Classical Music Playlist, December 17, 2025
Voces8 | photo: Andy Staples
In a new setting of the Magnificat, American composer Taylor Scott Davis adds a new second movement with text by Dr Terry York that reflects "how Mary may have felt when she received the news that she was to be the mother of Christ." From the 2023 album "A Choral Christmas" by British vocal ensemble Voces8, this new Magnificat is today's Midday Masterpiece.
6:00 a.m.
Johann Christian Bach
Sinfonia Concertante in Eb major C 37
London Festival Orchestra; Ross Pople, conductor
6:13 a.m.
Johan Halvorsen
Symphony No. 1 in C minor
Bergen Philharmonic; Neeme Jarvi, conductor
6:50 a.m.
ANONYMOUS
Saltarello
Calliope
6:55 a.m.
Johannes Hanssen
Valdres March
Boston Pops Orchestra; Arthur Fiedler, conductor
7:00 a.m.
Hamilton Harty
Fantasy Scenes
Ulster Orchestra; Takuo Yuasa, conductor
7:12 a.m.
Johann Sebastian Bach
Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B minor BWV 1067
La Petite Bande Barthold Kuijken, flute
7:35 a.m.
Michael Praetorius
In dulci jubilo
Musica Fiata; Roland Wilson, conductor La Capella Ducale
7:44 a.m.
Alexander Arutiunian
Trumpet Concerto
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra; Lawrence Renes, conductor Alison Balsom, trumpet
8:01 a.m.
Paul Hindemith
Symphonic Metamorphosis: IV. March
San Francisco Symphony; Herbert Blomstedt, conductor Randall Goosby, violin
8:06 a.m.
John Field
Piano Concerto No. 2 in Ab major
Scottish Chamber Orchestra; Charles Mackerras, conductor John O'Conor, piano
8:39 a.m.
Claudio Monteverdi
Magnificat I, from Selva morale e spirituale SV 281
La Cetra Baroque Orchestra Basel; La Cetra Vocal Ensemble Basel; Andrea Marcon, conductor
8:54 a.m.
Claude Debussy
Clair de lune ("Moonlight")
Hayato Sumino, piano
9:01 a.m.
Franz Berwald
Symphony No. 3 "Sinfonie singuliere" in C major
Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra; Neeme Jarvi, conductor
9:29 a.m.
William Bolcom
Ghost Rag: I. Graceful Ghost
Spencer Meyer, piano
9:34 a.m.
Frederic Chopin
Nocturne No. 2 in Eb major Opus 9/2
Seong-Jin Cho, piano
9:39 a.m.
Johann Sebastian Bach
Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G major BWV 1048
Tafelmusik; Jeanne Lamon, conductor
9:51 a.m.
Luigi Boccherini
Quintet for guitar and strings No. 4: III. Fandango in D major G 448
Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields (members of) Pepe Romero, guitar
10:00 a.m.
Arcangelo Corelli
Concerto Grosso No. 6 in F major Opus 6
The English Concert; Trevor Pinnock, conductor
10:13 a.m.
Gloria Shayne Baker
Do You Hear What I Hear?
The Knights; Eric Jacobsen, conductor Wu Man, pipa
10:18 a.m.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major K 488
English Chamber Orchestra; Jeffrey Tate, conductor Mitsuko Uchida, piano
10:46 a.m.
Gustav Holst
St. Paul's Suite Opus 29/2
Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra; Christopher Hogwood, conductor
11:00 a.m.
Edward Elgar
Enigma Variations Opus 36
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; Andre Previn, conductor
11:32 a.m.
Jean-Baptiste Lully
ARMIDE: Passacaille
La Petite Bande; Sigiswald Kuijken, conductor
11:37 a.m.
Isaac Albeniz
La Vega
London Symphony Orchestra; Elmer Bernstein, conductor Christopher Parkening, guitar
11:52 a.m.
Wilhelm Peterson-Berger
Violin Concerto: III. Finale "Rondo in the Lapland Style" in F# minor
Norrkoping Symphony Orchestra; Michail Jurowski, conductor Ulf Wallin, violin
12:00 p.m.
Felix Mendelssohn
Symphony No. 4 "Italian": I. Allegro Vivace in A major Opus 90
San Francisco Symphony; Herbert Blomstedt, conductor
12:12 p.m.
William Kirkpatrick
Away in a Manger
Voces8; Barnaby Smith, conductor Voces8 Foundation Orchestra; Voces8 Foundation Choir
12:17 p.m.
Modest Mussorgsky
Pictures at an Exhibition
Philadelphia Orchestra; Riccardo Muti, conductor
12:50 p.m.
