German composer George Frideric Handel was BOTD in 1685. Born in Halle in Prussia (then part of the Holy Roman Empire), he showed an early talent for music, receiving musical instruction from the age of nine. He worked as an organist in Hamburg before being invited to Italy by Ferdinando de’ Medici, where he composed sacred music, oratorios and his first operas. He moved to London in 1712, enjoying the patronage of Richard Boyle, the 3rd Earl of Burlington. He produced some of the greatest operas of the Baroque period, including Rinaldo, Orlando and Theodora, popularising opera as an entertainment for the British aristocracy. His famous compositions for the Royal court included Water Music, coronation anthems for King George II (including Zadok the Priest, performed at every Royal coronation since then) and Music for the Royal Fireworks. His English-language religious oratorios, notably Messiah, are now among the most frequently performed choral works in Western music. A prominent philanthropist, he established and donated to a number of charities for orphaned children and impoverished musicians. Handel never married or had children, declaring famously to King George that he had no time for anything but music. Biographers and historians have speculated that Handel may have been homosexual, pointing to the sexual ambiguity of his cantatas (where the gender of the beloved is not revealed) and his wide circle of wealthy gay friends and patrons. He died in 1759, aged 74, and was given a State funeral in Westminster Abbey.