Stavanger Festival: Water Music
One of Handel's most popular works, in which Handel incorporates dance music from across Europe Handel great inventiveness and supreme elegance.
Handel's 'Water Music' was first performed on the water – up the Thames – when King George I, several aristocrats, and officials sailed on the royal barge from Whitehall Palace on an excursion to 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 trip upstream to Chelsea and on the way back, until he landed again at Whitehall.
It wasn't just the king who was pleased; Water Music is and always has been one of Handel's most popular works. And with good reason. Despite the entertaining nature of the music, 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 are also often of French origin, such as the minuet, sarabande, and bourée. 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 features Italian arias, English sea shanties, and Scottish and Irish jigs. It is almost as if Handel wants to emphasize London's status as both the largest city in Europe and the capital of a multicultural empire.
Today, Water Music has been compiled and published in three suites, organized primarily according to practical considerations. However, the music was most likely performed in a more random order, as on the journey up and down the Thames. In the same spirit, Concerto Copenhagen therefore composes a suite from Handel’s Water Music especially adapted to the occasion for each performance.
One of Handel's most popular works, in which Handel incorporates dance music from across Europe Handel great inventiveness and supreme elegance.
Handel's 'Water Music' was first performed on the water – up the Thames – when King George I, several aristocrats, and officials sailed on the royal barge from Whitehall Palace on an excursion to 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 trip upstream to Chelsea and on the way back, until he landed again at Whitehall.
It wasn't just the king who was pleased; Water Music is and always has been one of Handel's most popular works. And with good reason. Despite the entertaining nature of the music, 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 are also often of French origin, such as the minuet, sarabande, and bourée. 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 features Italian arias, English sea shanties, and Scottish and Irish jigs. It is almost as if Handel wants to emphasize London's status as both the largest city in Europe and the capital of a multicultural empire.
Today, Water Music has been compiled and published in three suites, organized primarily according to practical considerations. However, the music was most likely performed in a more random order, as on the journey up and down the Thames. In the same spirit, Concerto Copenhagen therefore composes a suite from Handel’s Water Music especially adapted to the occasion for each performance.
PROGRAM
Georg Friedrich Handel: Suite from “Water Music” HWB 348-350
CONCERTS
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