The two most important new genres to evolve in Baroque sacred music were the oratorio and Lutheran church cantata. The Baroque oratorio, marked by an exuberance not found in the Renaissance mass, incorporated elements of opera. Oratorio evolved in Italy as a substitute for opera, which was banned during Lent. From modest beginnings, as a musical setting of a biblical text, oratorio grew in popularity as an unstaged opera on a religious subject. In England, oratorio became enormously popular thanks to the creative power of George Frederick Handel, whose Messiah was, from the outset, one of the most popular pieces of music ever written.