SATURDAY 03 JANUARY 2026

SAT 00:30 Through the Night (m002nr9q)
Iberian music from the Ricercar Consort

Francisco Correa de Arauxo was one of the most innovative organists and composers of the Iberian Baroque. His work, written exclusively for keyboard, stands out for its rhythmic complexity, visionary style, and fascinating ornamentation. Philippe Pierlot explores Correa de Arauxo’s sonic universe interpreted by his consort of viols. Jonathan Swain presents.

12:31 AM
Francisco Correa de Arauxo (c. 1584-1654)
Tiento de primero tono, FO 1

12:36 AM
Sebastián Aguilera de Heredia (c.1565-1627)
Salve de primero tono por delasolre

12:39 AM
Antonio de Cabezón (1510-1566)
Diferencias sobre el canto llano del cavallero; ...la Gallarda Milanese

12:44 AM
Francisco Correa de Arauxo (c. 1584-1654)
Tiento tercero de sexto tono, sobre la Batalla de Morales, FO 23

12:51 AM
Juan Bautista José Cabanilles (1644-1712)
Pasacalles de primero tono

12:53 AM
Francisco Correa de Arauxo (c. 1584-1654)
Segundo tiento de cuarto tono por elami a modo de cancion, FO 16

12:58 AM
Tiento de quarto tono, FO 15

01:03 AM
Tiento de medio registro de tiple de decimo tono, FO 36

01:08 AM
Juan Bautista José Cabanilles (1644-1712)
Folías primero tono, WSC 152

01:13 AM
Francisco Correa de Arauxo (c. 1584-1654)
Quarto tiento de quarto tono, FO 18

01:19 AM
Tres glosas sobre el canto llano de la Immaculada Concepcion, FO 69

01:22 AM
Tiento de quinto tono, FO 5

01:27 AM
Tarquinio Merula (1595-1665)
La Monteverde

Ricercar Consort, Myriam Rignol (tenor viol), Clémence Schiltz (bass viol), Lucile Boulanger (bass viol), Philippe Pierlot (conductor)

01:30 AM
Juan Bautista José Cabanilles (1644-1712)
Corrente Italiana
Joan Boronat Sanz (harpsichord)

01:36 AM
Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643)
Vespro della Beata Vergine (excerpts)
Elisabetta Tiso (soprano), Monica Piccinini (soprano), Lia Serafini (soprano), Carlos Mena (counter tenor), Lambert Climent (tenor), Lluís Vilamajó (tenor), Francesc Garrigosa (tenor), Furio Zanasi (baritone), Antonio Abete (bass), Daniele Carnovich (bass), Hespèrion XXI, Jordi Savall (conductor), La Capella Reial de Catalunya

01:55 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Symphony no 41 in C major, K.551 'Jupiter'
Polish Radio Orchestra in Warsaw, Michal Klauza (conductor)

02:31 AM
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Piano Sonata no 18 in E flat major, Op 31 no 3
Zhang Zuo (piano)

02:53 AM
Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971)
Agon - ballet
BBC Symphony Orchestra, David Robertson (conductor)

03:17 AM
Mirko Krajči (b.1968)
Pains and Hopes (Dolore e speranze)
Mucha Quartet

03:31 AM
Erik Satie (1866-1925), orch. Claude Debussy
Gymnopédies no 3 and no 1
Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Katowice, Alexander Humala (conductor)

03:37 AM
Clara Schumann (1819-1896)
Variations on a theme by Robert Schumann for piano in F sharp minor, Op 20
Angela Cheng (piano)

03:47 AM
Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179)
O clarissima Mater (respond)
Rondellus

03:56 AM
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
Concerto in G minor 'per l'Orchestra di Dresda'
Cappella Coloniensis, Hans-Martin Linde (conductor)

04:06 AM
Gaspar Sanz (1640-1710)
Xácaras and Canarios (Instrucción de música sobre la guitara española" )
Eduardo Egüez (guitar)

04:15 AM
Daniel Auber (1782-1871)
Bolero - Ballet music no 2 from La Muette de Portici (Masaniello)
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Ondrej Lenárd (conductor)

04:22 AM
Nicola Matteis (c. 1650-after 1713), arr. Lea Sobbe
Diverse bizzarie sopra la vecchia sarabanda o pur ciaccona
Lea Sobbe (recorder), Halldór Bjarki Arnarson (harpsichord)

04:31 AM
Philippe Verdelot (1475-1552)
Italia Mia
Banchieri Singers, Dénes Szabó (conductor)

04:36 AM
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Contrapunctus 1 and 2 from 'Die Kunst der Fuge' ('The Art of Fugue')
Young Danish String Quartet

04:42 AM
Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)
Lemminkainen's Return (Lemminkainen Suite, Op 22)
BBC Philharmonic, Yan Pascal Tortelier (conductor)

04:49 AM
Arvo Pärt (b.1935)
Fratres
Petr Nouzovský (cello), Yukie Ichimura (piano)

05:02 AM
Florian Leopold Gassmann (1729-1774)
Stabat Mater
Capella Nova Graz, Unknown (continuo), Otto Kargl (conductor)

05:15 AM
Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826)
Bassoon Concerto in F major, Op 75
Juhani Tapaninen (bassoon), Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Jukka-Pekka Saraste (conductor)

05:33 AM
Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
String Quartet no 2 in A minor, Op 13
Pacific Quartet Vienna

06:05 AM
Francesco Scarlatti (1666-after 1741)
Concerto Grosso no 4 in E minor
Chiave d'Arco Baroque Orchestra, Sigiswald Kuijken (director)

06:11 AM
Ferruccio Busoni (1866-1924)
Five pieces from "6 kurze Stucke zur Pflege" (1923)
Valerie Tryon (piano)


SAT 06:30 Breakfast (m002p72h)
Embrace the morning calm of 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 (m002p72k)
Superstar tenor Allan Clayton and cellist Adrian Brendel

Tom plays classical music to start your weekend.

Today Tom speaks to superstar tenor Allan Clayton about his new recording of Franz Schubert’s Winterreise with the Aurora Orchestra. And cellist Adrian Brendel welcomes Tom in to the home of his father, the legendary pianist Alfred Brendel, who passed away in June 2025. Adrian talks about his fond memories of playing music with his father as well as an upcoming Alfred Brendel memorial concert taking place at London's Barbican featuring Sir Simon Rattle, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Lisa Batiashvili and Dame Imogen Cooper.

We also hear from leading composers and musicians about their musical new year resolutions for 2026, including Amy Harman, Judith Weir, Jennifer Higdon and Anna Meredith.

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


SAT 12:00 Earlier... with Jools Holland (m002p72m)
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 Georg Philipp Telemann, John Ireland and Bessie Smith, with performances by the Black Dyke Band, violinist Isabelle Faust and vibraphonist Milt Jackson. His guest is the designer Jasper Conran who introduces music he loves by Chopin, Bach, Stravinsky and Handel.

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


SAT 13:00 Music Matters (m002p72p)
In the Beginning

The Living Planet

James MacMillan and guests explore how composers celebrate nature’s diversity, creatures, and divine creation. Through works like Cantus Arcticus, Symphony of Psalms, and The Carnival of the Animals, they discuss how music captures Earth’s beauty, interconnectedness, and humanity’s responsibility toward the environment.


SAT 14:00 Record Review (m002p72r)
Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante K364 in Building a Library with Tasmin Little and Andrew McGregor

Andrew McGregor assesses some of the best new classical releases.

2.10pm
Andrew is joined by guest reviewer Nigel Simeone, who picks some of his favourite new releases.

3pm
Violinist Tasmin Little surveys recordings of Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante in E flat, K.364 and makes a top recommendation.
Mozart wrote his great Sinfonia Concertante for solo violin and viola in 1779, while on a tour of Europe that included Mannheim and Paris, cities that boasted some of Europe's finest orchestral musicians. Its grand opening movement is followed by an impassioned Andante in C minor, and a fizzing finale.

Top choice:
Augustin Dumay (violin), Veronika Hagen (viola)
Camerata Academica Salzburg
DG 4596752

3.45pm
Andrew's Record of the Week.


SAT 16:00 Sound of Cinema (m002p72t)
Debbie Wiseman with Harmonising Hollywood and Tim Minchin with his Pick of the Flicks

Celebrate the art of movie music with Edith Bowman’s handpicked selection of the greatest film scores- on this week's show Debbie Wiseman will be selecting her choice in this week's Harmonising Hollywood and the music of composer Jerome Moross and his most famous film score 'The Big Country', and Australian comedian, singer and songwriter Tim Minchin gives us his Pick of the Flicks featuring the music of Hans Zimmer.

We’ll also bring you elegant soundtrack waltzes to ring in the new year, along with the latest releases and timeless favourites.


SAT 17:00 This Classical Life (m002p72w)
Jess Gillam with... Hania Rani

Jess Gillam swaps favourite music with the Polish pianist and composer Hania Rani, whose pieces interweave classical, jazz and electronic influences. Alongside her hugely popular solo piano albums, she's written for film, theatre, art installations and recently recorded her own piano concerto 'Non Fiction' with Manchester Collective.

Hania picks Perotin, Portico Quartet, Cate Le Bon and Ravel, while Jess chooses Radiohead, Debussy and Bach.

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


SAT 18:00 Opera on 3 (m002p72y)
Mason Bates's The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

In a new adaptation of Michael Chabon’s Pulitzer Prize–winning novel, set shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War, two Jewish cousins invent an anti-fascist superhero and launch their own comic-book series, hoping to recruit America into the fight against Nazism. Incorporating electronic elements and a variety of musical styles, composer Mason Bates’s eclectic score moves seamlessly among the three worlds of Nazi-occupied Prague, the bustling streets of New York City, and the technicolor realm of comic-book fantasy. Baritone Andrzej Filończyk makes his Met debut as the artist Joe Kavalier, who flees Czechoslovakia and arrives at the Brooklyn doorstep of writer Sam Clay, sung by tenor Miles Mykkanen.

