime: Violin Concerto (UK premiere)
Interval: Music chosen by Helen Grime
Richard Strauss: Tod und Verklärung (Death and Transfiguration) Op.24
Richard Strauss: Four Last Songs
Anu Komsi (soprano)
Leila Josefowicz (violin)
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Sakari Oramo (conductor)
To listen on most smart speakers just say "ask BBC Sounds to play Radio 3 in Concert".
MON 21:45 The Essay (m001rrc2)
Highland Tails
The Reindeer
Kenneth Steven considers the introduction of wild animals into the Highlands of Scotland, reflecting in poetry at the end of each Essay.
A consignment of eight reindeer landed at Clydebank near Glasgow on April 12th in 1952 thanks to a Swedish Sami Mikel Utsi who hailed from a long line of reindeer herders. There were eight reindeer and they were from Mikel Utsi’s own family herd in Arctic Sweden. The crossing had taken four days and by all accounts it had been pretty rough. Those first eight beasts spent the next month in quarantine at Edinburgh Zoo and then they completed their journey to Highland Scotland and the area of ground that had been granted for them. There are echoes of the old stories of attempted re-introductions of reindeer: low and wet ground, the prevalence of insects. It took time, but in 1954 Mikel Utsi was given permission for free grazing up to the summits of the northern corries of the Cairngorms: in other words, where they needed to be. Further clusters of reindeer were introduced in 1952, 1954 and 1955.
Several hundred reindeer were born in Highland Scotland between 1953 and 1979, that year when Mikel Utsi passed away. Wild reindeer were again living freely in the country that had been theirs centuries before. And the herder who’d brought them here, whose dream had come true, he was able to bring people out into what might just have been another piece of his childhood landscape and tell them of the ways and the stories of the Sami.
Presenter Kenneth Steven
Producer Mark Rickards
A Whistledown Scotland production for BBC Radio 3
MON 22:00 Night Tracks (m002djth)
Nocturnal music to bewitch the senses
Sara Mohr-Pietsch presents an adventurous, immersive soundtrack for late-night listening, from classical to contemporary and everything in between.
MON 23:30 'Round Midnight (m002djtk)
Terri Lyne Carrington’s 4/4
‘Round Midnight is presented by award-winning saxophonist Soweto Kinch. This weekday late-night show celebrates the thriving UK jazz scene and spotlights the best new music alongside incredible acts from past decades.
Soweto’s guest this week is American drummer, composer, and producer Terri Lyne Carrington. Terri Lyne is leading figure in contemporary jazz both as a musician and educator; she is a multi-Grammy award-winning artist, serves as Founder and Artistic Director of the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice, and Artistic Director for both the Next Jazz Legacy programme and the Carr Center in Detroit. To date she has worked with greats of the music including Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter and Stan Getz.
Among her many other accolades, Terri Lyne authored the songbook collection, New Standards: 101 Lead Sheets By Women Composers, which features a range of jazz compositions written by women composers, from across the eras and styles. The songbook was accompanied by the Grammy award-winning album "new STANDARDS vol.1".
Terri Lyne Carrington's latest album We Insist! 2025, pays homage to the seminal record "We Insist! Max Roach’s Freedom Now Suite" by Max Roach with Abbey Lincoln and Oscar Brown, Jr.
From Monday to Thursday Terri Lyne will be sharing four albums that have influenced her, for our 4/4 series. Starting off her week, she selects a live album by a maestro American tenor saxophonist.
Also in the programme, music from Anna Chandler-King, Eriksson Kaner and Mom Tudie, and Jas Kayser.
To listen on most smart speakers, just say: 'Ask BBC Sounds to play Round Midnight.'
TUESDAY 24 JUNE 2025
TUE 00:30 Through the Night (m002djtm)
Johan Dalene and friends
Johan Dalene and friends perform a programme of chamber music by Saariaho, Debussy, Granados and Schumann from the Concert Church Blågårds Plads in Copenhagen. Jonathan Swain presents.
12:31 AM
Kaija Saariaho (1952 - 2023)
Excerpts from 'Six Japanese Gardens'
Lorenzo Colombo (percussion)
12:37 AM
Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
Violin Sonata in G minor
Johan Dalene (violin), Sebastian Iivonen (piano)
12:51 AM
Enrique Granados (1867-1916)
Piano Quintet in G flat major, Op 49
Michael Germer (violin), Anna Agafia (violin), Michael Grolid (viola), Kristina Winiarski (cello), Sebastian Iivonen (piano)
01:08 AM
Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Piano Quartet in E flat major, Op 47
Johan Dalene (violin), Michael Grolid (viola), Jonathan Swensen (cello), Gustav Piekut (piano)
01:36 AM
Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
Images for orchestra
Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Ion Marin (conductor)
02:12 AM
Luys de Narvaez (fl.1526-1549)
Los Seys libros del Delphin de musica
Hopkinson Smith (vihuela)
02:31 AM
Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764)
Dardanus (orchestral suites)
Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Jeanne Lamon (conductor)
03:08 AM
Franz Berwald (1796-1868)
Septet in B flat
Fredrik Ekdahl (bassoon), Hanna Thorell (cello), Kristian Moller (clarinet), Mattias Karlsson (double bass), Ayman Al Fakir (horn), Linn Lowengren-Elkvull (viola), Roger Olsson (violin)
03:30 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) [compl. Süssmayr]
Horn Concerto no 1 in D major, K.412
Premysl Vojta (horn), Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Lukasz Borowicz (conductor)
03:38 AM
Francesco Cavalli (1602-1676)
Dixit Dominus a 8
Balthasar-Neumann-Chor, Balthasar-Neumann-Ensemble, Thomas Hengelbrock (conductor)
03:50 AM
Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)
Fantasia on a theme by Thomas Tallis
Zurich Chamber Orchestra, Duncan Ward (conductor)
04:05 AM
Bedrich Smetana (1824-1884)
Sonata movement in E minor (B.70) for 2 pianos, 8 hands
Else Krijgsman (piano), Mariken Zandliver (piano), David Kuijken (piano), Carlos Moerdijk (piano)
04:16 AM
Edvard Grieg (1843-1907)
Evening in the Mountains, Op 68 No 4; At the cradle, Op 68 No 5
CBC Vancouver Orchestra, Mario Bernardi (conductor)
04:24 AM
Johann Heinrich Schmelzer (c.1620-1680)
Sonata No 12, 'Sacroprofanus concentus musicus'
Gradus ad Parnassum, Concerto Palatino, Konrad Junghanel (director)
04:31 AM
Wojciech Kilar (1931-2013)
Little Overture
National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Stanislav Macura (conductor)
04:38 AM
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Sonata for recorder and continuo in C major, HWV.365 Op 1 no 7
Peter Hannan (recorder), Christel Thielmann (viola da gamba), Colin Tilney (harpsichord)
04:49 AM
Dragana Jovanovic (b.1963)
Incanto d'inverno from Four Seasons, for viola strings and harp
Sasa Mirkovic (viola), Ljubica Sekulic (harp), Ensemble Metamorphosis
04:56 AM
Heinrich Schutz (1585-1672)
3 sacred pieces - Anima mea liquefacta; Adjuro vos, filiae Hierusalem; Siehe, wie fein und lieblich ist
Cologne Chamber Chorus, Collegium Cartusianum, Peter Neumann (conductor)
05:10 AM
Dag Wiren (1905-1986)
Sonatina for violin and piano, Op 15
Arve Tellefsen (violin), Lucia Negro (piano)
05:20 AM
Bozidar Kunc (1903-1964)
Tryptich for cello and orchestra, Op 40
Monica Leskovar (cello), Croatian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Mladen Tarbuk (conductor)
05:32 AM
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Seven Bagatelles Op 33
Anika Vavic (piano)
05:54 AM
Camille Saint-Saens (1835-1921)
Symphony no 3 in C minor, Op 78 "Organ Symphony"
Kaare Nordstoga (organ), Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Michel Plasson (conductor)
TUE 06:30 Breakfast (m002dq14)
Start your day with classical music
Tom McKinney presents Radio 3’s Breakfast show live from Salford. With birdsong, Bach Before 7 and the best in classical music. You can contact the show by emailing 3breakfast@bbc.co.uk
To listen on most smart speakers, just say 'Ask BBC Sounds to play 3 Breakfast’
TUE 09:30 Essential Classics (m002dq16)
A feast of great music
Ian Skelly plays the best in classical music, with discoveries and surprises rubbing shoulders with familiar favourites.
