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August 22, 2013 Volume 12 • Number 34 50¢ Newsstand Price
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Water Music: a concert fit for a King
The Chamber Musicians of Kamloops with the Brandburg Orchestra have planned a royal treat at Riverside Park to end the summer season, and the entire city is invited. On September 1, thirty-four musicians in period costume will assemble to recreate the first performance of Handel’s famous Water Music, which took place nearly 300 years ago in 1717 on the River Thames. “This will be the Thompson, not the Thames, but the original music and characters will all be there,” says Robin Suddaby, chair of the Chamber Musicians of Kamloops, who says that regretfully the group will not be performing on the Wanda Sue paddlewheel boat as originally planned due to time constraints and insurance issues. Instead the group will perform at the water’s edge, where they will blend strings, trumpets, flute, oboe, French horn, bassoon and keyboard to delight with a series of lively instrumental suites, originally designed to entertain King George I, who had taken a fancy to the idea of a water party. In 1717, King George’s popularity with the British population had declined. In an attempt to rectify this, his advisors thought that a large-scale spectacle was needed and they suggested a huge boating event on the Thames River. Of course, music was needed for the “river party” and the court composer, George Frederic Handel, was asked to compose something festive. On July 17 of that year, the King was on the Royal Barge with an assortment of Dukes and Duchesses, Counts and Countesses, Earls and other noblemen while a barge owned by the City of London held Handel and fifty musicians. The public must have totally embraced the idea, because the number of boats on the river that summer day was “beyond counting” according to one participant.
P. Mercier’s ‘The Prince of Wales and Sisters’, 1733.
Handel had written the music in three parts, with the entire piece lasting more than an hour. The musicians played as the barges moved from Whitehall where the festivities started, to Chelsea where dinner was served. After the King and his party finished dining, the barges reversed direction and returned to Whitehall with the musicians
continuing to perform this newly composed music. Inspired by a PBS special on a recreation of the same event for the Queen’s Jubilee, the free replica performance will have no meal or voyage, but will remain stationary in order to allow the public – continued on page 2
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