Presented from New York by Debra Lew Harder and Ira Siff

Bates: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

Joe Kavalier ..... Andrzej Filończyk (baritone)
Sam Clay ..... Miles Mykkanen (tenor)
Rosa Saks ..... Sun-Ly Pierce (mezzo-soprano)
Sarak Kavalier ..... Lauren Snouffer (soprano)
Tracy Bacon ..... Edward Nelson (baritone)
Sheldon Anapol ..... Patrick Carfizzi (bass-baritone)
Gerhard ..... Craig Colclough (bass-baritone)
The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra
Yannick Nézet-Séguin (conductor)


SAT 21:30 Music Planet (m0029895)
Bogotá In Three Tracks

Kathryn Tickell presents three tracks showcasing Bogotá’s rich musical landscape, picked by avant-latin Colombian trio, Los Pirañas. Their new album titled Una Oportunidad más de triunfar en la vida is the result of a week of improvised sessions recorded in the Colombian capital, where grooves informed by Colombian cumbia, Latin American rhythms and West African highlife interlace with circular loops on electric guitar.

Elsewhere in the show, Finnish folk celebrating diversity, celestial music for harmonium and tanpura recorded in a park, and funky Anatolian psych-folk.

Produced by Silvia Malnati
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 (m002p730)
New Year New Sounds

Kate Molleson presents highlights from sound festival, recorded in Aberdeen in October 2025, including Una Monaghan's new work, In Formation, and Zubin Kanga giving the world premieres of Ryan Gleave's Gulf and Neil Luck's 8.5 Traditional English Folk Songs. Plus the latest new releases for the New Year, and the world premiere of Koka Nikoladze's Masterpiece for ensemble and video, given at the Donaueschingen music festival in Autumn last year.

SUNDAY 04 JANUARY 2026

SUN 00:30 Through the Night (m002p732)
Isabelle Faust and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra at the BBC Proms

Isabelle Faust plays Dvořák's colourful, folk-inspired violin concerto. Andris Nelsons leads the orchestra in Sibelius's second symphony, with its powerful associations with Finnish identity and freedom. John Shea presents.

12:31 AM
Arvo Pärt (b.1935)
Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten
Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Andris Nelsons (conductor)

12:38 AM
Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904)
Violin Concerto in A minor, Op 53
Isabelle Faust (violin), Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Andris Nelsons (conductor)

01:10 AM
Nicola Matteis Jr. (c.1675-1737)
Fantasia 'con discretione' (encore)
Isabelle Faust (violin)

01:16 AM
Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)
Symphony no 2 in D major, Op 43
Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Andris Nelsons (conductor)

02:04 AM
Arvo Pärt (b.1935)
Morning Star
Marian Consort

02:07 AM
Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)
Sonatina no 3 for piano in B flat minor, Op 67 no 3
Eero Heinonen (piano)

02:13 AM
Béla Bartók (1881-1945), arr. Markus Brönnimann
Hungarian Peasant Songs
Ensemble Pyramide

02:31 AM
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Piano Concerto no 2 in B flat major, Op 83
Ronald Brautigam (piano), Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Bernhard Klee (conductor)

03:19 AM
Francis Poulenc (1899-1963)
Mass in G major
Elmer Iseler Singers, Elmer Iseler (conductor)

03:34 AM
Dorothy Howell (1898-1982)
Two Pieces for Muted Strings
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Michael Collins (conductor)

03:44 AM
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
Slavonic March in B flat minor 'March Slave'
BBC Philharmonic, Rumon Gamba (conductor)

03:54 AM
Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992)
Le Loriot (No.2 of Catalogue d'Oiseaux)
David Louie (piano)

04:02 AM
Johannes Ockeghem (1410-1497)
Salve Regina
Hilliard Ensemble

04:08 AM
Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre (1665-1729)
Sonata in D major for 2 violins and continuo
Musica Fiorita, Daniela Dolci (director)

04:17 AM
Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)
Canticle III - Still falls the rain for tenor, horn and piano, Op 55
Allan Clayton (tenor), Angela Barnes (horn), Christopher Glynn (piano)

04:31 AM
Józef Antoni Franciszek Elsner (1769-1854)
Overture to the opera duo-drama "Echo w lesie" (The Echo in the Wood)
Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Andrzej Straszynski (conductor)

04:37 AM
Heinrich Bach (1615-1692)
Ich danke dir, Gott - cantata for 5 voices, strings and continuo
Rheinische Kantorei, Musica Antiqua Köln, Reinhard Goebel (violin), Reinhard Goebel (conductor)

04:44 AM
Peter Warlock (1894-1930)
Serenade (to Frederick Delius on his 60th birthday)
Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, Roy Goodman (conductor)

04:51 AM
Edvard Grieg (1843-1907)
Andante con moto for piano trio in C minor
Kungsbacka Trio

05:01 AM
Marianne Martines or Marianne von Martinez (1744-1812)
Two arias from 'Sant’Elena al Calvario'
Ilona Domnich (soprano), BBC Concert Orchestra, Jane Glover (conductor)

05:16 AM
Edward Rushton (b.1972)
Comfort & Courage
Hexagon Ensemble

05:32 AM
Alexander Moyzes (1906-1984)
Symphony no 7, Op 50
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Ladislav Slovák (conductor)

06:11 AM
Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764)
Dardanus (orchestral suites) - tragedie en Musique
European Union Baroque Orchestra, Roy Goodman (conductor)


SUN 06:30 Breakfast (m002p7cb)
Ease into the day with classical music

Elizabeth Alker 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 (m002p7cd)
Three hours of classical sparkle

Today, Sarah discovers swirling music from Isaac Albéniz’s opera The Magic Opal, enjoys how Ravel’s orchestral version of 'Pavane pour une infante défunte' brings out extra colour, and finds flow in Michael Nyman’s music from the film The Piano.

There’s also a chance to hear Lucy Parham play Clara Schumann’s powerful piano concerto in full.

Plus, today’s Choral Reflection explores what it means to reach upwards, and grow…

A Tandem Production for BBC Radio 3


SUN 12:00 Private Passions (m002gs0f)
Alison Weir

The best-selling writer Alison Weir knows precisely what sparked her interest in history: at the age of 14 she read what she calls a ‘really trashy novel’ about Katherine of Aragon – and a lifelong passion began.

Since then she has written 38 books, selling more than three million copies around the world. Her non-fiction titles include biographies of Eleanor of Aquitaine, Isabella of France, Mary Queen of Scots and Elizabeth of York. She has also written many historical novels – including a book about each of Henry VIII’s six wives.

In her most recent novel, The Cardinal, she focuses on the rise and fall of Thomas Wolsey, who enjoyed a prominent and powerful role in the court of Henry VIII.

Alison's music choices include Bach, Beethoven, Ravel and Purcell.


SUN 13:30 Music Map (m002p7cg)
Chopin's Nocturnes Op. 9

Connecting Ireland with a teenage Mendelssohn and American jazz, Sara Mohr-Pietsch maps Chopin's inky Nocturnes Op.9. These three pieces became the template for Romantic nocturnal musings, and there are twilit yearnings along the way. With stops for vespertine Baroque wanderings and a twentieth century kiss, there's also a surprise appearance from a Rat Pack classic.

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


SUN 15:00 Choral Evensong (m002npv4)
St James’s Church, Sussex Gardens, London

From St James’s Church, Sussex Gardens, London, with the Rodolfus Choir.

Introit: Welcome Yule (Parry)
Responses: Joanna Forbes L'Estrange
Psalms 147, 148, 149, 150 (Stanford, Rawsthorne, Hanforth, Goodenough)
First Lesson: Ecclesiasticus 3 vv1-13
Canticles: St John's Service (Jonathan Dove)
Second Lesson: Revelation 21 vv1-8
Anthems: O magnum mysterium; Quem vidistis pastores dicite (Poulenc)
Hymn: ‘Glory to God!’ all heav’n with joy is ringing (Highwood)
Voluntary: Weihnachten Op 145 No 3 (Reger)

Ralph Allwood, Peter Davis (Conductors)
George de Voil (Organist)

Recorded 28 December.

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


SUN 16:00 Jazz Record Requests (m002p7cj)
Jazz for the New Year

Alyn Shipton starts of 2026 with listeners' choices, in all styles of jazz from historic reissues to the newest sounds around including music from Hiromi, Art Farmer, Joe Webb, Gareth Lockrane & Brigitte Beraha.

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 (m002p7cl)
Happy New Year - 18th Century German style

Hannah French chooses a selection of 18th Century German cantatas composed specifically to welcome in a new year, including examples by JS Bach, Buxtehude, Telemann, Graupner, Weckmann, Zelenka and Fasch.


SUN 18:00 Words and Music (m001p7wk)
What's in a name?

A rose by any other name may smell as sweet but how does my own name define me? In this edition of Words and Music we explore the importance of names with readings from Pippa Bennett-Warner and Aidan McArdle of the writings of Pushkin, Margaret Atwood, Henry Reed, Toluwanimi Obiwole and Shakespeare, and with music by Shostakovich, Arvo Part, Nkeiru Okoye and Ravel.

