Scarlatti

A Neapolitan composer reinvented in Iberia

Giuseppe Domenico Scarlatti was born in Naples on 26 October 1685, the sixth child of the celebrated opera composer Alessandro Scarlatti, and died in Madrid on 23 July 1757. He began within the world of Neapolitan court and theatre music, worked in Rome and then moved decisively into Iberian service, first in Portugal and later in Spain.

In Lisbon he entered the orbit of King João V and became closely associated with the musical education of Infanta Maria Bárbara. When she married the future Ferdinand VI of Spain, Scarlatti followed her to the Spanish court. The relationship between composer and royal pupil is central to the keyboard sonatas: these pieces explore the harpsichord with crossed hands, repeated notes, rapid leaps, acciaccaturas, guitar-like textures, dance rhythms and harmonic turns that often seem startlingly modern.

The 555 sonatas known through the standard Kirkpatrick catalogue are mostly single-movement works and survive largely in manuscript copies rather than autograph scores. Their chronology and grouping remain complex. Ralph Kirkpatrick’s pairing theories were enormously influential, but later scholarship has refined and sometimes challenged the assumption that the sonatas can be understood through one universal pairing system.

Essential perspectives

Naples, family background and early appointments

Scarlatti was born into a major musical dynasty. His father Alessandro dominated the world of Italian opera, and Domenico received early training within this professional environment. By 1701 he had already been appointed organist and composer at the Royal Chapel in Naples, an extraordinary position for a musician in his teens.

The early career included theatre, sacred music and travel. He accompanied his father to Florence and spent time in Venice, where later tradition associated him with Francesco Gasparini. These years placed him within the broad Italian keyboard, opera and church traditions before the more individual direction of his mature career emerged.

Rome, Maria Casimira and the virtuoso reputation

By 1708–09 Scarlatti was active in Rome, where he entered the service of the exiled Polish queen Maria Casimira. He composed operas and ceremonial music for her court and participated in the sophisticated aristocratic musical world of the city. He later held a post connected with the Cappella Giulia at St Peter’s.

The famous story of a keyboard contest with Handel in Cardinal Ottoboni’s circle belongs to this Roman context. The anecdote is difficult to document in every detail, but it reflects the contemporary reputation of both men as exceptional keyboard players. Scarlatti’s Roman experience also deepened his command of vocal, theatrical and contrapuntal styles that would remain present beneath the surface of his later sonatas.

Lisbon, Maria Bárbara and the turn toward Iberia

Scarlatti moved to Lisbon in 1719, serving King João V and teaching members of the royal family, most importantly Infanta Maria Bárbara. Portuguese court culture brought him into close contact with an intensely cosmopolitan musical environment linking Italy and the Iberian Peninsula.

Maria Bárbara proved an exceptionally gifted keyboard player and became the central patron of Scarlatti’s mature life. When she married the Spanish crown prince Ferdinand in 1729, Scarlatti followed the court to Spain. He spent the remainder of his life in royal service, moving with the court and eventually settling in Madrid.

Madrid, the sonatas and the late years

The great bulk of the keyboard sonatas belongs to the Iberian decades. Scarlatti published the thirty Essercizi per gravicembalo in 1738, a collection that announced the technical audacity of the mature style to Europe. Yet most of the sonatas remained in manuscript circulation within or near the royal court.

The Venice and Parma manuscript series, copied principally in the 1740s and 1750s, preserve the largest coherent bodies of the repertory. Scarlatti died in Madrid in 1757. His sonatas later passed through changing systems of numbering and edition, especially those of Alessandro Longo and Ralph Kirkpatrick, and remain among the most frequently performed keyboard works of the eighteenth century.

Harpsichord, piano and performance practice

The sonatas were conceived for keyboard instruments of Scarlatti’s environment, especially harpsichords, but they also have a distinguished modern piano tradition. Harpsichord performance highlights attack, registration and rhythmic profile; piano performance can reveal dynamic shaping and long phrase, provided the style is not romanticized beyond recognition.

Pairing, order and repeats

Many sonatas appear in related pairs or groups in the major manuscripts, but no single theory explains every case. Repeats are structurally significant and often invite subtle variation or ornamentation. Performers should treat manuscript order and pairing as evidence rather than dogma.

What each recording entry should preserve

Entries should identify Kirkpatrick number, alternative Longo number where useful, source or edition, instrument, performer, recording date, venue, label, catalogue number and format. For historical instruments, builder, model, date and tuning are valuable metadata.

Interpretive priorities

The music requires rhythmic precision, freedom of gesture, clear articulation and an ear for surprise. Virtuosity should sound spontaneous rather than mechanical; slow sonatas need vocal line and harmonic tension; repeated sections should preserve architecture without routine repetition.

Institutional starting points

Treccani / Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani
Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana / Venice source tradition
Biblioteca Palatina, Parma
Biblioteca Nacional de España and Spanish cathedral archives

Catalogue and source questions

Kirkpatrick numbers are convenient identifiers, not a perfect chronological sequence. Longo’s earlier ordering and later manuscript scholarship remain important. A reliable archive should distinguish catalogue number, manuscript position, printed edition and actual date whenever those differ.

Major reference books

Primary and specialist resources