Domenico Scarlatti was a man ahead of his time. He composed music that helped usher in the Classical period and revolutionize keyboard technique. But despite this, we know very little about the man himself. He led a quiet life as the musical director of the Portuguese royal court and as the music teacher of the Portuguese princess and later queen of Spain, Maria Bárbara de Bragança. His inventiveness and virtuosity at the harpshicord was unrivaled! A famous story about Scarlatti, told by Thomas Roseingrave to music historian Dr. Charles Burney, goes:

“… a grave young man dressed in black and in a black wig, who had stood in one corner of the room very quietly and attentive while Roseingrave played, being asked to sit down to the harpsichord, where he began to play, Rosy said he thought ten thousand devils had been at the instrument; he never heard such passages of execution and effect before. The performance so far surpassed his own, and every degree of perfection to which he thought it possible he should ever arrive, that, if he had been in sight of any instrument with which to have done the deed, he should have cut off his own fingers…”

During our lesson time we will be talking a little bit about Scarlatti. Our homework will be to color the Scarlatti coloring page while enjoying some of his music (some suggestions and a link to a short biography are given below). After listening to his music fill in the three blank lines on the coloring page with answers to the prompt: “Scarlatti’s music makes me think of…”

SUGGESTED VIDEOS FOR LISTENING HOMEWORK

Sonata in D minor, K. 141 – Considered one of Scarlatti’s finest sonatas, it is said that Scarlatti was trying to imitate the sound of the mandolin by using fast repeated notes to achieve a tremolo-like effect. There are also plenty of demanding acrobatics throughout the piece (like hand-crossings and leaps across the keyboard) that Scarlatti invented. This piece is performed by one of the greatest living pianists, Martha Argerich.

Sonata in E major, K. 380 –  This sonata is one of Scarlatti’s most popular compositions and is believed to have been composed around 1753, 4 years before his death.

Sonata in B-flat major, K. 545 –

Sonata in D minor, K. 517 – Here we have Scarlatti’s Sonata K. 517 performed by famed American harpischordist Elaine Comparone on a 2 manual harpsichord.

Fugue in G minor, K. 30 (Fuga del gatto, translated as The Cat Fugue) –  The legend goes that Scarlatti came up with the motif for this fugue by hearing his cat Pulcinella walk across the keys of the harpsichord (the cat, being constantly curious about the sounds coming from the instrument, was prone to walking on it).

Musical Duel with George Frideric Handel in Rome in 1709 – This video depicts a famous story about Scarlatti and Handel. The two were asked to engage in a friendly musical competition at the harpsichord and organ. The clip is  from the movie “God rot Tunbridge Wells!” and shows the 23 year-old Handel (in the brown suit) competing against his friend Domenico Scarlatti (gray suit). Handel presents Scarlatti with a a piece of music and Scarlatti imitates and improvises on it. Scarlatti is said to have won the harpsichord competition (according to Scarlatti scholar Ralph Kirkpatrick and despite what Handel says in the clip) but later lost to Handel at the organ. Handel’s first biographer wrote: “Handel often used to speak of Domenico with great satisfaction and indicated there was great reason for it, for besides his great talents as an artist he had the sweetest temper and the genteelest behavior. On the other hand, it was mentioned that Scarlatti, as oft he was admired for his great executions, would mention Handel and cross himself in admiration.”

During our lesson time we will also be talking about another prominent Italian employed by the Spanish king, the great castrato singer Farinelli. He and Scarlatti became friends during their time working for King Philip V of Spain and his son, King Ferdinand VI. No one in our world today can sing like Farinelli, since the process of becoming a castrato fell out of fashion in the late 19th century. The videos below are what we imagine Farinelli might have sounded like. The first is a recording of the last castrato singer, Alessandro Moreschi.

The second video is of Philippe Jaroussky, a countertenor. Countertenors nowadays train their voices to sing primarily in falsetto, which is different from how castrati used to sing. A revival of Baroque opera in the 20th century has generated a need for countertenors to take over the roles of the castrati. Here Philippe Jaroussky sings “Lasica ch’io pianga” by George Frideric Handel.

Biography of domenico scarlatti

For a biography of Domenico Scarlatti check out Encyclopedia Britannica’s entry Domenico Scarlatti

children’s books:

• “Scarlatti’s Cat” by Nathaniel Lachenmeyer, ISBN-10: 0761354727