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Domenico Scarlatti
domenicoDomenico Scarlatti was born in Naples, Kingdom of Naples, in 1685, the same year as Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel. He was the sixth of ten children and a younger brother to Pietro Filippo Scarlatti, also a musician. He most likely first studied under his father, the composer and teacher Alessandro Scarlatti; other composers who may have been his early teachers include Gaetano Greco, Francesco Gasparini, and Bernardo Pasquini, all of whom may have influenced his musical style -
He became a composer
He became a composer and organist at the royal chapel in Naples in 1701 -
he revised Carlo Francesco Pollarolo's opera Irene
DomenicoIn 1704, he revised Carlo Francesco Pollarolo's opera Irene for performance at Naples -
In 1709 he went to Rome
In 1709 he went to Rome in the service of the exiled Polish queen Marie Casimire, where he met Thomas Roseingrave. Scarlatti was already an eminent harpsichordist:there is a story of a trial of skill with George Frideric Handel at the palace of Cardinal Ottoboni in Rome where he was judged possibly superior to Handel on that instrument, although inferior on the organ -
In 1719 he travelled to London
domenicoIn Rome, Scarlatti composed several operas for Queen Casimira's private theatre. He was Maestro Di Cappella at St. Peter's from 1715 to 1719. In 1719 he travelled to London to direct his opera Narciso at the King's Theatre -
Domenico Scarlatti arrived to Lisbon
According to Vicente Bicchi (Papal Nuncio at the time), Domenico Scarlatti arrived in Lisbon on 29 November 1719. There he taught music to the Portuguese princess Maria Magdalena Barbara -
He left Lisbon
He left Lisbon on 28 January 1727 for Rome, where he married Maria Caterina Gentili on 6 May 1728 -
In 1729 he moved to Sevilla
In 1729 he moved to Sevilla, staying for four years and gaining a knowledge of flamenco -
In 1733 he went to Madrid
domenicoIn 1733 he went to Madrid as music master to Princess Maria Barbara, who had married into the Spanish royal house -
the publication of the most famous collection
Scarlatti himself seems to have overseen the publication in 1738 of the most famous collection, his 30 Essercizi ("Exercises") -
After the death of his wife
After the death of his wife in 1742 he married a Spaniard, Anastasia Maxarti Ximenes -
The English composer Charles Avison
The English composer Charles Avison (1709-1770) wrote and published in 1744 scarlattianas sonatas from his Concertos in Seven Parts done from the Lessons of Domenico Scarlatti, a set of twelve concerti grossi for orchestra where the materials used and orchestrated Consolidated sonatas mainly from the per gravicembalo Essercizi unique compilation of Scarlatti sonatas published during his lifetime -