Antonin Dvorak
Slavonic Dance No. 3 in Ab major Opus 46
Cleveland Orchestra; Christoph Von Dohnanyi, conductor
12:54 p.m.
Antonin Dvorak
Slavonic Dance No. 8 in G minor Opus 46
Cleveland Orchestra; Christoph Von Dohnanyi, conductor
1:00 p.m.
Peter van Anrooy
Piet Hein Rhapsody Piet Hein was a pirate
Netherlands Radio Symphony Orchestra; Kees Bakels, conductor
1:10 p.m.
Edvard Grieg
Piano Concerto in A minor Opus 16
Berlin Philharmonic; Mariss Jansons, conductor Leif Ove Andsnes, piano
1:40 p.m.
Georges Bizet
CARMEN: Intermezzo, Act III
Ulster Orchestra; Yan Pascal Tortelier, conductor
1:43 p.m.
Zoltan Kodaly
Hary Janos: Intermezzo
Budapest Festival Orchestra; Ivan Fischer, conductor
1:48 p.m.
Ludwig Van Beethoven
Violin Concerto: III. Rondo - Allegro in D major Opus 61
The Knights; Eric Jacobsen, conductor Gil Shaham, violin
2:00 p.m.
Taylor Scott Davis
MAGNIFICAT
Voces8; Barnaby Smith, conductor Voces8 Foundation Orchestra; Voces8 Foundation Choir
2:28 p.m.
Giovanni Palestrina
Alma Redemptoris Mater
Monteverdi Choir; John Eliot Gardiner, conductor Monteverdi Choir
2:34 p.m.
Arcangelo Corelli
Concerto Grosso No. 8 "Christmas Concerto" in G minor Opus 6
Tafelmusik; Jeanne Lamon, conductor
2:48 p.m.
TRADITIONAL
Gaudete! (Rejoice!)
The Wallace Collection; Simon Wright, conductor Trinity Boy's Choir; The Britten Singers
2:50 p.m.
TRADITIONAL
A Wassail Suite
Waverly Consort; Michael Jaffee, conductor
3:00 p.m.
Franz Joseph Haydn
Symphony No. 95 in C minor
Heidelberg Symphony; Thomas Fey, conductor
3:21 p.m.
Ricardo Castro
Plainte Opus 38/2
Orquesta Sinfonica de Mineria (OSM) Jorge Federico Osorio, piano
3:24 p.m.
Mel Bonis
Serenade Opus 46
Sandrine Cantoreggi, violin; Sheila Arnold, piano
3:29 p.m.
Joaquin Rodrigo
Concierto Serenata for harp and orchestra
Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra; Ernst Marzendorfer, conductor Nicanor Zabaleta, harp
3:53 p.m.
Antonin Dvorak
RUSALKA: Song to the Moon Mes�cku na nebi hlubok�m
Orchestra of St. Luke's; Michael Stern, conductor Joshua Bell, violin
4:00 p.m.
George Gershwin
Three Preludes
XLNT Sinfonietta Jon Manasse, clarinet
4:08 p.m.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Piano Concerto No. 25 in C major K 503
English Baroque Soloists; John Eliot Gardiner, conductor Malcolm Bilson, fortepiano
4:39 p.m.
James Beckel
A Christmas Fanfare
United States Coast Guard Band; Lt. Kenneth W. Megan, conductor
4:42 p.m.
TRADITIONAL
Joy to the World
Voces8; Barnaby Smith, conductor Voces8 Foundation Orchestra; Voces8 Foundation Choir
4:48 p.m.
Michael Torke
Sky: I. Lively
Albany Symphony Orchestra; David Alan Miller, conductor Tessa Lark, violin
4:59 p.m.
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Sleeping Beauty Suite Opus 66
Philadelphia Orchestra; Riccardo Muti, conductor
5:21 p.m.
Joseph Bodin de Boismortier
Chaconne (from Daphnis and Chloe)
Le Concert Spirituel; Herve Niquet, conductor
5:28 p.m.
Max Bruch
Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 26 in G minor Opus 26
Concertgebouw Orchestra; Bernard Haitink, conductor Itzhak Perlman, violin
5:53 p.m.
Gabriel Faure
Pavane Opus 50
Seattle Symphony; Ludovic Morlot, conductor
6:00 p.m.
Holiday Programming
Chanukah in Story and Song PART 1
Leonard Nimoy, host
6:23 p.m.
Holiday Programming
Chanukah in Story and Song PART 2
Leonard Nimoy, host
6:38 p.m.
Holiday Programming
Chanukah in Story and Song PART 3
Leonard Nimoy, host
