Water Music (Handel)

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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.

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[edit] Music and Instrumentation

All the instruments in the Baroque orchestra were brought onto the barge, except the harpsichord since it was impossible to bring an instrument of such size onto the barge.

The instrumentation varies depending on the movement, but the requirements in a complete performance are a flute, two oboes, one bassoon, two horns, two trumpets, strings, and continuo: this instrumentation is effective in outdoor performance. Some of the music is also preserved in a contemporary score written for a smaller orchestra, possibly the one at Cannons: this version is not suitable for outdoor performance.

The "Water Music" opens with a French overture and includes minuets, bourrées and hornpipes. It is divided into three suites:

  1. Suite in F major, HWV 348
  2. Suite in D major, HWV 349
  3. Suite in G major, HWV 350

However, there is good evidence for the somewhat different arrangement found in Friedrich Chrysander's edition of Handel's complete works (Georg Friedrich Händels Werke, Vol. 47, published in 1886), where the "suites" in D and G have their movements mingled together. This sequence derives from Samuel Arnold's first edition of the complete score in 1788 and the manuscript copies dating from Handel's lifetime. Chrysander's edition also contains an earlier version of the first two movements of HWV 349 in the key of F major composed in 1715 and originally scored for two natural horns, two oboes, bassoon, strings and continuo: in addition to the horn fanfares and orchestral responses, the original version contained an elaborate concerto-like first violin part, discarded in the later version.

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.

The "Music for the Royal Fireworks" , which was also written for outdoor performance, is often paired with the "Water Music" on recordings. Together, these works constitute some of Handel's most famous music for what we would now consider the orchestra.

[edit] Legends

The legend follows that Handel composed the Water Music to regain the favour of King George I. This story was first related by Handel's early biographer John Mainwaring; although this explanation may have some foundation in fact, the tale as told by Mainwaring has been doubted by some Handel scholars.

[edit] Popular Culture and the Media

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Many portions of the Water Music have become familiar. Between 1959 and 1988 a "Water Music" movement was used for the ident of Anglia Television. The D major movement in 3/2 meter subtitled "Alla Hornpipe" is particularly notable and has been used frequently for television and radio commercials, including commercials for the privatisation of the UK water companies in the late 1980's. The "Air" and "Bourrée" from the F major "suite" have also become popular with audiences, with the latter being the theme music to the popular cooking show The Frugal Gourmet.

Water Music was also featured on The Colbert Report for a segment called "America's Water Addiction... The Sea-monkey on our backs..." on Thursday, March 20, 2008.

Water Music was also used as the think cue to the short-lived Price is Right pricing game Gallery Game.

[edit] Recording

The many recordings include:

[edit] External links