150: Domenico Scarlatti

Domenico Scarlatti was one of the most original and influential composers of the Baroque period, best known for his extraordinary keyboard music. Born on October 26, 1685, in Naples, he was the sixth child of the distinguished composer Alessandro Scarlatti, a leading figure in the development of Italian opera. Growing up in a highly musical environment, Domenico received extensive training and quickly demonstrated exceptional talent as both a composer and keyboard performer. Although he inherited many aspects of the Italian Baroque tradition from his father, he eventually developed a highly individual style that set him apart from his contemporaries.

Early in his career, Scarlatti worked in several important musical centers throughout Europe. He served as an organist and composer in Naples before moving to Rome, where he came into contact with many of the leading musicians of the time. During his years in Rome, he worked for influential patrons, including members of the aristocracy and the church. A famous story from this period recounts a friendly musical contest between Scarlatti and George Frideric Handel. According to contemporary accounts, Handel was considered superior on the organ, while Scarlatti was regarded as the greater harpsichord virtuoso. Whether entirely accurate or somewhat embellished, the story illustrates the high regard in which Scarlatti's keyboard skills were held by his peers.

A major turning point in Scarlatti's life came when he moved to Lisbon in 1719 to serve at the Portuguese royal court. There he became music teacher to the young Princess Maria Barbara, who would later become Queen of Spain. When Maria Barbara married and moved to Spain, Scarlatti followed her, eventually settling in Madrid. He remained in Spain for most of the rest of his life, enjoying the patronage and support of the queen. This period proved especially productive and influential, as exposure to Spanish culture deeply shaped his musical language. The rhythms, melodies, and guitar-like effects found in Spanish folk music became important elements of his compositions.

Although Scarlatti wrote operas, religious works, chamber music, and orchestral pieces, his reputation rests overwhelmingly on his keyboard sonatas. He composed more than 550 sonatas, primarily for the harpsichord, making them one of the largest and most significant collections of keyboard music in history. Most of these sonatas are relatively short and written in a single movement, yet within their compact forms they display astonishing imagination and variety. Rather than following the complex contrapuntal style associated with composers such as Johann Sebastian Bach, Scarlatti often favored clear textures, brilliant passagework, and striking harmonic surprises.

One of the most distinctive features of Scarlatti's keyboard writing is its technical innovation. His sonatas frequently require performers to execute rapid scales, wide leaps, repeated notes, and dramatic hand crossings in which one hand passes over the other. These techniques were highly unusual for the time and helped expand the possibilities of keyboard performance. Many sonatas also imitate the sounds of Spanish instruments, particularly the guitar, through repeated chords, rhythmic patterns, and percussive effects. Such innovations made his music both challenging and exciting, contributing to its enduring popularity among performers.

Scarlatti's harmonic language was equally groundbreaking. He often explored unexpected modulations and bold dissonances that sounded remarkably modern compared with the music of many of his contemporaries. His sonatas can shift quickly between contrasting moods, combining moments of elegance and lyricism with passages of dazzling virtuosity and humor. This adventurous approach to harmony and form anticipated certain characteristics that would later become important in the Classical era. For this reason, music historians often view Scarlatti as a transitional figure who helped bridge the gap between the Baroque and Classical styles.

During his lifetime, Scarlatti's keyboard works circulated primarily in manuscript form and were known mainly within aristocratic and musical circles. After his death in Madrid on July 23, 1757, his music was somewhat overshadowed by the growing popularity of Classical composers such as Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. However, interest in his sonatas revived during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, when scholars and performers recognized their originality and artistic importance. Today, his works are regularly performed on both the harpsichord and the modern piano and are regarded as masterpieces of the keyboard repertoire.

Domenico Scarlatti's legacy lies in his ability to combine technical brilliance, expressive depth, and inventive musical thinking. His keyboard sonatas remain remarkable for their freshness, vitality, and individuality more than two and a half centuries after they were written. Through his innovative approach to composition and performance, Scarlatti expanded the expressive possibilities of keyboard music and influenced generations of composers and performers. He is now recognized as one of the most important and imaginative figures of the Baroque era, whose music continues to captivate audiences around the world.

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