Handel’s delectable Allegro arranged for two Clarinets & Keyboard.

Music and instrumentation:

All the instruments in the Baroque orchestra were included in the composition, except the harpsichord and timpani, which would have been inconvenient to bring onto the barge. The suites’ music reflects this, with strings, for example, providing support usually afforded by the timpani.

The instrumentation varies depending on the movement, but the requirements in a complete performance are a flute, two oboes, one bassoon, two horns, two trumpets, strings, and continuo: this instrumentation is effective in outdoor performance. (Some of the music is also preserved in a contemporary score written for a smaller orchestra: this version is not suitable for outdoor performance, as the sound of stringed instruments does not carry well in the open air).

Water Music opens with a French overture and includes minuets, bourrées and hornpipes. It is divided into three suites.