Giuseppe Domenico Scarlatti (1685 –1757) was an Italian composer who spent much of his life in the service of the Portuguese and Spanish royal families. Although chronologically classified as a Baroque composer, his music was influential in the development of the Classical style. His influential 555 sonatas were almost all written for the harpsichord.
He was born in Naples in the same year as Bach and Handel. At the age of sixteen he became a composer and organist at the royal chapel in Naples, and less than ten years later went to Rome in the service of the exiled Polish queen Marie Casimire, where he met Thomas Roseingrave who later led the enthusiastic reception of the composer's sonatas in London. He undertook a trial of skill with George Frideric Handel at the palace of Cardinal Ottoboni in Rome where he was judged possibly superior to Handel on the harpsichord, although inferior on the organ. Later in life, he was known to cross himself in veneration when speaking of Handel's skill.
In 1719, after ten years in Rome, Scarlatti left for Lisbon to teach the Portuguese princess Maria Magdalena Barbara. In 1729 he moved to Sevilla, staying for four years and imbibing the flamenco style. In 1733 he went to Madrid as music master to Princess Maria Barbara, who had married into the Spanish royal house. When the Princess became Queen of Spain Scarlatti remained in the country for twenty-five years.