Producer in Salford: Barnaby Gordon

Readings:
Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet
Warsan Shire More by Warsan
Geoffrey T Hellman James Bond comes to New York
Joelle Taylor Vitrine
Brian Friel Translations
Margaret Atwood The Handmaid's Tale
Toluwanimi Obiwole Sugarcane
Henry Reed The Naming of Parts
Mary Jean Chan Names
Rabbi Benjamin Blech, Elaine Blech Your Name is Your Blessing
Aimee Nezhukumatathil Naming the Heartbeats
Phil Knight Shoedog
Michaela Morgan Names
Alfred Lord Tennyson The Flower
Rumi A Star Without a Name
Alexander Pushkin The Name
Winifred M Letts Your Name


SUN 19:15 Sunday Feature (m002p8xy)
Reeking of Cowpats - Peer Gynt

150 years since Henrik Ibsen’s Peer Gynt premiered in Norway in 1876, writer and music historian Leah Broad explores whether and how the play and Edvard Grieg’s incidental music are still able to captivate audiences today.

We hear how the political satire inherent in the play inspired the playwright and screen writer David Hare to create his own version, Peter Gynt, lampooning 21st century political leaders. Female actors reflect on the role of women in Peer Gynt, particularly the docile Solveig, who spends a lifetime waiting for Peer and then welcomes him back without question; and Norwegian director Johannes Holmen Dahl explains the challenges and rewards of staging Peer Gynt with Grieg’s music today.

But what about that music itself, so much better known through the two suites which Grieg created from the incidental score? Some of it has become ubiquitous in advertising, notably that ‘quintessential earworm’, In the Hall of the Mountain King. But as Nordic music expert Professor Daniel Grimley from the University of Oxford explains, hearing the music with fresh ears in the context of the play opens up some surprising insights – and enables the listener to appreciate its beauty afresh.

Ultimately, Leah hears, Peer Gynt has stood the test of time because the themes at its core – particularly the search for the self and the redeeming power of love – continue to intrigue and provoke in equal measure.

Producer: Kristine Pommert

Exec Producer: Anna Stewart

A CTVC production for BBC Radio 3


SUN 20:00 Record Review (m002p8y0)
Mozart: Sinfonia Concertante

Violinist Tasmin Little's Building a Library recommendation for a recording of Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante in E flat, K364 from yesterday's Record Review, plus some of this week's classical music releases


SUN 21:00 20th Century Radicals (m002p7cp)
Betsy Jolas: language, breath, and living sound

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 celebrates the organic aliveness encountered in the music of the French-American composer Betsy Jolas, who was born in Paris in 1926. On the way to a full performance of her 1977 trumpet concerto Onze Lieder, we’ll be pacified by lullabies, skirt the literary worlds of Joyce and Baudelaire, and discover the important role that languages - both real and invented - played for some of the 20th century's finest composers.

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


SUN 22:00 Night Tracks (m0025dfr)
Immersive music for late-night listening

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


SUN 23:30 Unclassified (m0029hs2)
Bright Horizons

Join Elizabeth Alker with a selection of fresh music for the new year 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 05 JANUARY 2026

MON 00:30 Through the Night (m002p7cr)
Mendelssohn, Beethoven and Mozart from the Belcea Quartet

Mozart's "Dissonance" String Quartet and Beethoven's String Quartet no 16 feature in this concert from the Schubertiade Schwarzenberg Festival in Austria. John Shea presents.

12:31 AM
Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
Excerpts from Four Pieces for Spring Quartet, Op 81
Belcea Quartet

12:43 AM
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
String Quartet no 16 in F major, Op 135
Belcea Quartet

01:09 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
String Quartet no 19 in C major, K.465 'Dissonance'
Belcea Quartet

01:41 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Menuetto: Allegretto, from 'String Quartet no 20 in D, K.499 'Hoffmeister'
Belcea Quartet

01:44 AM
Franz Schubert (1797-1828),Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)
Nahe des Geliebten, D.162 (Op 5 no 2) (The Proximity of the Loved One)
Christoph Prégardien (tenor), Andreas Staier (pianoforte)

01:48 AM
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Piano Sonata in B flat major, D.960
Naum Grubert (piano)

02:31 AM
Leokadiya Kashperova (1872-1940)
Symphony in B minor, Op 4
BBC Concert Orchestra, Jane Glover (conductor)

03:09 AM
Anonymous
Confitebor tibi, Domine (Psalm) for soprano, strings and continuo
Claire Lefilliâtre (soprano), Currende, Erik van Nevel (director)

03:29 AM
Traditional Hungarian
17th Century Dances
Csaba Nagy (tarogato), Peter Ella (harpsichord)

03:36 AM
Fanny Mendelssohn (1805-1847)
Allegro moderato for piano, Op 8 no 1
Sylviane Deferne (piano)

03:42 AM
Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari (1876-1948)
Two orchestral intermezzi from 'I Gioielli della Madonna', Op 4
KBS Symphony Orchestra, Othmar Mága (conductor)

03:52 AM
Benjamin Ipavec (1839-1908)
Ciganka Marija (1905)
Ana Pusar-Jeric (soprano), Natasa Valant (piano)

03:56 AM
Joan Baptista Pla i Agustí (1720-1773)
Sonata in D major, for flute, violin and basso continuo
La Guirlande

04:04 AM
Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849)
Ballade for piano no 4 in F minor, Op 52
Khatia Buniatishvili (piano)

04:15 AM
Wilhelm Stenhammar (1871-1927), Jens Peter Jacobsen (lyricist)
Three choral songs
Swedish Radio Choir, Gustav Sjökvist (conductor)

04:22 AM
Charles Gounod (1818-1893)
Overture to Mireille
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Oliver Dohnányi (conductor)

04:31 AM
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
Violin Concerto in F major, RV 284, Op 4 no 9
Fabio Biondi (violin), Europa Galante, Fabio Biondi (director)

04:38 AM
Frano Parać (b.1948)
Guitar Trio
Zagreb Guitar Trio

04:44 AM
Friedrich Kuhlau (1786-1832)
Trylleharpen (The Magic Harp), Op 27
Danish Radio Concert Orchestra, Roman Zeilinger (conductor)

04:56 AM
Le Concert Brise
Improvisation on 'La Monica'
Le Concert Brise, William Dongois (director)

05:03 AM
Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)
A Charm of lullabies for mezzo-soprano and piano, Op 41
Christine Rice (mezzo soprano), Roger Vignoles (piano)

05:15 AM
Isaac Albéniz (1860-1909)
Suite espanola , Op 47
Ilze Graubina (piano)

05:38 AM
Luys de Narvaez (fl.1526-1549)
Los Seys libros del Delphin de musica
Hopkinson Smith (vihuela)

05:55 AM
Johann Ludwig Bach (1677-1731)
Das Blut Jesu Christi
Vox Luminis, Lionel Meunier (director)

06:04 AM
Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
Cello concerto no 2 in D major, H.7b.2
Primož Zalaznik (cello), RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra, Günter Pichler (conductor)


MON 06:30 Breakfast (m002p757)
Wake up 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 (m002p759)
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'


MON 13:00 Classical Live (m002p75c)
Ravel's exquisite piano miniatures live from Wigmore Hall

Mark Forrest begins a week of afternoons of specially recorded music including exclusive archive recordings of the late, great Alfred Brendel performing the Beethoven piano concertos in Germany. We broadcast these to mark what would have been the pianist's 95th birthday today. Also, in this piano preferenced programme, recent recordings from London of Prize winners from the 2024 Leeds International Piano Competition. Today we hear from pianist Khanh Nhi Luong - winner of the Lady Roslyn Lyons Medal and Third Prize at The Leeds - who performs Schubert's late Piano Sonata in A major. And we also hear from second-prize winner Junyan Chen, who performs Ravel's La Valse.

As ever, we begin the week with a live music-making from Wigmore Hall. Current Radio 3 New Generation Artist, pianist Julius Asal, performs music by Brahms, Ravel and Franck.

Wigmore Hall Live
introduced from the hall by Andrew McGregor

Johannes Brahms: 4 Ballades, Op.10

Maurice Ravel: Prélude

Maurice Ravel: Menuet sur le nom d'Haydn

Maurice Ravel: A la manière de ... Borodine

César Franck: Prélude, choral et fugue

***

From 2pm

Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Concerto No.1 in C, Op.15
Alfred Brendel (piano)
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
Sir Colin Davis (conductor)

Giovanni Stefano Carbonelli: Sonata No.6 in A major (3rd mvt: Aria con Variazioni se piace)
Illyria Consort

Grace Williams: Elegy for strings
BBC Philharmonic
Martyn Brabbins (conductor)

Franz Schubert: Piano Sonata in A, D.664
Khanh Nhi Luong (piano)

Maurice Ravel: La Valse
Junyan Chen (piano)

Joseph Haydn: Symphony No.64 in A, Hob.I:64
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Lesley Hatfield (director)

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 (m002p75f)
Aaron Copland (1900-1990)

In the Beginning

Donald Macleod begins Copland’s story in a Brooklyn department store, where a young Aaron balanced family duties with a growing passion for music. From early piano lessons with his sister to secret ambitions and formative encounters with Rubin Goldmark, we follow Copland’s journey from toy counters to concert platforms.

4 Dance Episodes from Rodeo: iv. Hoe Down
New York Philharmonic
Leonard Bernstein, conductor

Two Preludes for violin and piano
Peter Zazofsky, violin
Paul Posnak, piano

Four Early Songs:
i. Night
ii. A Summer Vacation
iii. My Heart is in the East
iv. Alone
Barbara Bonney, soprano
Malcolm Martineau, piano

Four Motets: iii. Have Mercy On Us, O My Lord
Polyphony
Stephen Layton, conductor

Three Moods:
i. Embittered
ii. Wistful
iii. Jazzy
Leo Smit, piano

Symphony for Organ and Orchestra:
ii. Scherzo
iii. Finale: Lento
Simon Preston, organ
Leonard Slatkin, conductor
Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra

Produced by Ellie Ajao for BBC Audio Wales and West.


MON 17:00 In Tune (m002p75j)
Pianist Julius Asal live in the studio

Katie Derham with live music in the studio from pianist and Radio 3 New Generation Artist Julius Asal and soprano Lisette Oropesa talks to us from The Met in New York about Vincenzo Bellini's I Puritani.


