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: August 18, 2022

The Body of the Moon, Desmond Earley

Suggested by Kaylynn in Wilsonville, Oregon

It has been 5 years since the 2017 total solar eclipse. I was pregnant in Washington state, while by brother will in hospice in France. Though separated by a vast difference, I always knew we shared was the same moon. The beauty of the piece helps me focus on the love we always have for the ones we have lost. It reminds me that my love for him never went away and neither did his light. The sun is always shining, even if the moon is covering it.

Air date: August 17, 2022

La Oracion del Torero (The Bullfighter’s Prayer), Op. 34, Joaquin Turina

Suggested by Steve in Portland, Oregon

In my working life I spent a lot of time in Malaga on business. The town has a large bullring in the east part of the city which always had lots of anti-bullfighting graffiti sprayed on the walls... basketball and soccer are the big sports in Spain these days.

Air date: August 16, 2022

Gnossienne No. 1: Lent, Erik Satie

Suggested by George in Beaverton, Oregon

I find this piece incredibly beautiful. This proves to me that beautiful music can find a direct path to the pleasure center of the brain. I hope others can tap into this source of beauty.

Air date: August 15, 2022

Intermezzo in A, Johannes Brahms

Suggested by Gabriella in Newberg and Christine in Portland

Gabriella says:
This was one of the first piece I ever heard my boyfriend play. And it was after our juries were over, he sat me down in our music theory class room and he played it for me. And I cried, it was so beautiful, and it felt like in a moment I watched what we had lived together and then envisioned a future with him and I knew I was safe and loved and in the right relationship.

Christine says:
I am retired, I listen to classical music for most of the day. These few minutes bring a calm and sense of relaxation to my still busy life.

Air date: August 11, 2022

Anna Magdalena Notebook: “Bist du bei mir” & March in D, J.S. Bach

Suggested by Melanie in Portland, Oregon

My husband Tom and I were married 8/13/1977. We did it quite “affordably;” the wedding was in the Lewis and Clark Agnes Flanagan Chapel (Tom was in law school there, so the chapel was free to us!). A music student played the organ for the ceremony. Bist du Bei Mir was the processional, and we happily recessed to the Marche!! I sewed the dresses, we returned gifts to Meier and Frank so Tom could afford to buy a suit there, our friends and family cooked the food, and we partied in my aunt and uncle’s back yard. We celebrate our 45th wedding anniversary 8/13/2022. I married the right guy!

Air date: August 10, 2022

Grand Canyon Suite: On the Trail, Ferde Grofe

Suggested by Jeff in Portland, Oregon and Nancy in Newport, Oregon

Jeff says:
Many years ago (more, in fact, than I am willing to admit) as a high schooler, I was introduced to classical music by my stepbrother and his spouse when they gifted me with a cassette. You know, those little plastic boxes containing a reel of magnetic tape. Their gift was Grofé's Grand Canyon Suite. It changed my world. If, perchance, you can present to us "On The Trail" from that composition as a "5 o'clock Favourite," I would be indebted.

Nancy says:
The first time I heard the Grand Canyon Suite I felt transported to a magnificent open mountainous space surrounded by the beauty of nature. It relaxes me and nurtures my imagination.

Air date: August 9. 2022

Wedding March from Valsoy Fjord, Traditional Norwegian

Suggested by Lisa in Hillsboro, Oregon

My last name comes from my Norwegian grandfather. When I heard this breathtakingly beautiful song on All Classical, I realized that I should learn something about my heritage.

Air date: August 8, 2022

Trumpet Concerto in E: II. Affettuoso, Johann Friedrich Fasch

Suggested by Addison in Goldendale, Washington

First, this piece exemplifies the quote "When words fail, music speaks." I want to hear this glorious piece of music because of the fact that I used to have a form of hydrocephalus, and listening to All Classical Portland at night is a way to avoid having a seizure. Classical music has been a glorious past time for me and helps me cope with anxiety.

I will say is that the trumpet in this piece makes my spirit soar beyond this world. I hope it will do the same for the listeners. Thank you so much to the compassionate music-loving staff of All Classical Portland for their continued efforts to keep classical music at front and center of our lives.

Air date: August 4, 2022

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly: The Ecstacy of Gold, Ennio Morricone

Suggested by Jeffrey in Portland, Oregon

Both my wife and I had the coincidence, on two separate occasions, of having this song come up on our playlist while we bicycled up a challenging hill.

On her way to work one morning she biked along NE Brookwood Parkway when she reached an overpass leading over Highway 26. At that segment of Brookwood Parkway it is heavily trafficked, and when she reached the apex of the overpass the music reached a crescendo which in turn created an epic sense to her ride over the pass.

