Born in Naples on 26 October 1685, died in Madrid on 23 July 1757; Domenico Scarlatti was an Italian composer and harpsichordist. A son of Alessandro Scarlatti, he worked first in Naples, Rome and Venice; in 1719 he entered the service of the Portuguese court in Lisbon and taught the Infanta Maria Barbara, whom he followed to Madrid in 1729 and where he remained until his death. At the centre of his output stand the sonatas for harpsichord, of which the thirty “Essercizi per gravicembalo” appeared in London in 1738; they extended the playing technique of the instrument with leaps, crossed hands and repeated notes. He also wrote operas, cantatas and church music. In the Cybele catalogue his music is heard on two albums: Martin Schmeding recorded sonatas on historic organs for Mallorca Edition Historic Organs (Vol. 2, 2017), and Jeremias Schwarzer and Egon Mihajlovic included him in their 2003 programme Vivi felice!.
Domenico Scarlatti
Composer
