Five O’Clock Favorite

Hosted by
Christa Wessel

Five O’Clock Favorite

Every weekday at 5:00 PM 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: 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.

Air date: April 4, 2024

Ashokan Farewell, Jay Ungar

Suggested by Gregory in Portland, Oregon

Calm, reflective... that says it all for me. Old times, friends, family, pets... life.

Air date: April 3, 2024

Orphee: Act 1, No. 1 – The cafe & Act 2, No. 3 – Orphee and the Princess, Philip Glass

Suggested by Rosemary in Lake Oswego, Oregon

It was a grey, cold February day, wet snow falling. I was feeling sorry for myself because my Covid symptoms were still lingering. I stumbled upon this recording of Glass' Cocteau Triology by the Labeque sisters, and it was an immediate antidote to my gloomy mood. What a delightful discovery!

Air date: March 29, 2024

To Kill A Mockingbird: Main Theme, Elmer Bernstein

Suggested by Kathleen in Oregon

I discovered the book when I was in the 7th grade and read it with such distinct delight. Many hours were spent devouring this literary gem -- reading in the springtime beauty outside, or curled up at night with my reading lamp turned low and my window open and the cool breeze drifting in. When I discovered the score to the film adaptation of the novel, I fell in love with it and immediately found piano sheet music for the Main Theme. To this day, I still have retained muscle-memory for the majority of this piece. Hearing this music makes me want to go and read this masterpiece again -- I hope that it fills everyone else with the same desire :)

Air date: March 28, 2024

Messe solennelle de Sainte Cécile: VI. Benedictus, Charles Gounod

Suggested by Jim in Camas, Washington

This piece of choral music is achingly-beautiful, and it often moves me to tears.

Air date: March 27, 2024

1812 Overture (arr. Cambridge Buskers), Peter Tchaikovsky

Suggested by Lester in Gaston, Oregon

While living in London (UK), we were introduced into their fine tradition of buskers, or street performers. One of our favorites was the Cambridge Buskers. I just love their version of the the 1812 Overture. Most people know this piece because of its grandeur, scope, & artillery! The Buskers provide a stirring rendition, with only 2 musicians!!! I hope you and your listeners are as delighted as I have been.

Air date: March 26, 2024

Les Choristes: Cerf-Volant (“Kite”), Bruno Coulais

Suggested by Alyson in Portland, Oregon

When I first heard this music in the film, I thought it must be a Christmas song. The title, “Cerf-volant” translates literally to “flying deer,“ and the song had a magical, soaring quality with words that seem to describe a child’s wish for a reindeer to return. Then I remembered that “Cerf-volant” is the French word for “kite.” The song speaks the wishes of a child who is raptly watching a kite flying in the air, reminding it to come back home… but it still makes me feel the magic of Christmas every time I hear it.

Air date: March 25, 2024

A Little Whimsy, Dorothy Rudd Moore

Suggested by Walter in Blacksburg, Virginia

I was recently introduced to this composer and piece. I think it's just delightful and deserves more exposure.

Air date: April 12, 2024

The Sims: Buying Lumber, Jerry Martin

Suggested by Neil in Portland, Oregon

This piece brings back so many memories and feelings that I'm not sure I can even begin to articulate them all. I must have been around 10 years old when I first got my hands on the Sims, and to this day I am still in awe with everything about it - specifically the music that that game introduced me to. My mother always used to tell me about the classical music she remembers from the old (sorry lol) cartoons like 'The Looney Toons' when she was younger - this is my 'Looney Toons'. I hope these next few minutes brings you some sort of peace during your commute home, I know it will for me. Please, enjoy.

Air date: March 11, 2024

Il Trovatore: Anvil Chorus, Giuseppe Verdi

Suggested by Jeremy in Portland, Oregon

I was hoping you might be able to play Giuseppe Verdi's "Anvil Chorus" as little pick me up for the start of this Monday work week. Drive away some of these clouds and rain!

Air date: March 8, 2024

Queen Elizabeth’s March, Adela Verne

Suggested by James in Beaverton, Oregon

This was written by my Great Grandmother Adela Verne. My great uncle was John Vallier, a concert pianist who’s mother was Adela Verne, who herself was tutored by the great Clara Schumann. Adela Verne wrote "Queen Elizabeth's March" for the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (later the Queen Mother) in 1937.

I have been quietly honoring my amazing great grandmother by listening to the March, and feel it might be a piece your listeners would enjoy. John Vallier was an amazing pianist, and his interpretations of Chopin are truly like no other…after all, he has direct lineage to Chopin himself.

Air date: March 7, 2024

Big Fish: Sandra’s Theme, Danny Elfman

Suggested by Kat in Wilsonville, Oregon

This movie has been my absolute favorite for as long as I can remember. It's one of those films that you can watch over and over again and get something new from it each time. I see so many people in every character, so much color in every song. This piece is my most favorite from the movie - I love how the music swells with anticipation as the sound grows, filling you with an undeniable sense of wonder.

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