Freiburg Baroque Orchestra: “Water Music” at Philharmonie Berlin

About the Event

Musical treasures and rarities with the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra! From Handel's magnificent “Water Music” to Vivaldi and Mozart to Bach's moving “Christmas Cantatas,” a season full of musical treasures awaits you.

Sometimes a little more is allowed – that's what King George I must have thought when he invited guests to a magnificent boat trip on the Thames at 8 p.m. on July 17, 1717. The river is said to have been almost completely filled with boats carrying noble guests, who traveled from Whitehall to Chelsea while being entertained with music. For this extraordinary event, the king commissioned George Frideric Handel to compose a suitable musical accompaniment for the boat trip, and Handel immediately wrote his now world‐famous “Water Music.”

To ensure that the music could be heard clearly on all the boats, no fewer than 50 musicians were hired, who provided an impressive sound with horns, trumpets, flutes, oboes, and many other instruments. The king liked the music so much that he had parts of it performed again on the return journey.

With lavishly orchestrated works such as the Water Music, Handel established his reputation as a master of monumental compositions. But the London composer also mastered more intimate tones, for example in his Trio Sonata in G major HWV 399 with its magnificent passacaglia, or in the colorful Concerto à 4 in D minor, which was long attributed to Georg Philipp Telemann.