Water Music
The Water Music is a collection of orchestral movements, often published as three suites, composed by George Frideric Handel. It premiered on 17 July 1717, in response to King George I's request for a concert on the River Thames.
George Frideric Handel
In 1861, using a theme from the second of Handel's harpsichord suites, Johannes Brahms wrote the "Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel", Op. 24, one of his most successful works (praised by Richard Wagner). Several works by the French composer Félix-Alexandre Guilmant use Handel's themes, for example his "March on a Theme by Handel" uses a theme from "Messiah". French composer and flautist Philippe Gaubert wrote his "Petite marche" for flute and piano based on the fourth movement of Handel's Trio Sonata, Op. 5, No. 2, HWV 397. Argentine composer Luis Gianneo composed his "Variations on a Theme by Handel" for piano. In 1911, Australian-born composer and pianist Percy Grainger based one of his most famous works on the final movement of Handel's Suite No. 5 in E major (just like Giuliani). He first wrote some variations on the theme, which he titled "Variations on Handel's 'The Harmonious Blacksmith' ". Then he used the first sixteen bars of his set of variations to create "Handel in the Strand", one of his most beloved pieces, of which he made several versions (for example, the piano solo version from 1930). Arnold Schoenberg's Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra in B-flat major (1933) was composed after Handel's Concerto Grosso, Op. 6/7.