George Friedrich Handel

Handel was a German-born composer of the late Baroque era who settled in England at the height of his career, after a youthful tour took Italy by storm with his cantatas and operas. He is noted particularly for his operas (42), oratorios, and instrumental compositions. He was immensely popular in his own day and was one of the few composers of the baroque era whose music remained popular through the subsequent Classical period. He wrote the most famous of all oratorios, Messiah (1741), and is also known for his concerti grossi, keyboard and violin works, and such occasional pieces as Water Music (1717) and the Music for the Royal Fireworks (1749).