Domenico Scarlatti

Domenico Scarlatti (October 26, 1685 – July 23, 1757) was an Italian composer of the Baroque era. He was extremely influential in the development of keyboard music, especially in Spain, Portugal and England, through his highly idiosyncratic and individual style.

Music

Only a tiny fraction of this output was published in the composer's lifetime; Scarlatti himself seems to have overseen the publication in 1738 of the most famous collection, a book of 30 "Essercizi". These were rapturously received throughout Europe and were championed by the foremost English writer on music of the eighteenth century, Dr. Charles Burney. They may also have influenced J. S. Bach's Goldberg Variations, but there seems to be little evidence to support this idea. Scarlatti's influence on late-eighteenth style was therefore probably considerable, although he has always tended to be written into music history as an "outsider". The reasons for this may be due to generalizations about epochs (Baroque/Classical) or perhaps due to nationalistic tensions: Spain is almost off the map of most art-music histories, while Italy is seen as the land of opera. Unfortunately for Scarlatti, instrumental music is typically seen as, in the words of the Russian pianist Anton Rubinstein, "A German Art".

Related Topics:
Dr. Charles Burney - J. S. Bach - Goldberg Variations - Anton Rubinstein

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Essercizi, however, did not reveal the full scope of Scarlatti's style: they are strikingly conservative when compared to his keyboard output as a whole. The mass of sonatas which were unpublished during the composer's lifetime have only appeared in print in fits and starts in the two and a half centuries since, and the repertoire is by no means well-understood today. Bizarrely, the Essercizi still dominate recital programmes. Scarlatti has, however, attracted notable admirers, including Chopin, Brahms, Heinrich Schenker and Vladimir Horowitz. The Russian school of pianism has always championed the sonatas.

Related Topics:
Chopin - Brahms - Heinrich Schenker - Vladimir Horowitz

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Scarlatti wrote over five hundred sonatas, all essentially one movement binary form, yet within them compressed a staggering range of musical expression. The sonatas' technical difficulties have often caused them to be regarded unjustly as mere studies in virtuosity, and modern pianoforte technique owes much to their influence. They display a harmonic audacity, and adventurous use of modulation (changing from one key to another), a freshness and variety of invention and a vigorous intellectuality in thematic and structural terms which belies their "popular" tone and their apparently careless appearance on the page. Above all, perhaps, Scarlatti's sonatas reveal a knack for the musical mot juste similar to that in Gershwin or Mozart. What is thought-provoking is the realization that Scarlatti wrote all the sonatas for his star pupil, the Queen of Spain, who performed them throughout her life.

Related Topics:
Modulation - Key - Gershwin - Mozart

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~