MON 19:00 Classical Mixtape (m002p75l)
Classical music to boost your mood

Take time out with a 30-minute soundscape of classical music. To listen on most smart speakers just say 'ask BBC Sounds to play Classical Mixtape'.


MON 19:30 Radio 3 in Concert (m002p75n)
Mozart's Requiem

The BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus conducted by Sakari Oramo in Mozart's final work his dark-hued Requiem. Martin Helmchen is the soloist in Mozart's C Minor Piano Concerto. And the concert begins with a recent work by French composer Camille Pepin: Inlandsis is a shimmering "fresco for orchestra" inspired by the alarming melting of ice masses and rising sea levels due to global warming.

Presented by Al Ryan. Recorded at the Barbican on 31st October 2025.

Camille Pépin: Inlandsis
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor

Interval

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Requiem in D minor (compl. Süssmayr-Dutron)

Martin Helmchen (piano)
Francesca Chiejina (soprano)
Claire Barnett-Jones (mezzo-soprano)
Caspar Singh (tenor)
Frazer Scott (bass)
BBC Symphony Orchestra
BBC Symphony Chorus
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 (m002p75q)
Instrumental

Johnny Flynn, violin

Playing a musical instrument - whether you're professional or amateur - rarely follows a simple trajectory of practice and progress and it makes psychological as much as physical demands that can come to define a person. Alan Hall talks with musicians about the nature of their relationship to their chosen instrument.

Today, the actor Johnny Flynn, an accomplished violinist, shares the stash of instruments piled up in the little room at the top of his house.

A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 3


MON 22:00 Night Tracks (m0025dj2)
Dissolve into a nocturnal sound world

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


MON 23:30 'Round Midnight (m002p75s)
Dave Okumu'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.

From Monday to Thursday this week, Soweto is joined by Mercury-nominated singer-songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist Dave Okumu. He is revered in the UK and internationally, known for thoughtful yet deeply virtuosic genre-transcending music. As well as being a celebrated bandleader, notably fronting the group The Invisible, Dave has worked with artists from across the musical spectrum, including Amy Winehouse, Tony Allen, Jack DeJohnette and Jessie Ware.

We caught up with Dave backstage at our 'Round Midnight showcase as part of November's London Jazz Festival, where he was performing with ESKA. He shared four of the albums that have deeply inspired him for our 4/4 feature. To kick off the week, Dave picked a release by three British jazz titans.

Also in the programme, there's music from Kelan Phil Cohran, Shake Stew and Ife Ogunjobi.

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

TUESDAY 06 JANUARY 2026

TUE 00:30 Through the Night (m002p75v)
A musical trip to America

The WDR Symphony Orchestra, Cologne with conductor Andris Poga celebrate the music of the USA with composers Leonard Bernstein and George Gershwin, where sounds of the West and Jazz are mixed with the traditions of European classical music. John Shea presents.

12:31 AM
Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990)
Divertimento
WDR Symphony Orchestra, Cologne, Andris Poga (conductor)

12:46 AM
Jessie Montgomery (b.1981)
Five Freedom Songs
Julia Bullock (soprano), WDR Symphony Orchestra, Cologne, Andris Poga (conductor)

01:04 AM
George Gershwin (1898-1937), Ira Gershwin (lyricist), Edwin Dubose Heyward (lyricist)
Suite from Porgy and Bess
Julia Bullock (soprano), Alfred Walker (baritone), WDR Chorus, WDR Symphony Orchestra, Cologne, Andris Poga (conductor)

01:39 AM
Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990)
Ya Got Me (from On The Town)
Julia Bullock (soprano), Alfred Walker (baritone), WDR Chorus, WDR Symphony Orchestra, Cologne, Andris Poga (conductor)

01:44 AM
Philip Glass (b.1937)
Four Movements for Two Pianos: 4th movement
Katia Labèque (piano), Marielle Labèque (piano)

01:50 AM
Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957)
Violin Concerto in D major, Op 35
Veronika Eberle (violin), Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Lorenzo Viotti (conductor)

02:17 AM
Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992)
Le Grand tango for cello and piano
Duo Rastogi/Fredens (duo)

02:31 AM
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)
Le Tombeau de Couperin
Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Antoni Ros-Marbà (conductor)

02:50 AM
Domenico Auletta (1723-1753)
Concerto for harpsichord and strings in C major
Enrico Baiano (harpsichord), Cappella della Pietà de'Turchini, Antonio Florio (conductor)

03:08 AM
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Schicksalslied (Song of destiny), Op 54
Oslo Philharmonic Choir, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos (conductor)

03:24 AM
Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
String Quartet no 50 in B flat major, Op 64 no 3
Talisker Kvartetten

03:44 AM
Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764)
Pieces de Clavecin
Andreas Borregaard (accordion)

04:00 AM
Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849)
3 Pieces for piano
Håvard Gimse (piano)

04:15 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Overture from Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), K.620
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Michael Christie (conductor)

04:22 AM
John Cage (1912-1992)
Four squared for a capella choir
BBC Singers, Stephen Cleobury (conductor)

04:31 AM
Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921)
Mon coeur s'ouvre from 'Samson et Dalila' (arr for trumpet & orchestra)
Jouko Harjanne (trumpet), Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Ari Rasilainen (conductor)

04:37 AM
Henry Purcell (1659-1695)
Sonata no 2 in B flat major, Z.791
Les Ambassadeurs, Alexis Kossenko (director)

04:44 AM
Franz Liszt (1811-1886)
Hungarian Rhapsody no 2 for piano in C sharp minor, S.244 No.2
Jenõ Jandó (piano)

04:55 AM
Grzegorz Gerwazy Gorczycki (1665-1734)
Missa Paschalis
Barbara Janowska (soprano), Wanda Laddy (soprano), Robert Lawaty (counter tenor), Cezary Szyfman (baritone), Michał Straszewski (bass)

05:10 AM
Ethel Smyth (1858-1944)
Concerto for violin and horn in A major
Agata Raatz (violin), Zora Slokar (horn), Berner Kammerorchester, Graziella Contratto (conductor)

05:38 AM
Giuseppe Sammartini (1695-1750)
Recorder Concerto in F major
Bolette Roed (recorder), Arte dei Suonatori

05:51 AM
Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936)
Vetrate di Chiesa (Church Windows)
Orchestra of London, Ontario, Uri Mayer (conductor)

06:16 AM
Gregorio Allegri (1582-1652)
Miserere mei Deus (Psalm 51) for 9 voices
Camerata Silesia, Anna Szostak (conductor)


TUE 06:30 Breakfast (m002p76r)
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 (m002p76t)
Celebrating classical greats

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 (m002p76w)
Alfred Brendel plays Beethoven's 2nd piano concerto

Mark Forrest continues his week of afternoons of specially recorded concert perfomances with exclusive archive recordings of the late, great Alfred Brendel playing the Beethoven piano concertos to mark what would have been the pianist's 95th birthday week. And Mark also casts an ear on the younger generation of international pianists with recent recital recordings by the three Prize winners of the Leeds International Piano Competition 2024. Today the Canadian pianist and First Prize winner Jaedan Isik-Dzurko plays Scriabin and Rachmaninov.

Including:

EJ Moeran: Rhapsody No.2 in E major
BBC Philharmonic
Robin Wallington (conductor)

Maurice Ravel: Le tombeau de Couperin
Junyan Chen (piano)

Kristina Arakelyan: An ode to the world
BBC Singers
David Hill (conductor)

Alexander Scriabin: Fantasie in B minor, Op.28
Jaedan Izik-Dzurko (piano)

Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Concerto No.2 in B flat, Op.19
Alfred Brendel (piano)
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
Wolfgang Sawallisch (conductor)

JS Bach: Cello Suite No.3 in C major, BWV1009 arr. for solo viola
Antoine Tamestit (viola)

Sergei Rachmaninov: 10 Preludes, Op.23
Jaedan Izik-Dzurko (piano)

Antonin Dvorak: Serenade for strings in E, Op.22
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Lesley Hatfield (director)

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 (m002p76y)
Aaron Copland (1900-1990)

Aaron in Paris

Donald Macleod charts Copland’s transformative years in Paris under Nadia Boulanger’s guidance, and his return to America with bold new ideas. From the MacDowell Colony to the premiere of Music for the Theatre and a jazz-infused Piano Concerto, we hear how Copland’s modernist voice thrilled some, but terrified others.

The Cat and the Mouse
Isata Kanneh-Mason, piano

Old Poem
Pastorale
Roberta Alexander, soprano
Roger Vignoles, piano

Music for the Theater:
i. Prologue
ii. Dance
New York Philharmonic
Leonard Bernstein, conductor

Piano Concerto
Aaron Copland, piano
New York Philharmonic
Leonard Bernstein, conductor

Vitebsk (trio for violin, cello and piano)
Oberon Trio

Produced by Ellie Ajao for BBC Audio Wales and West.


TUE 17:00 In Tune (m002p770)
Pianist Kirill Gerstein performs live

Katie welcomes pianist Kirill Gerstein to In Tune.


TUE 19:00 Classical Mixtape (m002p772)
Lighten the load with a classical mix

Take time out with a 30-minute soundscape of classical music, including Vaughan Williams's Fantasia on Greensleeves, Caroline Shaw's And the Swallow arranged for string ensemble, a brass version of Mozart's Adagio in F Major, Villa-Lobos's Bachiana Brasileira No.5 for guitar and flute, and a solo piano piece by Florence Price.

