Classical Music Playlist, June 9, 2025
Danish composer Carl Nielsen (appx 1908)
At age 24 in 1889 Carl Nielsen began his 16-year position in the second violin section of the Royal Danish Orchestra. Five years later he performed in the orchestra for the premiere of his own First Symphony. He would become a Danish national hero, eventually composing six symphonies.
In 1905, Nielsen gave up his orchestral position as a violinist in order to devote all his time to composition and, for Nielsen, his Symphony No. 3 “Sinfonia espansiva” (1910–1911) represented humanity and our infinite potential. “A paean of praise to labor and the healthy development of daily life,” as Nielsen described it, and it’s today's Midday Masterpiece.
6:00 a.m.
George Friederich Handel
Passacaille, Gigue, and Minuet
The English Concert; Trevor Pinnock, conductor
6:08 a.m.
Franz Joseph Haydn
Symphony No. 47 "The Palindrome" in G major
Hanover Band; Roy Goodman, conductor
6:36 a.m.
Margaret Bonds
Spiritual Suite: III. Troubled Water
Jeneba Kanneh-Mason, piano
6:41 a.m.
Ludwig Van Beethoven
Piano Trio "Archduke": II. Scherzo in Bb major Opus 97
Esther Abrami Quintet Emanuel Ax, piano; Leonidas Kavakos, violin; Yo Yo Ma, cello
6:45 a.m.
Ludwig Van Beethoven
Leonore Overture No. 2 Opus 72
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra; Yoel Levi, conductor
6:59 a.m.
Friedrich Kuhlau
Elf-Mound Overture Opus 100
Odense Symphony Orchestra; Othmar Maga, conductor
7:11 a.m.
Johann Sebastian Bach
Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major BWV 1068
La Petite Bande; Sigiswald Kuijken, conductor
7:33 a.m.
Astor Piazzolla
Spring in Buenos Aires (Primavera Portena)
A Far Cry Jason Vieaux, guitar; Julien Labro, bandoneon
7:41 a.m.
Benjamin Britten
Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra Opus 34
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; Andre Previn, conductor
7:59 a.m.
Camille Saint-Saens
Symphony No. 3 "Organ": Finale in C minor Opus 78
Boston Symphony Orchestra; Charles Munch, conductor Berj Zamkochian, organ
8:08 a.m.
Carl Nielsen
Wind Quintet Opus 43
Bergen Wind Quintet
8:35 a.m.
Antonin Dvorak
Poetic Tone Pictures: VII. Furiant Opus 85
Leif Ove Andsnes, piano
8:38 a.m.
Johannes Hanssen
Valdres March
Boston Pops Orchestra; Arthur Fiedler, conductor
8:42 a.m.
Alexander Arutiunian
Trumpet Concerto
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra; Lawrence Renes, conductor Alison Balsom, trumpet
8:59 a.m.
Carl Nielsen
Symphony No. 2 "The Four Temperaments" Opus 16
Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra; Michael Schonwandt, conductor
9:34 a.m.
Johann Heinrich Schmelzer
Sonata Quarta, from Sonatae unarum fidium in D major
Carrie Krause, baroque violin; John Lenti, theorbo
9:45 a.m.
Florence Price
Piano Quintet: I. Allegro non troppo in A minor
Takacs Quartet Marc-Andre Hamelin, piano
10:00 a.m.
Franz Liszt
Hungarian Rhapsody No. 5 in E minor
Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra; Kurt Masur, conductor
10:10 a.m.
Jennifer Higdon
Amazing Grace
Serafin String Quartet
10:16 a.m.
Franz Joseph Haydn
Symphony No. 98 in Bb major
Austro-Hungarian Haydn Orchestra; Adam Fischer, conductor
10:47 a.m.
Carl Nielsen
Violin Concerto: II. Rondo. Allegretto scherzando Opus 33
Danish National Symphony Orchestra; Fabio Luisi, conductor Bomsori Kim, violin
10:59 a.m.
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Orchestral Suite "Mozartiana" in G major Opus 61
Philharmonia Orchestra; Neeme Jarvi, conductor
11:26 a.m.
James Louis "J.J." Johnson
Lament
Kristin Lee, violin; Jeremy Ajani Jordan, piano
11:31 a.m.
John Williams
STAR WARS - A NEW HOPE: Binary Sunset
London Symphony Orchestra; John Williams, conductor
11:34 a.m.
Richard Wagner
Siegfried Idyll
Concertgebouw Orchestra; Bernard Haitink, conductor
11:53 a.m.
Reinhold Gliere
Concert Waltz Opus 90
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra; Vassily Sinaisky, conductor
12:01 p.m.
Felix Mendelssohn
Athalia: March of the Priests Opus 74
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra; Christoph Von Dohnanyi, conductor
12:07 p.m.
