
As you probably know, in 1717 King George I ordered up
music from George Frideric Handel (1685-1750) for a festive river party the
king had organized. In a letter to the King of Prussia, the ambassador
Friedrich Bonet described the occasion thus: “Along side the King’s barge was
that of the musicians, fifty of them, who played all sorts of instruments, to
wit trumpets, hunting horns, oboes, bassoons, German flutes, French flutes,
violins and basses; but there were no singers. This concert was composed
expressly by the famous Handel, a native of Halle and first composer of the
King’s Music. His Majesty so approved of it that he had it repeated three
times, even though it lasted an hour on each occasion: twice before and once
after supper.”
The business of the “fifty” musicians is interesting. The
composer employed so large a number for the event because playing outdoors on
the river he needed a relatively big sound in order to hear the music; shortly
afterwards, a score for a smaller number of performers surfaced, probably done
by Handel for more convenient playing indoors. It is this latter
instrumentation that most period-instruments ensembles follow today, using
twenty-five or thirty players as McGegan does. As for “it lasted an hour,”
McGegan takes a little over fifty-six minutes. What’s more, it’s never been
entirely clear what order the composer intended the music be played.
Traditionally, there are three suites, although the exact ordering of numbers
within the suites often varies from conductor to conductor, with some
conductors choosing to combine all the music into one or two larger groupings.
McGegan chooses the conventional three-suite arrangement and adds several Variations as well.
I usually use three criteria for judging the merits of any
recording: its musical performance, its recording quality, and its overall
presentation. McGegan and his Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra succeed on all
three counts, so let’s look at them one at a time.

Then, there’s the sound, recorded at the Lone Mountain
College Chapel in San Francisco, California, in 1987-88. Simply put, it’s the
finest you’ll find in this music, and I’ve heard almost everything available.
Where other recordings may sound clear and clean, the Harmonia Mundi recording
does that and sounds real, too. It’s like comparing a picture of a pastoral
landscape to actually being there and observing the landscape. Other
recordings, no matter how good they are, tend to sound artificial by
comparison, a little too slick and flat. With the HM recording you get
transparency, air, attack, impact, range, and a terrific sense of the acoustic
environment in warmth and resonance. It is one of the best recordings of any
music you’re likely to hear.
Finally, there’s the presentation, where we find the
disc’s one shortcoming. It includes only the Water Music, nothing more. Most other albums these days include at
least one or more other items, often the Royal
Fireworks Music. Still, it’s the music that counts, and when it’s the best,
who cares if there’s no coupling. Besides, the other parts of the presentation
are first-class: The Digipak container is beautiful, and the handsomely
illustrated booklet insert is a joy. This one I have to add to my list of
all-time favorites.
JJP
I bought a cassette tape of Watermusic in London in the summer of 1986. It was the second piece of Handel's music that I fell in love with. I have since lost the cassette, but it seems like it was the only version I have ever heard with a relatively slow tempo. Might you have any idea how I can find it again?
ReplyDeleteThere are probably hundreds of recordings of the "Water Music," so there is no telling which one you might have had. You might try versions recorded before 1986 that use modern instruments as a start. Most period performances tend to be a bit faster.
ReplyDelete