The exact dating of Handel's keyboard suites is difficult if not impossible to determine. All that is certain is that they were written prior to publication. But while some of the more Baroque suites could easily have been composed years prior to publication, the B flat suite published in the second volume of 1733, with its emphasis on melody over counterpoint, seems stylistically contemporary with the proto-classical music of Pergolesi. Its first three movements—a graceful Allegro moderato Allemande, a solid and sturdy Allegro con moto Courante, and a serenely lyrical Andante Sarabande with exquisite embellishments—are all essentially melodies over accompaniments. Only in the brief and bouncy Vivo Gigue does Handel revert to imitative counterpoint.

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