After 1703 the majority of Steffani's musical career was over for he pursued political and diplomatic stations thereafter. He continued to hold prominent musical positions, such as the president of the Academy of Vocal Music in London from 1727, but his musical legacy had already been established. As an Italian musician Steffani spent very little time in Italy in this capacity. He was in service to the Munich court after studying in Rome, went to the Hanoverian court as its Kapellmeister and served the Elector of Palatine in Dusseldorf from 1703. The chamber works which he composed, approximately seventy, were mostly vocal duets and trios both forms with continuo. The duets were arranged for SA, ST, or SB and included as many as six movements, solos and duets, mostly in closed forms though later forms became more open after being reworked by Steffani. In revising these works he also left some of the movements out so that he could pursue other lines of development including fugues and counterpoint. Motets which Steffani composed were primarily set for trios such as SSB, SAT, SAB, STB, and even ATB. These compositions were predominantly imitative in nature. Steffani also wrote approximately eighteen operas which incorporated French idioms with arias set in gavotte and minuet-like meters. Most were orchestrated with four or five strings, two flutes, oboes, bassoons, theorbos and lute obligato. Steffani, though Italian, did a great deal to influence the development of opera in northern Germany and the songs of Handel. ~ Keith Johnson, Rovi