1000 Playlist starter – listen and send us your ideas for the next step in our musical journey today.
1030 Song of the Day – harnessing the magic of words, music and the human voice.
1115 Playlist reveal – a sequence of music suggested by you in response to our starter today.
1145 Slow Moment – time to take a break for a moment's musical reflection.
1230 Album of the Week.
To listen on most smart speakers say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Essential Classics”.
TUE 13:00 Classical Live (m002dq18)
Richard Goode plays Beethoven in Gloucestershire
Mark Forrest showcases the best performances by BBC orchestras, choirs, ensembles and other great performing groups from Europe and around the globe.
Throughout this week Classical Live is spending time in the Cotswolds with chamber concerts specially recorded for us at this year’s Chipping Campden Music Festival. Today, cellist Steven Isserlis continues his Czech-themed concert with music by Josef Suk; there’s more English folksong from Allan Clayton with the Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective; and we’ll hear the first of Beethoven’s three final sonatas that pianist Richard Goode performed at his recital.
In orchestral music, the BBC Symphony Orchestra plays Sibelius’s Symphony No. 3 and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra performs Ravel’s iridescent Daphnis and Chloé Suite No. 2. Plus Icelandic baritone Ólafur Sigurðarson joins his compatriots in the Iceland Symphony Orchestra for the final scene from Wagner’s opera The Valkyrie.
And we’ve the latest from BBC Radio 3’s 25 for 25: Sounds of the Century – a series of brand new commissions celebrating and commemorating some of the biggest events of the 21st century so far. Today, Cassie Kinoshi marks the year 2021.
1pm
Richard Wagner
Prelude to Act 3 of Lohengrin
Iceland Symphony Orchestra
Eva Ollikainen (conductor)
Ludwig van Beethoven
Piano Sonata No. 30 in E major, Op. 109
Richard Goode (piano)
Johann Christoph Pez
Concerto Pastorale in F
Freiburg Baroque Orchestra
Gottfried van der Goltz (director)
Josef Suk
Ballade and Serenade, Op. 3
Steven Isserlis (cello)
Connie Shih (piano)
2pm
Jean Sibelius
Symphony No. 3 in C major, Op. 52
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Sakari Oramo (conductor)
Cassie Kinoshi
BBC Radio 3: 25 for 25 commission
Maurice Ravel
Daphnis and Chloé, Suite No. 2
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
Ivan Fischer (conductor)
Traditional arr. Britten
3 Folksongs: Sally in our Alley; There's None to Soothe; The Crocodile
Allan Clayton (tenor)
Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective
Wilhelm Friedemann Bach
Harpsichord Concerto G minor
Christine Schornsheim (harpsichord)
Akademie für Alte Musik, Berlin
Richard Wagner
Wotan’s Farewell (Die Walküre, Act 3 ending)
Ólafur Sigurðarson (baritone)
Iceland Symphony Orchestra
Eva Ollikainen (conductor)
To listen to this programme (using most smart speakers) just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Classical Live".
TUE 16:00 Composer of the Week (m002dq1b)
Gavin Bryars
Embracing Medea
Kate Molleson continues her conversations with Gavin Bryars. Today they talk about Gavin’s early policy of saying ‘yes’ to every opportunity that came his way, leading to the daunting challenge of his very first opera.
White’s SS (excerpt)
Dave Smith, piano
Gavin Bryars, piano
John White, tuba
Medea: Prelude to Act 5
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Martyn Brabbins
Les Fiançailles
Gavin Bryars Ensemble
On Photography
Latvian Radio Choir
Janis Maleckis,piano,
Gavin Bryars, harmonium
directed by Kaspars Putniņš
TUE 17:00 In Tune (m002dq1d)
Wind down from work with classical music
Petroc Trelawny is joined by trumpeter Aaron Azunda Akugbo and Connaught Brass who perform live in the studio and look ahead to Classical Pride at Kings Place. Plus, Colin Currie talks to Petroc about Steve Reich ahead of the Hallé's concert with Jonny Greenwood at Bridgewater Hall.
TUE 19:00 Classical Mixtape (m002dq1g)
The eclectic classical mix
Take time out with a 30-minute soundscape of classical music, including the American string quartet by Dvořák, a piece for viola and piano by Rebecca Clarke, a concerto grosso by Errollyn Wallen and Ola Gjeilo's Northern Lights for chorus.
Producer: Eleonora Claps
TUE 19:30 Radio 3 in Concert (m002dq1j)
BBC Symphony Orchestra at the Aldeburgh Festival 2025
The BBC SO conducted by Sakari Oramo premieres Brian Elias's Horn Concerto with Ben Goldscheider. Plus Sibelius's Symphony No.5 and Britten's Our Hunting Fathers with Allan Clayton.
In the second of two concerts from Snape Maltings Concert Hall by the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Sakari Oramo, a brand new horn concerto by Brian Elias is unveiled. Elias is a composer whose music brims with startling sounds and theatrical contrasts, and his concerto is interpreted here by soloist Ben Goldscheider.
For Aldeburgh Festival featured artist, tenor Allan Clayton, Our Hunting Fathers is “incredible, daring and experimental in a way that is quite unusual in Britten’s music”. Composed as the storm clouds gathered in the late 1930s, and including texts by WH Auden and Thomas Ravenscroft, it challenges the cruelty of man to man, and man to animal.
Sibelius's Symphony No.5 is the concert's final piece. With its Flights of Swans and an inescapable drive to the end, this is a symphony that the BBC SO and Finnish Chief Conductor Sakari Oramo have performed to huge acclaim. And to begin, Aldeburgh Festival featured composer Helen Grime’s dreamy Night Songs – inspired by the “melancholy yet fantastical” quality of visual artist and film-maker Joseph Cornell’s self-contained miniature worlds.
Recorded at Snape Maltings on Sunday 22nd June. Presented by Martin Handley.
Helen Grime: Night Songs
Britten: Our Hunting Fathers
Interval - Music chosen by Brian Elias
Brian Elias: Horn Concerto (Britten Pears Arts commission/ world premiere)
Sibelius: Symphony No.5 in E flat, Op.82
Allan Clayton (tenor)
Ben Goldscheider (horn)
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Sakari Oramo (conductor)
To listen on most smart speakers just say "ask BBC Sounds to play Radio 3 in Concert".
TUE 21:45 The Essay (m001rr38)
Highland Tails
The Sea Eagle
Kenneth Steven considers the introduction of wild animals back into the Highlands of Scotland and the impact on rural life, reflecting in poetry at the end of each Essay.
