The Water Music was composed by George Frideric Handel in 1717 in response to a request from King George I of England for a concert on the River Thames.

King George boarded the royal barge at Whitehall Palace, (accompanied by dukes and duchesses, earls and countesses) and floated leisurely up the Thames, followed by another barge carrying the orchestra of 50 musicians, who performed as they floated down the river. The king was so pleased by Handel?s music that he commanded it to be repeated at least 3 times, both on the way to Chelsea and on the return to Whitehall.

The celebratory mood of the ALLA HORNPIPE movement makes it a wonderful wedding recessional! It is also appropriate for any other joyous occasion.

This arrangement for pedal harp solo by Stephanie Bennett (?One of our country?s top harpists? - the Hollywood Reporter) is meticulously notated with fingerings, pedal changes and muffles where needed. All markings are explained in the Performance Notes.

In its traditional AABA form, it is 4 minutes long. It is easy to make it shorter by playing fewer sections, or longer by repeating sections as needed.

Song List: 5th Avenue Swing Ain't Gonna Work Tomorrow American Hornpipe An Comhra Donn Angels Rock Me To Sleep Bacon In The Skillet Balkan Sunset Barney's Goat Bennett's Favorite Reel Bill Cheathum Billy in the Lowground Black And White Rag Blackberry Blossom Blanchard's Hornpipe Bluesin' the Frets Bottom of Punch Bowl Hornpipe Brian Boru's March Brighton Beach Bring Back to Me My Wandering Boy Brunswick Dance Brush Creek Bumpin' Buster's Reel Buttermilk Jig Caleb's Gorge Cape Cod Reel Carolan's Draught Carrie's Dream Catawissa Reel Catskill Night Cold, Frosty Morning Coldwater Creek Collin's Quest Copthorne Blues Crazy Creek Cumberland Gap Cumberland Ridge D Lite Days Of 'Lang Syne Devil's Dream Dixie Breakdown Don't Go Out Tonight, My Darling/East Virginia Down In The Willow Garden Dublin Dance East Tennessee Blues Echo Canyon Echo Waltz Eighth Of January Eleven Mile Canyon Em Study Fair And Tender Ladies Far From Home Gladiator Reel Green Fields Of America Guster Halloween Harvest Moon Strathspey Haste to the Wedding Haul Away, Joe Heebie Jeebie Hens In The Kitchen High Barbaree High five Hills of Roane County Hooker's Hornpipe I Never Will Marry I'll Be All Smiles Tonight Indian Creek Isle Of Cumbrae Ivy Leaf Reel Jacks Fork Rendezvous Jackson's Jig Katy Trail Kitchen Girl Lady's Fancy Lark in the Morning League Reel Little House 'Round the Corner London Hornpipe Lonesome River Lost Indian Luckie Bawdin's Reel Maddie's Bonnet Martha's Cider Mere Point Midnight Flight Mississippi Basin Missouri Mud Molambe Morrison's Jig National Lancer's Hornpipe Neapolitan Threshers Night Voyage North Sea Obadiah Johnson Peeler Creek Waltz Powder Mill Raqad Red Fox Waltz Red Haired Boy Reel De Lapin Rickett's Hornpipe Roll On Buddy Sally In The Garden Shannon's Well Ships Are Sailing Reel Short Life Of Trouble Shuckin' The Corn Sidney Street Silver Bell Silverheel's Shuffle Song Soppin' The Gravy Soulard St Anne's Reel St Clair's Hornpipe Star Of Bethlehem Step Around Johnny Stepping Out Stone's Rag Storms Are On The Ocean Suffolk Stroll Sugar In The Gourd Sundance Swallowtail Jig Sweet Lillie Sweet Sunny South Swing LTD Swing Steppin' The Burning Of The Piper's Hut The Clergy's Lamentation The Cuckoo The Downfall Of Paris The Girl I Loved in Sunny Tennessee The Promenade The Rights Of Man The Teetotaller's Reel The Unfortunate Rake The Wild Mare Whiskey Before Breakfast Wilson's Hornpipe Witch Of The Wave Reel Young McGoldrick

Digital publication of the piece found in the following print music collection: Best of Piano Classics 2 - 40 Famous Arrangements of Classical Masterworks.