Main content

Find escape and recharge with calming piano and strings

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 Rachel Portman, Schubert and Florence Price. We Press Pause with meditation coach Maude Hirst and reveal some essential Wind Down Wisdom on how something as simple as a hot cup of tea can help you de-stress from the pressures of your day.

11 months left to listen

3 hours

Last on

Last Monday 18:00
BBC Radio 3 Unwind

More episodes

Previous

Ease into the evening with soothing classical music

Next

Embrace the evening with serene classical music

See all episodes from Classical Wind Down

Music Played

  • Gabriel Fauré

    Song without words, Op 17 No 3

    Performer: Antoine Préat.
    • Naive.

  • Takashi Yoshimatsu

    Dream Coloured Mobile II, Op.58a

    Performer: Joe Houghton. Performer: Kate Wilson. Ensemble: Manchester Camerata. Conductor: Sachio Fujioka.
    • Chandos.

  • Alexandra Hamilton‐Ayres

    Sept Douleurs

    Ensemble: Her Ensemble.
    • Play Echoes.
    • LEITER Verlag GmbH & Co. KG.
    • 3.

  • Antonín Dvořák

    Lasst mich allein, Op 82 No 1 arr. Lenehan

    Performer: Alisa Weilerstein. Performer: Anna Polonsky. Music Arranger: John Lenehan.
    • Dvorak.
    • Decca.
    • 4.

  • Felix Mendelssohn

    A Midsummer Night's Dream Op.61 (Nocturne)

    Orchestra: City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Edward Gardner.
    • Mendelssohn In Birmingham Vol. 4.
    • Chandos.
    • 8.

  • Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

    Clarinet Quintet in F sharp minor, Op 10 (2nd mvt)

    Ensemble: Nash Ensemble.
    • Hyperion.

  • Dustin O’Halloran

    Cymatic Love Spiral

    Composer: Bryan Senti. Performer: Dustin O’Halloran. Performer: Bryan Senti. Orchestra: Budapest Art Orchestra.
    • Cymatic Love Spiral (Single Edit).
    • Deutsche Grammophon.
    • 1.

  • Duke Ellington

    Lotus Blossom

    • Duke Ellington: Piano Works.
    • Dynamic.
    • 10.

  • Rebecca Dale

    There Will Come

    Performer: Steven Isserlis. Orchestra: Philharmonia Orchestra. Conductor: Michael Collins.
    • Night Seasons.
    • Signum Classics.
    • 101.

  • Florian Christl

    Budapest

    Performer: Florian Christl.
    • Budapest.
    • Sony Classical/Sony Music.
    • 1.

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Sonata in C major, K 330 (2nd mvt)

    Performer: Eric Lu.

  • Pietro Mascagni

    Cavalleria rusticana: Intermezzo

    Orchestra: Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Domingo Hindoyan.
    • Verismo.
    • Onyx Classics.
    • 4.

  • Marin Marais

    La Guitare (suite in G major)

    Performer: François Joubert-Caillet. Ensemble: L’Achéron.
    • Marais: Troisième livre de pièces de viole.
    • Ricercar.
    • 14.

  • Hayato Sumino

    Nocturne 2 - After Dawn

    Performer: Hayato Sumino.
    • Nocturne II - After Dawn.
    • Sony Classical.
    • 1.

  • Ros Gilman

    Dies Irae

    Performer: Ros Gilman.
    • Dies Irae.
    • Guiro Music Ltd.
    • 1.

  • Jean‐Philippe Rameau

    The Arts and the Hours (from Les Boreades)

    Performer: Lavinia Meijer.
    • Summer EP.
    • Sony.
    • 3.

  • Thomas Jack Robson

    ing

    Performer: Natalia Tsupryk. Performer: Fraser Bowles. Performer: Rory Dempsey. Performer: Thomas Jack Robson.
    • Thom Robson.

  • Sophia Jani

    The Dark And The Light And Everything In Between

    Ensemble: Kontai Ensemble.
    • Music As A Mirror.
    • Neue Meister.
    • 1.

