Suite No. 2 in D Major

The D Major Suite of the Water Music opens with a brassy overture where Handel sets up a rousing dialogue between the two trumpets, two horns and the combined strings and woodwind. It’s tempting to imagine the three instrumental groups placed in separate barges during the royal river party down the Thames in 1717, but in practice that would surely have ended in disaster. Handel writes a little link for the strings to connect the following “Hornpipe”, whose majestic melody radiates a strength and dignity which exactly typify the self-confident and hedonistic spirit of the age. Handel’s genius for this kind of ceremonial swagger continues in the last few movements: which include a swaying “Lentement”, a sturdy “Air”, and a slow, brassy minuet. Handel never committed to a precise order of movements in this suite, and conductors today sometimes include movements from the contrasting G Major Suite No. 3. About Handel’s Water Music Handel’s Water Music was written for a royal river party on the Thames in 1717 and belongs to an essentially French tradition of outdoor music. Deliberately popular in style, it relies on the appeal of sturdy dance tunes and military-style orchestration. On the basis of key and scoring, it actually breaks down into three suites: in F Major, calling for oboes, bassoons and horns alongside the strings; in D Major, with the addition of trumpets; and in G Major/Minor, where the strings are joined simply by a flute, recorder and bassoon. The very different character of these three suites suggests they had quite separate origins.