Scarlatti
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Domenico SCARLATTI |
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Three great musicians, Scarlatti, Bach and Handel were born in the same year. Bach and Handel were both born in Germany but Scarlatti was born in Italy. He was the sixth of ten children. Scarlatti's father, Alessandro, was the most important opera composer of his day. He trained Domenico, and by the age of sixteen Domenico was performing as organist in the royal chapel of Naples.
While Domenico Scarlatti was a professional organist, he played the harpsichord even better. Scarlatti and Handel admired each other greatly. Once they had a friendly contest on the organ and harpsichord. Handel was acknowledged as the master of the organ and Scarlatti of the harpsichord.
Scarlatti was born in Italy, but he spent many years in Portugal and Spain. He had accepted the post of music director at the Portuguese court in Lisbon. He taught the musically gifted Princess Maria Barbara to play the harpsichord. When Princess Maria married the heir to the throne of Spain, Scarlatti moved to Madrid with her. He spent the rest of his life at the court composing, teaching, and performing for this princess who became queen of Spain.
Scarlatti's amazing harpsichord playing dazzled his audiences much as Liszt's piano playing did a hundred years later. He was not well known in the rest of Europe until his works were discovered in the 1800's by virtuoso pianists who arranged them for the piano. His works are still very popular with pianists and audiences today.
Additional Info
- Compositions: Sonata in E, K.38
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Key Terms:
virtuoso - a performer who excels on his or her musical instrument
concerto - (con-CHAIR-toe) a composition for orchestra and a solo
instrument, usually having three movements
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