George Frideric Handel exhibition marking the tercentenary of the composer's birth calls them two men of the late eighteenth century "who have left us solid evidence of the means by which they indulged their enthusiasm". With his English oratorios, such as "Messiah" and "Solomon", the coronation anthems, and other works including "Water Music" and "Music for the Royal Fireworks", Handel became a national icon in Britain, and featured in the BBC series, "The Birth of British Music: Handel – The Conquering Hero". After his death, Handel's Italian operas fell into obscurity, except for selections such as the aria from "Serse", "Ombra mai fù".
Music of Germany for the Royal Fireworks and the oratorio Messiah. Another important composer was Georg Philipp Telemann, one of the most prolific musicians in history. By the middle of the 18th century, the cities of Vienna, Dresden, Berlin and Mannheim had become the center for orchestral music. The Esterházy princes of Vienna, for example, were the patrons of Joseph Haydn, an Austrian who invented the classic format of the string quartet, symphony and sonata. Later that century, Vienna's Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart emerged, mixing German and Italian traditions into his own style. Mozart was a prolific and influential composer who composed over 600