At one time sea eagles are likely to have been revered in Scotland. The Tomb of the Eagles, a Neolithic burial site in Orkney, is testament to that, as are the carved Pictish stones depicting what’s hard not to believe have to be sea eagles. For all that, they most certainly became a hated species in more recent centuries, after the Clearances in the Highlands when the era of the Victorian hunting estate had been ushered in.
When they were reintroduced, Rum was the location chosen by the then Nature Conservancy Council for the release of the first sea eagles in 1975. It’s somehow an island made for eagles, and set in a wider wildscape designed for them every bit as much. Across the water from Scotland, Norway had and has a very healthy population of the birds. So it was eaglets were collected at 6-8 weeks of age from nests in Norway: over the next 10 years a total of 82 eaglets (39 males and 43 females) were brought to Scotland.
Presenter Kenneth Steven
Producer Mark Rickards
A Whistledown Scotland Production for BBC Radio 3
TUE 22:00 Night Tracks (m002dq1l)
Bewitching sounds for after dark
Sara Mohr-Pietsch presents an adventurous, immersive soundtrack for late-night listening, from classical to contemporary and everything in between.
TUE 23:30 'Round Midnight (m002dq1n)
A classic from Dorothy Donegan
‘Round Midnight is presented by award-winning saxophonist Soweto Kinch. This weekday late-night show celebrates the thriving UK jazz scene and spotlights the best new music alongside incredible acts from past decades.
Tonight drummer, producer, and educator Terri Lyne Carrington returns with her second album pick of the week, for 4/4. This time she chooses a record by a star British vocalist.
There’s also music from Don Glori, Mary Halvorson, and Joe Armon-Jones.
To listen on most smart speakers, just say: 'Ask BBC Sounds to play Round Midnight.'
WEDNESDAY 25 JUNE 2025
WED 00:30 Through the Night (m002dq1q)
Slovenian Statehood Day
A night of music featuring Slovenian composers and performers, including a concert from the SNG Maribor Symphony Orchestra and conductor Ivan Hut featuring a sparkling performance of Mozart's Piano Concerto no 21 with pianist Ivan Ferčič. Beethoven's Fifth Symphony and a recent composition by Igor Majcen, 'Pink & Floyd' complete the programme. Jonathan Swain presents.
12:31 AM
Igor Majcen (b.1952)
Pink & Floyd, for symphony orchestra
SNG Maribor Symphony Orchestra, Ivan Hut (conductor)
12:44 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Piano Concerto no 21 in C major, K.467
Ivan Fercic (piano), SNG Maribor SO, Ivan Hut (conductor)
01:12 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), arr. Ivan Fercic
Paraphrase on the 2nd movement (Andante) of the Piano Concerto no 21 in C, K.467
Ivan Fercic (piano)
01:16 AM
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Symphony no 5 in C minor, Op 67
SNG Maribor Symphony Orchestra, Ivan Hut (conductor)
01:49 AM
Heinrich Joseph Baermann (1784-1847)
Adagio in D major (extract from Clarinet Quintet no 3 in E flat major, Op 23)
Joze Kotar (clarinet), Slovenian Philharmonic String Quartet
01:54 AM
Karol Pahor (1896-1974)
The Bailiff Yerney's Prayer
Chamber Choir AVE, Andraz Hauptman (conductor)
02:00 AM
Uros Krek (1922-2008)
Solitary Pondering
Chamber Choir AVE, Andraz Hauptman (conductor)
02:04 AM
Ambroz Copi (b.1973)
Pie Jesu - from the Dies Irae of the Requiem Mass
Chamber Choir AVE, Andraz Hauptman (conductor)
02:07 AM
Pavel Mihelcic (b.1937)
Nocturne for violin and guitar
Tomaz Lorenz (violin), Jerko Novek (guitar)
02:13 AM
Lucijan Marija Skerjanc (1900-1973)
Harp Concerto
Mojca Zlobko Vaigl (harp), RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra, David de Villiers (conductor)
02:31 AM
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Cello Sonata no 1 in E minor, Op 38
Ciril Skerjanec (cello), Mojca Pucelj (piano)
02:59 AM
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Six Chorales from the Schemelli Collection
Bernarda Fink (mezzo soprano), Marco Fink (bass baritone), Domen Marincic (gamba), Dalibor Miklavcic (organ)
03:11 AM
Pavle Merku (1927-2014)
Concerto lirico for clarinet and orchestra
Franc Trzan (clarinet), Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra, Anton Kolar (conductor)
03:30 AM
Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849)
Ballade for piano no 1 in G minor, Op 23
Hinko Haas (piano)
03:39 AM
Blaz Arnic (1901-1970)
Overture to the Comic Opera, Op 11
RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra, Anton Nanut (conductor)
03:47 AM
Hugo Wolf (1860-1903)
Italian Serenade
Ljubljanski Godalni Quartet
03:55 AM
Jacobus Gallus Carniolus (1550-1591)
Pater noster, qui es in coelis (OM 1/69), Ave verum corpus (OM 3/25)
Ljubljanski madrigalisti, Matjaz Scek (director)
04:02 AM
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
Concerto in D minor for 2 violins, cello and orchestra RV.565
RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra, Pavle Despalj (conductor)
04:13 AM
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Piano Trio in E flat major, D 897 'Notturno'
Tomaz Lorenz (violin), Andrej Petrac (cello), Alenka Scek-Lorenz (piano)
04:23 AM
Benjamin Ipavec (1839-1908)
Goodnight
Ana Pusar-Jeric (soprano), Natasa Valant (piano)
04:28 AM
Traditional, arr. Janez Gregorc
N'mau cez izaro (folksong from Korosko region)
Slovene Brass Quintet
04:31 AM
Samo Vremsak (1930-2004)
Three Poems by Tone Kuntner
Cantemus Mixed Choir, Sebastjan Vrhovnik (conductor)
04:36 AM
Milko Lazar (b.1965)
Prelude (Allegro moderato)
Mojca Zlobko-Vajgl (harp), Bojan Gorisek (piano)
04:44 AM
Henry Purcell (1659-1695)
Aria 'O let me weep' from the Fairy Queen
Irena Baar (soprano), Tomaz Lorenz (violin), Maks Strmcnik (organ)
04:52 AM
Alessandro Marcello (1673-1747)
Concerto in D minor for oboe and strings
Maja Kojc (oboe), RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra, Pavle Despalj (conductor)
05:04 AM
Alojz Srebotnjak (1931-2010)
Urska and Hauptmann Caspar
Ipavska Chamber Choir, Tomaz Pirnat (conductor)
05:08 AM
Uros Krek (1922-2008)
Sonatina for Strings
Slovenian Philharmonic String Chamber Orchestra, Andrej Petrac (artistic leader)
05:23 AM
Fernando Sor (1778-1839)
Fantaisie et variations brillantes sur 2 airs favoris connus
Tomaz Rajteric (guitar)
05:38 AM
Richard Strauss (1864-1949)
Horn Concerto no 1 in E flat major, Op 11
Bostjan Lipovsek (french horn), RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra, David de Villiers (conductor)
05:54 AM
Josef Suk (1949-2011)
Elegy Op 23 arr. for piano trio
Trio Lorenz
06:01 AM
Jacques Bouffil (1783-1868)
Grand duo, Op 2 no 1
Alojz Zupan (clarinet), Andrej Zupan (clarinet)
06:16 AM
Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881), orch. Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Khovanschina (overture)
RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra, Samo Hubad (conductor)
06:21 AM
Jacobus Gallus Carniolus (1550-1591)
Madrigal: Musica noster amor a 6 (M 28)
Ljubljanski madrigalisti, Matjaz Scek (director)
06:23 AM
Gustav Holst (1874-1934)
Ave Maria (Hail Mary)
Chamber Choir AVE, Andraz Hauptman (conductor)
WED 06:30 Breakfast (m002dmwz)
Brighten your day with classical music
Tom McKinney presents Radio 3’s Breakfast show live from Salford. With birdsong, Bach Before 7 and the best in classical music. You can contact the show by emailing 3breakfast@bbc.co.uk
To listen on most smart speakers, just say 'Ask BBC Sounds to play 3 Breakfast’
WED 09:30 Essential Classics (m002dmx1)
Your perfect classical playlist
Ian Skelly plays the best in classical music, with discoveries and surprises rubbing shoulders with familiar favourites.
