Programs & Hosts

Five O’Clock Favorite

Hosted by
Christa Wessel

Five O’Clock Favorite

Every weekday at 5pm PT

Every weekday at 5:00 PM PT, All Classical Radio and host Christa Wessel invite listeners to be part of the programming. During the Five O’Clock Favorite, you’ll hear a listener-suggested piece of music along with a personal story about their choice. With pieces that are fun and familiar, music for remembrance and reflection, and everything in between, the Five O’Clock Favorite is a perfect way to ease your commute, end your workday, or start off your evening soundtrack on All Classical Radio. 

graphic for five o clock fav

Your Host
Christa Wessel

Weekdays at 5:00, you’ll find me in my happy place on the radio: sharing your Five O’Clock Favorite. This special program is an opportunity for me to celebrate listeners’ memories and favorite pieces of classical music. Our stories connect us to each other, and this daily segment allows us to hear what’s in the hearts of our friends and neighbors. I hope you’ll submit your suggestion for a future Five O’clock Favorite!

Christa Wessel
woman with glasses sitting on a blue couch, leaning slightly forward — Photo by Christine Dong

Submit your favorite piece:
Suggestions are easiest to honor if they’re 20 minutes or less.

Recent Favorites

Air date: May 9, 2024

Symphony No. 7: Movement 2, Ludwig van Beethoven

Suggested by Glen in Oregon

This is one of the most moving pieces I know, in an understated way. The relentless rhythm reminds me of Pachelbel's Canon or Ravel's Bolero. The melody flows from very simple and calm to dramatic and back again, using a wide range of instrumentation like the colors of a painter's palette. Hopefully, this would be soothing during a busy commute. On a less spiritual note, 50 years ago, I used to take a recording with me to music stores to test out the fidelity of speakers before I bought them. If a speaker could reproduce the range of tone colors and dynamic levels in the Second Movement, they were good enough for me!

Air date: May 8, 2024

Gymnopedies 1-3, Erik Satie

Suggested by Caroline in Lake Oswego, Oregon

These have always been my go-to when I'm stressed out.

Air date: May 7, 2024

Carnival of the Animals: The Swan, Camille Saint-Saems

Suggested by George in Portland, Oregon

I am an adult cello student, learning to play this piece. I'd love to hear a professional recording for inspiration!

Air date: May 6, 2024

Moonlight Over Spring River, Doming Lam

Suggested by Susan in Portland, Oregon

It's Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month. I'd love for you to introduce me to perhaps a composer I've never heard before!

Air date: May 3, 2024

Also Sprach Zarathustra: Introduction, Richard Strauss

Suggested by Robert in Portland, Oregon

What better piece for National Space Day than this theme used to such great effect in 2001: A Space Odyssey??

Air date: May 2, 2024

Symphony No. 2: Finale, Jean Sibelius

Suggested by Dave in Federal Way, Washington

Most people, if they've ever even heard of Jean Sibelius, associate him with Finlandia, or perhaps the Karelia Suite or The Swan of Tuonela. He wrote a lot of music depicting the struggles of the Finnish people, but the 2nd Symphony may tell the story even better than those other pieces, whether or not that was the intention. The final movement I think sums that up very nicely. I encourage the listeners -- as long as they're not driving! -- to close their eyes and think about the tumultuous history of Finland and how this music brings it to life. I'd never made the connection before but, as the saying goes, "the scales fell from before my eyes." It's a great piece of music in its own right, but this perspective just adds to its poignancy.

Air date: May 1, 2024

Phantom Thread: The House of Woodcock, Johnny Greenwood

Suggested by Emmanuel in Salem, Oregon

I first heard the soundtrack before watching the film. When I first heard the song, it became one of my favorite pieces of film score. The lush and gentle melodies puts a warm emotion to my heart and mentality. I love the piece and soundtrack so much, it became more of a theme for myself.

Air date: April 30, 2024

Cherubic Hymn, Dimitri Bortniansky

Suggested by Pie in Portland, Oregon

I heard this recently on Andrea Murray's overnight show and thought it was absolutely exquisite. I'd love to hear it again!

Air date: April 29, 2024

Nocturne in E-flat, Op. 9, No. 2, Frederic Chopin

Suggested by Alana in Battle Ground, Washington

When I heard this for the first time I thought it was so beautiful I wanted everyone to hear it.

Air date: April 26, 2024

Waking Ned Devine: The Parting Glass, Shaun Davey

Suggested by John in Gresham, Oregon

This is an Edmund Stone inspired request. During a pledge drive he played "The Parting Glass" from the film Waking Ned Devine, and being of Scottish stock I looked up this song and learned that the text could be from Bobby Burns and is now quite popular in Ireland. I won't be at my own funeral but it will be played there.

Air date: April 24, 2024

And the Waltz Goes On, Anthony Hopkins

Suggested by Charles in Portland, Oregon

It really is a beautiful waltz, written by one of the greatest actors of our day. The only performance of it I have heard is by Andre Reiu.

