Alessandro Scarlatti

Alessandro Scarlatti, born on May second, sixteen sixty, was a prominent Italian Baroque composer and harpsichordist, celebrated for his operas and chamber cantatas. He is widely regarded as the most significant figure of the Neapolitan school of opera, earning him the nickname 'the Italian Orpheus' among his contemporaries.

Dividing his career between Naples and Rome, Scarlatti composed a substantial body of work for the papal city. While he is often considered the founder of the Neapolitan school, his contributions and originality have left a lasting impact on both Italian and European music.

Scarlatti is particularly renowned for his operas, which epitomized the Italian dramatic tradition that began with Monteverdi in the early seventeenth century. He advanced the form of the Da capo aria, which became a model imitated throughout Europe. Additionally, he invented the three-movement Italian overture, crucial for the development of the symphony, and the four-part sonata, a precursor to the modern string quartet.

His eclectic style encompassed various genres of his time, including sonatas, concerto grossos, motets, masses, oratorios, and cantatas, the latter of which he mastered. Scarlatti's influence extended to the musical theater of his era, notably inspiring Händel's Italian works. He was also the father of two notable composers, Domenico Scarlatti and Pietro Filippo Scarlatti.