SATURDAY 22 NOVEMBER 2025

SAT 00:30 Through the Night (m002m25x)
Rachmaninov and Sibelius from Slovenia

Pianist Yeol Eum Son joins the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra and conductor Lio Kuokman in Rachmaninov's 3rd Piano Concerto which is followed by Sibelius's 2nd Symphony. Jonathan Swain presents.

12:31 AM
Anton Lajovic (1878-1960)
A dream, for string orchestra
RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra, Lio Kuokman (conductor)

12:38 AM
Sergey Rachmaninov (1873-1943)
Piano Concerto no 3 in D minor, Op 30
Yeol Eum Son (piano), RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra, Lio Kuokman (conductor)

01:22 AM
Sergey Rachmaninov (1873-1943)
Prelude in G, Op 32/5
Yeol Eum Son (piano)

01:26 AM
Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)
Symphony no 2 in D, Op 43
RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra, Lio Kuokman (conductor)

02:10 AM
André Caplet (1878-1925)
Divertissement no.2 - A l'Espagnole
Mojka Zlobko (harp)

02:16 AM
Sergey Rachmaninov (1873-1943)
Trio élégiaque no 1 in G minor
Esther Hoppe (violin), Christian Poltéra (cello), Hiroko Sakagami (piano)

02:31 AM
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-1788)
Der Herr lebet - cantata, Wq.251
Barbara Schlick (soprano), Hilke Helling (alto), Wilfried Jochens (tenor), Gotthold Schwarz (bass), Das Kleine Konzert, Rheinische Kantorei, Hermann Max (conductor)

03:07 AM
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
6 Moments musicaux for piano, D.780
Martin Helmchen (piano)

03:36 AM
Edvard Grieg (1843-1907)
Last Spring, Op 33 no 2
Camerata Bern, Thomas Furi (leader)

03:42 AM
Pierre Max Dubois (1930-1995)
Quartet for flutes
Valentinas Kazlauskas (flute), Lina Baublyté (flute), Albertas Stupakas (flute), Giedrius Gelgotas (flute)

03:51 AM
Alessandro Scarlatti (1660-1725)
Concerto Grosso in D minor No. 5 - Sinfonia
Chiave d'Arco Baroque Orchestra, Sigiswald Kuijken (director)

03:59 AM
Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895-1968)
Capriccio diabolico for guitar, Op 85
Goran Listes (guitar)

04:08 AM
Ivo Parac (1890-1954)
Andante amoroso for string quartet
Zagreb Quartet

04:15 AM
Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826)
Rondo brillante in E flat 'La gaieté', Op 62, J252
Niklas Sivelöv (piano)

04:21 AM
Mikhail Glinka (1804-1857)
Valse-fantasie in B minor
Bratislava Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Štefan Róbl (conductor)

04:31 AM
Johann Friedrich Fasch (1688-1758)
Concerto in C minor for 2 oboes, bassoon and strings, FaWV L:c2
Shai Kribus (oboe), Mirjam Hüttner (oboe), Sergio Azzolini (bassoon), Camerata Bern, Sergio Azzolini (director)

04:41 AM
Hugo Alfvén (1872-1960)
Pictures from the Archipelago, Three Piano Pieces, Op 17
Valma Rydström (piano)

04:50 AM
Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672)
Ich bin eine rufende Stimme, SWV383 & O lieber Herre Gott, wecke uns auf, SWV381
Danish National Radio Chorus, Stefan Parkman (conductor)

04:58 AM
Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Overture to Genoveva, Op 81
BBC Philharmonic, John Storgårds (conductor)

05:08 AM
Frano Parać (b.1948)
Scherzo for Winds
Zagreb Wind Quintet

05:17 AM
Ernest Bloch (1880-1959)
From Jewish Life, B.54
Nicolas Altstaedt (cello), Alexander Lonquich (piano)

05:27 AM
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Piano Sonata no 32 in C minor, Op 111
Kotaro Fukuma (piano)

05:55 AM
Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643)
Lettera amorosa & Chi vol haver felice (from libro VII de madrigali, Venice 1619
Gianluca Ferrarini (tenor), Concerto Italiano, Rinaldo Alessandrini (harpsichord)

06:05 AM
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Trio for clarinet or viola, cello and piano in A minor, Op 114
Hans Christian Bræin (clarinet), Ellen Margrethe Flesjö (cello), Håvard Gimse (piano)


SAT 06:30 Breakfast (m002mc0p)
Launch the day with classical music

Hannah French presents Radio 3’s Breakfast show. You can contact the show by emailing 3breakfast@bbc.co.uk

To listen on most smart speakers, just say 'Ask BBC Sounds to play 3 Breakfast’


SAT 09:00 Saturday Morning (m002mc0r)
Guitarist Thibaut Garcia, and Wicked star Jonathan Bailey

As Wicked: For Good hits UK cinemas, Tom talks to one of the film’s stars, Jonathan Bailey, a former music scholar and clarinettist.

Tom is also joined by string quartet Quatuor Arod and guitarist Thibaut Garcia, playing live in the studio, on their own and together.

And, to celebrate thirty years of the Irene Taylor Trust taking life-changing music projects into prisons, Tom hears from founder Sara Lee, and two of the Trust’s beneficiaries.

Plus the usual Saturday Morning mix of new releases and classic recordings of the best classical music, with one or two surprise guests introducing their own tracks.


SAT 12:00 Earlier... with Jools Holland (m002mc0t)
Jools and guests share their musical favourites

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 Mendelssohn, Satie and Pete Johnson, with performances by Bertrand Chamayou, Quatuor Ebene and Louis Armstrong. His guest is the artist Glen Baxter who introduces music he loves by Tchaikovsky, Glass and Bellini.

To listen on most smart speakers just say 'Ask BBC Sounds to play Earlier with Jools Holland'.


SAT 13:00 Music Matters (m002mc0w)
Piano Stories

Paul Lewis

Piano technician to the greats, Ulrich Gerhartz is in conversation about pianos with his friend Paul Lewis.

Ulrich Gerhartz is talking pianos with some of the greatest pianists of our age. Ulrich is Director of Concert and Artist Services at Steinway and Sons in London. For the last 30 years he’s been piano technician to the stars of the piano world. When they sit down at a keyboard, it's his job to ensure that these top musicians have the best instrument possible set up for their particular taste and touch.

Great pianists take Ulrich on tour; into recording studios; and to the world’s finest concert halls. Tuning is a small part of what he does as he spends hours preparing each piano to suit each performer.

Here Ulrich is in conversation with pianist Paul Lewis.

Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat major, Op. 73: II. Adagio, un poco mosso
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Piano Concerto 27 in B flat major K.595
Franz Schubert: Piano Sonata No. 14 in A minor, D. 784: II. Andante
Schubert: Winterreise - song-cycle D.911 no.5; Der Lindenbaum
Ravel: Ma mère l'oye, Suite: IV. Les entretiens de la belle et de la bête V. Le jardin féerique
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor, Op. 15: III. Rondo

Producer: Rosie Boulton
A Must Try Softer Production


SAT 14:00 Record Review (m002mc0y)
Beethoven's Quartet Op.132 in Building a Library with Katy Hamilton & Andrew McGregor

A personal recommendation for Beethoven's epic, penultimate string quartet, plus the best of the week's new releases.

Presented by Andrew McGregor.

2.00pm
Nicholas Kenyon brings in a handful of his choices of new releases.

3.00pm
Building a Library
Katy Hamilton's personal recommendation of Beethoven's Quartet no.15 in A minor with, at its heart, the slow movement he wrote in convalescence: 'Holy song of thanksgiving of a convalescent to the Deity'.
Recommended version:
Quatuor Ébène
Erato 9029533981

3.45pm
Record of the Week
Andrew's pick of the best of the best.


SAT 16:00 Sound of Cinema (m002mc10)
Edith talks to Daniel Pemberton

Edith Bowman presents a celebration of exceptional movie music and film scores. On this week's programme, she'll be speaking with the British composer behind the soundtracks to the Spiderverse series, alongside other films like Steve Jobs, The Man from U.N.C.L.E and Eddington - Daniel Pemberton. Composer Sheridan Tongue gives us his insight in Harmonising Hollywood, this week taking a look at Angelo Badalamenti's score to David Lynch's Twin Peaks. And Scottish television presenter and journalist Kirsty Wark chooses her Pick of the Flicks.

Plus recent releases from Alexandre Desplat and his music to Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein, and Jerskin Fendrix's score to Yorgos Lanthimos's new film - Bugonia.


SAT 17:00 This Classical Life (m002mc12)
Jess Gillam with... Nil Venditti

Jess Gillam swaps favourite music with the Italian-Turkish conductor Nil Venditti, who is currently the Principal Guest Conductor of Royal Northen Sinfonia and the Chief conductor of the Cemal Reşit Rey Orchestra in Turkey. Nil's picks include tracks by Dvořák, Puccini and Melody Gardot, whilst Jess chooses music from Bach, Giovanni Sollima and Lankum.

To listen on most smart speakers just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Radio 3”.


SAT 18:00 Opera on 3 (m002mc14)
Alban Berg's Wozzeck

Wozzeck - Simon Rattle conducts Alban Berg's searing masterpiece.

Sir Simon Rattle leads a concert performance of Alban Berg’s Wozzeck, featuring a stellar cast headed by Malin Byström and Christian Gerhaher.
Based on Georg Büchner’s dramatic fragment, the opera tells the story of the soldier Wozzeck, who is broken by the world around him. Berg’s music cuts sharply, longingly, and devastatingly into the ears of its listeners, with a gripping musical language woven from military rhythms and lyrical delicacy.
When the work premiered one hundred years ago this year, Alma Mahler, to whom Berg dedicated the opera, wrote: 'One trembled, as if before something unheard of.' Wozzeck challenges - and rewards - the heart, mind, and ears alike.

Presented by Georgia Mann with guest Emily MacGregor.

