One of Handel’s most popular works, in which Handel incorporates dance music from across Europe Handel great ingenuity and masterful elegance.  

Handel’s *Water Music* was first performed on the water—on the Thames—when King George I, along with several aristocrats and officials, sailed in the royal barge from Whitehall Palace on an excursion toward Chelsea. Another barge, carrying about 50 musicians, followed the King and his party as they performed Handel’s music. Many Londoners went down to the river to hear the concert—and the king was so pleased with the music that he ordered it to be repeated at least three times, both on the journey upstream to Chelsea and on the return trip, until he docked again at Whitehall.

It wasn’t just the king who was pleased; *Water Music* is and has always been one of Handel’s most popular works. And with good reason. For despite the music’s entertaining nature, it is a masterpiece.
Typical of a Baroque orchestral suite, “Water Music” consists of a grand French-style overture, followed by a long series of dance movements; these movements, too, are often of French origin, such as the minuet, sarabande, and bourrée. But with great ingenuity and supreme elegance, Handel incorporates dances and traditions from other European musical traditions and from all walks of life. Thus, MON can MON find Italian airs, English sea shanties, and Scottish and Irish jigs. It is almost as if Handel his music, seeks to emphasize London’s status as both the undisputed largest city in Europe and the capital of a multicultural empire.

“Water Music” has now been compiled and published in three suites, organized primarily for practical reasons. However, the music was most likely performed in a more arbitrary order, as on the journey up and down the Thames. Concerto Copenhagen therefore, in the same spirit, customizes a suite from Handel’s “Water Music” for each performance, specifically tailored to the occasion.