George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) was a German (born in Halle) who became an Englishman, making his life and career mostly in London. He wrote operas, instrumental music, and oratorios, including the Messiah, which includes the famous “Hallelujah” chorus. Along with Bach, he is a towering figure of Baroque music, especially in his adopted homeland of England.

Handel wrote his Music for the Royal Fireworks in 1749 as accompaniment for a massive cannon salute and fireworks display in London to commemorate the end of the War of Austrian Succession. His original instrumentation called for 24 oboes, 12 bassoons and a contrabassoon, 9 each of trumpets and horns (at the time, all valveless), three pairs of kettledrums, and ad libitum side drums. An open air rehearsal on April 21, 1749 reportedly drew a crowd of 12,000 and caused an hours-long traffic jam on the London Bridge. The premiere with fireworks and cannons on April 27 went famously awry, with one of the two firework towers burning down in spectacular fashion. Handel quickly added strings (expressly against the wishes of his patron, King George II) for orchestral performances, the first of which was a fundraiser for the Foundling Hospital a month later. Music for the Royal Fireworks went on to become one of Handel’s most famous works, enduring for centuries. There’s a quite a lot more to learn about this piece, and you can get started at Wikipedia, the LA Phil, Boston Baroque, and IMSLP.

We’re going to hear three perfomances of this piece, each of which takes a different approach. The first, by the University of North Texas, uses Handel’s original instrumentation, but with modern instruments:

The second, by the English Concert, uses period instruments, and includes the strings that Handel added after the premiere:

The final performance is a twentieth century band arrangement by W. J. Duthoit which uses only four of the original five movements. By necessity, it thickens and diversifies the colors of Handel’s original, and also changes the key for ease of playing:

There are MANY other band arrangements of this music, at varying grade levels and print statuses, many of which can be found at J. W. Pepper.