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Essential Classics to banish the blues

If the dark post-Christmas days make you feel low, try this uplifting selection of classical tracks to help banish the blues, and spark some positive winter joy. Georgia Mann introduces tracks by Aaron Copland, Franz Schubert, Madeleine Dring and Edward Elgar, among a host of other great composers.

1 hour

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Music Played

  • Aaron Copland

    Variations on a Shaker Hymn (Appalachian Spring)

    Orchestra: Aurora Orchestra. Conductor: Nicholas Collon.
    • Warner.

  • Edward Elgar

    Chanson de matin

    Orchestra: Britten Sinfonia. Conductor: Nicholas Cleobury.
    • Sony.

  • Fr茅d茅ric Chopin

    Waltz in D flat major, Op 64 No 1 ('Minute Waltz')

    Performer: Maria Jo茫o Pires.
    • The Chopin Experience.
    • Warner Classics and Jazz.
    • 1.

  • Ingmar S眉berkr眉b

    Open Strings

    • Empire.
    • [PIAS] Recordings Germany.
    • 4.

  • Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    Serenade for Strings, Op 48 (2nd mvt)

    Ensemble: Scottish Ensemble. Conductor: Jonathan Morton.
    • Linn.

  • Fela Sowande

    African Suite (Akinla)

    Orchestra: CBC Radio Orchestra. Conductor: Mario Bernardi.
    • CBC.

  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Bagatelle in A minor, WoO.59, 'F眉r Elise'

    Performer: Alfred Brendel.
    • The Works of Beethoven.
    • 2014 Ameritz Music Ltd.
    • 1.

  • Vincent Youmans

    Tahiti trot [Tea for two] (No, no, Nanette)

    Orchestrator: Dmitry Shostakovich. Orchestra: Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Conductor: Riccardo Chailly.
    • Shostakovich: The Jazz Album - Brautigam, Masseurs.
    • Decca.
    • 16.

  • Felix Mendelssohn

    Scherzo (A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op 61)

    Orchestra: Gewandhausorchester Leipzig. Conductor: Riccardo Chailly.
    • DECCA.

  • Madeleine Dring

    Colour Suite: I. Pink Minor

    Performer: Paul Guinery.
    • EM Records.

  • Peter Ludwig Hertel

    Clog Dance (La Fille mal gard茅e)

    Conductor: Barry Wordsworth. Orchestra: Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.
    • Herold/Messager: La Fille mal gardee: Wordsworth/Lanchbery/Jacquillat.
    • EMI.
    • 14.

  • Oliver Reynolds Davis

    Airborne Dances: II.

    Performer: Kerenza Peacock. Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Paul Bateman.
    • As We Dance on Air.
    • East Props Music - OMiP.
    • 4.

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    The Marriage of Figaro (Overture)

    Orchestra: Staatskapelle Dresden. Conductor: Colin Davis.
    • Mozart Overtures Sir Colin Davis Staatskapelle Dresden.
    • RCA.
    • 1.

  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Brandenburg Concerto No 5 in D major, BWV 1050 (3rd mvt)

    Performer: Jacques Zoon. Performer: Giuliano Carmignola. Performer: Ottavio Dantone. Conductor: Claudio Abbado. Orchestra: Orchestra Mozart.
    • J.S. Bach: The Brandenburg Concertos; Orchestra Mozart, Abbado.
    • Deutsche Grammophon.
    • 10.

  • Franz Schubert

    Moments Musicaux, D.780 (no.2)

    Performer: Imogen Cooper.
    • Schubert 3: Imogen Cooper.
    • Ottavo.
    • 3.

  • Scott Joplin

    Elite Syncopations arr for wind trio

    Ensemble: Vancouver Wind Trio. Music Arranger: Anthony Averay.
    • Celebrated Classics: The Vancouver Wind Trio.
    • Sonrise Audio.
    • 15.

  • Doreen Carwithen

    Suffolk Morris: Ritmico (Suffolk Suite)

    Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Richard Hickox.
    • Carwithen: Orchestral Music.
    • Chandos.
    • 008.

  • Grigoras Dinicu

    Hora staccato

    Music Arranger: Jascha Heifetz. Performer: Patricia Kopatchinskaja. Performer: Victor Koptchinsky.
    • Rapsodia: Patricia Kopatchinskaja.
    • Naive.
    • 18.

  • Haydn Wood

    Joyousness

    Orchestra: Pro Arte Orchestra. Conductor: George Weldon.
    • British Light Music: Coates/Dunn/Kilbey/Weldon.
    • EMI Classics.