One of classical music’s favorite pieces goes back where it belongs: on the water

Think this election season is full of political stunts?

They have nothing on King George I. Looking to one-up his popular heir, the British monarch tapped George Frideric Handel — like King George, a German expat — to compose “Water Music.” The suite’s opulent 1717 premiere idled a 50-piece orchestra down the Thames on a barge attached to the royal vessel. The spectacle electrified London, refocused public attention on the elder George and secured Handel’s reputation in his adopted homeland.

Music of the Baroque emulates King George’s dazzle in “The Chicago Water Music,” a Sept. 18 performance happening not near, not along, but on the Chicago River. Like the suites’ maiden voyage 300 years ago, “The Chicago Water Music” will be heard a few times before the evening is out: once while drifting from the Riverwalk’s east end to Merchandise Mart, again in a docked performance there, and a third and final time on the trip back. Expect less political intrigue but better acoustics: performing on modern instruments, Music of the Baroque’s ensemble will be amplified so passersby on the Riverwalk and pedestrian bridges can hear it.

“The Thames was a thoroughfare for everybody. People of all classes would have come upon (Handel’s original ‘Water Music’) by accident, as our chaps will — though I think we’ve got more to contend with, in terms of the 21st century careering around us in its noisy way,” says Dame Jane Glover, Music of the Baroque’s director.

Glover says she’s been dreaming of a waterborne performance of Handel’s suites “for years.” But it finally came together this fall, after a successful trial run in June.

Along for the ride are student singers from Music of the Baroque’s Strong Voices program, which supports choral classes at seven Chicago Public Schools. In addition to other Handel selections, they’ll sing the opening chorus from Vivaldi’s “Gloria.” Glover says the piece has become something of an “anthem” for the young singers — fitting, since Vivaldi almost certainly composed his “Gloria” for the choir at the Venetian girls’ orphanage at which he taught.

“The Pietà (orphanage) looked out over the bacino in Venice, which is also a city on water,” Glover says. “So, Vivaldi has to sneak in, too.”

And while we’re on big projects: Might the “Royal Fireworks” — Handel’s other über-famous orchestral suite — be next for Music of the Baroque?

“Chicago already has firework displays every week at this time of year,” Glover says, smiling conspiratorially. “We’ll see how this goes.”

Hannah Edgar is a freelance critic.