1000 Playlist starter – listen and send us your ideas for the next step in our musical journey today.
1030 Song of the Day – harnessing the magic of words, music and the human voice.
1115 Playlist reveal – a sequence of music suggested by you in response to our starter today.
1145 Slow Moment – time to take a break for a moment's musical reflection.
1230 Album of the Week.
To listen on most smart speakers say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Essential Classics”
WED 13:00 Classical Live (m002dmx4)
Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony from Sweden
Mark Forrest showcases the best performances by BBC orchestras, choirs, ensembles and other great performing groups from Europe and around the globe.
Throughout this week Classical Live is spending time in the Cotswolds with chamber concerts specially recorded for us at this year’s Chipping Campden Music Festival. Today, pianist Richard Goode plays Beethoven’s penultimate Piano Sonata, and Steven Isserlis performs his own cello arrangements of the Four Romantic Pieces by Dvorak. Plus we hear another of pianist and composer Tom Poster’s imaginative arrangements for tenor Allan Clayton and the Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective, this time a song by Chris Wood about a romance in a fish and chip shop.
There’s more orchestral music from Sweden, with Maxim Emelyanychev conducting the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Schubert’s so-called Unfinished Symphony, his 8th.
1pm
Ludwig van Beethoven
Piano Sonata No. 31 in A flat major, Op. 110
Richard Goode (piano)
Johann Ludwig Bach
Overture in G major
Freiburg Baroque Orchestra
Gottfried van der Goltz (director)
Doreen Carwithen
Bishop Rock
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
Robin Wallington (conductor)
Antonin Dvorak arr. Isseris
Four Romantic Pieces, Op. 75
Steven Isserlis (cello)
Connie Shih (piano)
2pm
Franz Schubert
Symphony No. 8 in B minor, ‘Unfinished’
Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra
Maxim Emelyanychev (conductor)
Chris Wood arr. Poster
One in a million
Allan Clayton (tenor)
Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective
To listen to this programme (using most smart speakers) just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Classical Live".
WED 15:00 Choral Evensong (m002dmx8)
St Martin-in-the-Fields, London
From St Martin-in-the-Fields, London. The canticles are sung to the set composed for Knaresborough Parish Church in North Yorkshire by Simon Lindley, who died earlier this year, and who for 41 years from 1975 was organist at Leeds Parish Church. In this the week when the Church marks the feast of St Peter the apostle, the anthem is Palestrina’s ‘Tu es Petrus’, and the service opens with Duruflé’s setting of the same text: ‘You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church’.
Introit: Tu es Petrus (Duruflé)
Responses: Gabriel Jackson
Psalm 119 vv73-104 (Martin, Vann)
First Lesson: Genesis 42 vv17-38
Office hymn: Thou art the Christ, O Lord (Love unknown)
Canticles: Knaresborough Service (Lindley)
Second Lesson: Matthew 18 vv1-14
Anthem: Tu es Petrus (Palestrina)
Hymn: Ye watchers and ye holy ones (Lass tuns erfreuen)
Voluntary: Prelude and Fugue in C BWV 547 (Bach)
St Martin’s Voices
Andrew Earis (Director of Music)
Ben Collyer (Organist)
To listen on most smart speakers just say “ask BBC Sounds to play Choral Evensong”.
Recorded 28 May.
WED 16:00 Composer of the Week (m002dmxd)
Gavin Bryars
Fame and Fortitude
Gavin Bryars talks to Kate Molleson about the shock of achieving massive mainstream success when he’s persuaded to revive one of his early experimental works with a new collaborator, Tom Waites. Plus, we hear how two more musical encounters, around this time, steered him in a very different direction.
String Quartet No. 2 (excerpt)
Balanescu Quartet
Glorious Hill
The Hilliard Ensemble
Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet (except)
Tom Waits, vocalist
Hampton String Quartet
Gavin Bryars Ensemble
Cadman Requiem: Agnus Dei, Caedman's Creation Hymn, In Paradisum
The Hilliard Ensemble
Fretwork
Epilogue from Wonderlawn
Gavin Bryars Ensemble
WED 17:00 In Tune (m002dmxj)
Classical artists live in session
Petroc is joined in the studio for live music by Yevgeny Sudbin performing the piano music of Scriabin. Also, Charles Hazlewood talks to Petroc about his project 'The Virtuous Circle' which he is performing with the Paraorchestra at the Southbank Centre.
WED 19:00 Classical Mixtape (m001q784)
Take 30 minutes out with a relaxing classical mix
Take a musical stroll in nature, with Rameau's peaceful forests, Boulanger's bright garden and the celestial sound of trees captured by young composer Camille Pepin. There is dance too with Hahn's concerto and Tchaikovsky's Mazurka, and opera heroes from Mack The Knife in Kurt Weill's 'play with music' to Queen Dido portrayed by Purcell. And Robert Schumann concludes the journey, with a colourful piano quintet.
Producer: Julien Rosa
WED 19:30 Radio 3 in Concert (m002dmxs)
Music for piano trio from the Aldeburgh Festival
Violinist Leila Josefowicz is joined by brothers Huw and Paul Watkins for a stellar chamber concert that includes the premiere of Colin Matthews’ new piece, Paraphrases, written especially for her.
Shostakovich’s second trio dates from August 1944, evoking the horrors and darkness of war as well as the grief at the death of the composer’s closest friend. It is powerfully angry, defiant, bleak, desolate music that’s among the greatest piano trios, especially in the hands of these masterful players.
It is beautifully balanced with the Barber Cello Sonata, which has a passionate, song-like eloquence that shows a distinctive musical language, even at an early stage of his composing career.
Stravinsky’s The Fairy's Kiss is an abstraction of a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, richly passionate and drawing its inspiration from Tchaikovsky’s musical language.
Helen Grime's Harp of the North, inspired by lines from Walter Scott’s folk-inflected poem The Lady of the Lake, is played in this concert by Paul Watkins.
Presented by Martin Handley, live from Snape Maltings Concert Hall.
Barber: Cello Sonata
Helen Grime: Harp of the North
Stravinsky:Divertimento (Le baiser de la fée)
Colin Matthews: Paraphrases (world premiere)
Shostakovich: Piano Trio No.2 in E minor, Op.67 (30’)
Leila Josefowicz violin
Huw Watkins piano
Paul Watkins cello
WED 21:45 The Essay (m001rr18)
Highland Tails
The Wallabies
Kenneth Steven considers the introduction of wild animals into the Highlands of Scotland and the impact on rural life, reflecting in poetry at the end of each Essay.
Kenneth Steven explores his visit to an island in the largest of freshwater lakes, Loch Lomond.
