George Frideric Handel

Handel spent most of his career in London writing for the public rather than a court, and it shows in the music: direct, grand and built to work in a large room. The catalogue is dominated by the oratorios, the keyboard suites and a great deal of instrumental music.

Messiah is the most-performed choral work in the language and is sold in a bewildering number of editions, from full scholarly scores to simplified singalong versions — check what you are buying, because they are not interchangeable in a rehearsal. The keyboard suites include the variations known as The Harmonious Blacksmith and are more approachable than Bach's equivalent works.

Much of his instrumental music exists in arrangements for combinations he never wrote for. These are legitimate and often excellent, but the listing does not always make clear which you are getting.