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Two of Handel’s absolute classics are undoubtedly the Water Music (HWV 348, 349, and 350) from 1717 and the Music for the Royal Fireworks (HWV 351) from 1749. The Water Music famously accompanied a pleasure cruise of King George I on the River Thames on July 17, 1717. King George I was so impressed by the music that he had the work and individual pieces from it repeated several times. The Music for the Royal Fireworks was composed by Handel by the order of King George II for a fireworks celebration marking the end of the War of the Austrian Succession in 1748. The rehearsal for this event, held in the Vauxhall Gardens with an audience of 12,000, reportedly caused the first-ever traffic jam in London.
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The three suites of the Water Music consist of an introductory overture followed by 21 dance movements. The Music for the Royal Fireworks is a five-movement orchestral suite, partly also in dance rhythm, but initially specifically tailored to military (or “martial”) instruments, including brass and percussion. In both cases, the compositions are explicitly intended for open-air performance, characterized by a festive atmosphere and relatively straightforward musical structure.
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For listening on YouTube, I recommend the recording featuring Jordi Savall, a master of Early Music, and “Le Concert Des Nations”: Georg Friedrich Händel, Water Music / Music For The Royal Fireworks, with a total duration of 1 hour and 13 minutes. This recording, released in 2020, is a reissue of the CD originally released by Astrée Auvidis in 1993. In comparison to earlier, more stately recordings, I find this performance to be rather lively and spirited. You can listen to it here.
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The breakdown of individual movements with their respective timestamps is provided in the comments section as the first comment. Unfortunately, the last three movements of the Music for the Royal Fireworks are not specified on YouTube: La Paix: Largo Alla Siciliana (3:22 min), La Réjouissance: Allegro (3:53 min), and Menuett II - Menuett I - Menuett II (4:00 min). Nevertheless, one can still enjoy bite-sized portions of these compositions.
Here’s a breakdown of the movements in the recording:
- Water Music Suite I (D Major and G Major):
- Prélude 0:05: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyaeoyXDS78&t=5s]
- Menuet 1 2:14: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyaeoyXDS78&t=134s]
- Menuet 2 3:57: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyaeoyXDS78&t=237s]
- Rigaudon 1 6:24: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyaeoyXDS78&t=384s]
- Rigaudon 2 7:30: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyaeoyXDS78&t=450s]
- Rigaudon 1 Da Capo 8:18: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyaeoyXDS78&t=498s]
- Menuet 1 8:54: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyaeoyXDS78&t=534s]
- Menuet 2 9:50: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyaeoyXDS78&t=590s]
- Gigue 1 11:00: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyaeoyXDS78&t=660s]
- Gigue 2 11:31: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyaeoyXDS78&t=691s]
- Gigue 1 Da Capo 12:01: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyaeoyXDS