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Take some time to wind down with a soothing classical playlist

Niall Breslin brings you calming classical music to help you release the stresses of the day, recharge and prepare to rest.

Three hours of calming classical music to help you release the stresses of the day, recharge and prepare to rest - presented by Irish musician and mindfulness expert Niall Breslin.

This episode features a rich blend of music from the likes of Max Richter, Natalia Tsupryk and Mozart. Plus, a chance to Press Pause with meditation teacher Maude Hirst, and some essential Wind Down Wisdom from science podcaster Caroline Steel on the benefits of going for a walk with no particular destination in mind.

To listen on most smart speakers just ask BBC Sounds to play Classical Wind Down.

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3 hours

On radio

Sat 21 Nov 202617:00
BBC Radio 3 Unwind

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Start your evening with a calming classical playlist

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Music Played

  • Eric Coates

    Last Love

    Orchestra: BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: John Wilson.
    • Chandos.

  • 澤井誠

    Floating

    Performer: 澤井誠.
    • AURA Songs.

  • Eric Whitacre

    Sleep

    Performer: Lavinia Meijer.
    • Sony.

  • Marie Dare

    Aria (6 Pieces for cello quartet, No 4)

    Ensemble: Cellophonics.
    • Wood On The Tracks.
    • SOMM Recordings.
    • 109.

  • Max Richter

    While the flood rages

    Performer: Max Richter.
    • Deutsche Grammophon.

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Piano Concerto No 20 (2nd mvt, Romance)

    Performer: Marie-Ange Nguci. Orchestra: Mozarteum Orchester Salzburg. Conductor: Howard Griffiths.
    • Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 20, KV 466 & 22, KV 482.
    • Alpha.

  • Peter Maxwell Davies

    Farewell to Stromness

    Performer: Steven Osborne.
    • OK by Me - A Life in Encores.
    • Hyperion.
    • 8.

  • Grace Williams

    Calm Sea in Summer (Sea Sketches)

    Orchestra: BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Conductor: Jaime Martín.

  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Erbarme dich, mein Gott (from St Matthew Passion, BWV 244) arr. for violin, cell

    Performer: Alexey Lundin. Performer: Mikael Samsonov. Ensemble: Metamorphose String Orchestra. Conductor: Pavel Lyubomudrov.
    • Halidon Classical.

  • Vicente Lusitano

    Emendemus in melius - SATB

    Music Arranger: Marques L. A. Garrett. Choir: London Voices.
    • Oxford University Press Music.

  • Vijay Iyer

    Prelude - Orison (For My Father)

    Performer: Sarah Rothenberg.
    • In Darkness and Light.
    • DACAMERA Editions.
    • 1.

  • Frederic Mompou

    Cancion Y Danza No. 6a

    Performer: Emma Wills.
    • Mompou: Cancion Y Danza No. 6a (Arr. for guitar by Alirio Díaz).
    • Antarctica Records.
    • 1.

  • Edward Elgar

    Salut d'Amour, Op 12 (arr. Eleanor Alberga)

    Performer: Thomas Bowes. Music Arranger: Eleanor Alberga. Orchestra: Sinfonia Arcadiana. Conductor: Nicholas Fallowfield.
    • Elgar.
    • Rubicon.
    • 4.

  • Suena

    Fermata

    Performer: Suena.
    • Fermata.
    • Sony Classical/Sony Music.
    • 1.

  • ROMANS

    Dissolving Light

    • ROMANS Opus. 1.
    • Sandlot Records / 10K.
    • 8.

  • Cephas Azariah

    if time could rewind us

    Composer: Yujin Baek. Performer: Cephas Azariah. Performer: Yujin Baek.
    • if time could rewind us.
    • Anjunachill.
    • 1.

  • Jacques Champion de Chambonnières

    Chaconne in F major

    Performer: Kit Armstrong.
    • Piano Chronicles.
    • Deutsche Grammophon.
    • 18.

  • Ottorino Respighi

    The Pines of the Janiculum (Pines of Rome)

    Orchestra: BBC National Orchestra of Wales.