There was nothing; possibly the soft murmur of birdsong, but precious little more than that. I walked on until I must have been about the middle of the island and then I stopped again, looked around me. And all at once, to my amazement and my great joy, were exactly what I had come to find, and the last thing in the world you would ever imagine: wallabies. There were perhaps half a dozen with me in the glade, and they were watching me. They were standing upright and probably they’d have come up to the height of my thighs: somehow akin to giant rabbits; furry-faced and doe-eyed. And as I stood there watching them one or two bounced about between the growing patches of sunlight. And now I knew at last I had proved the story true after all: there were indeed wallabies on the island of Inchconnachan on Loch Lomond.
Presenter Kenneth Steven
Producer Mark Rickards
A Whistledown Scotland production for BBC Radio 3
WED 22:00 Night Tracks (m002dmxx)
A meditative moonlight soundtrack
Sara Mohr-Pietsch presents an adventurous, immersive soundtrack for late-night listening, from classical to contemporary and everything in between.
WED 23:30 'Round Midnight (m002dmy1)
One from Honey Boulton
‘Round Midnight is presented by award-winning saxophonist Soweto Kinch. This weekday late-night show celebrates the thriving UK jazz scene and spotlights the best new music alongside incredible acts from past decades.
Terri Lyne has another best-loved album to share, and tonight it’s by an icon of the jazz piano.
Plus there’s music from Rebecca Nash, Julian Joseph, and Leafcutter John.
To listen on most smart speakers, just say: 'Ask BBC Sounds to play Round Midnight.'
THURSDAY 26 JUNE 2025
THU 00:30 Through the Night (m002dmy5)
Chopin Piano Concertos from Warsaw
Pianists Leonora Armellini and Alexander Gadjiev perform with the Polish Radio Orchestra in Warsaw. Jonathan Swain presents.
12:31 AM
Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849)
Piano Concerto no 2 in F minor, Op 21
Alexander Gadjiev (piano), Polish Radio Orchestra in Warsaw, Michal Klauza (conductor)
01:03 AM
Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849)
Prelude in C sharp minor, Op 45
Alexander Gadjiev (piano)
01:08 AM
Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849)
Piano Concerto no 1 in E minor, Op 11
Leonora Armellini (piano), Polish Radio Orchestra in Warsaw, Michal Klauza (conductor)
01:49 AM
Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849)
Etude no 13 in A flat, Op 25 no 1 'Harp'
Leonora Armellini (piano)
01:52 AM
Gabriel Faure (1845 - 1924)
Dolly, Op 56 suite for piano duet
Leonora Armellini (piano), Alexander Gadjiev (piano)
01:56 AM
Ignacy Feliks Dobrzynski (1807-1867)
String Quartet no 1 in E minor, Op 7
Camerata Quartet
02:26 AM
Sergey Prokofiev (1891-1953)
The Child Juliet (from Romeo and Juliet - suite no 2 Op 64)
Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Jerzy Maksymiuk (conductor)
02:31 AM
Param Vir (b.1952)
Cave of luminous mind for orchestra
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sakari Oramo (conductor)
02:53 AM
Hector Berlioz (1803-1869)
Les nuits d'ete, Op 7 (Six songs on poems by Theophile Gautier)
Randi Steene (mezzo soprano), Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Bernhard Gueller (conductor)
03:23 AM
Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179)
Instrumental piece
Sequentia, Ensemble for Medieval Music
03:28 AM
Alessandro Scarlatti (1660-1725)
Concerto Grosso no 1 in F minor
Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Jeanne Lamon (conductor)
03:36 AM
Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
Divertimento in C major, London Trio no 1, Hob.4:1
Carol Wincenc (flute), Philip Setzer (violin), Carter Brey (cello)
03:46 AM
Franz Liszt (1811-1886)
Sonetto 123 di Petrarca, S.158 No 3 Io vidi in terra angelici costumi
Richard Raymond (piano)
03:54 AM
Johann Strauss II (1825-1899)
An der schonen, blauen Donau (The Blue Danube) - waltz, Op 314
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Donald Runnicles (conductor)
04:05 AM
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Der Alpenjager - The Alpine hunter, D.588b
Christoph Pregardien (tenor), Andreas Staier (pianoforte)
04:11 AM
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)
Sonatine, arr. flute, bassoon and harp
Andrea Kolle (flute), Maria Wildhaber (bassoon), Sarah Verrue (harp)
04:22 AM
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
Andante Cantabile (String Quartet, Op 11) arr. cello and orchestra
Shauna Rolston (cello), Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Mario Bernardi (conductor)
04:31 AM
Antonio Bertali (1605-1669)
Sonata Prima a 3 for two recorders, bass viol and bass continuo
Le Nouveau Concert
04:38 AM
Albertus Groneman (c.1710-1778)
Trio Sonata in E minor
Gert Oost (organ)
04:45 AM
Edward Elgar (1857-1934)
Serenade for strings, Op 20
BBC Concert Orchestra, Stephen Cleobury (conductor)
04:57 AM
Enrique Granados (1867-1916)
Valse Poetico
Enrique Granados (piano)
05:08 AM
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Gentle Morpheus, son of night (Calliope's song) from 'Alceste'
Emma Kirkby (soprano), Academy of Ancient Music, Andrew Manze (director)
05:17 AM
Stanislaw Moniuszko (1819-1872)
String Quartet no 2 in F major
Camerata Quartet
05:35 AM
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Symphony no 5 in C minor, Op 67
Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Jukka-Pekka Saraste (conductor)
06:08 AM
Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767)
Deus, judicium tuum, TWV 7:7 - grand motet after Psalm 71
Schola Cantorum Basiliensis Vocal Ensemble, Schola Cantorum Basiliensis Instrumental Ensemble, Jorg Andreas Botticher (conductor), Jorg Andreas Botticher (harpsichord)
THU 06:30 Breakfast (m002djyx)
The best classical music wake-up call
Tom McKinney presents Radio 3’s Breakfast show live from Salford. With birdsong, Bach Before 7 and the best in classical music. You can contact the show by emailing 3breakfast@bbc.co.uk
To listen on most smart speakers, just say 'Ask BBC Sounds to play 3 Breakfast’
THU 09:30 Essential Classics (m002djyz)
Great classical music for your morning
Ian Skelly plays the best in classical music, featuring new discoveries, some musical surprises and plenty of familiar favourites.
1000 Playlist starter – listen and send us your ideas for the next step in our musical journey today.
1030 Song of the Day – harnessing the magic of words, music and the human voice.
1115 Playlist reveal – a sequence of music suggested by you in response to our starter today.
1145 Slow Moment – time to take a break for a moment's musical reflection.
1200 “25 for 25: Sounds of the Century” – a series of brand new commissions celebrating and commemorating some of the biggest events of the 21st century so far.
1230 Album of the Week.
To listen on most smart speakers say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Essential Classics”
THU 13:00 Classical Live (m002djz2)
Allan Clayton sings Vaughan Williams with the Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective
Mark Forrest showcases the best performances by BBC orchestras, choirs, ensembles and other great performing groups from Europe and around the globe.
All this week Classical Live is spending time at this year’s Chipping Campden Music Festival in Gloucestershire, featuring music recorded specially for us there at a trio of concerts. Today, pianist Richard Goode rounds off his recital focussing on the Beethoven’s final Piano Sonatas; Steven Isserlis performs the Cello Sonata by the influential 19th-century Czech composer and teacher Ignaz Moscheles; and tenor Allan Clayton joins the Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective to sing Vaughan Williams’s vivid song cycle On Wenlock Edge – settings of poetry by A. E. Housman.
