Alessandro Scarlatti

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Alessandro Scarlatti

Pietro Alessandro Gaspare Scarlatti (* May 2, 1660 in Sicily (either in Trapani or Palermo ), † October 24, 1725 in Naples ) was an Italian composer of the Baroque and the Neapolitan school , who was particularly famous for his vocal music such as operas , oratorios , cantatas u. a. is famous, and is considered a great innovator of baroque music . His innovations include the typically Italian opera sinfonia ( overture ), a forerunner of the classical symphony , and the four-part sonata, a preliminary form of the string quartet . He was the father of nine sons, including Domenico Scarlatti and Pietro Filippo Scarlatti , who were also known as composers .

Life

Alessandro Scarlatti

Alessandro Scarlatti comes from a family of musicians and was the eldest son of the singer Pietro Scarlata (the original form of the family name) and Eleonora d'Amato. In 1672 the family went to Rome, where Alessandro then received lessons in composition. Giacomo Carissimi may have been his teacher, but there is no evidence of this. Alessandro's brother Francesco (1666–1741) also worked as a composer, as did Giuseppe Scarlatti (1718 / 1723–1777), according to his own statements, Alessandro's grandson. Alessandro's brother Tommaso (around 1671-1760) was an opera singer (tenor).

Kapellmeister in Rome, Naples and Florence

In 1678 Scarlatti received the office of church music director in Rome and married Antonia Anzaleone on April 12 of the same year. In the following year he performed his first opera, Gli equivoci nel sembiante , in Palazzo Bernini, where he lived and was supported by Gianlorenzo Bernini's sons , which was quickly performed in numerous theaters. The success made Queen Christine of Sweden, who lived in exile in Rome, aware of the young composer, and she appointed him her Kapellmeister. As a composer of solo cantatas in particular, Scarlatti quickly became the favorite of the Roman aristocracy and maintained close relationships with the noble families of the Bernini, Colonna, Panfili, Ottoboni and Ruspoli.

In 1683 he received his first official position as Kapellmeister at the Church of San Girolamo della Carità . Probably through the mediation of Marchese di Carpio, the Spanish ambassador to the Vatican, who had been appointed Viceroy of Naples in January 1683 , Scarlatti was able to perform his new opera La Psiche in the Teatro San Bartolomeo in Naples during the carnival season 1683/84 . In 1684 he became Kapellmeister of the viceroyal court orchestra (Cappella Reale) and held this position - with a brief interruption from January to March 1688 - until 1703. During this period, numerous operas were written in the church of San Bartolomeo by the most important singers of his time premiered were the castrati Matteuccio , Domenico Cecchi (called “Cortona”), Nicola Paris and Nicola Grimaldi (“Nicolino”), and the singers Vittoria Tarquini , Maria Maddalena Musi and Barbara Riccioni.

In 1689 Scarlatti was a short-term teacher at the Conservatorio di Santa Maria di Loreto in Naples, but otherwise only seems to have been involved in teaching in the last years of his life. For his Roman patron Pietro Ottoboni the Younger he composed the opera La Statira on his libretto, which was premiered in 1690 under his direction in the reopened Teatro Tordinona in Rome.

In June 1702 Scarlatti took a four-month vacation and went to Florence to the court of Cosimo III. de 'Medici (1642 / 1670–1723), Grand Duke of Tuscany, who held private opera performances every year in the summer months at his country estate in Pratolino . Scarlatti was able to perform a new version of his Flavio Cuniberto there , but did not get the permanent position he had hoped for. In December he arrived late in Naples and resigned as head of the Cappella Reale at the beginning of the new year .