Alban Berg: Wozzeck, opera in three acts and 15 scenes
Based on Georg Büchner's 'Woyzeck'

Wozzeck.... Christian Gerhaher (baritone)
Marie... Malin Byström (soprano)
Drum Major.... Eric Cutler (tenor)
Doctor.... Brindley Sherratt (bass)
Captain / Fool.... Nicky Spence (tenor)
Andres.... Edgaras Montvidas (tenor)
Speaker/ First Apprentice.... HK Gruber (speaker)
Second Apprentice.... Ludwig Mittelhammer (baritone)

Bavarian Radio Chorus
Bavarian State Opera Children's Chorus
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
Sir Simon Rattle (conductor)


SAT 21:30 Music Planet (m002mc16)
Cambodian Songs and Carnatic Music

Kathryn Tickell curates a selection of grass-roots music from across the world. Australian musicians Bhairavi Raman and Nanthesh Sivarajah explore shared Tamil heritage and musical lineages in their new release, Syncretic; fiddler Lena Jonsson and accordionist Johanna Juhola, meanwhile, explore traditional repertoire inside the acoustics of the church at Järvsö, Sweden; and there’s a newly-reissued iconic track from the ‘70s courtesy of a singer known as 'The Golden Voice of Phnom Penh'.

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


SAT 22:30 New Music Show (m002mc18)
Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival: Explore Ensemble and ONCEIM

Kate Molleson presents live from this year's Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, the first of four programmes from this long-running key event in the new music world. Tonight, Explore Ensemble perform a brand new work from Bryn Harrison and the French ensemble ONCEIM perform the music of American-Swiss artist and composer Christian Marclay.

SUNDAY 23 NOVEMBER 2025

SUN 00:30 Through the Night (m002mc1b)
I saw Eternity

Tenebrae perform Bach's iconic motets together with James MacMillan's sacred music at Les Riches Heures de Valère, a Swiss early music festival. The programme includes I Saw Eternity, a work Macmillan composed for the choir to accompany their programme of Bach's motets. John Shea presents.


12:45 AM
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Jesu, meine Freude BWV. 227
Tenebrae, Nigel Short (conductor)

01:06 AM
James MacMillan (b.1959)
Miserere
Tenebrae, Nigel Short (conductor)

01:18 AM
James MacMillan (b.1959)
I saw Eternity
Tenebrae, Nigel Short (conductor)

01:25 AM
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied, BWV. 225
Tenebrae, Nigel Short (conductor)

01:37 AM
Joseph Rheinberger (1839-1901)
Abendlied
Tenebrae, Nigel Short (conductor)

01:41 AM
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Prelude and fugue no 5 in D major, BWV.874 from Das Wohltemperierte Klavier
Kamiel d'Hooghe (organ)

01:48 AM
Johann Rosenmüller (1619-1684)
Confitebor tibi - Psalm 110/111
Johanna Koslowsky (soprano), David Cordier (counter tenor), Gerd Türk (tenor), Stephan Schreckenberger (bass), Carsten Lohff (organ), Cantus Cölln, Konrad Junghänel (lute), Konrad Junghänel (director)

02:04 AM
James MacMillan (b.1959)
String Quartet no 3
Royal String Quartet

02:31 AM
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Symphony no 8 in F major, Op 93
BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Richard Hickox (conductor)

02:57 AM
Karel Husa (1921-2016)
Concerto for Wind Ensemble
Cincinnati Wind Symphony, Mallory Thompson (conductor)

03:19 AM
Michael Tippett (1905-1998)
Concerto for Double String Orchestra
Zürcher Kammerorchester, Duncan Ward (conductor)

03:40 AM
Katia Tchemberdji (b.1960)
In Namen Amadeus, for viola, clarinet, piano & tape
Brett Dean (viola), Paul Dean (clarinet), Stephen Emmerson (piano)

03:54 AM
Étienne Méhul (1763-1817)
Piano Sonata in D major Op 1 no 10
Arthur Schoonderwoerd (fortepiano)

04:03 AM
Aram Khachaturian (1903-1978)
Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia (from Spartacus Ballet Suite no 2)
West Australian Symphony Orchestra, David Measham (conductor)

04:09 AM
Alessandro Scarlatti (1660-1725)
Recorder Concerto in A minor
Leonard Schelb (recorder), Raphael Alpermann (harpsichord), Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Bernhard Forck (conductor)

04:18 AM
Théodore Dubois (1837-1924)
Chant Pastoral
Kalevi Kiviniemi (organ)

04:23 AM
John Jenkins (1592-1678)
The Siege of Newark (Pavan)
Concordia, Mark Levy (conductor)

04:31 AM
Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179)
Ave Generosa
Orpheus Women's Choir, Albert Wissink (director)

04:36 AM
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Overture to "Jephtha"
Concerto Copenhagen, Lars Ulrik Mortensen (conductor)

04:42 AM
Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
Prelude a l'apres-midi d'un faune
Andrew Nicholson (flute), BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Thierry Fischer (conductor)

04:54 AM
John Field (1782-1837)
Andante inédit in E flat major for piano
Marc-André Hamelin (piano)

05:02 AM
Harrison Birtwistle (1934-2022)
Night's Black Bird for orchestra
BBC Philharmonic, Juanjo Mena (conductor)

05:15 AM
Mogens Pedersøn (1583-1623)
3 songs for 5 voices
Ars Nova, Bo Holten (director)

05:22 AM
Richard Strauss (1864-1949)
Horn Concerto no 1 in E flat major, Op 11
Ferenc Tarjáni (horn), Hungarian Radio Orchestra, Antal Jancsovics (conductor)

05:39 AM
Franz Berwald (1796-1868)
Septet in B flat
Fredrik Ekdahl (bassoon), Hanna Thorell (cello), Kristian Möller (clarinet), Mattias Karlsson (double bass), Ayman Al Fakir (horn), Linn Löwengren-Elkvull (viola), Roger Olsson (violin)

06:01 AM
Francis Poulenc (1899-1963)
Les Animaux modeles - suite from the ballet
Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, Georges Prêtre (conductor)

06:23 AM
Leif Strand (1942-2021), Øivind Westby (arranger)
Men går jag över engarna (But I Walk Across the Meadows)
Ole Edvard Antonsen (trumpet), Argovia Philharmonic, Rune Bergmann (conductor)


SUN 06:30 Breakfast (m002mcn3)
Boost your morning with classical music

Mark Forrest presents Radio 3’s Breakfast show live from Salford. With 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’


SUN 09:00 Sunday Morning (m002mcn5)
Three hours of classical sparkle

Sarah’s choices this week include a track from the landmark first album devoted entirely to the music of Avril Coleridge-Taylor, a new release from Radio 3’s own Jess Gillam, and seductive ballet music from Jules Massenet.

For this week's choral reflection, Sarah turns to a memorable moment from Rachmaninov’s famous Vespers, and for her Sunday Sequence, we dive into the world of courtly dances. There's also the Bruch Violin Concerto in full, with the Swedish-Norwegian violinist Johan Dalene, and Eric Coates whisks us off for a tour of London.

Plus, have you ever wondered what happens to the magic flute at the end of Mozart's opera...?

A Tandem Production for BBC Radio 3


SUN 12:00 Private Passions (m002mcn7)
Louise Penny

The Canadian crime fiction writer Louise Penny has sold more than 18 million books around the world – and she was a late starter: she was 45 when her first book appeared, after working for two decades as a broadcaster and journalist.

Success as a fiction writer came quickly: her first novel Still Life won numerous awards, and introduced Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, who works in rural Quebec.
Louise has just published her 20th book featuring Gamache: in The Black Wolf, he’s taking on a powerful conspiracy attempting to make Canada the 51st state in a fight over natural resources.

Louise's music includes works by Beethoven, Michael Nyman, Bach and Neil Young.

Presenter Michael Berkeley
Producer Clare Walker


SUN 13:30 Music Map (m002mcn9)
A journey to Bach's Cello Suite No. 1

Sara Mohr-Pietsch maps the musical landscape surrounding JS Bach's Cello Suite No.1, one of the most treasured works in the cello repetoire. The junk shops of late 19th century Barcelona - where the score was 'rediscovered' by a young Pablo Casals - is one stop, along with Bizet's Paris. En route, Sara explores dance forms with Mozart and folk ensemble Lau, Liszt's transcendentalism and the mechanical studies of the enigmatic composer Conlon Nancarrow.

To listen to this programme (using most smart speakers), just say: 'Ask BBC Sounds to play Music Map.'


SUN 15:00 Choral Evensong (m002m2ck)
St Mary’s Cathedral, Glasgow

From St Mary’s Cathedral, Glasgow.

Introit: View me, Lord (Lloyd)
Responses: Bertalot
Psalms 98, 99, 100, 101 (Turle, Walmisley, Lang, Parrat)
First Lesson: Ezra 3 vv1-13
Office Hymn: Blessed City, heavenly Salem (Urbs beata)
Canticles: Walmisley in D minor
Second Lesson: Revelation 21 vv9-21
Anthem: And when the builders (Shephard)
Hymn: Sing for God’s glory (Lobe den Herren)
Voluntary: Dance – Rondo (Philip Moore)

Frikki Walker (Director of Music)
Steven McIntyre (Organist)

Recorded 13 November.

To listen on most smart speakers just say “ask BBC Sounds to play Choral Evensong”.


SUN 16:00 Jazz Record Requests (m002mcnc)
Big Band & Vocal Jazz

Alyn Shipton presents jazz records of all styles and eras as requested by you including big band sounds from Stan Kenton, Woody Herman and Benny Goodman alongside vocal music from June Christy and The Boswell Sisters.

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 (m002mcnf)
The Early Opera Company

Hannah French chats to harpsichordist and director of The Early Opera Company, Christian Curnyn.

Producer: Ben Collingwood.

To listen to this programme using most smart speakers just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play The Early Music Show".


SUN 18:00 Words and Music (m002mcnh)
Small Towns

Small town life inspires today's selection of music alongside readings performed by Jemma Redgrave and Sushil Chudasama. We celebrate the pleasures of quirky neighbours in EF Benson’s Mapp and Lucia, the benefits of the community grapevine in Kiran Desai’s Hullaballoo in the Guava Orchard and the joy of close connection in Emily Dickinson's poetry. We won’t ignore the downsides, whether that’s the gossiping ladies of Middlemarch, the fear of outsiders in Daljit Nagra’s poem Our Town or the pain of everybody knowing your business in Paul Murray’s Booker winner, The Bee Sting. There is music inspired by all aspects of small town life, from Carl Davies’ theme for the TV series Cranford to Amy Beach’s Secrets as well as Grieg, Verdi and more.

