Giorgio Frideric Handel, certainly one of the greatest composers of the 16th century, conquered Europe with his compositions, arias and operas. Master of his craft at the time of his death, Handel did not receive his fortune and fame. With rivalry, odds and illness against him, Handel overcame difficulties to realize his dreams. Hard work and preservation even in the darkest days led to the creation of hundreds of Handel's musical works of art. Through his knowledge of many musical styles from Germany, Italy and England, Handel achieved greatness and became a well-known artist of his time, despite adversity. Before learning about Handel's life, it is important to know his musical genre and his methods. Handel's musical collection was placed in the style of Baroque. A term used generally, Baroque has many different origins and definitions. The word in Portuguese is defined as strange pearls and in English it simply means strange or different (Buelow 1). Defined in the Oxford Dictionary of Music by Michael Kennedy as Bizarre, Baroque was a term applied to German and Austrian architecture in the 17th and 18th centuries. Only later was the term borrowed to describe music (51). Antonio Vivaldi, Johann Sebastian Bach, Henry Purcell and Handel all had works classified as Baroque. The Baroque style finally began to describe most musical styles in the late 16th century, which ultimately added even more vagueness to an already imprecise term. Not many things tied pieces of time together; each piece seemed to be different in style (Buelow 1-5). Contrary to the information provided by Buelow, Baroque was described in The Complete Book of Classical Music as having a fairly uniform style. Most of the works of that... middle of paper... if he found a specific singer unsuitable. He even changed parts of the oratorio to fit the voices of different singers (TIME Magazine; Thompson 881; Vickers). Despite many additions, each version of Messiah contains at least a modicum of Handel's talent. Thankfully, Handel died performing his greatest work of art in 1753. After a long period of illness in the late 1740s, George went blind composing as a piece called Jeptha and his health only worsened. George continued to write and perform his musical duties despite his blindness. Handel's previous works were completed with the help of his friend JS Schmitt and with the presence of about three thousand people, his burial took place in Westminster Abbey. Handel died a hero, and his pieces continued to be performed by such important composers as Mozart and Haydn (Arnold 806; Thompson 881).