George Frideric Handel (German (Deutsch) : Georg Friedrich Händel) (23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German composer who went to live in England when he was a young man and later became a naturalised Briton. Johann Sebastian Bach and Handel were born in the same year. They were the greatest composers of their time, but they never met. Handel changed his name to George Frideric Handel when he became British; he removed the dots above the "a" and changed the spelling of Georg and Friedrich. The German spelling of his name (Georg Friedrich Händel) is still used by German writers.