Producer: Olive Clancy

Readings:
A Town - Jane Taylor
Our Town - Thornton Wilder
Mapp and Lucia - EF Benson
South Shields Town Hall in Snow - James Kirkup
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
The Bee Sting - Paul Murray
Middlemarch - George Elliot
A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
The Bookshop - Penelope Fitzgerald
A Poison Tree - William Blake
A Town Called Solace - Mary Lawson
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter - Carson McCullers
Hullaballoo in the Guava Orchard - Kiran Desai
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry - Rachel Joyce
All Creatures Great and Small - James Herriot
Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
I Put A Spell On You - John Burnside
At Stafford Services - Wendy Cope
Our Town - Daljit Nagra
Never Can Say Goodbye - Sean O'Brien
I Went To Heaven - Emily Dickinson


SUN 19:15 Sunday Feature (m002mcnk)
James Blades - Pandemonium of the One-Man Band

James Blades - Pandemonium of the One-Man Band
by Robin Brooks and James Anthony-Rose

We take a journey through the life and work of James Blades, one of the most accomplished and highly regarded percussionists of the 20th century. James supplied the gong-stokes for the J. Arthur Rank Organisation and the ‘V’-for Victory drum-beat for BBC radio in WWII. He subsequently collaborated with Benjamin Britten, creating unique percussion effects for his operas.

James toured a percussion-lecture to schools countrywide. Our drama-documentary presents as one of these lectures, in which James takes us on a percussion pilgrimage, from his beginnings as a circus drummer, to the classical concert hall.

For our drama-documentary reconstruction, James takes the stage at the Brittten Studio, Snape Maltings in front of a live audience, with an array of instruments and a fund of stories. He has come to deliver one of the lectures for which - in real life - he became famous and much loved.

James Blades ..... James Anthony-Rose

Percussionist, Sam Wilson
Music Director, Tomi Rose

Director/Producer, Fiona McAlpine
Writers, Robin Brooks and James Anthony-Rose
Sound, Alisdair McGregor
Production Assistant, Freddy Neaves

An Allegra Production for BBC Radio 3


SUN 20:10 Record Review (m002mcnm)
Beethoven: String Quartet Op.132

A complete performance of Beethoven's String Quartet no.15 in the recording recommended in yesterday's Building a Library.


SUN 21:00 20th Century Radicals (m002mcnp)
Ustvolskaya: Brutality, extremity and God

Kate Molleson and Gillian Moore introduce 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. This week, Gillian explores the brutal, austere musical world of Galina Ustvolskaya, a composer who seems to have revelled in the sense of loneliness; and leading up to a full performance of her Composition No. 2 'Dies irae' of 1973, we pay a visit to the huge theatre foyer panels painted by artist Yves Klein and explore another composer’s failed attempt to avoid censorship in the Soviet Union.

Produced by Sam Phillips
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 3

To listen on most smart speakers just say, “ask BBC Sounds to play 20th Century Radicals”


SUN 22:00 Night Tracks (m002mcnr)
Meditative music for late night solace

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


SUN 23:30 Unclassified (m002mcnt)
Sound and Sequence

Join Elizabeth Alker for a selection of fresh music from genre-defying artists as we journey through landscapes of ambient and experimental sounds. Along the way, we'll hear from emerging independent producers whose work plays with orchestral textures and classical form as well as the latest sounds from a new generation of contemporary composers who look to embrace the spirit of rock, pop and electronica.

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 24 NOVEMBER 2025

MON 00:30 Through the Night (m002mcnw)
Ardeo Quartet and pianist Barry Douglas

At the West Cork Chamber Music Festival in Ireland, the Ardeo Quartet performs Saariaho's Terra Memoria and Janáček's String Quartet no 2 'Intimate Letters'. Pianist Barry Douglas plays Schubert's Piano Sonata no 16. John Shea presents.

12:31 AM
Kaija Saariaho (1952-2023)
Terra Memoria
Ardeo Quartet

12:51 AM
Leoš Janáček (1854-1928)
String Quartet no 2 'Intimate Letters'
Ardeo Quartet

01:18 AM
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Piano Sonata no 16 in A minor, D.845
Barry Douglas (piano)

01:53 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Symphony no 41 in C major, K 551 'Jupiter'
Camerata Ireland, Barry Douglas (conductor)

02:24 AM
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Intermezzo in E major, Op 116 no 4
Barry Douglas (piano)

02:31 AM
Jan Dismas Zelenka (1679-1745)
Te Deum in D major, ZWV 146
Martina Janková (soprano), Isabel Jantschek (soprano), Wiebke Lehmkuhl (contralto), Krystian Adam Krzeszowiak (tenor), Felix Rumpf (bass), Dresdner Kammerchor, Wroclaw Baroque Orchestra, Václav Luks (conductor)

03:00 AM
Charles Mouton (1626-1710)
Pièces de Lute in C minor
Konrad Junghänel (11 string lute)

03:29 AM
Niccolò Paganini (1782-1840), transc. Franz Liszt
Etude no 2 in E flat major
Arthur Friedheim (piano)

03:35 AM
Paul Dukas (1865-1935)
Villanelle for horn and orchestra
Esa Tukia (horn), Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Michael Adelson (conductor)

03:42 AM
Matthias Schmitt (b.1958)
Ghanaia for percussion
Colin Currie (percussion)

03:49 AM
Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (1710-1784)
Sinfonia in F major, F.67
Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Stephan Mai (director)

04:02 AM
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Fantasia in G major BWV.572 for organ
Tomás Thon (organ)

04:10 AM
Jacques-François Halévy (1799-1862)
Aria: "Quand de la nuit l'epais nuage" (from "L'eclair", Act 3)
Benjamin Butterfield (tenor), Canadian Opera Company Orchestra, Richard Bradshaw (conductor)

04:15 AM
Jan van Gilse (1881-1944)
String Quartet (Unfinished)
Ebony Quartet

04:25 AM
Scott Joplin (1868-1917)
Gladiolus Rag (1909)
Donna Coleman (piano)

04:31 AM
Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
Overture, L'Isola disabitata
Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Rolf Gupta (conductor)

04:39 AM
Camilla de Rossi (fl.1707-1710)
Duol sofferto per Amore' (excerpt Sant'Alessio )
Martin Oro (counter tenor), Musica Fiorita, Daniela Dolci (director)

04:45 AM
Ferruccio Busoni (1866-1924)
Sonatina super Carmen (Sonatina no.6) for piano 'Kammerfantasie'
Valerie Tryon (piano)

04:54 AM
Philip Sparke (b.1951)
Pantomime for Euphonium in B major
Valerian Alfaré (euphonium), Edward Cervenka (piano)

05:00 AM
Richard Strauss (1864-1949)
Morgen from 4 Lieder (Op 27 no 4)
Christianne Stotijn (mezzo soprano), Joseph Breinl (piano)

05:04 AM
Zygmunt Noskowski (1846-1909)
The Steppe, Op 66 - symphonic poem
Santander Orchestra, Lawrence Foster (conductor)

05:23 AM
Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778-1837)
Trio for piano and strings in E flat major, Op 12
Hertz Trio

05:40 AM
Jean Sibelius (1865-1957), Jan Hemmer (author)
Jordens sang (Song of the Earth), Op 93
Academic Choral Society, Helsinki Cathedral Chorus, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Ulf Söderblom (conductor)

05:59 AM
Santiago de Murcia (1673-1739)
Obra por 7 tono (suite)
Eduardo Egüez (lute)

06:18 AM
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Water Music - suite in G major, HWV.350
Collegium Aureum


MON 06:30 Breakfast (m002mclr)
Start the 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’


MON 09:30 Essential Classics (m002mclt)
The ideal mix of classical music

Ian Skelly plays the best classical music for your morning, with discoveries and surprises rubbing shoulders with familiar favourites. Including the Playlister challenge: our regular listener-created sequence inspired by a different piece of music each day. Plus a new classical release in focus for Album of the Week.

1000 Playlister starter: listen and send us your ideas for the next step in today's musical journey. Text 83111 or email essentialclassics@bbc.co.uk.

1030 Album of the Week: an exciting new classical release in focus throughout the week.

1115 Playlister reveal: an uninterrupted sequence of music suggested by you in response to today's starter piece.

1200 Feast of a Piece: indulge your ears with an orchestral masterpiece.

To listen on most smart speakers say 'Ask BBC Sounds to play Essential Classics'.


MON 13:00 Classical Live (m002mclw)
Schubert song live from Wigmore Hall

Fiona Talkington brings you an afternoon of exclusive music-making including chamber music from soprano Miah Persson and pianist Joseph Middleton live from Wigmore Hall and Mozart's Symphony No. 35 in D performed by Ensemble Resonanz and conductor Riccardo Minasi as part of a week long focus on music composed by Mozart.

Throughout the week, Classical Live is featuring specially recorded performances of music by Mozart. Today, Symphony No. 35 in D, K. 385 ('Haffner') is performed by Ensemble Resonanz and conductor Riccardo Minasi, recorded in Germany. Fiona also features highlights from this year's Bath Mozartfest. Today the Nash Ensemble perform a Mozart masterpiece, his String Quintet in C major.

There is also a spotlight on Freiburg Baroque Orchestra who aim to enliven the world of Baroque music with new sounds. Today we hear them perform works by Telemann and Vivaldi.

Live from London's Wigmore Hall, introduced by Hannah French.

Gösta Nystroem
På reveln

Ture Rangström
Idyll: Sommarnatten
Idyll: Den enda stunden
Melodi
Den mörka blomman: Bön till natten
Pan

Edvard Grieg
6 songs Op. 48

Richard Strauss
Ständchen Op. 17 No. 2
Freundliche Vision Op. 48 No. 1
Heimliche Aufforderung Op. 27 No. 3
Morgen! Op. 27 No. 4
Zueignung Op. 10 No. 1

Miah Persson (soprano)
Joseph Middleton (piano)

***

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Symphony No. 35 in D, K. 385 ('Haffner')
Ensemble Resonanz
Riccardo Minasi (conductor)

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
Ballade Op. 33
Ulster Orchestra
David Danzmayr (conductor)

Georg Philipp Telemann
Suite in G, TWV 55:G2 ('La Bizarre')
Freiburg Baroque Orchestra
Hannah Visser (violin, direction)

From the 2025 Bath Mozartfest:
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
String Quintet in C major, K. 515
Nash Ensemble

Antonio Vivaldi
Concerto in D minor, RV 535
Freiburg Baroque Orchestra
Gottfried von der Goltz, (violin and direction)

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 (m002mcly)
Max Roach (1924-2007)

Coppin' the Bop

This week Kate Molleson explores the life and work of a musical giant: drummer and composer Max Roach – in the company of writer and broadcaster Kevin LeGendre. They’ll be focusing on Roach as a percussionist and performer, prioritising his own compositions but also appreciating the art of improvisation as a kind of spontaneous composition.