Producer: Eleonora Claps

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


TUE 19:30 Radio 3 in Concert (m002p774)
The Dream of Gerontius

Elgar's masterful oratorio The Dream of Gerontius is performed in the magnificent setting of King's College Chapel, Cambridge by the BBC Singers, King's College Choir and BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by Director of Music Daniel Hyde. Tenor soloist Stuart Jackson sings the part of Gerontius and is joined by mezzo soprano Claire Barnett-Jones and bass James Platt.

The Dream of Gerontius for orchestra, double choir, semi-chorus and soloists is arguably Elgar's most enduring choral work and uses Cardinal Newman's text describing the journey of a pious man's soul after death. Gerontius' life is ebbing away when we first meet him and as he departs this life, so the priest sung by James Platt sends his soul on its way. On waking at the beginning of Part 2, a guardian angel sung by Claire Barnett-Jones leads Gerontius towards his judgement by God after encounters with demons and angels. Gerontius' soul is purged and purified in the lake of Purgatory before it enters Heaven, his Dream ending with a wonderful final chorus from the angels, consoling him gently.

Presented by Ian Skelly and recorded in November 2025 at King's College, Cambridge.

Elgar arr. Iain Farrington: The Dream of Gerontius

Claire Barnett-Jones (mezzo soprano)
Stuart Jackson (Gerontius/tenor)
James Platt (bass)
Choir of King's College
BBC Singers
BBC Concert Orchestra
Daniel Hyde (conductor)

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


TUE 21:45 The Essay (m002p776)
Instrumental

Siobhan Edwards, tenor horn

Playing a musical instrument - whether you're professional or amateur - rarely follows a simple trajectory of practice and progress and it makes psychological as much as physical demands that can come to define a person. Alan Hall talks with musicians about the nature of their relationship to their chosen instrument.

Today, Siobhan Edwards, who - though still only 27 - has been principal tenor horn in one of the world's best brass bands, the Black Dyke Band, for an astonishing ten years.

A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 3


TUE 22:00 Night Tracks (m0025ddg)
Eclectic music for after dark

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


TUE 23:30 'Round Midnight (m002p778)
Brand new from Matthew Halsall

‘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.

The leading Manchester spiritual jazz trumpeter and label owner Matthew Halsall has a new release.

Singer-songwriter and producer Dave Okumu has a second album to share with us for 4/4. Tonight, he chooses a record from an artist and genre that has had a key musical impact on him.

There is also music from Roxana Ahmed, Kairos 4tet and ATFK.

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

WEDNESDAY 07 JANUARY 2026

WED 00:30 Through the Night (m002p77b)
Jeneba Kanneh-Mason with the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra

Pianist Jeneba Kanneh-Mason is the soloist in Chopin's second piano concerto in this concert from Budapest, performed alongside Beethoven's 'Eroica' Symphony and Kodály's Dances from Galánta. John Shea presents.

12:31 AM
Zoltán Kodály (1882-1967)
Dances from Galánta
Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Budapest, Riccardo Frizza (conductor)

12:47 AM
Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849)
Piano Concerto no 2 in F minor, Op 21
Jeneba Kanneh-Mason (piano), Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Budapest, Riccardo Frizza (conductor)

01:20 AM
Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
La fille aux cheveux de lin, from 'Préludes, Book 1'
Jeneba Kanneh-Mason (piano)

01:23 AM
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Symphony no 3 in E flat major, Op 55 'Eroica'
Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Budapest, Riccardo Frizza (conductor)

02:12 AM
Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849), transc. Zóltan Kocsis
Nocturne in E flat (Op.55 No.2) arr. for flute, cor anglais and harp
Anita Szabó (flute), Béla Horváth (cor anglais), Júlia Szilvásy (harp)

02:18 AM
Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849)
Waltz in C sharp minor, Op 64 no 2
Zóltan Kocsis (piano)

02:21 AM
Franz Liszt (1811-1886)
Ungarischer Marsch zur Kronungsfeier in Ofen-Pest (S.523)
Zóltan Kocsis (piano duo), György Oravecz (piano duo)

02:25 AM
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), arr. Geert Bierling
Marcia Funebre from Symphony no 3 in E flat major, Op 55 'Eroica'
Geert Bierling (organ)

02:31 AM
Henry Purcell (1659-1695)
Come, ye sons of Art, away (Ode for the birthday of Queen Mary (1694), Z.323)
Anna Mikolajczyk (soprano), Henning Voss (contralto), Robert Lawaty (counter tenor), Mirosław Borczyński (bass), Sine Nomine Chamber Choir, Concerto Polacco Baroque Orchestra, Marek Toporowski (director)

02:54 AM
Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)
Violin Concerto in D minor, Op 47
Denis Goldfeld (violin), Croatian Radio-Television Symphony Orchestra, Aleksandar Marković (conductor)

03:28 AM
Francis Poulenc (1899-1963)
Litanies à la Vierge Noire version for women's voices and organ
Maitrise de Radio France, Orchestre National de France, Georges Prêtre (conductor)

03:38 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Rondo in A minor, K.511 for piano
Kristian Bezuidenhout (fortepiano)

03:48 AM
Ludwig Norman (1831-1885), arr. Niklas Willén
Andante Sostenuto
Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Niklas Willén (conductor)

03:58 AM
Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625)
Fantasia a 3 no 2 (from Koninklycke Fantasien)
Concordia, Mark Levy (conductor)

04:01 AM
Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625), William Walton (1902-1983)
Drop, Drop, Slow Tears (two settings)
Gabrieli Consort, Paul McCreesh (director)

04:07 AM
Georges Hüe (1858-1948)
Phantasy vers. flute and piano
Iveta Kundrátová (flute), Inna Aslamasova (piano)

04:14 AM
Franz Lehár (1870-1948)
Valse Boston: 'Wer hat die Liebe uns ins Herz gesenkt?'
Michelle Boucher (soprano), Mark Dubois (tenor), Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra, Raffi Armenian (conductor)

04:20 AM
Alessandro Marcello (1673-1747), arr. Colm Carey
Concerto in D minor
Jonathan Freeman-Attwood (trumpet), Colm Carey (organ)

04:31 AM
Jānis Mediņš (1890-1966)
Aria, 'Suite no 1'
Liepāja Symphony Orchestra, Imants Resnis (conductor)

04:36 AM
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Contrapunctus V and VI, from 'The Art of Fugue', BWV.1080
Andreas Staier (harpsichord)

04:43 AM
Rene Eespere (b.1953)
Sub specie quietatis - for percussion and choir
Tallinn Music High School Chamber Choir, Evi Eespere (director)

04:52 AM
Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
Piano Trio in E flat major (Hob.15.10)
Niklas Sivelöv (piano), Bernt Lysell (violin), Mikael Sjögren (cello)

05:03 AM
César Franck (1822-1890)
Le Chasseur Maudit, symphonic poem (M.44)
Bulgarian National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Milen Nachev (conductor)

05:18 AM
Francesca Caccini (1587-1640)
Excerpts from Act One of La Liberazione di Ruggiero
Suzie Le Blanc (soprano), Barbara Borden (soprano), Dorothée Mields (soprano), Christian Hilz (baritone), Tragicomedia, Stephen Stubbs (director)

05:38 AM
Valborg Aulin (1860-1928)
String Quartet in F major
Tale String Quartet

06:04 AM
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Suite for keyboard in G minor - 1733 no 6, HWV.439
Jautrite Putnina (piano)

06:19 AM
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
Flute Concerto in G minor, RV.104 'La Notte'
Giovanni Antonini (flute), Il Giardino Armonico, Giovanni Antonini (director)


WED 06:30 Breakfast (m002p798)
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 (m002p79b)
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'.


WED 13:00 Classical Live (m002p79d)
Alfred Brendel plays Beethoven's 3rd Piano Concerto

Mark Forrest continues his week of specially recorded music and performances from Europe and beyond. Today we hear another superb archive recording of Alfred Brendel performing Beethoven - this week's historic cycle of Beethoven concertos reaches Piano Concerto No.3 with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. And there’s more piano music from two of the prize winners from the 2024 Leeds International Piano Competition too: the Canadian Jaedan Isik-Dzurko, and Khanh Nhi Luong from Vietnam, both performing in concerts recorded last month at London’s Wigmore Hall.

Including:

Peter Warlock: Capriol Suite (vers. with winds)
BBC Philharmonic
Martyn Brabbins (conductor)

Johann Sebastian Bach: Partita No. 4 in D, BWV. 828
Jaedan Izik-Dzurko (piano)

Ralph Vaughan Williams orch. Martin Yates: The Steersman
Jacques Imbrailo (baritone)
BBC Symphony Orchestra & Chorus
Martin Yates (conductor)

Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Concerto No.3 in C minor, Op. 37
Alfred Brendel (piano)
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
Wolfgang Sawallisch (conductor)

Johannes Brahms:
Intermezzo in A minor, Op. 118 No.1
Intermezzo in A, Op. 118 No .2
Khanh Nhi Luong (piano)

Heinrich Biber: Sonata No.6 in C minor, 'The Agony in the Garden'
Rachel Podger (violin)
Marcin Świątkiewicz (harpsichord)

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


WED 15:00 Choral Evensong (m002p79g)
St Luke's, Chelsea, London

An Epiphany Carol Service from St Luke’s, Chelsea, London.

Carol: Alle-psallite cum-luia (Anon 13th century)
Bidding Prayer
Carol: Why cruel Herod (Plainsong)
Reading I: Isaiah 60 vv1-3
Hymn: O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness (Was lebet)
Reading II: Psalm 72 vv1-7, 10-15
Carol: Reges Tharsis (Sheppard)
Reading III: Matthew 2 vv1-12
Carol: Ab oriente venerunt Magi (Clemens)
Reading IV: They have brought gold and spices to my King (Christina Rossetti)
Carol: Lo, star-led chiefs (Crotch)
Reading V: John 1 vv1-14
Carol: O magnum mysterium (Morten Lauridsen)
Reading VI: On Epiphany (Evelyn Underhill)
Carol: Lully, Lulla, Lullay (Philip Stopford)
Reading VII: Revelation 21 vv22-26
Carol: The King of Blis (John Rutter)
Hymn: From the Eastern mountains (King’s Weston)
Voluntary: Symphony No 7 (Scherzo) (Bruckner, arr. Summerly)

Jeremy Summerly (Director of Music)
Simon Hogan (Organist)

Recorded 11 December.