Carl Nielsen
Symphony No. 4 "Inextinguishable" Opus 29
Danish National Symphony Orchestra; Fabio Luisi, conductor
12:45 p.m.
Alexander Scriabin
Prelude No. 11 in B major Opus 11/11
Jeneba Kanneh-Mason, piano
12:47 p.m.
Claude Debussy
The Girl with the Flaxen Hair (from Preludes, Book I: No. 8)
Jeneba Kanneh-Mason, piano
12:51 p.m.
Antonio Vivaldi
Violin Concerto, Op. 4, No. 4 in A minor Opus 4/4 RV 357
The English Concert; Trevor Pinnock, conductor Simon Standage, violin
12:59 p.m.
Edvard Grieg
String Quartet No. 2 (unfinished): II. Allegro scherzando in F major
Oslo Camerata; Stephan Barratt-Due, conductor
1:08 p.m.
Francesco Molino
Guitar Concerto in E minor Opus 56
Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields; Iona Brown, conductor Pepe Romero, guitar
1:33 p.m.
Johannes Brahms
Intermezzo in Eb major Opus 117/1
Ivo Pogorelich, piano
1:39 p.m.
Mel Bonis
Piano Quartet No. 1: II. Intermezzo in Bb major Opus 69
Mozart Piano Quartet
1:46 p.m.
Bedrich Smetana
Ma Vlast: II. The Moldau (Vltava)
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic; Libor Pesek, conductor
2:00 p.m.
Carl Nielsen
Symphony No. 3 "Sinfonia expansiva" Opus 27
San Francisco Symphony; Herbert Blomstedt, conductor
2:36 p.m.
Ludwig Van Beethoven
String Quartet No. 14: V. Presto in C# minor Opus 131
Takacs Quartet
2:42 p.m.
Johann Sebastian Bach
Italian Concerto in F major BWV 971
Angela Hewitt, piano
2:56 p.m.
Giovanni Gabrieli
Canzon Septimi Toni No. 2
Empire Brass; Rolf Smedvig, conductor
3:01 p.m.
Arnold Bax
Overture to a Picaresque Comedy
Royal Scottish National Orchestra; David Lloyd-Jones, conductor
3:11 p.m.
Antonin Dvorak
Slavonic Dance No. 8 in G minor Opus 46
Cleveland Orchestra; Christoph Von Dohnanyi, conductor
3:16 p.m.
Niels Gade
Symphony No. 5 in D minor Opus 25
Danish National Symphony Orchestra; Christopher Hogwood, conductor Ronald Brautigam, piano
3:44 p.m.
Hubert Parry
Lady Radnor's Suite
City of London Sinfonia; Richard Hickox, conductor
4:00 p.m.
Carl Nielsen
Aladdin Suite Opus 34
San Francisco Symphony; Herbert Blomstedt, conductor
4:26 p.m.
Danny Elfman
Percussion Concerto: II. D.S.C.H.
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic; JoAnn Falletta, conductor Colin Currie, percussion
4:31 p.m.
Igor Stravinsky
The Firebird: Ballet Suite (1919)
Philadelphia Orchestra; Riccardo Muti, conductor
4:51 p.m.
Joe Hisaishi
Merry-Go-Round of Life (from Howl's Moving Castle)
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; Joe Hisaishi, conductor Yuja Wang, piano
4:54 p.m.
Johann Nepomuk Hummel
Concerto for Mandolin: III. Rondo in G major
Il Giardino Armonico; Giovanni Antonini, conductor Avi Avital, mandolin
4:59 p.m.
John Ireland
Epic March
London Symphony Orchestra; Richard Hickox, conductor
5:09 p.m.
Franz Joseph Haydn
Symphony No. 92 "Oxford" in G major
Berlin Philharmonic; Simon Rattle, conductor
5:35 p.m.
Ernst von Dohnanyi
Symphonic Minutes Opus 36
Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra; JoAnn Falletta, conductor
5:51 p.m.
Otto Nicolai
MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR Overture
Boston Pops Orchestra; Arthur Fiedler, conductor
6:00 p.m.
Carl Nielsen
Symphony No. 5 Opus 50
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra; Paavo Jarvi, conductor
6:38 p.m.
Felix Mendelssohn
A Midsummer Night's Dream: Nocturne
London Symphony Orchestra; Barry Wordsworth, conductor
6:46 p.m.
Gunther Schuller
Suite for Wind Quintet: II. Blues
Reykjavik Wind Quintet
6:48 p.m.
George Gershwin
PORGY AND BESS: It Ain't Necessarily So
Duo Sonidos
6:51 p.m.
Ben Shirley
High Sierra Sonata: III. Reflections on a Day
Pacifica Quartet Anthony McGill, clarinet