  • Jozef Nowakowski

    Romance (Piano Quintet in E flat major, Op. 17)

    Performer: Lena Neudauer. Performer: Katarzyna Budnik-Gałązka. Performer: Marcin Zdunik. Performer: Janusz Widzyk. Performer: Nelson Goerner.
    • NIFF.

  • Sarah s Jenkins

    Music and Meditation

    Orchestra: BBC Concert Orchestra. Conductor: Ben Palmer.

  • Franz Schubert

    Symphony No 5 in B flat major, D 485 (2nd mvt)

    Orchestra: BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Juanjo Mena.

  • Jim Perkins

    Between the sea and the sky

    Performer: Jim Perkins.
    • Bigo and Twigetti.

  • Ólafur Arnalds

    saman

    Music Arranger: Geoff Lawson. Ensemble: Jess Gillam Ensemble.
    • saman (Arr. Lawson for Saxophone & Ensemble).
    • Decca.
    • 1.

  • Carlos Simon

    Light Everlasting

    Performer: Carlos Simon.
    • Requiem for the Enslaved.
    • Decca.
    • 18.

  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Prelude and fugue No 8 in E flat minor, BWV 853

    Performer: Alim Beisembayev.

  • Richard D. James

    #20 Lichen

    Ensemble: Brendan Eder Ensemble.
    • Brendan Eder Ensemble.

  • Hildur Guðnadóttir

    Folk faer andlit

    Music Arranger: Peter Martin. Singer: Anna Semple. Choir: Sansara. Ensemble: United Strings of Europe. Conductor: Tom Herring.
    • in the midst.
    • Platoon.
    • 1.

  • Hilgrove Kenrick

    Fragments No.4, Slightly

    Performer: Hilgrove Kenrick.

  • Olivia Belli

    Alma Venus

    Performer: Olivia Belli. Performer: John Metcalfe.
    • Alma Venus.
    • XXIM Records.
    • 1.

  • Alessandro Marcello

    Adagio from Oboe concerto in D minor (transcribed for trumpet & orchestra)

    Performer: Alison Balsom. Orchestra: Pinnock's Players. Conductor: Trevor Pinnock.
    • Vivaldi: Violin Concerto Op. 3 No. 9, RV 230: II. Larghetto.
    • Warner Classics.
    • 2.

  • Rachel Portman

    One Day - Piano Suite

    Performer: Rachel Portman.
    • Sony.

  • Kristjan Järvi

    Aurora

    Performer: David Nebel. Orchestra: Baltic Sea Philharmonic. Conductor: Kristjan Järvi.
    • Nordic Escapes.
    • Modern Recordings.
    • 4.

  • Jennifer Lucy Cook

    For you I will be an island

    Choir: The Cantorum Choir. Director: Steve Durtschi.
    • Cantorum Chamber Choir.

  • Florence Price

    Summer Moon

    Music Arranger: William Newell. Ensemble: Solem Quartet.
    • The Four Quarters.
    • Orchid Classics.
    • 10.

  • Christian Badzura

    Lunar

    Performer: Bruce Liu.
    • Lunar.
    • Deutsche Grammophon.
    • 1.

  • Wil Bolton

    Floating in the Air

    Composer: Wilson Trouvé.
    • Escape.
    • 1631 Recordings.
    • 3.

  • John Foulds

    Kashmiri Boat Song

    Orchestra: BBC Concert Orchestra. Conductor: Ronald Corp.
    • Foulds - Volume 3.
    • Dutton.
    • 004.

Broadcasts

  • Tue 5 Nov 2024 18:00
    BBC Radio 3 Unwind
  • Sat 16 Nov 2024 18:00
    BBC Radio 3 Unwind
  • Fri 6 Dec 2024 18:00
    BBC Radio 3 Unwind
  • Mon 3 Mar 2025 18:00
    BBC Radio 3 Unwind
  • Last Monday 18:00
    BBC Radio 3 Unwind