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


WED 16:00 Composer of the Week (m002p79j)
Aaron Copland (1900-1990)

An American Sound

Donald Macleod explores Copland’s determination to create a sound that was unmistakably American. From the stark brilliance of the Piano Variations to the exuberance of El Salón México and his cowboy ballets including Billy the Kid, we hear how Copland blended jazz and folk tunes with a modern twist to capture the spirit of a nation.

Hear Ye! Hear Ye! – ballet in one act: Scene i (Prelude)
London Sinfonietta
Oliver Knussen, conductor

Piano Variations
Leo Smit, piano

Short Symphony (Symphony No. 2):
i. Incisivo
ii. Espressivo
iii. Presto e ritmico
Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra
Leonard Slatkin, conductor

El Salón México
New York Philharmonic
Leonard Bernstein, conductor

Billy the Kid Suite:
i. Introduction: The Open Prairie
ii. Street in a Frontier Town
iii. Mexican Dance and Finale
New York Philharmonic
Leonard Bernstein, conductor


WED 17:00 In Tune (m002p79l)
Live music from Chinese Pipa player and composer Gao Hong

Chinese pipa virtuoso and composer Gao Hong joins Katie Derham to play live music from her album and talk about her concert at the Temple Church in London with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra on Saturday 17 January.


WED 19:00 Classical Mixtape (m0029k02)
30 minutes of classical inspiration

A calming mix of classical music for half an hour, featuring choral music by Valentin Silvestrov and song by Gabriel Dupont, as well as Elgar’s post-war paean to the cello, plus Murray Perahia’s sublime take on Bach.


WED 19:30 Radio 3 in Concert (m002pgsl)
Franck's Symphony

Gergely Madaras joins the BBC National Orchestra of Wales to present a showcase of the orchestra and its members. The concert begins with an arrangement of Schumann's Four Marches for brass ensemble by the Orchestra's Principal Trombonist, Donal Bannister. The politically driven Marches were composed by Schumann for piano in 1845, and in Donal's vivid arrangement, the fantastic music is given new life by the brass section of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Once the brass have had their turn in the spotlight, the strings take to the stage, joined by another principal in the orchestra: clarinettist Nicholas Carpenter as soloist in Finzi's exsquisute Clarinet Concerto. After the interval, César Franck's Symphony in D minor, an under-performed, heady mix of Germanic and French writing which was fantastically radical and divided opinion when it was written.

Presented by Shân Cothi in BBC Hoddinott Hall, Cardiff. Recorded on the 27th of September.

Schumann, arr Bannister: Four Marches, Op 76
Finzi: Clarinet Concerto, Op 31
Franck: Symphony in D minor, CFF 130

Nicholas Carpenter (clarinet)
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Gergely Madaras (conductor)

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


WED 21:45 The Essay (m002p79q)
Instrumental

Garklein Ensemble, recorders

Playing a musical instrument - whether you're professional or amateur - rarely follows a simple trajectory of practice and progress and it makes psychological as much as physical demands that can come to define a person. Alan Hall talks with musicians about the nature of their relationship to their chosen instrument.

Today, the Garklein Recorder Ensemble from Yorkshire, which comprises mostly former peripatetic music teachers who in retirement have migrated to recorders, in various shapes and sizes, from other instruments.

A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 3


WED 22:00 Night Tracks (m0025cfv)
Meditative music for night owls

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


WED 23:30 'Round Midnight (m002p79s)
Fresh from COLECTIVA

‘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.

The London-based Afro-Latin jazz ensemble COLECTIVA are back with new music.

Dave Okumu has a third record to share, and tonight it's a deeper cut from the catalogue of one of jazz's all-time greats.

There is also music from Robert Mitchell, N∆BOU, and Flea.

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

THURSDAY 08 JANUARY 2026

THU 00:30 Through the Night (m002p79v)
Bel Canto Opera excerpts from Cēsis, Latvia

Tenors Levy Sekgapane and Lawrence Brownlee share the stage in this opera extravaganza, singing arias by Rossini, Donizetti, Bellini among others. The Latvian National Symphony Orchestra join them, playing well-loved overtures. John Shea presents.

12:31 AM
Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835)
Overture to Norma
Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, Aivis Greters (conductor)

12:37 AM
Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835)
È serbata a questo acciaro
Levy Sekgapane (tenor), Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, Aivis Greters

12:43 AM
Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835)
Nel furor...Per te di vane lagrime
Lawrence Brownlee (tenor), Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, Aivis Greters

12:47 AM
Charles Gounod (1818-1893)
Overture to Philemon et Baucis
Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, Aivis Greters

12:51 AM
Charles Gounod (1818-1893)
Ah! Lève-toi, soleil
Lawrence Brownlee (tenor), Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, Aivis Greters

12:55 AM
Léo Delibes (1836-1891)
Fantaisie aux divins mensonges
Levy Sekgapane (tenor), Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, Aivis Greters

01:01 AM
Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868)
Donala a questo cuore
Levy Sekgapane (tenor), Lawrence Brownlee (tenor), Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, Aivis Greters

01:11 AM
Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868)
Overture to La scala di seta
Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, Aivis Greters

01:17 AM
Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868)
D'ogni più sacro
Lawrence Brownlee (tenor), Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, Aivis Greters

01:22 AM
Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868)
Tu seconda il mio disegno
Levy Sekgapane (tenor), Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, Aivis Greters

01:28 AM
Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868)
Overture to Guillaume Tell
Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, Aivis Greters

01:40 AM
Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835)
Stolto! Ad un sol mio grido

Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868)
Ah vieni, nel tuo sangue

Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848)
Ah! mes amis… Pour mon âme
Levy Sekgapane (tenor), Lawrence Brownlee (tenor), Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, Aivis Greters

01:56 AM
Jean-Baptiste Arban (1825-1889), arr. David Stanhope
Fantasy and variations on a Cavatina from 'Beatrice di Tenda' by Bellini
Geoffrey Payne (trumpet), Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Michael Halász (conductor)

02:03 AM
Franz Liszt (1811-1886)
Reminiscences on Bellini's 'Norma'
Ferruccio Busoni (piano)

02:16 AM
Alberto Ginastera (1916-1983)
Concert Suite from the ballet 'Estancia', Op 8a
Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, Christian Vasquez (conductor)

02:31 AM
Leonel Power (1370-1445)
Missa 'Alma redemptoris mater'
Hilliard Ensemble

02:51 AM
Iris Szeghy (b.1956)
Cello Concerto
Andrej Gál (cello), Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Marián Lejava (conductor)

03:18 AM
Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
Piano Trio in A major H.15.18
Atos Trio

03:33 AM
Franz Schreker (1878-1934)
Nachtstuck (orchestral interlude) from "Der ferne Klang" (Opera in 3 acts)
BBC Philharmonic, Vassily Sinaisky (conductor)

03:49 AM
Ruth Gipps (1921-1999)
Wind Octet, Op 65
BBC National Orchestra of Wales

04:00 AM
Alessandro Scarlatti (1660-1725)
Concerto Grosso no 5 in D minor - Sinfonia
Chiave d'Arco Baroque Orchestra, Sigiswald Kuijken (director)

04:08 AM
Erik Satie (1866-1925)
La Belle Excentrique
Pianoduo Kolacny (piano duo)

04:17 AM
August de Boeck (1865-1937)
Fantasy on two Flemish Folk Songs
Vlaams Radio Orkest [Flemish Radio Orchestra], Marc Soustrot (conductor)

04:24 AM
Turlough O'Carolan (1670-1738)
Carolan's draught for two harps
Julia Shaw (harp), Nora Bumanis (harp)

04:26 AM
Ennio Morricone (1928-2020), arr. Robert Longfield
Gabriel's Oboe, from the film 'The Mission'
Tomoharu Yoshida (oboe), WDR Funkhausorchester, Rasmus Baumann (conductor)

04:31 AM
Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179)
O vis aeternitatis (Responsorium) for female voice
Sequentia, Elizabeth Gaver (fiddle), Elisabetta de Mircovich (fiddle)

04:39 AM
Charles Ives (1874-1954)
Piano Sonata no 1 - IVb (Allegro) (Third verse, chorus)
Donna Coleman (piano)

04:42 AM
Isabella Leonarda (1620-1704)
Sonata Prima a 4 (Opera Decima Sesta)
Maniera

04:52 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Horn Concerto no 4 in E flat major, K.495
James Sommerville (horn), CBC Vancouver Orchestra, Mario Bernardi (conductor)

05:09 AM
Augusta Holmès (1847-1903)
Roland Furieux, Symphony after Ariosto
BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Valentina Peleggi (conductor)

05:37 AM
Ole Edvard Antonsen, Leif Strand (1942-2021), Frode Alnaes (b.1959), arr. Øivind Westby
Landscapes / Men gar jag över engarna / Vitae Lux
Ole Edvard Antonsen (trumpet), Ole Edvard Antonsen Band, WDR Funkhausorchester, Rasmus Baumann (conductor)

06:21 AM
Isaac Albéniz (1860-1909)
Catalunya; Sevilla - from Suite Espanola no 1
Sean Shibe (guitar)


THU 06:30 Breakfast (m002p7d6)
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 (m002p7db)
Your perfect classical playlist

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 (m002p7dd)
Alfred Brendel plays Beethoven's 4th Piano Concerto in Munich

Mark Forrest continues his week of specially recorded music and performances from the UK and Europe. Today we hear another treasured archive recording of Alfred Brendel playing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No.4 with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in Munich. There’s more piano music from one of the prize winners from the 2024 Leeds Piano Competition too: the Chinese pianist Junyan Chen, who plays Couperin & Messiaen in a concert recorded last month at London’s Wigmore Hall. And, to end the programme, conductor Nil Venditti joins the BBC National Orchestra of Wales in a performance of Elgar’s Enigma Variations.