On a different day I was returning home from my studio on my bicycle while listening to the same piece. Near the beginning of the piece I had turned onto N Wheeler Ave which is a short but relatively steep hill that leads to Broadway just before the bridge. My bicycle at the time was a single gear bicycle and the climb had always been a slow battle of whispered curses, but that day with the music flooding my ears I felt empowered to make it to the top at the right moment. It truly became an soundtrack to my climb, and just as I was cresting the top the same crescendo that met my wife's climb began to play. It fit too perfectly.

Air date: August 3, 2022

Clair de Lune, Claude Debussy

Suggested by Pie in Portland, Oregon

I love this music... and I think that when the time it right, I will try and master it on the piano.

Air date: August 2, 2022

Scottish Fantasy: Andante sostenuto, Max Bruch

Suggested by Nancy in Tualatin, Oregon

I love this whole piece. When I had finished taking the Bar exam, I put the CD on in my car and blasted it all the way home! I play the violin myself, but also play a lovely arrangement of the slow movement on mountain dulcimer.

Air date: July 28, 2022

The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace – Benedictus, Karl Jenkins

Suggested by Anne in Woodburn, Oregon

This breathtaking music always inspires and fills me with hope. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Air date: July 27, 2022

The Boy in the Gap, Traditional Irish

Suggested by Gregory in McMinnville, Oregon

Hello!!! This delectable piece I came across accidentally and I have to say, the last time a song stopped me dead in my tracks and captivated my whole being was when I heard Eric Whitacre's "River Cam" on your station (would love to share that story another time!).

Martin Hayes, Dennis Cahill, and their fellow musical collaborators bring out the sheer beauty of traditional Irish music in a way that sends chills down the spine while warming the heart with a love of humanity - what truly great art should do!

Air date: July 26, 2022

Miserere, W. A. Mozart

Suggested by Lynn in Portland, Oregon

I have always been transfixed by Allegri's Miserere. And Mozart loved it, too.... he fell so in love with Allegri's piece when he heard it at St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome that he subsequently transcribed it from memory. I adore Mozart's own Miserere Mei Deus, too, so I'd like to suggest Mozart's version of this lovely text for your 5:00 Favorite.

Air date: July 25, 2022

Miserere, Gregorio Allegri

Suggested by Pie in Portland, Oregon

This is such a beautiful piece of music... and those high notes are magical!

Air date: July 21, 2022

A Medianoche, Hal Isbitz

Suggested by Gary in Vancouver, Washington

While recovering from Covid, I discovered this piece on pianist Scott Kirby's Facebook page and was inspired to learn it myself. Six months later, I have pretty well learned it, and am still busy brushing up on my ragtime repertoire.

Air date: July 20, 2022

Firebird Ballet: Berceuse & Finale, Igor Stravinsky

Suggested by Gregg in Cary, North Carolina

This piece was part of my "intro" to classical music as a recording of it was often played during the stage set-up and sound check for concerts by the rock group Yes back in the 1970s.
Additionally, the first season that I ever played in a community orchestra (2018-19) I got to play this (bass). I work at a classical radio station here in North Carolina and tune in and keep an eye on your station to see what we can be doing better here. :)

Air date: July 19, 2022

Night on Bald Mountain, Modest Mussorgsky

Suggested by Emma in Portland, Oregon

I am an 8th grader in middle school. I recently saw Fantasia (1940) again and was mesmerized by all the wonderful classical pieces brought into the film. I also loved Maestro Leopold Stokowski's fine conducting - without a baton. One of my favorite pieces from that film is A Night On Bald Mountain by Mussorgsky. I love the darkness and power of the piece and when I hear it I always picture the evil Chernabog opening his monstrous wings and grabbing the town's restless souls to worship him on Bald Mountain. I'd love to hear it for the Five O' Clock Favorite.

Air date: July 18, 2022

Fragile, Sting (arr. Walter Silva)

Suggested by Pie in Portland, Oregon

This is by far my favorite piece of music by Sting. The title says it all: how fragile we are. Our lives can change in an instant.

Air date: July 7, 2022

St. Matthew Passion: Erbarme Dich, J.S. Bach

Suggested by Dayanna in Vancouver, Washington

While watching my favorite anime, Bungo Stray Dogs, I discovered a new character in the series: He’s named after the author Fyodor Dostoyevsky. In this anime the character is a mysterious antagonist who plays the cello quite beautifully. So as to not raise suspicion, the way he communicated with his underlings was via requests on classical radio stations. This particular piece was played at the end of the last episode and it communicated to his underlings: “Now is the time.” I found this piece quite haunting in its own beautiful way, and it has stayed with me. I'd love to hear it again, but my request is purely for my enjoyment, and not intended to communicate with any underlings. :)

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