Max Roach was born in North Carolina in 1924 and grew up in Brooklyn. He was at the vanguard of bebop, alongside Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. They transformed jazz in the mid-20th century and Max Roach never stopped transforming the music, himself and his society. He was a force of political activism in the 1960s, using music as a powerful platform through the civil rights movement. He kept innovating in academia in the 70s and all the way to the early years of the 21st century. A long and innovative musical life.

Today Kate Molleson and Kevin LeGendre explore Max Roach’s early life and the period of his first performances and first recordings. In the 1940s, when he was a fixture of the best bebop groups in New York.

Music featured:
Dr Free-Zee (from Max Roach +4)
Joy Spring (from Clifford Brown and Max Roach)
Bu Dee Daht (from Coleman Hawkins: Rainbow Mist)
Woody’n You (from Coleman Hawkins: Rainbow Mist)
St Louis Blues (from Don Byas: Savoy Jam Party)
Salt Peanuts (from Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker: Town Hall, New York City, June 22, 1945)
Ko-Ko (from Charlie Parker: The Complete Savoy and Dial Master Takes)
Bird Gets the Worm (from Charlie Parker: The Complete Savoy and Dial Master Takes)
Coppin’ the Bop (from JJ Johnson: The Savoy Sessions)
Move (from Miles Davis: The Complete Birth of the Cool)


MON 17:00 In Tune (m002mcm0)
Artist Edmund de Waal and 30 years of Flook

Katie Derham talks to artist and writer Edmund de Waal, who features in the new BBC Two documentary Civilisations: Rise and Fall. There's also live music from Anglo-Irish traditional band Flook who are celebrating their 30th anniversary.


MON 19:00 Classical Mixtape (m002mcm2)
Lighten the load with a special Roman classical mix

To celebrate the return of Civilisations to BBC Two, take time out with a 30-minute soundscape of Rome-inspired classical music, including music by Handel and Respighi.

From Emperor Julius Caesar pacing determinedly in Handel's opera, to the richly scented Fountain's of Respighi's Rome; from one of the first women composers to Cinema Paradiso and Gladiator; this is half an hour of blissful Roman inspiration and calm.


MON 19:30 Radio 3 in Concert (m002mcm4)
Radio 3 New Generation Artists at Bath Mozartfest 2025

Radio 3 New Generation Artists the Kleio Quartet join forces with clarinettist Annelien van Wauwe, flautist Elizaveta Ivanova and harpist Sally Pryce in a collaborative programme from Bath Mozartfest 2025. Gems of the chamber music repertoire transport us across Europe and 150 years, and all seven players come together for the centrepiece - Ravel's beguiling Introduction and Allegro.

Presented from the stage by Ian Skelly

Recorded at the Guildhall in Bath earlier this month.

Mozart: Flute Quartet in C major, K285b
Haydn: String Quartet in G major, Op 33 No 5 "How do you do?"
Ravel: Introduction & Allegro
- Interval -
Debussy: Sonata for flute, viola and harp, L 145
Weber: Clarinet Quintet in B flat major, Op 34

Kleio Quartet
Annelien van Wauwe, clarinet
Elizaveta Ivanova, flute
Sally Pryce, harp

To listen on most smart speakers just say "ask BBC Sounds to play Radio 3 in Concert".


MON 21:45 The Essay (m001xwwx)
Watching from the Wings

The Scottish Play

Preparation for a performance on stage goes beyond just memorising lines, learning blocking and hoping it will be alright on the night. A diligent actor studies the history of the period of the play, learns about the intentions of the playwright, and absorbs from older colleagues knowledge of how the play has been done in the past.

In his less than stellar career as an actor, Michael Goldfarb went through this process many times. He recalls meeting John Gielgud at the theatre door and understudying in a play where a huge Styrofoam mountain was the star of the show.

In this essay: theatrical superstition says you shouldn’t mention the play Macbeth, by name. But how else to speak of the play on which Michael finally got his equity card?


MON 22:00 Night Tracks (m002mcm6)
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 (m002mcm8)
Rosie Turton’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 London trombonist and producer Rosie Turton. Rosie's music is rooted in exploration and improvisation, as she creates soundscapes that blend influences from across cultures and different collaborations. Her most recent project 'maar' is a duo release with vocalist Miryam Solomon. Rosie is also an alumna of Tomorrow’s Warriors, a regular performer with the Nu Civilisation Orchestra, and is part of the formidable collective Nérija.

From Monday to Thursday, Rosie is sharing four albums that have impacted her, for our 4/4 series. To start her week, Rosie selects a record by a key influence of hers and one of spiritual jazz’s guiding lights.

Also in the programme, music from Endea Owens, Aaron Parks, and Artemis.

TUESDAY 25 NOVEMBER 2025

TUE 00:30 Through the Night (m002mcmb)
Kent Nagano conducts works by Ustvolskaja, Mozart and Beethoven

The German Symphony Orchestra, Berlin performs Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony, Mozart's Piano Concerto no 23 and Galina Ustvolskaya's Composition no 1 for piccolo, tuba and piano. John Shea presents.

12:31 AM
Galina Ustvolskaya (1919-2006)
Composition no 1 'Dona nobis pacem'
Frauke Ross (piccolo), Péter Kánya (tuba), Dirk Wedmann (piano)

12:49 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Piano Concerto no 23 in A major, K.488
Rafał Blechacz (piano), Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Kent Nagano (conductor)

01:14 AM
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Scherzo from 'Piano Sonata no 2 in A major, Op 2 no 2'
Rafał Blechacz (piano)

01:17 AM
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Symphony no 6 in F major, Op 68 'Pastoral'
Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Kent Nagano (conductor)

01:58 AM
Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757), arr. Carl Tausig (1841-1871)
Sonata in D minor, Kk 9 (Pastorale), arr. Tausig in E minor for piano
Joseph Moog (piano)

02:01 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Piano Quartet in E flat major, K.493
Paul Lewis (piano), Antje Weithaas (violin), Lars Anders Tomter (viola), Patrick Demenga (cello)

02:31 AM
Ernest John Moeran (1894-1950)
Phyllida and Corydon - choral suite
BBC Singers, Stephen Cleobury (conductor)

03:00 AM
Arthur Bliss (1891-1975)
Concerto for cello and orchestra, T.120
Shauna Rolston (cello), Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Uri Mayer (conductor)

03:29 AM
Giovanni Battista Bovicelli (c.1550-1597)
Diminutionen on Palestrina's 'Io son ferito' for cornet and basso continuo
Le Concert, William Dongois (director)

03:36 AM
Bedřich Smetana (1824-1884)
Souvenir de Bohême en forme de polka, Op 13
Alexandra Troussova (piano)

03:43 AM
Edward Elgar (1857-1934)
Serenade for Strings in E minor, Op 20
Sofia Soloists Chamber Ensemble, Plamen Djurov (conductor)

03:54 AM
Albertus Groneman (c.1710-1778)
Sonata for 2 flutes in G major
Jed Wentz (flute), Marion Moonen (flute)

04:02 AM
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Lascia la spina, from 'Il Trionfo del tempo e del disinganno'
Julia Lezhneva (soprano), Wroclaw Baroque Orchestra, Giovanni Antonini (conductor)

04:10 AM
Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849)
Ballade no 3 in A flat major, Op 47
Teresa Carreño (piano)

04:19 AM
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Rosamunde: Overture, D.644
Orchestre National de France, Emmanuel Krivine (conductor)

04:31 AM
Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber (1644-1704)
Mystery (Rosary) sonata (Passacaglia) in G minor (The Guardian angel)
Daniel Sepec (violin)

04:40 AM
Jacques Hétu (1938-2010), Émile Nelligan (author)
Le jardin d'antan; Gondolar - from Les Illusions Fanees, Op 46
Phoenix Chamber Choir, Ramona Luengen (conductor)

04:46 AM
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)
Le Jardin feerique (from Ma mère l'oye)
Katia Labèque (piano), Marielle Labèque (piano)

04:50 AM
Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881), arr. Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
A Night on the bare mountain, ed. Rimsky-Korsakov
Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Jukka-Pekka Saraste (conductor)

05:01 AM
Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672)
3 sacred pieces (SWV.415, SWV.138, SWV.27)
Kölner Kammerchor, Collegium Cartusianum, Peter Neumann (conductor)

05:12 AM
Clara Schumann (1819-1896)
Quatre pièces fugitives, Op 15
Diana Ketler (piano)

05:25 AM
Philip Glass (b.1937)
Violin Concerto no 1
Piotr Plawner (violin), Polish Radio National Symphony Orchestra Katowice, Michal Klauza (conductor)

05:51 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Le Nozze di Figaro, Act 4: Susanna's aria 'Deh vieni, non tardar'
Irma Urrila (soprano), Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Okko Kamu (conductor)

05:56 AM
Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
La Mer
Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Katowice, Domingo Hindoyan (conductor)

06:21 AM
Johann Franz Xaver Sterkel (1750-1817)
Duet no 3 for 2 violas
Milan Telecky (viola), Zuzana Jarabakova (viola)


TUE 06:30 Breakfast (m002mcr0)
Wake up your senses 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 (m002mcr2)
Refresh your morning with classical music

Ian Skelly plays the best classical music for your morning, with discoveries and surprises rubbing shoulders with familiar favourites. Including the Playlister challenge: our regular listener-created sequence inspired by a different piece of music each day. Plus a new classical release in focus for Album of the Week.

1000 Playlister starter: listen and send us your ideas for the next step in today's musical journey. Text 83111 or email essentialclassics@bbc.co.uk.

1030 Album of the Week: an exciting new classical release in focus throughout the week.

1115 Playlister reveal: an uninterrupted sequence of music suggested by you in response to today's starter piece.

1200 Feast of a Piece: indulge your ears with an orchestral masterpiece.

To listen on most smart speakers say'Ask BBC Sounds to play Essential Classics'.


TUE 13:00 Classical Live (m002mcr4)
The Mendelssohn Octet

Fiona Talkington brings you an afternoon of exclusive music-making, including a spotlight on compositions by Mozart and we will hear performances by the Nash Ensemble from this year's Bath Mozartfest, including Mendlessohn's famous string Octet.

