Handel’s Water Music premiered on 17 July 1717 after King George I had requested a concert on the River Thames. The royal party and approximately 50 musicians were assembled on barges and made a return trip from Whitehall Palace to Chelsea. According to the Daily Courant The King was so pleased with the music that he ordered it to be repeated three times. The Thames was reported to have been covered with boats and barges of Londoners who took to the river to listen.
This exciting arrangement of this loved work is unabridged and features important solo sections in the piano part as well as the flutes, preserving the elegant concertante style of the original.