Air date: April 23, 2024

The Old Grumbler (or “The Bear With A Sore Head”), Julius Fucik

Suggested by Nancy in Vancouver, Washington

My daughter's birthday is April 23rd, and I would like to have this played in honor of her birthday. She is 23 now, but she was still an infant when she first heard this song. My husband was driving with her in the car and had the radio tuned to the local classical station for where we lived at that time. This song came on the radio, and my husband said that the bassoon solo in this piece tickled her funny bone and she laughed and laughed each time she heard it. When he told me about it, I had to look it up and listen to it myself. It is a very amusing, unique piece. Whenever I hear it, I imagine my daughter laughing with the uninhibited joy that babies have and I pray that it will bring joy to everyone who hears it now. Happy birthday to my precious Dana.

Air date: April 22, 2024

Gianni Schicchi: O Mio Babbino Caro, Giacomo Puccini

Suggested by Kasey in Portland, Oregon

My husband and I have always loved this piece of music and played it (on an old CD player! ) the moment our daughter, Eleanor, was born. We included the music when we created her Bat Mitzvah slide show, and I hope, that when she marries, the music will be part of that celebration as well. Despite the longing and poignancy of the lyrics, I associate the song with joyful moments spent with our wonderful and beautiful daughter. Eleanor's birthday is this month and it would be amazing to share this with her.

Air date: April 19, 2024

An American in Paris, George Gershwin

Suggested by Keith in Hermosa, South Dakota

My Dad built a stereo amplifier from a kit when I was 9. This album was a new RCA Victor Red Seal recording and it was one of his first purchases for his new music system. The liner notes were by Deems Taylor, the well-known composer and critic of that time. The notes explained what I was hearing on the recording, in literal terms that a 9 year-old could understand. I listened to that record over and over, and pored over the liner notes. It was my introduction to classical music. And the album art (a young woman in a leotard, holding a clarinet, perched on E-flat of a very large piano keyboard) certainly caught my eye, too! I became a Gershwin fan, and my love of classical music was born right there.

Air date: April 18, 2024

Estudios Sencillos: First Series, Leo Brouwer

Suggested by Sam in Portland, Oregon

I am 12 years old, and listen to All Classical every day on the way to music lessons. This year I started playing classical guitar, and this is my favorite piece to play.

Air date: April 17, 2024

Les Sauvages, Jean-Philippe Rameau

Suggested by Matthew in Vancouver, Washington

One of my favorites from the baroque era. Rameau is great for staying focused when studying for my college exams.

Air date: April 16, 2024

Kirkpatrick Fanfare, Andrew Boysen

Suggested by Carolyn in Salem, Oregon

This piece makes me feel like I can fly over the clouds. It gives me chills. It always has and always will.

Air date: April 15, 2024

Pentiment: Sic Arsit Historia Kiersis, Alkemie

Suggested by Chris in Aloha, Oregon

I’d like to thank you and All Classical’s listeners for requesting and playing a few choice pieces of music from video game soundtracks. I have one from an incredibly unique and engrossing game I played last year. I don’t want to go on too much about it, and I certainly don’t intend to spoil the story, but some context would be helpful. Pentiment is a murder mystery set in a Bavarian alpine village and its abbey. The story begins in the year 1518, on the cusp of the Reformation, and takes place over several decades. Visually, the entire game looks like an illuminated manuscript in motion and all the dialogue is written (or printed, in some cases) across the screen as the characters speak. Every screen, every area the player explores is deliberately framed as an illustration. It is clearly a painstaking labor of love, executed with the budget and skill that this sort of project rarely receives.

The particular song I requested plays later in the game, as the player explores the abandoned ruins of a once prosperous dwelling, and more clues to the nature of the murders are revealed. I was immediately stuck by the delicate, but lush and mournful vocals. I stopped “playing” the game few a few minutes, and took a moment take in the scene, the art, the atmosphere.

I’ve done some research on the song itself. All the music in the game was composed or arranged and performed by Alkemie, a medieval music ensemble. It is an adaptation of the anonymous 16th cen. song “Ellend, Du hast umfangen mich (Sorrow, you have enclosed me)". The world of videogame music is vast and diverse, but Pentiment’s approach to incorporating early music into such a lovingly crafted historical setting is unique. I hope you enjoy it, thank you.

Air date: April 12, 2024

Dance of the Blind, Marjan Mozetich

Suggested by Diane in Portland, Oregon

I heard this piece awhile ago on All Classical and was kept spellbound by it and then I enjoyed it on You Tube where I could see the interplay of strings and ACCOORDIAN!!! I mean, who does that? It's a lively tune, just right for 5 pm commute or dinner hour.

Air date: April 5, 2024

Giulio Cesere in Egitto: Tu se il cor, George Frideric Handel

Suggested by Larry in Portland, Oregon

This aria has just four lines of lyrics, yet Handel's inventive composition is 4 1/2 minutes long, with a wild interplay between the soloist and the orchestral accompaniment. The passionate rhythm is mesmerizing. It is sung by Achilla, general to Pompeo, professing his love for Cornelia, the wife of Pompeo.

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