Throughout the week, Classical Live is featuring specially recorded performances of music by Mozart. Today, the ‘Prague’ Symphony and Serenata Notturna performed by the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra and conductor Ton Koopman. Plus, pianist Elisabeth Brauss performs Mozart's introspective Rondo in A minor.

There is also a spotlight on this year's Bath Mozartfest. Celebrating its 35th year, the festival is a feast of fine classical music and showcases artistic excellence. Today, the Nash Ensemble perform two works - Vaughan Williams's The Lark Ascending in the chamber version for violin & piano and Mendelssohn's celebrated, youthful, String Octet.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Symphony No. 38 in D, K. 504 ('Prague')
Lausanne Chamber Orchestra
Ton Koopman (conductor)

From the 2025 Bath Mozartfest:
Ralph Vaughan Williams
The Lark Ascending for violin & piano
Nash Ensemble

From the 2025 Bath Mozartfest:
Felix Mendelssohn
String Octet in E flat major Op. 20
Nash Ensemble

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Rondo in A minor K. 511
Elisabeth Brauss (piano)

Antonin Dvorak
Symphony No 8 in G major, Op. 88
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Ryan Bancroft (conductor)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Serenata notturna in D, K. 239
Lausanne Chamber Orchestra
Ton Koopman (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 (m002mcr6)
Max Roach (1924-2007)

Bandleader

This week Kate Molleson explores the life and work of a musical giant: drummer and composer Max Roach – in the company of writer and broadcaster Kevin LeGendre. They’ll be focusing on Roach as a percussionist and performer, prioritising his own compositions but also appreciating the art of improvisation as a kind of spontaneous composition.

Max Roach was born in North Carolina in 1924 and grew up in Brooklyn. He was at the vanguard of bebop, alongside Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. They transformed jazz in the mid-20th century and Max Roach never stopped transforming the music, himself and his society. He was a force of political activism in the 1960s, using music as a powerful platform through the civil rights movement. He kept innovating in academia in the 70s and all the way to the early years of the 21st century. A long and innovative musical life.

Today Kate Molleson and Kevin LeGendre explore Max Roach’s early years as a band-leader – and his sadly short-lived collaboration with the trumpeter Clifford Brown.

Music featured:
Cherokee (from Jazz at Massey Hall)
Cou Manchi-Cou (from Max Roach Quartet, featuring Hank Mobley)
Maximum (from In the Beginning)
Sfax (from Max Roach Quartet, featuring Hank Mobley)
St Thomas (from Sonny Rollins: Saxophone Colossus)
Drum Conversation (from At Last! Miles Davis and the Lighthouse All-Stars)
Daahoud (from Clifford Brown and Max Roach)
Sandu (from Study in Brown)
Take the A Train (from Study in Brown)
Deeds Not Words (from Deeds Not Words)


TUE 17:00 In Tune (m002mcr8)
Esther Abrami performs live in the studio

Violinist Esther Abrami, inspiring a new generation of performers, plays live.


TUE 19:00 Classical Mixtape (m002mcrb)
Classical balm for the soul

Uplifting choral music opens and closes this evocative Classical Mixtape from BBC Radio 3. Relax into a 30-minute mix of music by composers of every century from the 16th onwards, seamlessly mixed for a laid-back listening experience. Producer: Christina Kenny


TUE 19:30 Radio 3 in Concert (m002mcrd)
Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique

The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra is conducted by Mark Wigglesworth in a varied programme, beginning with a rare opportunity to hear the overture from an early comic opera by Wagner. Then Jess Gillam joins the orchestra for the UK premiere of Dani Howard's Saxophone Concerto, a homage to the instrument's inventor Adolphe Sax. Hector Berlioz was a good friend of Sax, and was the first composer to write a piece for the new instrument. The concert ends with Berlioz's expression of forbidden love, his Symphonie fantastique.

Recorded on November 5th, presented from The Lighthouse in Poole by Martin Handley.

Wagner: Forbidden Love Overture
Dani Howard: Saxophone Concerto (UK premiere)

Interval

Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique

Jess Gillam (saxophone)
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
Mark Wigglesworth (conductor)

To listen on most smart speakers just say 'ask BBC Sounds to play Radio 3 in Concert.'


TUE 21:45 The Essay (m001xwdx)
Watching from the Wings

Summerfolk

Preparation for a performance on stage goes beyond just memorising lines, learning blocking and hoping it will be alright on the night. A diligent actor studies the history of the period of the play, learns about the intentions of the playwright, and absorbs from older colleagues knowledge of how the play has been done in the past.

In his less than stellar career as an actor, Michael Goldfarb went through this process many times.

In this essay, he appears in Maxim Gorki's Summerfolk, a play about the Russian upper-middle classes at their summer homes, as their country teeters on the brink of revolutionary catastrophe. He remembers Russian theatre, theatrical friendships and after-show drinking.


TUE 22:00 Night Tracks (m002mcrg)
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 (m002mcrj)
New from Dave Holland and John Scofield

‘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.

Trombonist and producer Rosie Turton has a second favourite album to share tonight for 4/4, and this time she chooses a record by a fellow trombonist, who was celebrated for their imaginative and avant-garde approach to the instrument.

Also in the programme, there is music from Helen Glavin, PLUME, and Fabio Ferri.

To listen on most smart speakers, just say: 'Ask BBC Sounds to play Round Midnight.'

WEDNESDAY 26 NOVEMBER 2025

WED 00:30 Through the Night (m002mcrl)
The Maisky Trio from Wigmore Hall

The legend of the cello Mischa Maisky is joined by his daughter, pianist Lily Maisky, and violinist son Sascha Maisky, who have performed together as the Maisky Trio for almost 20 years. They play Clara Schumann, Robert Schumann, Brahms and Schubert, including songs arranged for the ensemble by Mischa Maisky. John Shea presents.

12:31 AM
Clara Schumann (1819-1896)
Three Romances for Violin and Piano, Op 22
Sascha Maisky (violin), Lily Maisky (piano)

12:41 AM
Robert Schumann (1810-1856), arr. Mischa Maisky
Excerpts from Dichterliebe, Op 48
Mischa Maisky (cello), Lily Maisky (piano)

12:49 AM
Robert Schumann (1810-1856), arr. Mischa Maisky
Widmung, Op 25 no 1 from Myrthen
Mischa Maisky (cello), Lily Maisky (piano)

12:52 AM
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Piano Trio no 1 in B major, Op 8
Mischa Maisky (cello), Lily Maisky (piano), Sascha Maisky (violin)

01:25 AM
Franz Schubert (1797-1828), arr. Mischa Maisky
Du bist die Ruh, D. 776 (encore)
Mischa Maisky (cello), Lily Maisky (piano), Sascha Maisky (violin)

01:31 AM
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Serenade - an arrangement for horn and piano of Standchen
Mindaugas Gecevicius (horn), Ala Bendoraitiene (piano)

01:35 AM
Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber (1644-1704)
Violin Sonata No 6 in C minor
Daniel Sepec (violin), Hille Perl (viola da gamba), Lee Santana (theorbo), Michael Behringer (organ)

01:48 AM
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Symphony no 2 in D major, Op 73
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Pedro Halffter (conductor)

02:31 AM
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147 (cantata)
The Sixteen, Netherlands Radio Chamber Orchestra, Ton Koopman (conductor)

03:01 AM
David Matthews (b.1943)
A Vision of the Sea
BBC Philharmonic, Juanjo Mena (conductor)

03:24 AM
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)
Sonatine, arr. flute, bassoon and harp
Andrea Kollé (flute), Maria Wildhaber (bassoon), Sarah Verrue (harp)

03:36 AM
Susan Spain-Dunk (1880-1962)
Two Scottish Pieces for orchestra, Op 54
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Stephen Bell (conductor)

03:43 AM
Lars-Erik Larsson (1908-1986)
Croquiser, Op 38
Mårten Landström (piano)

03:56 AM
Ivan Zajc (1832-1914)
Eva and Zrinski's duet from the opera 'Nikola Subic Zrinski'
Mirella Toic (soprano), Ratomir Kliškic (baritone), Croatian Radio-Television Symphony Orchestra, Pavle Dešpalj (conductor)

04:04 AM
Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562-1621)
Fantasia chromatica for keyboard
Mahan Esfahani (harpsichord)

04:12 AM
Chiel Meijering (b.1954)
La vengeance d'une femme
Janine Jansen (violin)

04:18 AM
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
The Four Seasons - Autumn
Davide Monti (violin), Il Tempio Armonico

04:31 AM
Richard Wagner (1813-1883)
Prelude to Act 1 – from 'Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg'
Orchestre du Conservatoire de Musique du Québec, Jacques Lacombe (conductor)

04:41 AM
Petar Dinev (1889-1980)
Milost mira No.5 (A Mercy of Peace No.5)
Sveta Troitsa, Plovdiv, Vessela Geleva (conductor)

04:46 AM
Nadia Boulanger (1887-1979)
Three Pieces for Cello and Piano
Samuel Niederhauser (cello), Denis Linnik (piano)

04:54 AM
Antonio Salieri (1750-1825)
Sinfonia in D major 'Veneziana'
Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, Fabio Biondi (conductor)

05:04 AM
Wilhelm Stenhammar (1871-1927)
Three Fantasias, Op 11
Brita Hjort (piano)

05:19 AM
Germaine Tailleferre (1892-1983)
Sonata for harp
Godelieve Schrama (harp)

05:29 AM
Dmitry Shostakovich (1906-1975)
Symphony no 5 in D minor, Op 47
BBC Philharmonic, Gianandrea Noseda (conductor)

06:19 AM
Andreas Hammerschmidt (1611/2-1675)
Suite in G minor/G major for gambas
Hesperion XX, Jordi Savall (director)


WED 06:30 Breakfast (m002mb7l)
The finest classical music to elevate your morning

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 (m002mb7n)
A classical soundtrack for your morning

Ian Skelly plays the best classical music for your morning, with discoveries and surprises rubbing shoulders with familiar favourites. Including the Playlister challenge: our regular listener-created sequence inspired by a different piece of music each day. Plus a new classical release in focus for Album of the Week.

1000 Playlister starter: listen and send us your ideas for the next step in today's musical journey. Text 83111 or email essentialclassics@bbc.co.uk.

