Tune in Today: Handel’s Stately ‘Water Music’

The German composer’s work, famously performed on the Thames River, symbolized royal grandeur and magnificence.

Painting of George Frideric Handel (L, with right arm extended) with King George I of Great Britain, traveling by barge on the Thames River while musicians play in the background. The painting is an artist's rendering of the first performance of Handel's "Water Music" in 1717. Public Domain

King George I was planning a party.

The year was 1717, just three years after his accession to the throne, yet the King’s authority was still very much in contention. Born and raised in Hanover, a principality of the Holy Roman Empire, he had not set foot in England for nearly four decades before becoming its king. He spoke little English. Yet in 1714, upon the death of Queen Anne and under the terms of the Act of Settlement of 1701—which established Protestant succession—this German prince found himself ruler of Great Britain.