Blog Post Seven

Handel: selections from “The Water Music Suites” - for woodwind quartet

Thanks for stopping by, and welcome to my blog! I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. This week, I will be discussing my arrangement of five movements for woodwind quartet from George F. Handel’s Water Music Suites. What is your favorite Handel work? Are you a fan of the Arrival of the Queen of Sheba? What about The Messiah? There are so many good choices! Tell me about it in the comments below.

My arrangement for woodwind quartet offers five selections from Handel’s three orchestral suites, including the lively Bouree from Suite No. 1, the beautiful Air, also from Suite No. 1, the vivacious Rigaudon from Suite No. 3, the lovely Sarabande, also from Suite No. 3, and finally the iconic Hornpipe from Suite No. 2, a perennial favorite. This arrangement actually came from my original transcription for clarinet quartet. While stationed in New England with the U.S. Air Force Band of Liberty, our clarinet quartet toured with this Handel transcription regularly, and the audiences loved it. This version has been published by the UMMP Store (ALRY Publications). Click here to purchase this arrangement.

My inspiration for writing arrangements comes from a wide variety of sources. I may come across an interesting score in a used bookstore; I might hear something interesting on a radio station that sounds like a good candidate for transcription; or I might have a favorite piece of music that I feel would work nicely as a woodwind ensemble transcription. My inspiration for writing this transcription came from my own CD collection.

George F. Handel: Music from the Royal Fireworks; Music from the Water Music Suites - English Chamber Orchestra, Raymond Leppard, conductor; Philips Records ©1971 - CD cover

For years, I have owned and treasured the 1971 English Chamber Orchestra/Raymond Leppard recording on Philips of the Music for the Royal Fireworks and the three Water Music Suites (see photo above). It’s a great recording with a world-class ensemble (who I have had the pleasure of hearing live in London at Cadogan Hall). I just knew this would make a nice transcription for my Air Force clarinet quartet in New England, and it worked out beautifully. Our quartet performed this suite regularly, and it was always a crowd-pleaser. Years later, when I was looking for material for a new woodwind quartet transcription, I decided to re-arrange my clarinet quartet suite; it works quite well for this type of ensemble and offers more timbral colour contrast than the clarinet quartet version. I hope you enjoy this woodwind quartet setting of an iconic baroque masterpiece.

Thanks for taking the time to stop by and read my blog. I hope you enjoyed my musings on music. I’ll be back next week with more anecdotes, memories, and passions for music. In the meantime, you can listen to my arrangement of this delightful suite for woodwind quartet by clicking on the MP3 player below, and then click here to purchase it from my Shop. After hearing these five movements, which is your favorite from these iconic Water Music Suites? Tell me your thoughts about it in the comments below. Thanks for stopping by. See you in my next blog!

5 December 2025

Handel: Selections from the Water Music Suites - Arranged for Woodwind Quartet - cover art