Water has long been a vital and rich source of inspiration. Throughout the ages, it has signified purity and spirituality, cleansing and transformation, wealth, and power. In the Baroque era, water could convey authority, divinity, virtue and the mastery of nature through innovative engineering and artistic expression. Water features flourished in 17th-century gardens, serving as symbols of power. Water has also played a prominent role in music — inspiring composers to create evocative works. Listen to the playlist below or on Spotify.

Thomas Morley: Hard by a Crystal Fountain

The Consort of Musicke

Hard by a crystal fountain, Oriana the Bright lay down asleeping. The birds they finely chirped, the winds were stilled ...

Georg Frideric Handel: Water Music Suite No 1 F Major, VII Bourée

The English Concert

Georg Frideric Handel: Water Music Suite No 3 G Major, IV, Gigues I&II

English Baroque Soloists

Fernando Sor: Étude Op 31, No 10

Johan Löfving

Luca Marenzio: Ad una fresca riva

Capella de la Torre

Michele de Lalande: Les Fontaines de Versailles, Ouverture

Boston Early Music Festival Chamber Ensemble

This is the Ouverture to Les Fontaines des Versailles, where the gods and goddesses in the Versailles garden pay tribute to the king.

Antonio Vivaldi: La Senna festeggiante, Allegro molto

The King's Consort

The festive Seine, possibly written to honour a French patron, with the three singers representing The Golden Age (soprano), Virtue (alto) and the Seine itself (bass)

JS Bach: Schleicht, spielende Wellen

Bach Collegium Japan

A birthday tribute to August III, the lyrics reference four major rivers associated with the houses of Saxony and Poland. The bass portrays the Vistula (Wisła), the longest river in Poland. The tenor represents the Elbe, which flows past the residence in Dresden. The alto portrays the Danube, alluding to the Habsburg family of August's wife Maria Josepha. The soprano represents the Pleisse, that flows through Leipzig.

Georg Philipp Telemann: Gigue, Ebbe und Fluth, C Major

Schola Cantorum Basiliensis

Also known as "Hamburg's Ebb and Flow," this suite includes movements that describe water-related themes.

Die Lustigen Bootsleute - Merry Sailers

Johan Schop: Lachrimae Pavaen

In Echo

"The teares which Musicke weeps” can be pleasant; “neither are teares shed always in sorrow but sometime in joy and gladnesse” (Dowland) . This is Johann Schop's take on Dowland's Lachrimae

Georg Philipp Telemann: Alster Ouverture

Collegium Musicum

I. Alster Ouverture - The Alster is a tributary of the Elbe River in northern Germany and Hamburg's second most important river.

III. Das Älster Echo

Claudio Monteverdi: Echo Mormorar

Hallenser Madrigalisten

Behold, the waves murmur and the little streams gurgle all around ...

Guiseppe Sammartini: Trio Sonata No 6 D Minor, Allegro

Ensemble Hesperi

Robert Johnson: Full fathom five thy father lies

Emma Kirkby, Jakob Lindberg

Felix Mendelssohn: String Quartet E Flat Major, Op44 No3, Scherzo

Consone Quartet