George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
The Water Music (1712-1717)
Handel, born in Germany, permanently relocated to England in 1712, abandoning his post in the Elector of Hanover’s court in order to endear himself to Queen Anne, who offered Handel a lifetime pension for a comfortable life. When Queen Anne died in 1714, the Elector of Hanover became King George I, and Handel’s position in court turned tenuous.
King George brought with him to London two foreign mistresses and little grasp of the English language – and was quickly detested by the British people as an outsider, loyal to the foreign elite. To repair his damaged reputation, the King threw water parties, lavish barge affairs that traveled down the Thames from Whitehall to Limehouse, stop for dinner, and traveled back again. George invited his German-speaking inner circle from his previous court to the first water party in 1715, including Baron von Kielmansegge, who conspired to repair relations between the King and the composer Handel.
As legend has it: while the barge of revelers traveled down and up the Thames, the King ordered a second barge of musicians follow closely enough to be heard by partygoers but not disturb the festivities. Baron von Kielmansegge secretly hired Handel to compose the music. When the barge arrived at Limehouse, George praised the music extravagantly, and when he found out it was Handel, forgave the composer immediately.
How much of the Water Music was performed at this 1715 party is unclear. Fragments of the collection appear as early as 1710, but the full work was officially premiered on July 17, 1717. The approximately twenty pieces are divided into three suites (one for the trip down river, one for dinner, and one for the return trip), making over an hour of music. At the 1717 water party, King George enjoyed the music so thoroughly he demanded it be played twice more. Handel’s pension was nearly doubled.
The original order of the movements within each suite is not known, and today the sequence is arranged variously depending on the performance. The work you are hearing tonight was rescored for orchestra by Sir Hamilton Harty in 1912, primarily from Suite No. 1 in F Major.
Program notes by Laken Emerson