Sacred music in Rome

From April 1703 to 1708 he stayed mainly in Rome. There were since 1698 by a decree of Pope Innocent XII. all theater and opera performances are prohibited. 1701 confirmed Clemens XI. this ban and only lifted it again in 1710. Apart from a few operas, which he wrote between 1703 and 1706 for the private performances of Cosimo de 'Medici , Scarlatti devoted himself primarily to sacred music in Rome ; most of his oratorios were written during this time. Scarlatti also worked for the oratorio Santissimo Crocifisso . On April 26, 1706 he was accepted into the Accademia dell'Arcadia together with Bernardo Pasquini and Arcangelo Corelli under the pseudonym "Terpandro Politeio", which was dedicated to the revival and maintenance of idyllic shepherd poetry in the spirit of antiquity. Scarlatti amazed the members of this well-educated circle with his talent for improvising in poetry and composing solo cantatas. In May 1707 he was also appointed conductor at the Basilica Santa Maria Maggiore , where he had been assistant conductor since December 31, 1703.

Operas in Venice, Naples and Rome

In the Carnival of 1707 Scarlatti tried to conquer the Venetian audience with two new operas ( Mitridate Eupatore and Il trionfo della libertà ). Instead of the usual three-act libretti with their intriguing plots, the poet Girolamo Frigimelica-Roberti had written for him two five-act dramas strictly on the model of classic French tragedy. However, neither attempt to raise the level of Italian and especially Venetian opera met with little approval. The performances took place in the Teatro Grimani.

After the end of Spanish rule in Naples, Scarlatti was reappointed Kapellmeister of the Cappella Reale on December 1, 1708 by the Austrian viceroy, Cardinal Vincenzo Grimani (1652-1710). In January 1709, his new opera Teodosio was performed in Naples . His second term in office is particularly marked by a series of glamorous, lavishly furnished operas at the Teatro San Bartolomeo , of which Tigrane was particularly successful and the late work Griselda (1721) received special recognition from posterity. In 1710 he began to occupy himself with the hitherto neglected instrumental music and in 1715 published the 12 Sinfonie di concerto grosso .

Manuscript by Alessandro Scarlatti on Griselda

From 1717 to 1722 Scarlatti stayed mainly in Rome again. As can be seen from the dedication of his Missa Clementina II , composed in 1716 , Pope Clement XI. Knighted him in 1715. In Rome, Scarlatti completed the series of his operas with several works for the Teatro Capranica . In the foreword of the printed libretto, he himself referred to Griselda , performed in January 1721, as his 114th opera; In 1722 the new version of Arminio followed , which he had written for Pratolino as early as 1703. Scarlatti spent his twilight years in Naples, where a few months before his death he met the German flautist and composer Johann Joachim Quantz and gave Johann Adolph Hasse composition lessons.

His tomb is in the Chapel of St. Cecilia in the Church of S. Maria di Montesanto in Naples. The grave inscription written by Pietro Ottoboni reads: Heic situs est / eques Alexander Scarlatus / vir moderatione beneficentia / pietate insignis / musices instaurator maximus (Eng. Here rests the knight Alexander Scarlattus, distinguished by moderation , charity and piety , greatest innovator of music).

Since 1961 he has given his name to Scarlatti Peak , a mountain on Alexander I Island in Antarctica.

Musical creation

Operas

A list of his operas compiled by Scarlatti lists 117 titles, including probably just a few composed arias and arrangements.

His second opera L'onestà degli amori already shows the recipe for success: canzoni belle, nove, e varie (beautiful, new and varied songs), as the two comic characters of the opera proclaim. Rosmene , composed in 1686 for Cardinal Benedetto Pamphili, was one of his most famous operatic works during his lifetime. Until 1696 Scarlatti had a quasi monopoly in Naples and contributed significantly to the success of the Neapolitan opera. Pirro e demetrio (1694) was even played in Braunschweig (1696) and London (1708).

Scarlatti is in principle a traditionalist; However, the history of music owes him a momentous innovation, namely the introduction of the three-movement “Sinfonia” according to the tempo scheme fast - slow - fast (in contrast to the French overture with the sequence slow - fast - slow), which he has regularly called since Dal male il bene Introductory music used in his operas. This form of the “ symphony ” soon became mandatory for all Italian opera composers, and it was from it that the development began that ultimately led to the creation of the classical symphony.

