In 1969, during the unexpected commercial success of her debut studio album "Switched-On Bach" (1968), Carlos and her friend, collaborator, and producer Rachel Elkind started work on a follow-up using the same formula as "Switched-On Bach": performing selections of classical music on a modular Moog synthesizer. Carlos planned to record an "ambitious 19th-century work", but the lack of sufficient multitrack recording capabilities at the time did not allow such an undertaking. Ideas for Carlos to record her own compositions seemed "untimely" and was shelved for potential future albums. The two decided on a "new switched on Baroque album" featuring multiple composers, including Johann Sebastian Bach, Claudio Monteverdi, Domenico Scarlatti, and George Frideric Handel.