Flowers For Socrates

I don’t envy Royalty very often – I’ve never had a lust for power, and most of the job just looks tedious and stuffy to me.

But I would love to be able to say, “I’m going to be boating on the Thames – write some music for me to listen to, would you?” — and listen to George Frideric Handel’s Water Music played for me by an orchestra in a boat following mine while I relaxed, sipping wine and eating tempting dainties.

And 302 years ago, on July 17, 1717, King George I of England did take that cruise on the Thames, listening for the first time to this glorious music.

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To hear Handel’s Water Music, click

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