Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757)
An Italian composer, he was a composer of the Baroque era who was the same age as Bach. Born in Naples on October 26, 1685, he was the sixth child of the famous composer Alessandro Scarlatti. At the age of 16, he was appointed organist and musician of the Naples Palace Chapel. He also studied under his father, and later went to Venice to study under Pasquini and Gasparini. There he met Handel and held a harpsichord competition with him. Although the outcome was indifferent, it became famous in the music world. From this, it can be inferred that Scarlatti was also a master of harpsichord playing. At the age of 18, he moved to Rome with his father and served as a musician for Queen Maria Casimi of Poland, the Marquis de Fontes and St. Peter's Basilica. He moved to Portugal in 1719 and worked as a musician in the Lisbon Noble Church and as a teacher to Maria Barbara, the princess of King John V. In 1729, the princess married the Spanish crown prince, and Scarlatti went to Madrid to work as a court musician, where he spent the last 28 years of his life. Died in Madrid on July 23, 1757.
Scarlatti was an accomplished harpsichord pianist, but under the influence of his father, his works in the first half of his life were mainly operas and religious songs. He began composing operas at the age of 16. Later, he began to create a large number of harpsichord works. He wrote more than 500 piano sonatas in his life, most of which are single movements and centered on a single performance technique. Some adopt the Baroque two-part form (AB), and some are written in the same way as Bach's creative compositions. Scarlatti called it an "etude" when it was published during his lifetime. These works reflect the life of the Spanish court and folk, and incorporate the spirit of Italy, enriching the style of music, and at the same time developing the skills and expression methods of keyboard instruments.
Scarlatti’s works were cataloged by Italian pianist Alessandro Longo, American fortepianist Ralph Kirkpatrick and Italian musician Giorggio Pestelli, respectively. The first letter of the three people's surnames is L. K. P..
Scarlatti’s name may not be as loud as Bach, Vivaldi, Handel and others, but it still occupies a significant place in the hearts of piano music lovers. This is because although most of Scarlatti's sonatas are also intended as etudes, they are much more audible than those of Czerny who later showed his pure technique. Therefore, almost all today's piano students have played Czerny, but it was Scarlatti who stole the show at the concert.
Like most Baroque composers, Scarlatti was also a prolific composer, with more than ten works of cantatas and concertos grosso. But the most valuable are the more than 500 single-movement keyboard sonatas. These sonatas have the typical characteristics of the Baroque era: delicate and elegant. Compared with Bach's keyboard music, they also have the characteristics of clear voices and symphonic harmony. Although the structure is not as tight and delicate as Bach's music, it is melodic and singing, slightly better lyrically, and is closer to modern appreciation habits in terms of hearing.
Scarlatti’s sonatas are short in length, diverse in form, and rich in content. Most of them are three-section pieces with a playing time of only one or two to five or six minutes. , like a handful of pearls scattered in the sun, sparkling and colorful. In terms of musical form, some are like Bach's Inventions, some are like fugues, and several of them are classical sonata forms containing two themes. In addition, he also introduced new techniques such as rapid repetition, crossed hands, and two-tone passages, expanding the expressive power of keyboard music. Although Scarlatti has not completely gotten rid of the characteristics and style of Baroque music, judging from his works with new tendencies, it is right to say that he is a pioneer of classical music such as Haydn and Mozart.