1030 Album of the Week: an exciting new classical release in focus throughout the week.

1115 Playlister reveal: an uninterrupted sequence of music suggested by you in response to today's starter piece.

1200 Feast of a Piece: indulge your ears with an orchestral masterpiece.

To listen on most smart speakers say 'Ask BBC Sounds to play Essential Classics'.


WED 13:00 Classical Live (m002mb7q)
Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante for violin and viola

Fiona Talkington brings you an afternoon of exclusive music-making, including a spotlight on compositions by Mozart, performances from Freiburg Baroque Orchestra and we will hear the Nash Ensemble at this year's Bath Mozartfest.

Throughout the week, Classical Live is featuring specially recorded performances of music by Mozart.Today, his miraculous Sinfonia Concertante for violin and viola with James Ehnes and Antoine Tamestit. Staying within the Mozartian theme, we will also hear the Nash Ensemble perform Mozart's late Piano Trio in G major from this year's Bath Mozartfest.

Plus, there is a spotlight on Freiburg Baroque Orchestra who aim to enliven the world of Baroque music with new sounds. Today they play Bach's Overture No. 1 C major with violinist and director Gottfried von der Goltz and Jan Dismas Zelenka's Hipocondrie with violinist and director Hannah Visser.

And there's another chance to catch one this year's series of commissions '25 for 25' marking the stories of the first 25 years of this century in music. Today Thea Musgrave looks back on a major event from the year 2022.

Johann Sebastian Bach
Ouverture in C major, BWV. 1066
Freiburg Baroque Orchestra
Gottfried von der Goltz, (violin and direction)

From the 2025 Bath Mozartfest:
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Piano Trio in G major, K. 564
Nash Ensemble

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Sinfonia Concertante for violin and viola in Eb major, K. 364
James Ehnes (violin)
Antoine Tamestit (viola)
NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra
Louis Langree (conductor)

25 for 25:
Thea Musgrave
In Memorium 2022
Johann Dalene (violin)
Nicholas Daniel (oboe)
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Nil Venditti (conductor)

Jan Dismas Zelenka
Hipocondrie à 7 concertanti, ZWV. 187
Freiburg Baroque Orchestra
Hannah Visser (violin, direction)

To listen to this programme (using most smart speakers) just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Classical Live".


WED 15:00 Choral Evensong (m002mb7s)
King's College, London

Live from the Chapel of King’s College, London.

Introit: Beati quorum via (Stanford)
Responses: Rose
Hymn: Alleluia Sing to Jesus (Hyfrydol)
Psalm 119 vv145-176 (Stanford, Elgar)
First Lesson: Jeremiah 31 vv1-9
Canticles: Evening Service in F (Coleridge-Taylor)
Second Lesson: Matthew 15 vv21-31
Anthem: Te Deum in F (Coleridge-Taylor)
Voluntary: Organ Sonata in G (Allegro maestoso) (Elgar)

Joseph Fort (Director of Music)
François Cloete (Organist)

To listen on most smart speakers just say 'ask BBC Sounds to play Choral Evensong'.


WED 16:00 Composer of the Week (m002mb7v)
Max Roach (1924-2007)

We Insist!

This week Kate Molleson explores the life and work of a musical giant: drummer and composer Max Roach – in the company of writer and broadcaster Kevin LeGendre. They’ll be focusing on Roach as a percussionist and performer, prioritising his own compositions but also appreciating the art of improvisation as a kind of spontaneous composition.

Max Roach was born in North Carolina in 1924 and grew up in Brooklyn. He was at the vanguard of bebop, alongside Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. They transformed jazz in the mid-20th century and Max Roach never stopped transforming the music, himself and his society. He was a force of political activism in the 1960s, using music as a powerful platform through the civil rights movement. He kept innovating in academia in the 70s and all the way to the early years of the 21st century. A long and innovative musical life.

Today Kate Molleson and Kevin LeGendre explore Max Roach as a political force – a man who was passionate about the most urgent matters of his day – focusing on his 1960 album We Insist!: Max Roach’s Freedom Now Suite.

Music featured:
Fleurette Africain (from Money Jungle)
Driva’man (from We Insist! Max Roach’s Freedom Now Suite)
Freedom Day (from We Insist! Max Roach’s Freedom Now Suite)
Tears for Johannesburg (from We Insist! Max Roach’s Freedom Now Suite)
Garvey’s Ghost (from Percussion Bitter Sweet)
A Little Max (Parfait) (from Money Jungle)
Lonesome Lover (from It’s Time: Max Roach, his Chorus and Orchestra)


WED 17:00 In Tune (m002mb7y)
Live music from Alice Sara Ott

Katie Derham introduces live music from the pianist Alice Sara Ott, who performs at the Barbican in London. And conductor András Keller leads Concerto Budapest in their most recent tour.


WED 19:00 Classical Mixtape (m002mb80)
A soul-soothing classical mix

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


WED 19:30 Radio 3 in Concert (m002mb82)
Rachmaninov's Second Symphony

The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra reunites with conductor Martyn Brabbins for an evening of emotional power.

No-one who was present when the BBC SSO premiered Sir James MacMillan’s The Confession of Isobel Gowdie at the Proms in 1990 will forget the impact it made – the piece showcased a new, uncompromising voice in Scottish music, which became a landmark both in British music and the orchestra’s own history. Violinist Stephanie Gonley joins for the world premiere of the Violin Concerto written by the orchestra’s founder-conductor Ian Whyte, and the programme ends with one of the most popular (and moving!) of 20th century symphonies, Rachmaninov’s Second.

Presented by Jamie MacDougall
Recorded at Glasgow's City Halls on Thursday 20 November.

Sir James MacMillan: The Confession of Isobel Gowdie
Ian Whyte: Violin Concerto

c. 8.30pm interval

c.8:50pm
Rachmaninov: Symphony No. 2 in E minor

Stephanie Gonley, violin
Martyn Brabbins, conductor
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

To listen on most smart speakers just say 'ask BBC Sounds to play Radio 3 in Concert'.


WED 21:45 The Essay (m001xwdt)
Watching from the Wings

The Count of Monte Cristo

Preparation for a performance on stage goes beyond just memorising lines, learning blocking and hoping it will be alright on the night. A diligent actor studies the history of the period of the play, learns about the intentions of the playwright, and absorbs from older colleagues knowledge of how the play has been done in the past.

In his less than stellar career as an actor, Michael Goldfarb went through this process many times.

In this episode, it's the story of The Count of Monte Cristo, as performed by James O'Neill, father of playwright Eugene O'Neill. It was the play that made him rich and his family miserable, as depicted in Long Day's Journey Into Night. Nearly fifty years ago, it was revived by the Jean Cocteau Repertory Theatre, located on the Bowery in New York. The Cocteau was the only rotating rep theatre in New York and Michael Goldfarb was part of the company.


WED 22:00 Night Tracks (m002mqvz)
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 (m002mb86)
A song for serenading from Rosinha de Valençia

‘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.

Rosie Turton is back with another record from her collection, and tonight she chooses an album by a pioneering free jazz double bassist.

Plus there is also music from Binker & Moses, Viwe Mkizwana Ensemble, and Fergus Quill.

To listen on most smart speakers, just say: 'Ask BBC Sounds to play Round Midnight.'

THURSDAY 27 NOVEMBER 2025

THU 00:30 Through the Night (m002mb88)
Bach's Mass in B minor from Rome

The Santa Cecilia Orchestra and Chorus are joined by soloists and conductor Reinhard Goebel for a performance of Bach's magnificent Mass in B minor at the Auditorium, Parco della Musica in Rome. John Shea presents.

12:31 AM
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Mass in B minor, BWV.232
Damiana Mizzi (soprano), Catriona Morison (mezzo soprano), Benjamin Bruns (tenor), Christian Immler (bass), Santa Cecilia Chorus, Andrea Secchi (choirmaster), Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Reinhard Goebel (conductor)

02:14 AM
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Prelude and Fuga in C major, BWV.870 from 'Das Wohltemperierte Klavier Book 2'
Rudolfas Budginas (piano)

02:19 AM
Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
The Hebrides (Fingal's Cave) – overture, Op 26
BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Richard Hickox (conductor)

02:31 AM
Dora Pejačević (1885-1923)
Piano Quintet in B minor, Op 40
Ida Gamulin (piano), Zagreb Quartet

02:58 AM
Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)
Pohjola's daughter - symphonic fantasia, Op 49
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Colin Davis (conductor)

03:12 AM
Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
5 Songs from 6 Original canzonettas - set 2 for voice & keyboard (H.26a)
Allan Clayton (tenor), Roger Vignoles (piano)

03:28 AM
Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
Danse sacree et danse profane for harp and strings
Eva Maros (harp), Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Béla Drahos (conductor)

03:38 AM
Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904)
V prirode (In Nature's Realm), Op 63
Danish National Radio Choir, Stefan Parkman (conductor)

03:51 AM
Alessandro Marcello (1673-1747)
Concerto in D minor for oboe and strings
Maja Kojc (oboe), RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra, Pavle Dešpalj (conductor)

04:03 AM
Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921)
Havanaise, Op 83, arr. for violin and piano
Vilmos Szabadi (violin), Marta Gulyas (piano)

04:11 AM
Franz Schreker (1878-1934)
Valse Lente
Symphony Nova Scotia, Georg Tintner (conductor)

04:16 AM
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Auf dem Wasser zu singen, D.774
Edith Wiens (soprano), Rudolf Jansen (piano)

04:20 AM
Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713)
Concerto Grosso in D major, Op 6 no 4
Europa Galante, Fabio Biondi (director)

04:31 AM
Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Adagio and allegro in A flat major, Op 70
Danjulo Ishizaka (cello), José Gallardo (piano)

04:40 AM
Richard Wagner (1813-1883)
O du mein holder Abendstern, from 'Tannhauser'
Brett Polegato (baritone), Canadian Opera Company Orchestra, Richard Bradshaw (conductor)

04:45 AM
Wojciech Kilar (1931-2013)
Orawa
Baltic Sea Youth Philharmonic, Kristjan Järvi (conductor)

04:55 AM
Bálint Bakfark (c.1530-1576)
Fantasia and Je prens en gre for lute
Jacob Heringman (lute)

05:01 AM
Leoš Janáček (1854-1928)
Vlci stopa (The wolf's trail) for soprano, female choir & piano
Susse Lillesøe (soprano), Danish National Radio Choir, Per Salo (piano), Stefan Parkman (conductor)

05:09 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Symphony no 35 in D major, K.385, "Haffner"
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Bjarte Engeset (conductor)

05:29 AM
Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849)
2 Nocturnes for piano, Op 62
Yulianna Avdeeva (piano)

05:42 AM
Edward Elgar (1857-1934)
In the south (Alassio) - overture, Op 50
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Jiří Bělohlávek (conductor)

06:03 AM
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (c.1525-1594), arr. Francesco Soriano
Missa Papae Marcelli arr. Soriano for double choir (orig. 6 vv)
BBC Singers, Bo Holten (conductor)


THU 06:30 Breakfast (m002mcyv)
Kickstart your day with the best classical music

Tom McKinney presents Radio 3’s Breakfast show live from Salford. With birdsong, Bach Before 7 and the best in classical music. You can contact the show by emailing 3breakfast@bbc.co.uk

To listen on most smart speakers, just say 'Ask BBC Sounds to play 3 Breakfast’


THU 09:30 Essential Classics (m002mcyx)
Relax into the day with classical

Ian Skelly plays the best classical music for your morning, with discoveries and surprises rubbing shoulders with familiar favourites. Including the Playlister challenge: our regular listener-created sequence inspired by a different piece of music each day. Plus a new classical release in focus for Album of the Week.

