George Frederic Handel: Water Music Suite
George Frederic Handel was born in Germany, studied music composition in Italy, and then spent the rest of his life writing operas, oratorios, and other music in England.
Water Music is a set of orchestral suites that he wrote in 1715 at the request of King George I to be played as a concert on the Thames River in London.
The orchestra in this recording is playing “original” instruments. That is, they are playing on the type of instruments that would have been used in the early 18th century when Handel wrote this music. If you watch closely, you will see wooden oboes and french horns with no keys to change notes. The keyboard instrument in the middle is a harpsichord which is a precursor to the piano. The orchestra is also missing a conductor because during the Baroque Era orchestras typically played without conductors. This recording is likely much like the music would have originally sounded, as opposed to how it would sound if played by a modern orchestra.
Listen to a contrasting recording of Water Music by a modern orchestra here: