Friday, March 26, 2010

Water Music

By George Frederic Handel
"Consort of Musick"
French Orchestral dance suite (3 suites in all)
Full overture in two parts preceding a series of dances.
3 suites altogether have approximately 22 movements- F Major, D Major, G Major
International European spirit- a mixture of different European nationalities
Instrumentation: Trumpets, horns, bassoons, oboes, recorder, flute, and strings
Composed to accompany a royal barge voyage up the Thames to Chelsea (in London) with King George I.
May have been originally composed for in two independent concertos or orchestral suites for merely strings and woodwinds. Then Handel may have put these two pieces together and added the movements containing trumpets and horns to make it more fitting for an outdoor environment.
3rd suite- indoor

Suite no. 2 in D Major:

Allegro, Suite in D Major
Rounded Binary- A-B+A, 4/4
Opening theme in sec. A- Rising triads in trumpets followed by strings playing fast scales- D Major strongly established.
Sec. B- Brass and strings, same key,
Sec. A returns even grander
Seemingly Ending- 4 decisive chords, concluding in D Major
REAL ending- contrast with minor key, slower tempo, strings.
Continuo- modern recordings
Last chord on dominant- suspenseful

2nd movement: Hornpipe
Ternary (A-B-A), D Major, 3/2, Allegro
Opening Theme: Strings, trumpets repeat it
Syncopation and repeated notes, ornamentation,Call and Response
Sec. B- b minor, no brass, but strings, rhythmic motive from beginning
Sec. A- concludes with theme played tutti

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