Scarlatti saw it as the most important task of an opera composer to express human passions with all their nuances in music. In addition to an inexhaustible melodic inspiration, he also used a rich harmonic vocabulary that does not shy away from cutting dissonances and bold modulations. His aria melodies are not primarily designed to be catchy tunes, but rather as tense vocal lines that trace the emotional state of the singing person like a fever curve.

In the recitatives, Scarlatti pays particular attention to a three-dimensional musical representation of the text and uses graphic coloratura to paint out key words that are particularly emotional or important in terms of content. He is also credited with introducing the Accompagnato recitative accompanied by the string orchestra, which he has frequently used since Olimpia vendicata to emphasize dramaturgically important situations.

In the early operas there are still numerous short arias in the form of stanzas, such as the well-known "Già il Sole del Gange" from L'honestà negli amori , which can be found in various "Arie-antiche" collections. In addition, the da capo aria begins to gain acceptance. It already existed around the middle of the 17th century, but thanks to the salary with which he fulfilled it, it soon became just as generally binding as the overture form he introduced. In practically all Italian opera scores from around 1690 to around 1770, at least in the opera seria , a chain of da capo arias, alternating with (Sekko) recitatives, forms the musical backbone.

In the course of his operatic career, Scarlatti has continuously expanded the dimensions of this form and increasingly strengthened the role played by the orchestra. In all arias a continuous basso continuo accompaniment forms the harmonic foundation and in many pieces of the first operas it is the only accompaniment. In addition, there will soon be individual string instruments that perform preludes, interludes and aftermaths (ritornello), but pause during the singing. The development finally leads to elaborately constructed structures with closely interlinked vocal and instrumental parts, in which the musical material is evenly distributed between the singing and the instruments (which also include wind instruments). Scarlatti does not skimp on contrapuntal arts, which is perhaps the reason why his last operas were no longer as successful as his earlier works with audiences who demanded lighter fare.

Oratorios

Scarlatti's oratorios deal with Christian allegorical themes ( La Santissima Trinità ) and legends of saints ( San Filippo Neri ) with a preference for materials from the Old Testament (e.g. Il Primo Omicidio ovvero Caino , Sedecia Re di Gerusalemme ). The latter in particular are designed entirely with the musical and dramaturgical means of contemporary opera, but were given in concerts and often in private circles in order to circumvent the papal ban on stage performances in Rome. In principle, they are operas in disguise.

Cantatas

In addition to the 115 operas according to our own count, the 799 secular cantatas for one or two voices that have survived form the most extensive group of works in Scarlatti's oeuvre. While opera was aimed at all social classes, this type of vocal chamber music was primarily intended for an intellectually oriented audience of private connoisseurs and lovers. The poems, often written by amateur aristocratic music lovers, mostly deal with subjects from ancient mythology and shepherd poetry. The musical structure usually consists of three or four arias with connecting recitatives; in the cantatas for two voices there are also duets. In addition to pure basso continuo accompaniment, there are often concertos solo instruments, in the extensive solo cantata Su le sponde del Tebro z. B. a trumpet.

Church music

Scarlatti's masses (the alleged number of 200 is hard to believe) and the rest of the church music are comparatively insignificant, with the exception of the Santa Cecilia Mass ( 1721 ), which is one of the first attempts at the style, which culminated in the great masses of John Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven found.

Instrumental works

Scarlatti is regarded as a pioneer of chamber music forms from the pre-classical era. With his Sonate a quattro he created a preliminary form of the string quartet , which emerged from the six concertos in seven parts for two violins, obbligato cello (also composed for tenor and bass voice). Benjamin Cooke published these compositions 15 years after Scarlatti's death in London in 1740.

The Sinfonie di concerto grosso (1715) for wind instruments and strings essentially adhere to the concerto grosso concept coined by Arcangelo Corelli .