  • Agnes Obel

    Tangerine

    Performer: Agnes Obel.
    • The Meaning of Flowers.
    • Deutsche Grammophon (DG).
    • 10.

  • Max Bruch

    Kol Nidrei

    Performer: Astrig Siranossian. Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: François‐Xavier Roth.
    • Sir!.
    • Alpha Classics.
    • 10.

  • Maddy Chassar-Hesketh

    Dream Song/In 4 (tell me what you know!)

    Orchestra: BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.

  • Carl Nielsen

    String Quartet No 2 in F Minor, Op 5 (2nd mvt)

    Ensemble: NOVO Quartet.

  • Tony Woollard

    Merry Go Round

    Performer: Tony Woollard.
    • The Moon on the Istrian Riviera Part 1.
    • Bigo & Twigetti.
    • 3.

  • Henryk Wieniawski

    Violin concerto No 1 in F sharp minor, Op 14 (2nd mvt)

    Performer: HIMARI. Orchestra: Berlin Philharmonic. Conductor: Sebastian Weigle.
    • Debut.
    • Universal Music Operations Limited.
    • 2.

  • Johann Heinrich Schmelzer

    Violin sonata in A minor (1st mvt)

    Performer: Louise Ayrton. Performer: Sergio Bucheli. Performer: Lucie Chabard. Performer: Alice Trocellier.
    • Aurora Germanica.
    • Château de Versailles Spectacles.
    • 7.

  • George Frideric Handel

    Pifa Variation (after Messiah, HWV 56, Part 1 No 13: Pifa)

    Composer: Jan-Peter Klöpfel. Performer: Raphaela Gromes. Performer: Eldbjørg Hemsing. Performer: Julian Riem. Ensemble: Goldmund Quartet.
    • Pifa Variation (After Messiah, HWV 56, Part I: No. 13, Pifa).
    • Sony Classical/Sony Music.
    • 1.

  • Natalia Tsupryk

    The Sun Was Low (Arr. for Violin, Cello, Harp & Vibraphone)

    Performer: Kristine Balanas. Performer: Margarita Balanas. Performer: Alis Huws. Performer: Elsa Bradley.
    • Decca Music Group Ltd.

  • Frédéric Chopin

    24 Preludes, Op. 28: No. 15 in D-Flat Major "Raindrop Prelude"

    Performer: Mikhail Pletnev.
    • Chopin & Scriabin: 24 Preludes.
    • Deutsche Grammophon.
    • 15.

  • Joe Hisaishi

    Ask me why (II)

    Performer: Joe Hisaishi. Orchestra: Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
    • Ask me why (II).
    • Universal Music LLC.
    • 1.

  • Jack Wyllie

    Actor

    Performer: Jack Wyllie. Performer: Duncan Bellamy.
    • Eternal Spring.
    • Gondwana Records.
    • 5.

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    String quintet No 4 in G minor, K 516 (2nd mvt)

    Performer: Timothy Ridout. Ensemble: Takács Quartet.
    • Hyperion.

  • Rachael Philip

    Earth Fall

    Performer: Rachael Philip.
    • Wildfell Records.

  • Henry Purcell

    Gift i Bo (The Married Beau)

    Performer: Geir Sundstol. Performer: Knut Reiersrud.
    • Purcell, sannhet, løgn og dårlig hukommelse.
    • Elevator.
    • 9.

  • Callum Au

    Point of Ness

    Orchestra: BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.

  • William Lawes

    Fantasy in G minor-major

    Music Arranger: Andrew Manze. Orchestra: BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Andrew Manze.

  • Joanna Borrett

    Us

    Ensemble: Her Ensemble.
    • Clan.
    • Her Ensemble.
    • 3.

  • Fohn

    Prove Fruitful

    • Porcelain.
    • Odda Recordings.
    • 8.

  • Maria Theresia von Paradis

    Sicilienne

    Composer: Samuel Dushkin. Performer: Renaud Capuçon. Performer: Guillaume Bellom.
    • Paradis: Sicilienne.
    • Warner Classics.
    • 1.

Broadcasts

  • Last Tuesday17:00
    BBC Radio 3 Unwind
  • Sat 21 Nov 202617:00
    BBC Radio 3 Unwind