First Encounter: Domenico Scarlatti
5 things to know about Domenico Scarlatti and his music:
1. Italian composer Domenico Scarlatti was born in 1685, in the same year as Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel.
2. Domenico Scarlatti was the son (and sixth child) of the renowned composer Alessandro Scarlatti.
3. Scarlatti was a virtuosic keyboard player. The story of the famous duel between Domenico Scarlatti and George Handel that took place in either 1708 or early 1709 at the palace of Cardinal Ottoboni in Rome is widely known amongst the keyboard players today. At the conclusion of the playoff, it was decided that Handel was superior on the organ, whereas Scarlatti was superior on the harpsichord.
4. Scarlatti spent much of his adult life in service for the Portuguese and Spanish royal families, most notably for Princess Maria Barbara, who became the Queen of Spain. Iberian influences, including that of the flamenco, castanets, guitars, and wailing quality of the gypsy song, can be observed in his music.
5. Notable composers and performers such as Frederic Chopin, Johannes Brahms, Bela Bartok, Dmitri Shostakovich, Vladimir Horowitz, and Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli all publicly showed admiration for Scarlatti’s keyboard sonatas, and have included them in their programmes.
Did you know?
1. Even though only very few of Scarlatti’s works were published during his lifetime, when his 30 Essercizi (‘evercises’) were published by Thomas Roseingrave in 1738, they were received very enthusiastically throughout Europe.
2. Scarlatti also wrote 12 operas, two of which were in collaboration with other composers.
To find out more about Scarlatti, visit http://www.hoasm.org/VIIIC/ScarlattiD.html
Heard Behaviour 
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