Domenico Scarlatti Lives On Despite Few Of His Compositions Being Published

Over the course of 71 years, Domenico Scarlatti certainly made a name for himself through outstanding music that will never be forgotten. With a famed career that included teaching and composing, Domenico attracted numerous notable admirers. The story of this terrific man began in Naples in 1685.

Born in Naples, Kingdom of Naples, Domenico was the sixth of ten different children. It seemed as if 1685 was the year of greatness as the likes of Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel were also born in this year. All three grew famous over time and are still greatly remembered today.

Domenico was not the first musician in the family to arise. It is believed that his father, Alessandro Scarlatti, was the one to get him hooked on music. Alessandro was a composer and teacher himself and had an influence on his children’s musical side of life. It was Domenico and his younger brother Pietro Filippo Scarlatti that continued on to become musicians.

Although it was his father who first taught him the love of music, other composers that had an impact on his development include Gaetano Greco, Francesco Gasparini and Bernardo Pasquini. It is no surprise he continued to develop and become a composer himself with so many composers and teachers guiding him through the early years.

At just 16 years old, Domenico Scarlatti became a composer and organist in 1701 at the royal chapel in Naples. Just three years later he would revise Carlo Francesco Pollarolo’s opera Irene where he performed at Naples. This was a critical time in his life and the development of an extraordinary career ahead. Unfortunately, he would soon after be sent to Venice where there was little record of what occurred over the next four years.

History of Domenico picks back up in 1709 where he began a wonderful life in Rome. This is where he met Thomas Roseingrave and things really took off. Many take note of a trial of skill that took place at the palace of Cardinal Ottoboni in Rome between Scarlatti and George Frideric Handel with the harp. While many believed he was superior to Handel on the instrument, he was far more inferior on the organ.

While in Rome he composed numerous operas for Queen Casimira’s private theatre and was even Maestro Di Cappella at St. Peter’s from 1715 to 1719. Eventually, he decided it was time to direct his own opera where he did so in London at the King’s Theatre. The opera was titled Narciso.

There was life for Scarlatti outside of music as well. After a 7 year stay in Lisbon, he would leave for Rome on January 28, 1727 where he would later find the love of his life. On May 6, 1728 he married Maria Caterina Gentili. The two moved to Sevilla a year later where they lived for four years. It was in 1733 that he went to Madrid to become music master to Princess Maria Barbara.

As soon as the Princess became Queen of Spain, Domenico Scarlatti settled in the country for 25 years. Over the course of this time he and his wife had five children. Sadly, his wife would pass in 1742 leaving him lost and heartbroken. He would later move on to marry a Spaniard by the name of Anastasia Maxarti Ximenes.

While in Madrid Domenico composed some of his best work that he is known for. This included a number of the 555 keyboard sonatas that grew on many and are still around today. However, there were few compositions of his that were actually published throughout his life. One of the most recognized pieces to be published came in 1738; this was his 30 Essercizi.

The 555 keyboard sonatas are mostly in binary form and are all intended for the harpsichord. He also had an influence of Iberian folk music which included the likes of his use of the Phrygian mode. In addition, his figurations and differences appeared to be similar to a guitar.

After 71 years, Domenico Scarlatti passed away in Madrid. The harpsichordist Ralph Kirkpatrick produced an edition of the various sonatas from Scarlatti in 1953. Kirkpatrick said that Farinelli’s correspondence provides “most of the direct information about Scarlatti that has transmitted itself to our day.”

Although Domenico has passed on, there is much of him still around today. His residence on Calle Leganitos has a historical plaque and his descendants remain in Madrid. However, it is his music that will forever live with many of his sonatas appearing in print irregularly over the past two and a half centuries.