Handel, GF :: Suite in G from 'The Water Music'

Suite in G from 'The Water Music' originally composed by George Frideric Handel, is here arranged for flute and basso continuo by Clifford Caesar. It is a simple suite and can be considered by flutist at the beginner level.

For seventeenth and eighteenth century Londoners, there was nothing more pleasurable than going on a boating excursion on the Thames. With some cheese and bread, and a bottle of Port or even Burgundy, a pleasant afternoon was in store. This idyllic pastime was enjoyed by such figures as Samuel Pepys, the diarist, and William Hogarth, the artist, and was meant to be a simple affair. Yet, boating parties could be vastly more elaborate, even monstrous. These were the royal boating parties that consisted of vast barges with gilt decoration and huge flags fluttering and filled with courtiers and hangers-on and included sumptuous meals as well as light, decorative music. Hence - Handel s Water Music. A certain whiff of legend surrounds the Water Music. George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) was nominally a servant of George Louis, The Elector of Hanover (1660-1727), a rather surly and arrogant ruler of whom it was said that he had two mistresses, one with a pretty face but a negligible figure, and one who was quite voluptuous but had a homely face. Handel made a contract with The Elector that he would be free to pursue his studies in Italy and London as long as he eventually returned to his post in Hanover, Germany. In 1714, Queen Anne of England passed on and the staunchly protestant English wanted to be sure they would have a new monarch with good protestant credentials. They fastened onto George and invited him to claim the crown of England (something they would come to regret.) This put Handel in a bind as he had spent four years in London, a city he had come to love, and certainly must be out of favor with The Elector because he had never returned to Hanover. Handel approached the coming of his old master with some trepidation. A certain Baron Kielmansegge suggested to Handel that he compose some water music and play it on one of the King s outings. Thus he could regain favor. What is certainly true is that there was a royal boating party that went from Whitehall to Chelsea and back on July 17, 1717 for which Handel created a musical confection to please the King. These would be his three suites known as the Water Music , and these lovely strains won him the King s approval. From then on, Handel would become the doyen of the London musical scene and become one of the most successful composers in history; he made the most of it, leading an extravagant lifestyle. Handel s Water Music is essentially three suites, which are usually a sequence of dances meant for listening. In some ways they prefigured the Classical symphony. Handel follows this conventional pattern. It is reported that the first suite was performed for the voyage to Chelsea and the third for the voyage home, with a second suite being a setting for the supper party. This was a lengthy affair with the royal party not getting back until two in the morning.

- Brandon W. Fitch