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Set the mood for your day with restful classical music

Calming classical music to inspire focus and set you up for the day ahead. Presented by broadcaster, author and counselling psychologist Dr Sian Williams.

Calming classical music to help you focus and set you up for the day ahead. Presented by broadcaster, author and counselling psychologist Dr Sian Williams.

Featuring soothing, relaxing tunes from Hildegard von Bingen, Bach and Borodin, this episode explores the condition of Amusia - where people aren’t able to make sense of music. Plus, Sian is captivated by the smell of the earth after rain while out for a walk to take a breath.

27 days left to listen

3 hours

Last on

Monday 09:00
BBC Radio 3 Unwind

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Music Played

  • Johann Pachelbel

    Canon in D Major

    Performer: Pierre Cochand. Orchestra: Kammerorchester Ensemble Classico.
    • VDE-Gallo.

  • William Grant Still

    Suite for Violin & Piano (2nd mvt, 'Mother and Child')

    Performer: Rachel Barton Pine. Performer: Matthew Hagle.
    • Cedille.

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Violin Concerto No 1 in B flat major, K 207 (2nd mvt, Adagio)

    Performer: Vilde Frang. Ensemble: Arcangelo. Conductor: Jonathan Cohen.
    • Warner.

  • Franz Schubert

    String Quartet No 13 in A minor, D 804, 'Rosamunde' (2nd mvt, Andante)

    Ensemble: Takács Quartet.
    • Hyperion.

  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Chorale Prelude BWV721 ('Erbarm' dich mein, o Herre Gott')

    Performer: Fred Thomas. Performer: Aisha Orazbayeva. Performer: Lucy Railton.
    • ECM.

  • Max Bruch

    Concerto for clarinet, viola and orchestra in E minor, Op 88 (2nd mvt)

    Performer: Ecesu Sertesen. Performer: Kyoungmin Park. Orchestra: Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Howard Griffiths.
    • Sony Classical.

  • Edward Elgar

    Chanson de matin, Op 15

    Orchestra: English Chamber Orchestra. Conductor: Julian Lloyd Webber.
    • Naxos.

  • Ethel Leginska

    Three Victorian Portraits (2nd mvt, 'A Dirge')

    Performer: Asher Armstrong.
    • Blue Griffin.

  • Hildegard von Bingen

    Spiritus Sanctus Vivificans

    Ensemble: ModernMedieval.
    • Ulysees Arts.

  • Niccolò Paganini

    Violin Concerto No 2 in B minor, Op 7, 'La Campanella' (2nd mvt, Adagio)

    Performer: Rudolf Koelman. Orchestra: Netherlands Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Jan Willem de Vriend.
    • Challenge.

  • Giuseppe Verdi

    La traviata: 'Intermezzo'

    Conductor: Péter Illényi.
    • Warner.

  • Sarah Class

    Lakes and Flamingos

    Performer: Sarah Class. Performer: Elizabeth Purnell. Performer: BBC Concert Orchestra.
    • Silva Screen.

  • Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges

    Symphony in G Major, Op 11 No 1 (2nd mvt, Andante)

    Orchestra: Czech Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Pardubice. Conductor: Michael Halász.
    • Naxos.

  • Anthony Hopkins

    Bracken Road

    Orchestra: City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Michael Seal.
    • Decca.

  • Cipriani Potter

    Symphony in B flat major (2nd mvt, Andante)

    Orchestra: BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Conductor: Howard Griffiths.
    • CPO.

  • Keaton Henson

    Petrichor

    Performer: Keaton Henson. Performer: Reinoud Ford.
    • Mercury.

  • Gregorio Allegri

    Miserere

    Ensemble: VOCES8.
    • Decca.

  • Alexander Borodin

    In the Steppes of Central Asia

    Orchestra: Slovenská filharmónia. Conductor: Vladimir Verbitsky.
    • Classical Gallery.

  • Ida Moberg

    Sunrise Orchestral Suite ('Stillness')

    Orchestra: Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Johannes Gustavsson.
    • Naxos Sweden.

  • Aram Khachaturian

    Masquerade, Ballet Suite (4th mvt, 'Romance')

    Orchestra: The Moscow Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Veronika Dudarova.
    • CDK.

  • Hikaru Hayashi

    Main theme from 'Hadaka no Shima'

    Performer: Shin-Ichi Fukuda.
    • Naxos.

  • Richard Wagner

    Siegfried Idyll, WWV 103

    Orchestra: BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.

  • Louise Farrenc

    Cello Sonata, Op 46 (2nd mvt)

    Performer: Esther Abrami. Ensemble: Her Ensemble.
    • Sony Classical.

  • John Sheppard

    Media vita in morte sumus

    Ensemble: The Sixteen. Conductor: Harry Christophers.
    • Coro.

  • Maurice Ravel

    2 Mélodies hébraïques, M A 22 (No 1, 'Kaddish')

    Performer: Bertrand Chamayou.
    • Erato.

  • Debbie Wiseman

    Myrtle (Live)

    Orchestra: City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Debbie Wiseman.
    • Silva Screen.

  • Giacomo Puccini

    Madama Butterfly, Act 2: 'Un bel dì'

    Orchestra: BBC Concert Orchestra. Conductor: Barry Wordsworth.
    • Decca.

  • Scott Joplin

    Solace

    Performer: Erich Kunzel. Performer: Keith Lockhart. Orchestra: Cincinnati Pops Orchestra.
    • Telarc.

  • Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

    Violin Concerto in G Minor, Op 80 (2nd mvt, Andante semplice)

    Performer: Elena Urioste. Orchestra: Chineke! Orchestra. Conductor: Kevin John Edusei.
    • Decca.

  • Francis Poulenc

    Quatre petites prières de Saint François d'Assise

    Ensemble: Tenebrae. Conductor: Nigel Short.
    • SIGNUM.

Broadcasts

  • Mon 3 Feb 2025 09:00
    BBC Radio 3 Unwind
  • Sat 15 Feb 2025 09:00
    BBC Radio 3 Unwind
  • Thu 27 Feb 2025 09:00
    BBC Radio 3 Unwind
  • Monday 09:00
    BBC Radio 3 Unwind