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Ease into the day with classical music

Tom McKinney with great classical music to get your morning started, and a special celebration today of Sir David Attenborough at 100, including some of his favourite music.

Tom McKinney with great classical music to get your morning started, and a special celebration of Sir David Attenborough at 100 including some of his favourite music and archives moments of him talking about nature and the music that means the most to him.

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3 hours

Last on

Fri 8 May 202606:30
BBC Radio 3

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Music Played

  • Joseph Bologne

    Violin Concerto No. 9 in G Major, Op. 8: II. Largo

    Orchestra: Lausanne Chamber Orchestra. Conductor: Renaud Capuçon.
    • Vivaldi: The Four Seasons.
    • Warner Classics.
    • 14.

  • Zoltán Kodály

    Variations on a Hungarian Folksong 'The Peacock'

    Conductor: Neeme Järvi. Orchestra: Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
    • CHANDOS.

  • Sergey Rachmaninov

    Lilacs

    Performer: Alessio Bax.
    • Rachmaninov: Preludes & Melodies.
    • Signum Records.
    • 18.

  • Sergey Rachmaninov

    Daisies

    Performer: Alessio Bax.
    • Rachmaninov: Preludes & Melodies.
    • Signum Records.
    • 19.

  • Alexander Borodin

    In the Steppes of Central Asia

    Orchestra: Philharmonia Orchestra. Conductor: Geoffrey Simon.
    • Borodin: Requiem/Polovtsian Dances: Philharmonia Orchestra: Geoffrey Simon.
    • Cala.
    • 8.

  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Partita for Solo Violin No. 3 in E Major, BWV 1006: I. Preludio

    Performer: Christian Tetzlaff.
    • Bach: Sonaten & Partiten, BWV 1001 - 1006.
    • Warner Classics.
    • 10.

  • Joseph Haydn

    Keyboard Concerto in F major H.18.3 (1st mvt)

    Performer: Jean‐Efflam Bavouzet. Orchestra: Manchester Camerata. Conductor: Gábor Takács‐Nagy.
    • CHANDOS.

  • Trad.

    Greensleeves

    Performer: Craig Ogden.
    • Classic FM.

  • Louis‐Claude Daquin

    Le coucou

    Performer: Lang Lang.
    • Piano Book 2 – Classical Encores.
    • Deutsche Grammophon (DG).
    • 6.

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Canzonetta Sullaria (The Marriage of Figaro)

    Singer: Barbara Hendricks. Singer: Lucia Popp. Orchestra: Academy of St Martin in the Fields. Conductor: Neville Marriner.
    • Opera Arias and Duets.
    • Decca (UMO).
    • 7.

  • Jan Dismas Zelenka

    Trio sonata no. 1 in F major (Allegro assai)

    Performer: Heinz Holliger. Performer: Maurice Bourgue. Performer: Klaus Thunemann. Performer: Klaus Stoll. Performer: Jonathan Rubin. Performer: Christiane Jaccottet.
    • Zelenka: Trio Sonatas.
    • ECM New Series.
    • 4.

  • Johann Strauss II

    Roses From the South, Waltz

    Orchestra: Vienna Philharmonic. Conductor: Yannick Nézet‐Séguin.
    • Neujahrskonzert 2026 / New Year's Concert 2026 / Concert du Nouvel An 2026.
    • Sony Classical.
    • 4.

  • George Fenton

    The Blue Planet (Original Television Soundtrack)

    Orchestra: BBC Concert Orchestra. Choir: The Choir of Magdalen College, Oxford. Conductor: George Fenton.
    • Silva Screen.

  • George Frideric Handel

    The Lord is My Strength (Chandos Anthem No. 10)

    Lyricist: Anonymous. Singer: Ian Partridge. Orchestra: Academy of St Martin in the Fields. Conductor: Sir David Willcocks.
    • Handel: Chandos Anthems - The Lord Is My Light; As Pants the Hart.
    • Decca Music Group Ltd..
    • 2.

  • Jean Sibelius

    Symphony No. 6 in D Major, Op. 104

    Conductor: Santtu‐Matias Rouvali. Orchestra: Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra.
    • Sibelius: Symphonies Nos. 6 & 7, The Tempest.
    • Alpha Classics.
    • 1.

  • Dmitri Kabalevsky

    The Comedians - Galop

    Conductor: Timothy Sexton. Orchestra: Adelaide Symphony Orchestra.
    • Fanfare.
    • Australian Broadcasting Corp (ABC).
    • 8.

  • Thomas Morley

    Now is the month of maying

    Ensemble: The Cambridge Singers. Choir: The Cambridge Singers. Conductor: John Rutter.
    • Collegium.

  • Felix Mendelssohn

    Symphony no.4 in A major, Op.90 'Italian' (1st mvt)

    Orchestra: City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Edward Gardner.
    • CHANDOS.

  • Edgar Olivero

    Sarahnade Mambo [after Mozart]

    Performer: Sarah Willis. Performer: Yuniet Lombida Prieto. Performer: Adel Gonzalez Gomez. Performer: Eduardo Ramos Hernandez. Performer: Alejandro Aguiar Rodriguez. Performer: Elio Hernandez Rojas. Singer: Olivia Rodríguez Caballero.
    • ALPHA.

  • Ronald Binge

    The Water Mill

    Performer: Ruth Scott. Orchestra: The New London Orchestra. Conductor: Ronald Corp.
    • British Light Music Classics: New London Orchestra/Ronald Corp.
    • Hyperion.
    • 8.

  • Fanny Mendelssohn

    Schwanenlied

    Performer: Sholto Kynoch. Singer: Helen Charlston.
    • A Poet's Love.
    • BIS.
    • 103.

  • Benjamin Britten

    The Prince of the Pagodas Op.57 (The Pagodas)

    Orchestra: Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Conductor: Benjamin Britten.
    • DECCA.

  • Johann Nepomuk Hummel

    Double Concerto in G Major (2nd mvt)

    Performer: Mirijam Contzen. Performer: Herbert Schuch. Orchestra: WDR Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Reinhard Goebel.
    • Beethoven's World: Salieri, Hummel, Vorisek.
    • Sony Classical/Sony Music.
    • 3.

  • Sergey Prokofiev

    Romeo and Juliet, Suite No. 2 (The Young Juliet)

    Orchestra: Antwerp Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Elim Chan.
    • All These Lighted Things.
    • Alpha Classics.
    • 2.

  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Symphony No 2 (2nd mvt)

    Orchestra: Berlin Philharmonic. Conductor: Sir Simon Rattle.
    • Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 1 - 9.
    • Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.
    • 6.

  • Max Richter

    The Four Seasons Recomposed: Spring I

    Composer: Antonio Vivaldi. Performer: Fenella Humphreys. Conductor: Ben Palmer. Orchestra: Covent Garden Sinfonia.
    • Vivaldi: The Four Seasons Recomposed by Max Richter.
    • Rubicon.
    • 101.

  • Erik Satie

    Embryons desséchés

    Performer: Håkon Austbø.
    • Satie: Piano Works.
    • BRILLIANT CLASSICS.

  • Clément Janequin

    Le chant des oiseaux

    Performer: Ensemble Clément Janequin.
    • HARMONIA MUNDI.

  • Albert Ketèlbey

    In a Monastery Garden

    Orchestra: The New London Orchestra. Conductor: Ronald Corp.
    • Hyperion.

Broadcast

  • Fri 8 May 202606:30
    BBC Radio 3