Water and sound have a unique communication. Sound can shape water, as illustrated in cymatics (“the science of sound made visible”) experiments that show amazing effects on water surfaces. Sound travels in water much faster than in air—in fact, at the incredible speed of 3300 mph. Viktor Schauberger, the famous Austrian water researcher, and his son Walter Schauberger studied the effect of implosion waves on water, following the same hyperbolic spiral as the notes of music.

For Music of the Week, therefore, we are reminded of George Frideric Handel’s famous Water Music, which he wrote for a performance on the River Thames that took place on the warm summer evening of July 17, 1717.

It consists of several movements organized in three suites that include overtures, minuets, and hornpipes, among others. Here, we are hearing the well-known Hornpipe piece from the Suite in F major brilliantly performed by the Festspiel-Orchester Göttingen under Laurence Cummings.

To listen to the complete three suites, we suggest this wonderful rendering on period instruments by the Academy of Ancient Music.

Related:

Water Music on Wikipedia

Book Review by Ricardo Oskam: Viktor Schauberger: A Life of Learning From Nature by Jane Cobbald

Some of the best research on cymatics by Cymascope