Handel’s Riverboat Apology

Before he settled in England, Handel served as Kapellmeister to the Elector of Hanover. Then he grew dissatisfied and quit his royal patron without leave or ceremony.

Not long afterward Handel was firmly established in London, enjoying the favor of court and aristocracy. Then politics turned: the Elector of Hanover became King George I of England. Suddenly Handel feared for his pension. He hardly dared to appear in person at court and ask for forgiveness from the patron he had so rudely deserted.

A friend at court told him that on a certain day the King would take a pleasure ride on the River Thames. Handel set to work at once: he composed a series of pieces and arranged for a band to perform them from a boat that followed the royal barge.

The King was delighted and asked who had planned it. When he learned that Handel had written the music, he received the repentant composer again at court. Handel was soon appointed instructor to the princesses and granted a pension of £200 a year—good fortune he had not dared expect.

In a world where the King’s taste set the fashion for the whole court, royal favor was priceless. Handel would later need every aristocratic friend he could keep, and this clever riverside gesture secured the support he depended on.