Biography of Domenico Scarlatti
The Life and Works of the Italian Composer and Organist, Baroque Era
Domenico Scarlatti is best known for his harpsichord sonatas and as one of the most celebrated harpsichordist of his time. Considered his most famous work is 550 single-movement sonatas or esercizi (exercises).
Early Life
Giuseppe Domenico Scarlatti, (1685-1757), Italian composer and keyboard player, was born on October 26 in Naples, the eldest son of Alessandro Scarlatti, himself a famous opera composer. It was natural that he got his first music lessons from his father.
At 16, he became organist and composer at the royal chapel in Naples. Later, he went to study in Venice and became a good friend of George F. Handel. After visiting Venice and spending time in Rome (1709), he became court composer in the service of the exiled Polish Queen Maria Casimira. He was also maestro di cappella to the Portuguese Ambassador and later of the Cappella Giuliana in the Vatican. For a while, Scarlatti became director of music at St Peter's in Rome.
Music Teacher and Composer
Around 1719 until 1728, he lived in Lisbon in the service of the King of Portugal, and one of his tasks was to teach music to the king’s daughter, Princess Maria Barbara. When the princess married the Crown Prince of Spain and moved to Madrid in 1728, he followed her there and spent the rest of his life as her music-teacher. It was for her that he wrote most of his harpsichord music. For Scarlatti's long service to the Spanish royal family he received a Spanish knighthood in 1738.
He initially composed operas, naturally aligned to the footsteps of his father. The dates of many of his compositions are not known. His 550 single-movement sonatas for harpsichord - short pieces in forms that demonstrate the new freedoms of keyboard composition, were very much inspired by Spanish musical idioms. These sonatas were first catalogued by Italian composer and pianist Alessandro Longo about two centuries later, and more recently by American harpsichordist Ralph Kirkpatrick.
Later Years and Musical Legacy
Domenico Scarlatti married Maria Caterina Gentili in 1728, and they had 5 children. Following her death 14 years later, he married Anastasia Ximenes. He died in Madrid, July 23, aged 72.
The significance of his music lies in bridging a link between the Baroque period and the musical styles and forms of the Classical period. It can even be said that his music provided the foundation for modern piano technique.
Sources
Dictionary of Composers and their Music, by Eric Gilder, Sphere Reference (1987)
The Grove Concise Dictionary of Music, edited by Stanley Sadie, Macmillan (1994)
The Oxford Companion to Music, edited by Alison Latham, OUP (2002)
Domenico Scarlatti
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