Scarlatti's late sonatas for flute and strings were possibly composed in 1724/25 for his pupil Johann Joachim Quantz .

Works (selection)

Operas (librettist, place and year of the premiere)

  • Gli equivoci nel sembiante (DF Contini; G. Contini's private theater, Rome 1679)
  • L'onestà negli amori (DF Bernini or DF Contini; Queen Christine's Palace , Rome 1680)
  • Tutto il mal non vien per nuocere (Giuseppe Domenico de Totis; Teatro Capranica, Rome 1681; revised as Dal male il bene , Naples 1687)
  • Il Pompeo ( Nicolò Minato ; Teatro Colonna, Rome 1683)
  • L 'Aldimiro, o vero Favor per favore (Giuseppe Domenico de Totis; Palazzo Reale , Naples 1683)
  • Olimpia vendicata ( Aurelio Aureli ; Palazzo Reale; Naples 1685)
  • La Rosmene, o vero L'infedeltà fedele (Giuseppe Domenico de Totis; Palazzo Doria-Pamphilj , Rome 1686)
  • Clearco in Negroponte (A. Arcoleo; Palazzo Reale, Naples 1686)
  • La Statira ( P. Ottoboni ; Rome 1690)
  • Gli equivoci in amore, overo La Rosaura (GB Lucini; Palazzo della Cancelleria , Rome 1690)
  • La Teodora Augusta (A. Morselli; Palazzo Reale, Naples 1692)
  • Il Flavio Cuniberto (M. Noris; Naples 1693)
  • Pirro e Demetrio (A. Morselli; Teatro San Bartolomeo , Naples 1694)
  • Comodo Antonino (Francesco Maria Paglia; Teatro San Bartolomeo, Naples 1686); with Vittoria Tarquini , Maddalena Musi , the castrato Domenico Cecchi called "il Cortona" and the bass Giov. Battista Cavana et al. a.
  • L 'Emireno (overo il consiglio dell'ombra) (FM Paglia; Teatro San Bartolomeo, Naples 1696); with Vittoria Tarquini, Maddalena Musi, Domenico Cecchi called "Cortona" and Giov. Battista Cavana et al. a.
  • La caduta de 'decemviri ( Silvio Stampiglia ; Teatro San Bartolomeo, Naples 1697); with Matteo Sassano called " Matteuccio ", Vittoria Tarquini, Maddalena Musi and Nicola Grimaldi called "Nicolini" a. a.
  • La donna ancora è fedele (DF Contini; Teatro San Bartolomeo, Naples 1698)
  • Il prigioniero fortunato (FM Paglia; Teatro San Bartolomeo, Naples 1698); with Nicolino (Nicolò Grimaldi), Maddalena Musi, Giov. Battista Cavana et al. a.
  • L'Eraclea (S. Stampiglia; Naples 1700)
  • Dafni , favola boschereccia (Eustachio Manfredi & FM Paglia; Villa of the Viceroy, Posillipo (Naples), summer 1700)
  • Arminio ( Antonio Salvi ; Villa Medici, Pratolino , 1703)
  • Il gran Tamerlano (A. Salvi; Villa Medici, Pratolino, 1706)
  • Mitridate Eupatore (G. Frigimelica-Roberti; Venice 1707)
  • Il trionfo della libertà (G. Frigimelica-Roberti; Venice 1707)
  • L'Amor volubile e tiranno (GD Pioli, edited by G. Papis; Teatro San Bartolomeo, Naples 1709)
  • La principessa fedele ( Agostino Piovene ; Naples 1710)
  • Scipione nelle Spagne ( Apostolo Zeno ; Naples 1714)
  • Tigrane ( D. Lalli ; Naples 1715)
  • Carlo re d'Allemagna ( Francesco Silvani ; Naples 1716)
  • Telemaco (CS Capeci; Rome 1718)
  • Il trionfo dell'onore (FA Tullio; Naples 1718)
  • Cambise ( Domenico Lalli ; Naples 1719)
  • Marco Attilio Regolo (M. Noris; Teatro Capranica, Rome 1719)
  • Griselda ( Apostolo Zeno , edited by FM Ruspoli; Teatro Capranica, Rome 1721), with Giacinto Fontana “ Farfallino ” as Griselda, Giovanni Carestini as Costanza and Antonio Bernacchi as Gualtiero.