1000 Playlister starter: listen and send us your ideas for the next step in today's musical journey. Text 83111 or email essentialclassics@bbc.co.uk.

1030 Album of the Week: an exciting new classical release in focus throughout the week.

1115 Playlister reveal: an uninterrupted sequence of music suggested by you in response to today's starter piece.

1200 Feast of a Piece: indulge your ears with an orchestral masterpiece.

To listen on most smart speakers say 'Ask BBC Sounds to play Essential Classics'.


THU 13:00 Classical Live (m002mcyz)
Mozart’s Symphony No. 39 live from Belfast

Linton Stephens brings you an afternoon of exclusive music-making, including a live concert from the Ulster Orchestra, performances from this year's Bath Mozartfest and a spotlight on early music with the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra.

Today on Classical Live, there is a live concert from the Ulster Orchestra, conducted by Michael Collins. The programme begins with a work by the Grammy-winning composer Jessie Montgomery. Pianist Michael McHale joins the orchestra for Weber’s Konzertstück in F minor before the orchestra close the concert with Mozart's first from his final trilogy of symphonies, Symphony 39 in E-flat.

Throughout the week, specially recorded performances from this year's Bath Mozartfest are being featured. Celebrating its 35th year, the festival is a feast of fine classical music and showcases artistic excellence. Schubert's First Piano Trio will be performed today by Imogen Cooper, Adrian Brendel and Henning Kraggerud.

There is also a spotlight on Freiburg Baroque Orchestra who aim to enliven the world of Baroque music with new sounds. Today we hear them perform music by Vivaldi.

Richard Wagner
Prelude to 'Tristan and Isolde'
Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra
David Robertson (conductor)

From the 2025 Bath Mozartfest:
Franz Schubert
Piano Trio No 1 in B flat Major D. 898
Henning Kraggerud (violin)
Adrian Brendel (cello)
Imogen Cooper (piano)

Antonio Vivaldi
Concerto in F, RV. 571
Freiburg Baroque Orchestra
Cecilia Bernardini (conductor)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Piano Sonata in D major K. 311
Alim Beisembayev (piano)

***

Live concert from the Ulster Hall, Belfast

Jessie Montgomery
Starburst

Carl Maria von Weber
Konzertstück in F minor

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Symphony No. 39 in E-flat, K. 543

Michael McHale (piano)
Ulster Orchestra
Michael Collins (conductor)

Introduced by John Toal

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 (m002mcz1)
Max Roach (1924-2007)

M'Boom

This week Kate Molleson explores the life and work of a musical giant: drummer and composer Max Roach – in the company of writer and broadcaster Kevin LeGendre. They’ll be focusing on Roach as a percussionist and performer, prioritising his own compositions but also appreciating the art of improvisation as a kind of spontaneous composition.

Max Roach was born in North Carolina in 1924 and grew up in Brooklyn. He was at the vanguard of bebop, alongside Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. They transformed jazz in the mid-20th century and Max Roach never stopped transforming the music, himself and his society. He was a force of political activism in the 1960s, using music as a powerful platform through the civil rights movement. He kept innovating in academia in the 70s and all the way to the early years of the 21st century. A long and innovative musical life.

Today Kate Molleson and Kevin LeGendre explore just how far Max Roach takes the potential of percussion with the advent of his amazing ensemble M'Boom.

Music featured:
The Drum Also Waltzes (from Drums Unlimited)
Libra (from Members Don’t Git Weary)
Equipoise (from Members Don’t Git Weary)
Let Thy People Go (from Lift Every Voice and Sing)
January V (from M’Boom)
Joshua (from Lift Every Voice and Sing)
A Quiet Place (from Collage)


THU 17:00 In Tune (m002mcz3)
Live music from accordionist Alise Siliņa

Katie Derham with live music in the studio from young Latvian accordionist Alise Siliņa.


THU 19:00 Classical Mixtape (m002mcz5)
Revive and relax with classical music

Starting in a Persian Garden with music by Shardad Rohani, this half-hour flow of music continues with one of Rachmaninov's delicate musical moments and Holst's Venus (Bringer of Peace) from The Planets. This is followed by a song of a Sweet Suffolk Owl, reflective guitar music from Argentina, and the slow movement of a piano concerto by Josef Mysliveček, with the mixtape culminating in Bruckner's beautiful motet O Justi sung by Voces8.

Produced by Andy King.


THU 19:30 Radio 3 in Concert (m002mcz7)
Copland’s El Salon Mexico

The spirit of dance weaves its way through tonight’s concert from the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra at its home at the Philharmonic Hall. Alpesh Chauhan conducts a programme inspired on the one hand by the sights and sounds of an infamous Mexican club and on the other by Europe in fin de siècle turmoil. At the heart of today’s programme is the Violin Concerto by Benjamin Britten performed by the Dutch violinist Simone Lamsma, a former Artist-in-Residence with the RLPO. Britten’s lilting and melodious concerto ends with an impressive and virtuosic set of variations on a passacaglia.
Introduced by Penny Gore.

Copland: El Salón México
Britten: Violin Concerto


INTERVAL
Leon McCawley plays Samuel Barber’s Excursions for piano, Op. 20

Carlos Simon: Four Black American Dances
Ravel: Pavane pour une infante défunte
Ravel: La Valse

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
Simone Lamsma (violin)
Alpesh Chauhan (conductor)

To listen on most smart speakers just say 'ask BBC Sounds to play Radio 3 in Concert'.


THU 21:45 The Essay (m001xwkz)
Watching from the Wings

The Motive and the Cue

Preparation for a performance on stage goes beyond just memorising lines, learning blocking and hoping it will be alright on the night. A diligent actor studies the history of the period of the play, learns about the intentions of the playwright, and absorbs from older colleagues knowledge of how the play has been done in the past.

In his less than stellar career as an actor, Michael Goldfarb went through this process many times.

In this essay, Michael recalls his admiration for John Gielgud. He remembers The Motive and the Cue, the play about John Gielgud directing Richard Burton in Hamlet. He also had a chance meeting with the legendary actor at the stage door of the Apollo theatre in London when Gielgud was starring in David Storey's 'Home'.


THU 22:00 Night Tracks (m002mqvx)
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 (m002mczc)
A classic from Gordon Beck's Gyroscope

‘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.

All this week, Soweto’s guest for 4/4 has been trombonist and producer Rosie Turton. To conclude her week, Rosie picks a much-loved record by a seminal British experimental jazz band.

Also in the programme, there is music from Rivkala, Nicole Glover, and Ziggy Zeitgeist & Erica Tucceri.

To listen on most smart speakers, just say: 'Ask BBC Sounds to play Round Midnight.'

FRIDAY 28 NOVEMBER 2025

FRI 00:30 Through the Night (m002mczf)
Mahler's 4th Symphony from Berlin

Cornelius Meister conducts the German Symphony Orchestra, Berlin in Mahler's 4th Symphony with soprano Hanna-Elisabeth Müller. Unsuk Chin's "Puzzles and Games" from "Alice in Wonderland" completes the programme. John Shea presents.

12:31 AM
Unsuk Chin (b.1961)
Puzzles and Games, from 'Alice in Wonderland'
Hanna-Elisabeth Müller (soprano), Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Cornelius Meister (conductor)

12:56 AM
Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)
Symphony no 4 in G major
Hanna-Elisabeth Müller (soprano), Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Cornelius Meister (conductor)

01:50 AM
Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)
Piano Quartet in A minor
Marianna Shirinyan (piano), Nevena Tochev (violin), Alessandro D'Amico (viola), Rafael Rosenfeld (cello)

02:02 AM
Anton Bruckner (1824-1896)
Ave Maria
Tallinna Poistekoor [Tallinn Boys Choir], Lydia Rahula (conductor)

02:06 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Flute Quartet in C major (KA.171)
Ulla Miilmann (flute), Kroger Quartet

02:25 AM
Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957), Paul Schott (librettist)
Mein Sehnen, mein Wähnen, from 'Die tote Stadt'
Aleksander Nohr (baritone), Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Petr Popelka (conductor)

02:31 AM
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
Serenade for string orchestra in C major Op.48
Danish Radio Concert Orchestra, Hannu Koivula (conductor)

03:03 AM
Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767)
Overture (Suite) in B flat major, TWV 55:B1
Wroclaw Baroque Orchestra, Jaroslaw Thiel (conductor)

03:27 AM
Clara Schumann (1819-1896)
Prelude and Fugue in B flat major, Op 16 no 2
Angela Cheng (piano)

03:32 AM
Johan Halvorsen (1864-1935)
Norwegian Rhapsody no 1 in A minor
Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Ole Kristian Ruud (conductor)

03:44 AM
Christopher Tye (c.1505-1572)
Omnes gentes, plaudite for 5 voices
BBC Singers, Stephen Cleobury (conductor)

03:50 AM
Édouard Lalo (1823-1892)
2 Aubades for orchestra
CBC Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Daniel Swift (conductor)

03:59 AM
Francesco Geminiani (1687-1762)
Concerto grosso in E minor, Op 3 no 6
Camerata Bern, Thomas Furi (conductor)

04:08 AM
Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Fantasiestücke, Op 111 no 2
Diana Ketler (piano)

