Freiburg Baroque Orchestra: Water Music

George Frideric Handel:

Water Music Suites I-III HWV 248-350
Trio Sonata in G major HWV 399
Concerto for Oboe in G minor HWV 287
Concerto à 4 in D minor

Daniela Lieb, flute
Ann-Kathrin Brüggemann, Oboe
Stefan Mühleisen, Violoncello

Freiburger Barockorchester
Péter Barczi, Violin & Conductor

Sometimes it can be a little more - King George I probably thought so., when he invited guests to a magnificent cruise on the Thames on July 17, 1717 at 8 pm. The river is said to have been almost completely populated by ships carrying aristocratic guests, who made their way from Whitehall to Chelsea and were also entertained by music. For this extraordinary event, the king commissioned George Frideric Handel to compose suitable music to accompany the voyage, and he immediately wrote his now world-famous Water Music.

To ensure that the music could be heard on all the ships, no fewer than 50 musicians were engaged to play horns, trumpets, flutes, oboes and many other instruments to create an impressive sonority. The king liked the music so much that he had parts of it performed again on the return journey.

Handel established his reputation as a master of monumental compositions with lavishly scored works such as the Water Music. However, the London composer also mastered more intimate tones, for example in his Trio Sonata in G major HWV 399 with its magnificent passacaglia or in the colorful Concerto à 4 in D minor, which was long attributed to Georg Philipp Telemann.