River Thames
The Water Music composed by George Frideric Handel premiered on 17 July 1717, when King George I requested a concert on the River Thames. The concert was performed for King George I on his barge and he is said to have enjoyed it so much that he ordered the 50 exhausted musicians to play the suites three times on the trip.
George Frideric Handel
In 1736 Handel produced "Alexander's Feast". John Beard appeared for the first time as one of Handel's principal singers and became Handel's permanent tenor soloist for the rest of Handel's life. The piece was a great success and it encouraged Handel to make the transition from writing Italian operas to English choral works. In "Saul", Handel was collaborating with Charles Jennens and experimenting with three trombones, a carillon and extra-large military kettledrums (from the Tower of London), to be sure "...it will be most excessive noisy". "Saul" and "Israel in Egypt" both from 1739 head the list of great, mature oratorios, in which the da capo aria became the exception and not the rule. "Israel in Egypt" consists of little else but choruses, borrowing from the "Funeral Anthem for Queen Caroline". In his next works Handel changed his course. In these works he laid greater stress on the effects of orchestra and soloists; the chorus retired into the background. "L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato" has a rather diverting character; the work is light and fresh.