We return to Harpa Concert Hall in Reykjavik to hear more from an all-Wagner concert given by the Iceland Symphony Orchestra with baritone Ólafur Sigurðarson, and Riccardo Minasi conducts the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra in Mozart’s Linz Symphony.
1pm
Johann Sebastian Bach
Brandenburg Concerto No. 2
Isabel Lehmann (recorder)
Ann-Kathrin Brüggemann (oboe)
Moritz Görg (trumpet)
Gottfried von der Goltz (violin)
Freiburg Baroque Orchestra
Ludwig van Beethoven
Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Op. 111
Richard Goode (piano)
1.45pm
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Symphony No. 36 in C major, K425
Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra
Riccardo Minasi (conductor)
Ralph Vaughan Williams
On Wenlock Edge
Allan Clayton (tenor)
Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective
Ignaz Moscheles
Cello Sonata, Op. 121
Steven Isserlis (cello)
Connie Shih (piano)
Richard Wagner
Prelude to Act 3 of The Mastersingers of Nuremberg; Overture to The Flying Dutchman; Die Frist ist um (The Flying Dutchman)
Ólafur Sigurðarson (baritone)
Iceland Symphony Orchestra
Eva Ollikainen (conductor)
To listen to this programme (using most smart speakers) just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Classical Live".
THU 16:00 Composer of the Week (m002djz9)
Gavin Bryars
the Mastery of Middle Age
Kate Molleson takes Gavin Bryars back to the late 1990s and his momentous decision to leave teaching and devote himself to composing full time. They also discuss more new collaborations, putting family first, and why ‘established’ doesn’t necessarily mean ‘establishment’!
Adnan Songbook: Song IV
Valdine Anderson, soprano
Gavin Bryars Ensemble
Epilogue from ‘G’
Hans-Otto Weiss, bass baritone
Elmer Andree, baritone
Staats Philharmonie Mainz, conducted by Gernot Sahler
Biped (extract)
Sophie Harris, cello
James Woodrow, guitar
Gavin Bryars, keyboards/bass
Takehisa Kosugi, violin/percussion
Morte à spento quel sol ch' abagliar suolmi (Second Book of Madrigals)
Vox Altera Ensemble
Double Bass Concerto "Farewell to St. Petersburg"(Final section)
Daniel Nix, double-bass
Estonian National Male Choir,
Pärnu City Orchestra, conducted by Kaspars Putniņš
THU 17:00 In Tune (m002djzk)
Music news and live classical music
Petroc Trelawny is joined by Jonathan Dove for live music in studio of his new Late Night Music. Plus, Laurence Cummings talks about conducting Beethoven’s 5th Symphony with the Academy of Ancient Music.
THU 19:00 Classical Mixtape (m002djzq)
Expand your horizons with classical music
An engaging mix of classical music for half an hour, featuring the tender octet for strings Max Bruch composed following the death of his wife, as well as Bach’s portrayal of the remorse the disciple Peter experiences at having betrayed Christ, plus Anthony Rolfe Johnson transports us to the waterways of La Serenissima
Producer: Dean Craven
THU 19:30 Radio 3 in Concert (m002djzt)
The BBC Singers at the Aldeburgh Festival.
Live from the Aldeburgh Festival: the BBC Singers present a typically imaginative programme which includes a world premiere, two twentieth century choral classics and a rarity by the young Benjamin Britten.
The BBC Singers are conducted at the Snape Maltings by their principal guest conductor Owain Park in a programme which opens with Thea Musgrave’s richly harmonic Rorate Coeli, a setting of two interleaved poems by Scottish poet William Dunbar. Then comes Britten's A.M.D.G. 'To the greater glory of God,' an entrancing setting of mystical and uplifting poems by Gerald Manley Hopkins. Then, after a joyful motet by Palestrina, the BBC Singers are joined by the pianist Richard Pearce for a work by Daniel Kidane to words by Simon Armitage and written during the pandemic when, although confined to a single space, so many could not help but sing and make music. Then comes Friede auf Erden, (Peace on Earth), Op. 13, by Arnold Schoenberg, a ten minute classic which explores the idea of peace and the complexities of human harmony. And this hugely ambitious Aldeburgh programme culminates with Francis Poulenc's Figure humaine, a searing masterpiece famously given its premiere by the BBC Singers in 1945. Written in secret during the Nazi occupation of France, it's a setting of poems by Paul Éluard that journey through the human spirit from grief and tyranny to freedom, ending with a searing cry of "Liberté.
Presented by Martin Handley live from the Snape Maltings Concert Hall.
Thea Musgrave: Rorate coeli
Britten: A.M.D.G.
Palestrina: Rorate coeli
Interval
Daniel Kidane: The Song Thrush and the Mountain Ash
Schoenberg: Friede auf Erden, Op.13
Poulenc: Figure humaine
BBC Singers
Richard Pearce (piano)
Owain Park (conductor)
THU 21:45 The Essay (m001rr42)
Highland Tails
The Beaver
Kenneth Steven considers the introduction of wild animals back into the Highlands of Scotland and the impact on rural life, reflecting in poetry at the end of each Essay.
There’s plenty of evidence to suggest that at one time beavers were distributed widely throughout mainland Scotland. That would seem no great surprise, given the wealth of rivers and lochs in the country, and when you think how much native woodland was present in earlier centuries. But it would seem that by the 12th Century beavers were growing rare in Scotland; a record suggests they were to be found in just one river, though it’s impossible to know how reliable that record was. The last time we hear of them is in the 1526 ‘Cronikils of Scotland’ where beavers are mentioned as being abundant in the Loch Ness area. At some point after that they’re reckoned to have died out.
In 2009, beavers were re-introduced into the Knapdale forest, Argyll, in the west of Scotland. Sixteen beavers from Norway were released during the first year and a further family the next. More than four hundred years after they were pushed to extinction, there are again wild beavers in the country. Now they have been reaffirmed as a native species and afforded protection.
Presenter Kenneth Steven
Producer Mark RIckards
A Whistledown Scotland production for BBC Radio 3
THU 22:00 Night Tracks (m002djzw)
Music for the darkling hour
Sara Mohr-Pietsch presents an adventurous, immersive soundtrack for late-night listening, from classical to contemporary and everything in between.
THU 23:30 'Round Midnight (m002djzz)
New from Natalia Tsupryk and Neil Cowley
‘Round Midnight is presented by award-winning saxophonist Soweto Kinch. This weekday late-night show celebrates the thriving UK jazz scene and spotlights the best new music alongside incredible acts from past decades.
Terri Lyne Carrington has been guiding us round her record collection all this week, sharing some of the albums she holds dear. Her fourth and final selection comes from a pioneering jazz pianist with a band featuring one of Terri Lyne’s jazz drum inspirations.
Also in the programme, music from Hiromi, Ancient Infinity Orchestra, and The Axl Group.
To listen on most smart speakers, just say: 'Ask BBC Sounds to play Round Midnight.'
FRIDAY 27 JUNE 2025
FRI 00:30 Through the Night (m002dk03)
Bomsori Kim plays Bruch's first violin concerto
The South Korean violinist is joined by the WDR Symphony Orchestra, Cologne. The rest of the programme includes Mel Bonis's Salome, Wagner and Strauss. Jonathan Swain presents.
