George Frideric Handel

Born in 1685, George Frideric Handel had a rich career as a composer of operas, oratorios, sacred music and chamber music, as well as other genres. German-born Handel studied music in Italy and London, where he became a British citizen. He is revered as a prolific and inventive composer, known for using unusual combinations of instruments in his compositions. The Baroque composer's most famous work is Messiah, a favorite vocal oratorio in the Western canon.