30 minutes of music celebrating Euro 2025

“Whilst football fans around the country continue to celebrate the Lionesses' historic victory over Spain in the Euro 2025 final, today's Classical Mixtape honours their achievement with a half hour sequence of back-to-back music associated with, or inspired by the beautiful game. The mix opens with the broadcast premiere of English composer Shirley Thompson's "Momentum: Concerto for football and orchestra", written for the 2022 women's Euros, which the Lionesses also won. Other works include the seminal recording of Pavarotti singing Puccini's "Nessun Dorma" and Fauré's "Pavane", both famously used in past BBC TV coverage of the men's FIFA World Cup, and a number from the stage musical of "Bend it like Beckham" by Howard Goodall. Football loving composer Shostakovich's piano miniature "Football" sits alongside Michael Nyman's aptly named "After Extra Time" from "Final Score", and Poulenc's Laudamus Te from his setting of the Gloria is said to have been inspired by seeing a group of monks playing a match. The mixtape ends with an orchestral arrangement of Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline", which has become the fans’ favourite anthem for the England women’s football team. Listen out for the samba "Mas que nada", usually associated with football in Brazil, but somehow capturing the mood and the moves when break out star Michelle Agyemang danced her way up to the podium to receive the award for Euro 2025's young player of the tournament. Producer: Helen Garrison”