12:31 AM
Richard Strauss (1864-1949)
Don Juan
WDR Symphony Orchestra, Cologne, Cristian Macelaru (conductor)
12:49 AM
Max Bruch (1838-1920)
Violin Concerto no 1
Bomsori Kim (violin), WDR Symphony Orchestra, Cologne, Cristian Macelaru (conductor)
01:15 AM
Grazyna Bacewicz (1909-1969)
Polish Caprice (encore)
Bomsori Kim (violin)
01:18 AM
Mel Bonis (1858-1938)
Salomé from Trois femmes de légende
WDR Symphony Orchestra, Cologne, Cristian Macelaru (conductor)
01:23 AM
Richard Strauss (1864-1949)
Tod und Verklärung (Death and Transfiguration)
WDR Symphony Orchestra, Cologne, Cristian Măcelaru (conductor)
01:49 AM
Richard Wagner (1813-1883)
Overture to 'Tannhäuser'
WDR Symphony Orchestra, Cologne, Cristian Măcelaru (conductor)
02:04 AM
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Warum ist das Licht gegeben dem Mühseligen, Op 74 no 1 (motet)
Grex Vocalis, Carl Hogset (director)
02:10 AM
Mel Bonis (1858-1938)
Suite Orientale, Op 48 no 2: Prelude & Danse d'almees
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Rumon Gamba (conductor)
02:17 AM
François René Gebauer (1773-1845)
Trio in E minor for flute, clarinet & bassoon, Op 32 no 2
Andrea Kolle (flute), Fabio di Casola (clarinet), Maria Wildhaber (bassoon)
02:31 AM
Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990)
Symphonic Dances from 'West Side Story'
Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, Duncan Ward (conductor)
02:55 AM
Sergey Prokofiev (1891-1953)
Sonata for piano no 7 in B flat major, Op 83
Khatia Buniatishvili (piano)
03:14 AM
Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer (c.1670-1746)
Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland - Mass for 4 voices & basso continuo
Barbara Schlick (soprano), Hans Peter Blochwitz (tenor), Max von Egmond (bass), Jugendkantorei Dormagen, Das Kleine Konzert, Hermann Max (director)
03:31 AM
Alisson Kruusmaa (b.1992)
And If I Had a Dream
Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Tonu Kaljuste (conductor)
03:42 AM
Wilhelmine von Bayreuth (1709-1758)
Harpsichord Concerto in G minor
Lars Ulrik Mortensen (harpsichord & conductor), Concerto Copenhagen
03:57 AM
Frank Bridge (1879-1941)
Four pieces for viola and piano
Lise Berthaud (viola), Xenia Maliarevitch (piano)
04:09 AM
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908)
Salieri's Aria from Mozart and Salieri - opera in 1 act, Op 48
Robert Holl (bass), Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Kenneth Montgomery (conductor)
04:17 AM
Dario Castello (1602-1631)
Sonata no 12, from 'Sonate concertate in stil moderno, Book II'
Il Giardino Armonico, Giovanni Antonini (director)
04:25 AM
Vache Sharafyan (b.1966)
Waterfall Music
Hover State Chamber Chorus of Armenia, Sona Hovhannisyan (conductor)
04:31 AM
Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848)
Sinfonia for wind instruments in G minor
Bratislavska Komorna Harmonia
04:38 AM
William Walton (1902-1983)
Two Pieces for Strings (from Henry V)
Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, Roy Goodman (conductor)
04:42 AM
Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849)
Impromptu in A flat, Op 29
Martín García García (piano)
04:46 AM
Arvo Part (b.1935)
Magnificat
Jauna Muzika, Vaclovas Augustinas (conductor)
04:52 AM
Ruth Gipps (1921-1999)
Seascape, Op 53
BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Jonathan Bloxham (conductor)
04:59 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Piano Sonata no 12 in F major, K.332
Annie Fischer (piano)
05:13 AM
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Orchestral Suite no 3 in D, BWV.1068
Baroque Orchestra of the Thüringen Philharmonie Gotha-Eisenach, Reinhold Friedrich (conductor)
05:33 AM
Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)
En Saga
Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Jukka-Pekka Saraste (conductor)
05:54 AM
Arthur Butterworth (1923-2014)
Romanza for horn and strings
Martin Hackleman (horn), CBC Vancouver Orchestra, Mario Bernardi (conductor)
06:04 AM
Henriette Bosmans (1895-1952)
Piano Trio
Leonore Piano Trio
FRI 06:30 Breakfast (m002dn1l)
Start the day on the right note with classical music
Tom McKinney presents Radio 3’s Breakfast show live from Salford, including BBC Radio 3’s 25 for 25: Sounds of the Century – a series of brand new commissions celebrating and commemorating some of the biggest events of the 21st century so far. This week, composer and saxophonist Cassie Kinoshi’s new work for New Generation Artists the Kleio Quartet is a homage to the remarkable resurgence of the humpback whale which came back from near extinction to record sightings in 2021. It seeks to echo the whales' hauntingly beautiful melodies, celebrating their survival and the enduring mystery of their song.
You can contact the show by emailing 3breakfast@bbc.co.uk
To listen on most smart speakers, just say 'Ask BBC Sounds to play 3 Breakfast’
FRI 09:30 Essential Classics (m002dn1n)
The best classical morning music
Ian Skelly plays the best in classical music, with discoveries and surprises rubbing shoulders with familiar favorites.
1000 Playlist starter – listen and send us your ideas for the next step in our musical journey today.
1030 Song of the Day – harnessing the magic of words, music and the human voice.
1115 Playlist reveal – a sequence of music suggested by you in response to our starter today.
1145 Slow Moment – time to take a break for a moment's musical reflection.
1230 Album of the Week.
To listen on most smart speakers say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Essential Classics”
FRI 13:00 Classical Live (m002dn1q)
Elgar’s Piano Quintet from the Cotswolds
Mark Forrest showcases the best performances by BBC orchestras, choirs, ensembles and other great performing groups from Europe and around the globe.
We round off our week of programmes featuring music recorded at the Chipping Campden Music Festival with Elgar’s Piano Quintet performed by the Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective. Cellist Steven Isserlis plays Janacek’s Fairytale, and tenor Allan Clayton sings another folksong in a brand new arrangement made by pianist and composer Tom Poster.
There’s also more Wagner from the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, and violinist Clara-Jumi Kang joins the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra for Benjamin Britten’s Violin Concerto in a performance given on tour in the Canary Islands.
1pm
Richard Wagner
Tannhauser (Overture – Paris version)
Iceland Symphony Orchestra
Eva Ollikainen (conductor)
Traditional arr. Tom Poster
Brigg Fair
Allan Clayton (tenor)
Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective
Edward Elgar
Piano Quintet in A minor, Op. 84
Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective
Johann Sigismund Kusser
Overture in G minor (from Apollon enjoué)
Freiburg Baroque Orchestra
Gottfried von der Goltz (director)
Leos Janacek
Pohadka
Steven Isserlis (cello)
Connie Shih (piano)
Benjamin Britten
Violin Concerto, Op 15
Clara-Jumi Kang (violin)
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
Juanjo Mena (conductor)
Johann Sebastian Bach
Sonata for solo violin No. 3 in C major BWV.1005 (excerpt)
Clara-Jumi Kang (violin)
Georg Philipp Telemann
Concerto in E minor for Flute and Violin, TWV 52:e3
Daniela Lieb (flute)
Gottfried van der Goltz (violin)
Freiburg Baroque Orchestra
To listen to this programme (using most smart speakers) just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Classical Live".