04:14 AM
August de Boeck (1865-1937)
Nocturne
Vlaams Radio Orkest [Flemish Radio Orchestra], Marc Soustrot (conductor)

04:23 AM
Isaac Albéniz (1860-1909), arr. Andrés Segovia
Asturias - Suite española, Op 47
Xavier Díaz-Latorre (guitar)

04:31 AM
Louise Farrenc (1804-1875)
Overture no 2, Op 24
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Anja Bihlmaier (conductor)

04:38 AM
Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849)
Rondo à la Mazur in F major, Op 5
Ludmil Angelov (piano)

04:47 AM
Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber (1644-1704)
Battalia a 10 in D major (C.61)
Ensemble Metamorphosis

04:57 AM
Lili Boulanger
Psalm XXIV, LB 36 'La terre appartient à l'Éternel'
Ilker Arcayürek (tenor), Basler Madrigalisten, Babette Mondry (organ), Basel Symphony Orchestra, Ivor Bolton (conductor)

05:02 AM
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Piano Sonata no 14 in C sharp minor 'Quasi una fantasia' (Moonlight) Op 27 no 2
Aldo Ciccolini (piano)

05:18 AM
Karol Szymanowski (1882-1937)
Penthesilea, for soprano and orchestra
Elzbieta Szmytka (soprano), Orchestre National de France, Hans Graf (conductor)

05:25 AM
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
Magnificat in G minor, RV 610
Choir of Latvian Radio, Riga Chamber Players, Sigvards Kļava (conductor)

05:39 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Symphony No 39 in E flat, K 543
Australian Chamber Orchestra, Richard Tognetti (director)

06:09 AM
Johan Wikmanson (1753-1800)
String Quartet in E minor Op 1 no 2
Saulesco Quartet


FRI 06:30 Breakfast (m002mbdy)
Embrace the morning calm of classical music and birdsong

Tom McKinney presents Radio 3’s Breakfast show live from Salford. With birdsong, Bach Before 7 and the best in classical music. You can contact the show by emailing 3breakfast@bbc.co.uk

To listen on most smart speakers, just say 'Ask BBC Sounds to play 3 Breakfast’


FRI 09:30 Essential Classics (m002mbf0)
A feast of great music

Ian Skelly plays the best classical music for your morning, with discoveries and surprises rubbing shoulders with familiar favourites. Including the Playlister challenge: our regular listener-created sequence inspired by a different piece of music each day. Plus a new classical release in focus for Album of the Week.

1000 Playlister starter: listen and send us your ideas for the next step in today's musical journey. Text 83111 or email essentialclassics@bbc.co.uk.

1030 Album of the Week: an exciting new classical release in focus throughout the week.

1115 Playlister reveal: an uninterrupted sequence of music suggested by you in response to today's starter piece.

1200 Feast of a Piece: indulge your ears with an orchestral masterpiece.

To listen on most smart speakers say 'Ask BBC Sounds to play Essential Classics'.


FRI 13:00 Classical Live (m002mbf2)
Music from the Mozart family

Linton Stephens brings you an afternoon of exclusive music-making including works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, his father and son, recorded in Mainz, Germany. Plus there will be performances from this years' Bath Mozartfest and a spotlight on early music with the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra.

Throughout the week, Classical Live is featuring specially recorded performances of music by Mozart. Today, we will hear not just from the composer himself but also from his father and son. Conductor Guilhem Kusnierek joins forces with the German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra to perform an overture by Franz Xaver Wolfgang Mozart, Leopold Mozart's Serenade in D and finally Mozart's Third Horn Concerto in a version for the alto trombone.

There is also a spotlight on this years' recent Bath Mozartfest. Celebrating its 35th year, the festival is a feast of fine classical music and showcases artistic excellence. Today, we will hear Schubert's Second Piano Trio.

Plus, we will hear from the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra who aim to enliven the world of Baroque music with new sounds. The orchestra will perform Bach's Fourth Brandenburg Concerto.

Franz Xaver Wolfgang Mozart
Overture for Orchestra in D
German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern
Guilhem Kusnierek (direction)

Johann Sebastian Bach
Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 in G, BWV. 1049
Freiburg Baroque Orchestra
Gottfried von der Goltz, (violin and direction)

Leopold Mozart
Serenade in D
German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern
Guilhem Kusnierek (direction)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (arr. Guilhem Kusnierek)
Horn Concerto No. 3 in E flat, K. 447
German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern
Guilhem Kusnierek (alto trombone/direction)

William Grant Still
Wood Notes
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Riley Court-Wood (conductor)

From the 2025 Bath Mozartfest:
Franz Schubert
Piano Trio No 2 in E flat major D. 929
Henning Kraggerud (violin)
Adrian Brendel (cello)
Imogen Cooper (piano)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
La Clemenza di Tito: Overture
Danish National Symphony Orchestra
Manfred Honeck (conductor)

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 (m002mbf4)
Max Roach (1924-2007)

Late Collaborations

This week Kate Molleson explores the life and work of a musical giant: drummer and composer Max Roach – in the company of writer and broadcaster Kevin LeGendre. They’ll be focusing on Roach as a percussionist and performer, prioritising his own compositions but also appreciating the art of improvisation as a kind of spontaneous composition.

Max Roach was born in North Carolina in 1924 and grew up in Brooklyn. He was at the vanguard of bebop, alongside Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. They transformed jazz in the mid-20th century and Max Roach never stopped transforming the music, himself and his society. He was a force of political activism in the 1960s, using music as a powerful platform through the civil rights movement. He kept innovating in academia in the 70s and all the way to the early years of the 21st century. A long and innovative musical life.

Today Kate Molleson and Kevin LeGendre explore the dizzying range of collaborations in his final decades.

Music featured:
Double Delight (from Bright Moments)
Spirit Possession (from Birth and Rebirth)
Place de la Concorde (from Max + Dizzy: Paris 1989)
Ghost Dance (from Max Roach with the New Orchestra of Boston and the So What Brass Quintet)
Monk’s Dream (from Explorations to the Mth Degree)
Love is a Many Splendored Thing (from Clifford Brown and Max Roach at Basin Street)
Drums Unlimited (from Drums Unlimited)


FRI 17:00 In Tune (m002mbf6)
The Solem Quartet & Mel Giedroyc

The Solem Quartet perform live in the studio for Sarah Walker and Mel Giedroyc on her debut this weekend in English National Opera's HMS Pinafore.


FRI 19:00 Classical Mixtape (m001w1k9)
A classical mix to lift your spirits

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


FRI 19:30 Friday Night is Music Night (m002mbf8)
Jeneba Kanneh-Mason plays Ravel

The BBC Concert Orchestra and conductor Edwin Outwater join forces with a dynamic group of young creatives from Nottingham’s Universities and Music Hub. At the heart of the programme is Jeneba Kanneh-Mason, Nottingham’s own rising star pianist, performing Ravel’s dazzling Piano Concerto in G; and West End superstar singer Alice Fearn.

Presented by Petroc Trelawny.

Rimsky-Korsakov: Flight of the Bumble Bee
Laufey Lin, arr Farrington: Let You Break My Heart Again

Nottingham University students:
Mo Zhou: Cycles
Nicholas Huaman: Burn Out
Ella Townsend: The Last Oak Tree

Ravel: Piano Concerto in G

INTERVAL

Justin Hurwitz: La La Land Concert Suite
Hisaishi: My Neighbour Totoro (excerpts)
Grieg: Hall of the Mountain King (Peer Gynt Suite No.1)
John Powell arr Sean O’Loughlin: How to Train Your Dragon (excerpts)
Jennifer Rush, arr Juliette Pochin: The Power of Love
Saint-Saens: Danse macabre
Trad arr Ian Burton: Horehonsky Csardas
Stephen Schwartz: Defying Gravity (Wicked)

Jeneba Kanneh-Mason (piano)
Alice Fearn (singer)
BBC Concert Orchestra
Conductor Edwin Outwater


FRI 21:45 The Essay (m001xw07)
Watching from the Wings

K2

During his less than stellar acting career Michael Goldfarb spent a lot of time watching from the wings waiting to go on for his single scene. In this series, he talks about the plays he appeared in, their histories, and the lives of the actors who performed them.

In this essay, he's understudying in K2: a play about two climbers trapped on an ice ledge, having fallen on their way down from the summit of the mountain. It wasn't a very good play but had an amazing set with the capacity for near cinematic feats of climbing and falling.

The play made it to Broadway for a brief Tony-winning run and Michael talks about performing in a show where a huge Styrofoam mountain was the star and the jostling for supremacy among actors, directors and set designers.


FRI 22:00 Late Junction (m002mbfb)
Puppets, percussion and a reconstructed pipe organ

Verity Sharp shares recent highlights from the world of experimental music, including a meditation on sculpture from Rie Nakajima and David Toop, and 'a requiem for a dying empire' - discordant industrial-choral music from mysterious UK duo Pram of Dogs. Plus: the sounds of Colombian puppet masters Libélula Dorada; a heavyweight workout from percussion-forward and playful producers Nikki Nair and Foodman; and pensive explorations on Calum Builder’s reconstructed pipe organ.

Produced by Gabriel Francis
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 3

To listen on most smart speakers just say, 'ask BBC Sounds to play Late Junction'.

We want to hear your favourite sounds - albums, tracks, self-made recordings - of 2025! Email us at latejunction@bbc.co.uk


FRI 23:30 'Round Midnight (m002mbfd)
London Jazz Festival: Laura Jurd, LVDF and ESKA

‘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.

In a special Friday edition, Soweto shares performance highlights from our 'Round Midnight showcase at the Barbican, recorded during this year's London Jazz Festival.

The afternoon included music from trumpeter, synth player, and member of BBC Radio 3's New Generation Artists Laura Jurd, sharing music from her new album 'Rites & Revelations' with a formidable band; international collective LVDF featuring UK saxophonist Alex Hitchcock, Italian pianist and synthesist Maria Chiara Argirò and bassist Michelangelo Scandroglio, and New Zealand drummer Myele Manzanza with tracks from their latest self-titled album; and visionary vocalist ESKA celebrating the 10th anniversary of her Mercury Prize-nominated self-titled debut album, and the release of her new album 'The Ordinary Life of a Magic Woman', sharing music from both projects.

To listen on most smart speakers just say 'Ask BBC Sounds to play Round Midnight'.