Including:

Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Concerto No.4 in G, Op.58
Alfred Brendel (piano)
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
Sir Colin Davis (conductor)

John Pickard: Ave maris stella
BBC Singers
Sofi Jeannin (conductor)

Heinrich Biber: Passacaglia in G minor (The Guardian Angel)
Veronika Eberle (violin)

William Grant Still: Afro-American Symphony
Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra
Riccardo Minasi (conductor)

Francois Couperin: Les Baricades; Le Tic-toc-choc ou les maillotins; Les ombres errantes; Les tricoteuses
Junyan Chen (piano)

Olivier Messiaen: Preludes: La Colombe; Un reflet dans le vent
Junyan Chen (piano)

Robert Schumann: Manfred Overture, Op.115
Croatian Radiotelevision Orchestra
Gyorgy Gyorivanyi (conductor)

Franz Schubert: String Trio in B flat, D. 471
Mondrian Ensemble

Edward Elgar: Enigma Variations
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Nil Venditti (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 (m002pkdp)
Louis Moreau Gottschalk (1829-1869)

Civil War

Donald Macleod explores Gottschalk’s life during the American Civil War, when he performed more widely across the US than any other artist.

This week, Donald Macleod takes us on a whirlwind journey through some of the most cataclysmic historical events of the 19th century. It’s the incredible story of America’s first international composing star - Louis Moreau Gottschalk - who was in Paris during the French Revolution, returned to America, where he played on the front lines of the Civil War, and may have been the originator of 'Monster Concerts' during his time in South America, where he dodged some of the bloodiest conflicts in Latin American history. On top of all this extraordinary historical backdrop, Donald finds a child prodigy who would go on to play for Chopin, be championed by Camille Pleyel and praised to the skies by Hector Berlioz, be honoured with a knighthood of the Order of Isabel Católica by the Queen of Spain, and would perform for Abraham Lincoln and General Ulysses S. Grant.

In Thursday’s programme, Donald explores Gottschalk’s life during the American Civil War, when he performed more widely across the US than any other artist. We find him living on trains, performing for President Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant, and, on a trip to Puerto Rico, trying to emulate the kind of grand scale concerts he’d seen Berlioz put on in Paris.

Chant du guerre, Op.78
Philip Martin, piano

Souvenir de Puerto Rico, Op.31
Hot Springs Music Festival Symphony Orchestra
Richard Rosenberg, conductor

Escenas Campestres
Trinidad Paniagua, soprano
Jose Alberto Esteves, tenor
Pablo Garcia, baritone
Berlin Philharmonic
Igor Buketoff, conductor

The Banjo, Op.15
Greg McCallum, piano

Union, Op.48
Eugene List, piano
Vienna State Opera Orchestra
Igor Buketoff, conductor

The Last Hope, Op.16
Leonard Pennario, piano

Grande Tarentelle, Op.67
Michael Gurt, piano
Hot Springs Festival Symphony Orchestra
Richard Rosenberg, conductor

Producer: Sam Phillips


THU 17:00 In Tune (m002p7dj)
Katie Bray, Elena Urioste & Tom Poster

Mezzo-soprano Katie Bray is joined by pianist William Vann to perform and talk to Katie Derham about her new recording of songs by Kurt Weill, In Search of Youkali. Katie will also be joined by violin and piano duo Elena Urioste and Tom Poster, who will also perform live on the programme.


THU 19:00 Classical Mixtape (m002p7dl)
A soul-soothing classical mix

Take time out with a 30-minute soundscape of classical music. To listen on most smart speakers just say 'ask BBC Sounds to play Classical Mixtape'.


THU 19:30 Radio 3 in Concert (m002p7dn)
Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 3

A quiet pulse, and a long, chant-like melody that seems to breathe the air of old Russia – it’s an unlikely way to begin one of the most difficult and brilliant piano concertos ever created. Rachmaninov’s Third has been called the “Everest of piano concertos” but if anyone’s equipped to scale it, it’s the superb young British virtuoso Isata Kanneh-Mason and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra’s newly-appointed Principal Guest Conductor Delyana Lazarova.

Delyana places the Rachmaninov at the centre of a concert designed to showcase her own musical passions, whether Jessie Montgomery’s playful letter from America, Samuel Barber at his most explosive, or Claude Debussy’s impressionist seascape – music driven by the swell of waves and the sparkle of sunlight.

Recorded at Glasgow's City Halls on Thursday 27 November 2025, presented by Andrew McGregor.

Jessie Montgomery: Strum
Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor

c. 8.25pm: interval

c. 8:45pm:
Barber: Medea's Dance of Vengeance
Debussy: La mer

Isata Kanneh‐Mason, piano
Delyana Lazarova, conductor
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

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


THU 21:45 The Essay (m002p7dq)
Instrumental

Karen Tweed, piano accordion

Playing a musical instrument - whether you're professional or amateur - rarely follows a simple trajectory of practice and progress and it makes psychological as much as physical demands that can come to define a person. Alan Hall talks with musicians about the nature of their relationship to their chosen instrument.

Today, the professional piano accordionist Karen Tweed, who’s been under the spell of her instrument since the age of 11.

A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 3


THU 22:00 Night Tracks (m00275dr)
Dissolve into a nocturnal soundworld

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


THU 23:30 'Round Midnight (m002p7ds)
Coast to Coast Jazz

'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.

From tomorrow until Monday 12th January, BBC Radio 3 is taking listeners on a coast-to-coast musical journey across the United States, as 2026 marks 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Presenters Petroc Trelawny and Georgia Mann will be broadcasting live in four major cities, from East to West, with programmes featuring the best music by American composers and musicians, exclusive performances, interviews, and behind-the-scenes access to some of the most vibrant classical music scenes in the US.

Tonight, Soweto shares more of the best in jazz, and some of exciting music coming out of the four major cities that Petroc and Georgia are visiting.

Also in the programme, Dave Okumu is back to share his fourth and final 4/4 selection, and tonight he chooses an album by two leading musicians.

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

FRIDAY 09 JANUARY 2026

FRI 00:30 Through the Night (m002p7dv)
Alexandre Tharaud plays Bach, Ravel and Dukas

French pianist Alexandre Tharaud displays his wide repertoire in this concert from Barcelona. Starting with Bach - including some of his own transcriptions - he moves on to the 19th and 20th centuries with Ravel's Miroirs and his own piano transcription of Dukas' well known orchestral piece The Sorceror's Apprentice. John Shea presents.

12:31 AM
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), arr. Alexandre Tharaud
Herr, unser Herrscher from St John Passion, BWV.245
Alexandre Tharaud (piano)

12:37 AM
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750),arr. Alexandre Tharaud
Siciliano, from Flute sonata in G minor, BWV.1031
Alexandre Tharaud (piano)

12:40 AM
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Suite in A minor, BWV.818a
Alexandre Tharaud (piano)

12:53 AM
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), arr. Alexandre Tharaud
Aus Liebe will mein Heiland sterben, aria from 'St Matthew Passion, BWV.244
Alexandre Tharaud (piano)

12:59 AM
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), arr. Alexandre Tharaud
Excerpts from Lute Suite in E minor, BWV.996
Alexandre Tharaud (piano)

01:11 AM
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)
Miroirs, M.43
Alexandre Tharaud (piano)

01:40 AM
Paul Dukas (1865-1935), arr. Alexandre Tharaud
The Sorcerer's Apprentice, symphonic scherzo
Alexandre Tharaud (piano)

01:53 AM
Marguerite Monnot (1903-1961)
Hymne à l'amour (encore)
Alexandre Tharaud (piano)

01:56 AM
Norbert Glanzberg (1910-2001)
Padam, Padam (encore)
Alexandre Tharaud (piano)

01:59 AM
Paul Dukas (1865-1935)
Villanelle for horn and orchestra
Esa Tukia (horn), Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Michael Adelson (conductor)

02:06 AM
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Andante from Sonata no.2 in A minor for Solo Violin, BWV 1003
Anatol Toth (violin)

02:10 AM
Paul Dukas (1865-1935)
La Péri
Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Katowice, Domingo Hindoyan (conductor)

02:31 AM
William Brade (1560-1630)
Newe ausserlesne Paduanen und Galliarden
Hesperion XX, Jordi Savall (conductor)

02:56 AM
Dieter Ammann (b.1962)
Viola Concerto
Nils Mönkemeyer (viola), Basel Symphony Orchestra, Fabien Gabel (conductor)

03:30 AM
Johann Baptist Georg Neruda (1708-1780)
Concerto for horn or trumpet and strings in E flat major
Tine Thing Helseth (trumpet), Oslo Camerata, Stephan Barratt-Due (conductor)

03:46 AM
Joaquin Rodrigo (1901-1999)
Invocacion y danza
Sean Shibe (guitar)

03:55 AM
Helena Tulve (b.1972)
And Death Shall Have No Dominion
Helsinki Chamber Choir, Finnish Baroque Orchestra, Nils Schweckendiek (conductor)

04:09 AM
Johann Strauss II (1825-1899)
An der schonen, blauen Donau (The Blue Danube) - waltz, Op 314
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Donald Runnicles (conductor)

04:20 AM
Giovanni Picchi (1572-1643)
Canzon seconda per violino e fagotto
Ensemble Daimonion

