It is thought that the present instrumental cantata, Nel dolce dell’oblio, whose title is properly Pensieri notturni di Filli, does in fact date from 1707, at the start of Handel’s period in Rome, on the evidence of the paper used in the autograph, and his style of handwriting at that time. As is usual in Handel’s solo cantatas at this time the work consists of two Recit-Aria pairs, although for instrumental cantatas the structure was often based on three or even four pairs.

It is not known w...