Although little information survives on Antonio Sartorio's formative years, his date of birth can be placed at c. 1630 on the basis of the act of his death, which states that he died on 30 December 1680 at the age of ‘about 50‘. In all probability Sartorio came from a family of artists-craftsmen as the composer Gasparo Sartorio (1625/6–80), and the theatre architect and opera set-designer Girolamo (Hieronymo, Geronimo) Sartorio (d. 1716) were his brothers.

Musically, London has often stood in the shadow of its European cousins. In early studies of the Classical period, musicological attention was usually concentrated on the leading Viennese composers, with only passing reference to England in so far as it related to the careers of these masters. The situation began to change in the 1950s with Charles Cudworth's and Stanley Sadie's pioneering studies of eighteenth-century England, and in recent years several English towns and cities have been the focus of further research. Investigations into London's burgeoning eighteenth-century musical life have revealed the capital's important role in developing modern performance standards and the evolution of a ‘canonic’ repertory, but most research has been centred around public concerts. Despite this increased scholarly attention, there are many frustrating gaps in our knowledge about these activities, and the dearth of information is even greater for most private concerts. There is, however, rich surviving documentation pertaining to the series conducted for nine successive years by the sons of the Revd Charles Wesley (1707–88), co-founder with his brother John Wesley (1703–91) of Methodism. Until now, scholars have failed to make full use of the Wesley materials, partly because of their scattered locations, but also perhaps from a sense that the concerts stood only on the periphery of London concert life. Nevertheless, a closer examination of the Wesley records—and a comparison between them and what is known about more public concerts—shows that these concerts were not as marginal an enterprise as is sometimes assumed.