Dominico Scarlatti

Dominico Scarlatti

Scarlatti, Dominico born Naples Oct 26, 1685 died Madrid July 23, 1757 Scarlatti came from a large musical family being the sixth of ten children. He was an accomplished composer, keyboard teacher and performer. At age sixteen he was appointed organist and composer of the Naples Royal Chapel of which his father Alessandro Scarlatti was maestro. By age eighteen Dominico was writing operas. From 1709 until 1714 Scarlatti lived in Rome under the patronage of Maria Casimira the Queen of Poland. He later worked for the Portuguese Embassy and then for the Julian Chapel at the Vatican in 1715. After some travel, the last years of his life were spent in Madrid where the Queen of Spain (his former student) Maria Barbara employed him. She also generously paid his debts and provided for his impoverished family at the time of his death. Scarlatti left behind over 555 sonatas, many stage works and much church music. His music explored new musical ends, such devices as hand- crossing, rapid repetition of notes and arpeggios traversing the length of the keyboard. The most characteristic of his harmonic mannerisms being the acciaccatura (a lower auxiliary note struck together with its resolution).