Music for the Royal Fireworks

Music for the Royal Fireworks
Orchestral suite by George Frideric Handel
Machine for the fireworks for the peace of Aix la Chapelle in May 1749 performed in Green Park; structure designed by Franco-Italian architect Giovanni Niccolò Servandoni
CatalogueHWV 351
Year1749 (1749)
PeriodBaroque
Performed27 April 1749 (1749-04-27): London Green Park
MovementsFive

The Music for the Royal Fireworks (HWV 351) is a suite in D major for wind instruments composed by George Frideric Handel in 1749 under contract of George II of Great Britain for the fireworks in London's Green Park on 27 April 1749. The music celebrates the end of the War of the Austrian Succession and the signing of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (Aachen) in 1748. The work was very popular when first performed and following Handel's death.