It would be interesting to trace the influences acting on the youth
Handel at the time when he wrote these sonatas. Most probably they
were Johann Philipp Krieger's[11] sonatas for violins and bass; N.A.
Strungk's sonatas published at Dresden in 1691; and more especially
Agostino Steffani's "Sonate da Camera" for two violins, alto, and
bass, published in 1683. An opera by the last-named, which appeared at
Hanover in 1699, has an "Air de Ballet," which contains the first
notes of "Let the bright Seraphim"; besides, it is known that Handel
culled ideas and "conveyed" notes from works of other composers; also,
that he turned them to the best account.

In the same year in which Corelli published his Op. 1 (1683), Domenico
Scarlatti, the famous harpsichord player, was probably born; in the
history of development his name is the principal one of importance
between Corelli and Emanuel Bach. In the matter of technique he
rendered signal service, but, for the moment, we are concerned with
his contribution towards development. Scarlatti does not seem to have
ever considered the sonata in the sense of a work consisting of
several contrasting movements; all of his are of only one movement.
The title "sonata" as applied to his pieces is, therefore, misleading.
Whether the term was actually used by the composer himself seems
doubtful. The first thirty of the sixty Scarlatti sonatas published by
Breitkopf & Härtel appeared during the lifetime of the composer at
Madrid. They are dedicated to John the Just, King of Portugal, and are
merely entitled

_Essercizi per Gravicembalo._

In editions of the eighteenth century the composer's pieces are styled