FRI 16:00 Composer of the Week (m002dn1s)
Gavin Bryars
The Essential Bryars
Gavin Bryars talks to Kate Molleson about some of his more recent projects and the varied collaborations that fuelled them. We hear works inspired by Faroese sagas, the Shipping Forecast, and medieval hymnody – music described as the ‘Essence of Bryars’. Plus, Gavin reveals what prompted him to create his own record label, and what keeps him composing now he’s in his ninetieth decade.
A Man in a Room, Gambling, 2. ‘3 Card Trick’
Juan Muñoz, narrator
Balanescu Quartet
The Fifth Century, VI. His Omnipresence Is Our Field Of Joys
PRISM Saxophone Quartet,
The Crossing, conducted by Donald Nally
Ciascun ke fede sente (Lauda 37)
Anna Maria Friman, soprano
John Potter, tenor
Arve Henriksen, trumpet
Morgan Goff, viola
Nick Cooper, cello
James Woodrow, guitar
Gavin Bryars, double bass.
Tróndur í Gøtu, V. Shall I Abandon (St Brendan's Prayer)
Eivør Pálsdóttir, soprano
Rúni Brattaberg, bass
Eystanljóð
Aldubáran, conducted by Gavin Bryars
A Native Hill: No. 10, Animals and Birds; No. 11, Shadow; No. 12, At Peace
Steven Bradshaw, tenor
Maren Montalbano-Brehm, alto
The Crossing, conducted Donald Nally
FRI 17:00 In Tune (m002dn1v)
Live classical music for your drive
Petroc Trelawny introduces live music from Daniel Lebhardt ahead of his concert of Liszt and Schumann at the Wigmore Hall. Also, Carlo Vistoli joins Petroc in the studio ahead of his debut in Semele at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.; plus "Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse" composer Daniel Pemberton joins Petroc to talk about the Argentine-American film composer Lalo Schifrin, whose death was announced overnight.
FRI 19:00 Classical Mixtape (m002dn1x)
Your daily classical soundtrack
Take time out with a 30-minute soundscape of classical music. Gabriel Pierne introduces us to the beautiful sounds of Gracieuse's garden from Ramuntcho. A gentle arrangement of Scriabin's prelude No.2 serenely takes us to Bach's Badinerie from Suite No.2 in B minor. Next, Piazolla sweeps us into a graceful tango with The Angel's Milonga, followed by the bright Allegro from Maddalena Laura Sirmen's Quartet No.2 in B flat major. Respighi captures the spirit of birdsong, translating the fluttering of wings, and scratching of feet in his Preludio. Brahms offers a moment of calm with his beloved Intermezzo in A major and tonight's mixtape concludes with Grieg's ethereal Ave maris stella.
Producer: Zara Siddiqi
FRI 19:30 Friday Night is Music Night (m00209wb)
Time Passes...
Singer Alison Jiear joins conductor Stephen Bell and the BBC Concert Orchestra in a programme about the passing of time, from Alexandra Palace Theatre.
Presented by Petroc Trelawny.
Glinka: Overture Ruslan and Ludmilla
Strauss: 1001 Nights Intermezzo
Menken: Sister Act
Young: Around the World in 80 Days
Hals: Calling the Aurora
Carmichael: Georgia on my Mind
Talbot: Springtime Dance
INTERVAL
Tchaikovsky: Polonaise (Eugene Onegin)
Styne: Old Time Fantasy
Mitchell: Both Sides Now
Farnon: A la claire fontaine
Gray: Crazy Cuckoo Clock
Raitiere: I'll Never Love Again
Langford: Showtime Carousel
Singer, Alison Jiear
Conductor, Stephen Bell
BBC Concert Orchestra
FRI 21:45 The Essay (m001rr6g)
Highland Tails
The Bison
Kenneth Steven considers the introduction of wild animals into the Highlands of Scotland and the impact on rural life, reflecting in poetry at the end of each Essay.
Kenneth Steven recounts the story of American bison introduced in Victorian times to Scotland by William Stewart.
‘They were enclosed in a paddock with a circumference of five or six miles, but had become completely tame – they were however healthy and with an addition of two calves.’ Those buffalo were obviously still there when Queen Victoria and Albert famously came to visit Taymouth Castle in 1842 for she makes mention of them too: ‘We saw part of Loch Tay and drove along the banks of the Tay under fine trees and saw Lord Breadalbane’s American buffaloes’.
What we’re actually talking about here are American bison, very different from the buffalo that live in Africa and Asia. American bison live only in North America. It may be that early French fur trappers inadvertently coined the name buffalo when they used the French word ‘boeufs’ for these huge animals because they resembled giant oxen. Over time ‘boeufs’ became ‘buffalo’. Confusing, too, because the word that William Stewart and everyone else at that time would have used to describe them was buffalo.
Presenter Kenneth Steven
Producer Mark Rickards
A Whistledown Scotland production for BBC Radio 3
FRI 22:00 Late Junction (m002dn20)
Furniture Music
Looking ahead to Satie-Day, Radio 3’s celebration of French composer and pianist Erik Satie tomorrow, Jennifer Lucy Allan raids her shelves and draws up a chair for a very Late Junction exploration of Satie’s concept of ‘Furniture music’.
A term coined by Satie in 1917, ‘musique d'ameublement’, or ‘Furniture Music’ is music intended to be heard rather than listened to, that could be repeated over and over again. This could be an orchestral movement made specifically to be played "during a lunch or civil marriage"; a piece to be played in a vestibule during the arrival of guests, or a simple composition consisting of four phrases to be repeated 840 times. Conceptual art? A Dadaist joke? The first ambient music? Proto-Musak?! We don’t have a leg to stand on in this debate…
To mark a century since the death of one of experimental music’s forebears, Jennifer Lucy Allan goes literal, piecing together and drilling into a self-assemblage of music made from and dedicated to actual furniture, alongside a selection of Satie’s definition of Furniture Music.
Expect sounds made from the rubbing, bowing and scratching chair legs and a bubble lamp, as well a percussion unit made of office shelves courtesy of Test Dept. There’ll be the serene sounds of music designed to be similar to “the vibration of footsteps, the hum of an air conditioner, or the clanging of a spoon inside a coffee cup,” courtesy of one of environmental music’s pioneers, Hiroshi Yoshimura.
Plus a long-overdue release of piano works by the composer Annea Lockwood performed by Xenia Pestova Bennett; two doses of sound poetry by American mail artist John M. Bennett and Chinese experimenter and labelhead Zhu Wenbo; and some retrofuturebaroque cantatas by composer and pianist Tim Parkinson.
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 3
Produced by Cat Gough
FRI 23:30 'Round Midnight (m002dn22)
Euroradio Jazz Orchestra in concert
‘Round Midnight is presented by award-winning saxophonist Soweto Kinch. This weekday late-night show celebrates the thriving UK jazz scene and spotlights the best new music alongside incredible acts from past decades.
Founded in 1965, the Euroradio Jazz Orchestra features some of Europe’s exciting jazz musicians. Each year musicians are selected by EBU members from across the continent. The jazz big band celebrated its 60 birthday this year, and took place in Ljubljana, hosted by RTV Slovenija.
Tonight, Soweto presents music from the 2025 Euroradio Jazz Orchestra, recorded live in May at the Cukrarna in Ljubljana. The compositions were composed and conducted by Slovenia's Matjaž Mikuletič.
We will also hear from this year’s UK representative, trombonist and KOKOROKO member Anoushka Nanguy on her experience as part of the big band.
To listen on most smart speakers, just say: 'Ask BBC Sounds to play Round Midnight.'