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Domenico Scarlatti, portrayed by Domingo Antonio Velasco in 1738

1 Life and career

Surprisingly little is known about Scarlatti's life apart from legends and anecdotes. He was born in Naples, Italy, the sixth of ten children. Most likely he first studied under his father, Alessandro Scarlatti; other composers who may have been his early teachers include Gaetano Greco , Francesco Gasparini , and Bernardo Pasquini, all of whom seem to have influenced his musical style.

He became a composer and organist at the royal chapel in Naples in 1701, and in 1704, he revised Pollaroli 's opera Irene for performance at Naples. Soon after this his father sent him to Venice, but the four years there are a blank in the record. In 1709 he went to RomeRome ( Italian and Latin Roma is the capital city of Italy, and of its Lazio region. It is located on the lower Tiber river, near the Mediterranean Sea, at 41°50'N, 12°15'E. The Vatican City State, a sovereign enclave within Rome, is the seat of the Roman in the service of the exiled Polish queen Maria Casimira ; while in Rome he met Thomas Roseingrave who would later lead the enthusiastic reception of the composer's sonataSonata (From Latin and Italian sonare 'to sound'), in music, literally means a piece "played" as opposed to cantata (Latin cantare to sing), a piece sung. The term, being vague, naturally evolved through the history of music, designating a variety of forms in London. Domenico was already a harpsichordA harpsichord is the general term for a family of European keyboard instruments, including the large instrument nowadays called a harpsichord, but also the smaller virginals the muselar virginals and the spinet . All these instruments generate sound by pl-player of eminence, and there is a story that at a trial of skill with George Friderich Handel at the palace of Cardinal Ottoboni in RomeRome ( Italian and Latin Roma is the capital city of Italy, and of its Lazio region. It is located on the lower Tiber river, near the Mediterranean Sea, at 41°50'N, 12°15'E. The Vatican City State, a sovereign enclave within Rome, is the seat of the Roman he was adjudged perhaps superior to Handel on that instrument, although inferior on the organThe organ is a type of keyboard musical instrument, distinctive because the sound is not produced by a percussion action, as on a piano or celesta, or by means of vibrating strings, as on the harpsichord. Instead, pipe organs produce sound by means of flo.

Also while in Rome, Scarlatti composed several operaCharles Garnier's Opera, Paris, opened 1875 Opera is an art form consisting of a dramatic stage performance set to music. The drama is presented using the typical elements of theater such as scenery, costumes, and acting. However, the words of the opera,s for Queen Casimira's private theatre. He was maestro di cappella at St Peter's from 1715Events September 1 King Louis XIV of France dies after a reign of 72 years, leaving the throne of his exhausted and indebted country to his great-grandson Louis XV. Regent for the new, five years old monarch is Philippe d'Orleans, nephew of Louis XIV. to 1719Events January 23 The Principality of Liechtenstein is created within the Holy Roman Empire April 25 Daniel Defoe publishes Robinson Crusoe Prussia conducts Europe's first systematic census Ongoing events Great Northern War ( 1700- 1721) Births November 3, and in the latter year came to London to direct his opera Narciso at the King's Theatre .

In 1720 or 1721 he went to Lisbon, where he taught music to the princess Maria Magdalena Barbara. He was at Naples again in 1725, but in 1729 went to Madrid as music master to the princess, who had married into the Spanish royal house. He remained in Spain for some twenty-five years. Maria Barbara became Queen of Spain. During this time he composed over five hundred keyboard sonatas. It is for these works that he is best remembered today.

Domenico Scarlatti died in Madrid, aged 71.