04:25 AM
Henry Purcell (1659-1695)
Nos.13 & 14 from 'Hail, bright Cecilia' (Z.328)
Chorus of Swiss Radio, Lugano, Instrumentalists of Swiss Radio, Lugano, Diego Fasolis (conductor)

04:31 AM
Emilie Mayer (1812-1883)
Overture to Faust, Op 46
German Symphony Orchestra, Berlin, Maxim Emelyanychev (conductor)

04:41 AM
John Thomas (1826-1913)
The minstrel's adieu to his native land for harp
Rita Costanzi (harp)

04:48 AM
Hannah Eisendle (b. 1993)
heliosis
German Symphony Orchestra, Berlin, Manfred Honeck (conductor)

04:55 AM
Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Adagio and allegro in A flat major, Op 70
Lise Berthaud (viola), Adam Laloum (piano)

05:04 AM
Edward MacDowell (1860-1908)
Hamlet and Ophelia, Op 22
Orchestra of the Zurich University of the Arts, Marc Kissoczy (conductor)

05:19 AM
Marcin Leopolita (d.1589)
Missa Paschalis
Barbara Janowska (soprano), Wanda Laddy (soprano), Robert Lawaty (counter tenor), Cezary Szyfman (baritone), Michał Straszewski (bass), Il Canto

05:38 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Symphony No.38 in D major (K.504), "Prague"
Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Jukka-Pekka Saraste (conductor)

06:06 AM
Cécile Chaminade (1857-1944)
Piano Trio no 2 in A minor op 34
Sitkovetsky Trio


FRI 06:30 Breakfast (m002p7kh)
Start the day on the right note 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’


FRI 09:30 Radio 3's American Roadtrip (m002p7kk)
Live from Boston

The first of four special programmes across the US, as 2026 marks the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Live from Boston's WGBH studios, Georgia Mann presents a musical postcard of the East Coast city, including a conversation with one of the most celebrated cellists of all time, Yo-Yo Ma, a long-time resident of the Greater Boston area and former student at Harvard.

In a programme full of great music by US composers and musicians, there's live performance in the studio from much-loved Boston-based virtuoso pianist, Marc-André Hamelin, joined by WGBH host and pianist Cathy Fuller, and from Christina Day Martinson, the Grammy-nominated violinist and concertmaster of Boston Baroque.

Georgia delves into Boston's rich cultural heritage, from the wonderful organ of Trinity Church - named one of the ten most beautiful buildings in the whole of the US - to its fabulous concert halls. She takes a walk round Seiji Ozawa Square to visit the world-famous Boston Symphony Orchestra, ahead of their concert performance of Barber's Pulitzer-prize winning opera Vanessa, meeting one of its cast of singers, the Boston-born Samantha Hankey. And she meets the President and CEO of the orchestra along the road at the New England Conservatory, Chad Smith, along with the conservatory's first female President, Andrea Kalyn. The first conservatory building in the US to be designated a National Historic Landmark, in its Jordan Hall, Georgia also eavesdrops on rehearsals for the celebrated period-instrument ensemble, the Handel and Haydn Society.

Plus a trip to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, one of the world's great pioneering organisations for technology, science, and music. Composer and inventor Tod Machover guides Georgia through the very latest and potential future developments in music-tech research.


FRI 13:00 Classical Live (m002p7km)
Alfred Brendel plays Beethoven's 5th Piano Concerto

Mark Forrest concludes his week of specially recorded music and performances from across the globe and his week long focus on pianists past and present. Today we hear a treasured archive recording of Alfred Brendel playing Beethoven’s Emperor Piano Concerto with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in Munich. Plus, we have piano music from one of the prize winners from the 2024 Leeds International Piano Competition: the Vietnamese pianist Khanh Nhi Luong, performs Henri Dutilleux's Piano Sonata in a concert recorded last month at London’s Wigmore Hall. Plus there's orchestral music from Vaughan-Williams and Robert Schumann.

Robert Schumann: Overture, Scherzo and Finale in E major, Op. 52
Ulster Orchestra
Killian Farrell (conductor)

Georg Phillip Telemann: Concerto No.1 in G major, TWV.43:G1 (Paris Quartet)
Ensemble Augelletti (New Generation Baroque Ensemble 2023-2025)

Sergei Rachmaninov: Trio élégiaque No. 1 in G minor
Esther Hoppe (violin)
Christian Poltera (cello)
Hiroko Sakagami (piano)

Ralph Vaughan Williams: Norfolk Rhapsody No. 1 in E minor
BBC Philharmonic
Martyn Brabbins (conductor)

Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5 in Eb major ('Emperor'), Op. 58
Alfred Brendel (piano)
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
Sir Colin Davis (conductor)

George Frederick Handel: Air with 5 Variations "The Harmonious Blacksmith" [Suite No. 5 in E major, HWV. 430]
Laurence Cummings (harpsichord)

Maurice Ravel: Tzigane (version for violin & orchestra)
Simone Lamsma (violin)
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
John Storgards (conductor)

Henri Dutilleux: Piano Sonata
Khanh Nhi Luong (piano)

Richard Strauss: Variations on a Bavarian Folksong
Festival Strings Lucerne

Carl Maria von Weber: Overture - The Ruler of the Spirits, Op. 27
BBC Philharmonic
Martyn Brabbins (conductor)


FRI 16:00 Composer of the Week (m002p7dg)
Aaron Copland (1900-1990)

Friends and Foes

Donald Macleod looks at Copland’s friendships with Leonard Bernstein and Serge Koussevitsky, his work with Martha Graham, and the creation of Appalachian Spring. We also uncover the darker chapter of McCarthy-era suspicion, when Copland’s patriotism was questioned and his music became a lightning rod for political debate.

Letter from Home
BBC Philharmonic
John Wilson, conductor

Appalachian Spring Suite:
v. Solo Dance
vi. Meno mosso
vii. Variation on a Shaker Hymn
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Zubin Mehta, conductor

Clarinet Concerto
Richard Stoltzman, clarinet
London Symphony Orchestra
Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor

Lincoln Portrait
James Earl Jones, narrator
Seattle Symphony
Gerard Schwarz, conductor

Fanfare for the Common Man
London Symphony Orchestra
Aaron Copland, conductor

Produced by Ellie Ajao for BBC Audio Wales and West.


FRI 17:00 In Tune (m002p7kr)
Max Richter, Fenella Humphreys and Martin Roscoe

Composer Max Richter speaks to Katie Derham about scoring the film Hamnet. Max has received a Golden Globes nomination for the soundtrack and he's been made a CBE in the King’s New Year Honours.

Violinist Fenella Humphreys and Martin Roscoe perform live in the In Tune studio ahead of their Wigmore Hall recital with Nicholas Daniel.


FRI 19:00 Classical Mixtape (m002p7kt)
American Roadtrip

Take time out with a 30-minute soundscape of classical music inspired by Radio 3's American Roadtrip, from US performers Yo-Yo Ma, Chris Thile and Edgar Meyer playing J. S. Bach, to Elmer Bernstein's Main Title from To Kill a Mockingbird. US composers Florence Price, Philip Glass, Amy Beach, Samuel Barber, Adolphus Hailstork and George Gershwin also feature.

Producer: Joe Blamey

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


FRI 19:30 Friday Night is Music Night (m002p7kw)
American Celebration

Edwin Outwater conducts the BBC Concert Orchestra in Saffron Hall in American music, including Julius Asal playing Gershwin's ever-popular Rhapsody in Blue and soprano Grace Nyandoro in songs by him and Cole Porter.

Presented by Clare Teal.

Copland: Fanfare for the Common Man
Florence Price: Concert Overture No.2
Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue

INTERVAL

Copland: Hoedown
Gershwin: Summertime; Someone to Watch Over Me
Gershwin: Walking the Dog
Gershwin: The Man I Love
Kern: All the Things You Are
Gershwin: An American in Paris

Julius Asal (piano)
Grace Nyandoro (soprano)
BBC Concert Orchestra
Conductor Edwin Outwater


FRI 21:45 The Essay (m002p7ky)
Instrumental

James Mollison, tenor saxophone

Playing a musical instrument - whether you're professional or amateur - rarely follows a simple trajectory of practice and progress and it makes psychological as much as physical demands that can come to define a person. Alan Hall talks with musicians about the nature of their relationship to their chosen instrument.

Tonight, James Mollison, the tenor saxophonist with the Mercury Prize-winning south-London jazz band, Ezra Collective.

A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 3


FRI 22:00 Late Junction (m002p7l0)
Back to the spinning wheel

Jennifer Lucy Allan gets into the new year spirit with songs to soothe and energise. And in the week of St Distaff's Day, the traditional moment in the new year at which weavers and women workers of the world returned to their posts, she brings selections that salute a vibrant return to some version of “productivity”. Pulling on the threads of the origins of St Distaff's Day, Jennifer selects an industrial folk tradition from early weaver’s songs alongside Franz Liszt's hearty piano arrangement of a spinning song by Richard Wagner. Plus: new beginnings, courtesy of Meredith Monk and Maxine Funke and a sort-of-ode to January from Sun Ra.

Produced by Cat Gough
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 3


FRI 23:30 'Round Midnight (m002p7l2)
ESKA live in session

‘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 shares more live music from British singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist ESKA’s masterful set, recorded at the Barbican as part of our ‘Round Midnight showcase for last year's London Jazz Festival.

ESKA was joined by a core band of Robin Mullarkey on bass, Jose Joyette on drums, Philip Achille on harmonica and Dave Okumu on guitar, who has also been Soweto's 4/4 guest this week. You can listen back to all his selections on BBC Sounds.

This is the first in a trio of Friday night programmes spotlighting music from the artists that featured on our ‘Round Midnight stage. Coming up in the following two weeks; international group LVDF and trumpeter Laura Jurd.

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