Handel - Water Music Suite in DG Major HWV349350 1
  • Classical music composed by George Frideric Handel GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL (1685-1759)

    Orchestral suite for flute, two oboes, bassoon, two horns, two trumpets, strings and basso continuo in D/G major HWV349/350 "Water Music"

    [1.] [Ouverture]

    [2.] Alla Hornpipe

    *The Water Music is a collection of orchestral movements, often considered as three suites, composed by George Frideric Handel. It premiered in the summer of 1717 (July 17, 1717) when King George I requested a concert on the River Thames. The concert was performed by 50 musicians playing on a barge close to the royal barge from which the King listened with some close friends (including the Duchess of of Bolton, the Duchess of Newcastle, the Countess of Godolphin, Madam Kilmarnock, and the Earl of Orkney). George I was said to have loved it so much that he ordered the exhausted musicians to play the suites three times on the trip.

    The music in each of the suites has no set order today. When the suite was played for the King, slow, often soft music was played when the King's boat and the orchestra's boat were close together, while louder, brisk passages were played when the boats drifted apart.

    This performance follows Samuel Arnold's first edition of the complete score in 1788 and the manuscript copies dating from Handel's lifetime. Therefore, the Suite in D and the Suite in G are mixed together.

    Performed by The King's Consort
    Conducted by Robert King

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