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.
Handel (left) and King George I on the River Thames, 17 July 1717; painting by Edouard Hamman
Westminster Bridge on Lord Mayor's Day by Canaletto, 1746 (detail).
A suite, in Western classical music, is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral/concert band pieces. It originated in the late 14th century as a pairing of dance tunes and grew in scope to comprise up to five dances, sometimes with a prelude, by the early 17th century. The separate movements were often thematically and tonally linked. The term can also be used to refer to similar forms in other musical traditions, such as the Turkish fasıl and the Arab nuubaat.
Gavotte from J.S. Bach's French Suite No. 5
Allemande.
Gavotte.