Alessandro Scarlatti: biography, list of works. Biography and creativity Domenico Scarlatti

Alessandro Scarlatti, whose biography will be presented in this article, is a great Italian composer who created in the Baroque era in the late 17th - early 18th century. It is he who is considered the founding father of the Neapolitan opera school. His brother and sons were also famous composers.

Biography of the composer

Alessandro Scarlatti was born in Palermo in 1660. His teacher was supposedly Giacomo Carissima. A. Scarlatti wrote his first opera at the age of 19. In the same year it was staged in Rome.

In 1684, Alessandro enters the service of the Viceroy of Naples as a bandmaster. This assignment was promoted by his sister-singer, who had an influential lover. Most of his works A. Scarlatti wrote exactly in Naples.

In 1702, the composer left for Florence, then - for Rome, where Cardinal Ottoboni arranged for him as a conductor for the church of Santa Maria Maggiore.

In 1708, Alessandro Scarlatti returned to Naples.

The last work of the composer was a serenade dedicated to the wedding of Prince Stigliano. Alessandro did not have time to finish work on it. In 1725 the composer passed away.

Works of the great Italian

Alessandro Scarlatti was the creator of his own musical form. In his operas the manner of singing was average between the classical and the school of the early Italian Baroque. Forms of constructing melodies in arias he made three-part instead of two-part ones. And also carefully studied the accompaniment to them. Over time, A. Scarlatti's operas became more traditional, he began to use rhythm for them, and the orchestrations became rude.

Later his works were written by the more vivid and effective Alessandro Scarlatti. Operas of the composer:

• "Honesty in love."
• "An innocent mistake."
• "Rosaura".
• "Pompey."
• "Pyrrhus and Demetrius."
• "From evil is good."
• "Mithridates Evpator."
• Theodore Augusta.
• "A faithful princess."
• "Revenge of Olympia."
• "Tigran".

And others.

In addition to operas, Alessandro Scarlatti wrote about forty oratorios, a large number of serenades, more than five chamber cantatas, several masses, eighteen symphonies, fourteen sonatas, tokates, suites and variations.

A son

Sons Alessandro Scarlatti, like his father, became composers. The most famous of them is Domenico. He was born in 1685 in Naples. Domeniko composed music and played the harpsichord. He spent most of his life in Spain. The full name of the composer is Giuseppe Domenico Scarlatti. It is not known for certain who were his teachers, but it is logical to assume that his first teacher was a father.

In 1701, Domenico Scarlatti became an organist and composer at the court of the viceroy of Naples. Then he served in Venice, later in Rome. Domenico was an excellent harpsichordist and once even won competitions, which in his Roman palace was arranged by Cardinal Ottoboni. Domenico on this competition in the game on the harpsichord surpassed the very Frederick Handel.

His first opera composer wrote for the private theater of Queen Casimir at the time when he served in Rome.

In the years 1720-1721. D. Scarlatti lived in Lisbon. There he taught music to the princess Maria Magdalena Barbara. In 1725 he returned to Naples.

In 1729 the composer moved to Spain. Since 1733, Domenico lives in Madrid at the court of Mary Magdalena Barbara, who became the Spanish queen. His close friend was the famous soprano singer, Farinelli.

The composer died at the age of 71 in Madrid.

Creativity Domenico

Domenico Scarlatti is less known than his great father. A very small part of the works of this composer was published during his lifetime. The rest of the works were published after his death, and even then, irregularly and very rarely.

Nevertheless, Domenico's works attracted such musicians as Bela Bartok, Frederic Chopin, Vladimir Horowitz, Henry Schenker and others.

D. Scarlatti for his life wrote more than five hundred sonatas, ten oratorios, fifteen operas (the most famous of which is "Thetis in Skiros"), a large number of works for orchestras, church music.

For the works of this composer is characterized by the use of syncopated rhythm, frequent modulations, Phrygian fret, dissonant sounding, citation of folk melodies. Domenico Scarlatti became the ancestor of style in music, which later will be called "Classicism".