Oratorios

  • La Giuditta (Rome 1693)
  • La religione giardiniera (text: Filippo de Raimo; WP: San Pietro Martire, Naples, October 5, 1698; inter alia with Nicolò Grimaldi ("Nicolino"), Domenico Melchiorri called "l'Aquilano", Antonio Manna ("Abbate Camerini") Revision as: Il giardino di Rose , Palazzo des Francesco Maria Ruspoli, Rome 1707)
  • Oratorio per la Santissima Annuntiata (Text: Pietro Ottoboni ; WP: Oratorio di San Filippo, Rome, April 1703)
  • Humanità e Lucifero (Rome, 1704)
  • San Filippo Neri (Text: Pietro Ottoboni; WP: Rome, 1705)
  • Sedecia re di Gerusalemme (Rome, 1705–1706)
  • Il primo omicidio ovvero Caino (text: Pietro Ottoboni; premiere: Venice 1707)
  • Cain overo Il primo omicidio (1707)
  • Il martirio di Santa Cecilia (text: Pietro Ottoboni; premiere: Rome 1708)
  • Il Dolore di Maria Vergine (1717)

Instrumental music

  • 12 Symphony di Concerto grosso (1715)
  • 6 Concertos in Seven Parts (actually Sonata a quattro ) (London, 1740)
  • 4 Sonata a quattro
  • 3 sonatas for violoncello and basso continuo
  • 2 suites for flute and basso continuo (1699)
  • 7 sonatas in Concerti di flauto, violini, violetta, e basso di diversi autori ( composite manuscript)
  • 2 sonatas for flute, two violins and basso continuo
  • Sonata for two flutes, two violins and basso continuo
  • Sonata for three flutes and basso continuo
  • various toccatas for harpsichord
    • 3 Toccate, ognuna seguita da fuga e minuetto (1716)
    • Toccata d'intavolatura per harpsichord ò pure per organo d'ottava stesa
  • 2 symphony for harpsichord (1699)
  • La Follia (1715)
  • 10 Partite sopra basso obbligato (1716)

Theoretical works

  • Regole per Principianti (ca.1715)
  • Discorso sopra un caso particolare di arte (1717)
  • Canon : Tenta la fuga ma la tenta invano ; Voi sola ; Commincio solo ; two canons to two voices
  • 15 fugues to two voices
  • Studio a quattro sulla nota ferma
  • Varie introduttioni per sonare e mettersi in tono delle compositioni (c. 1715)

literature

Web links

Commons : Alessandro Scarlatti  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Dirk Kruse : Alessandro Scarlatti: Greatest Renewer of Music on: BR-Klassik from February 19, 2017.
  2. ↑ According to other information, Giuseppe Scarlatti was a son of Francesco Scarlatti (1666 - after 1741), a brother of Alessandro Scarlatti, cf. Franz Brendel , History of Music in Italy, Germany and France , Leipzig 1852 a. ö., p. 109.
  3. ^ L'onestà negli amori (Alessandro Scarlatti) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  4. ↑ L 'Aldi Miro, o vero Favor per favore (Alessandro Scarlatti) in Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  5. ^ Olimpia vendicata (Alessandro Scarlatti) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  6. ^ La Rosmene, o vero L'infedeltà fedele (Alessandro Scarlatti) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  7. ^ Gli equivoci in amore, overo La Rosaura (Alessandro Scarlatti) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  8. ^ Comodo Antonino (Alessandro Scarlatti) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  9. ^ L 'Emireno overo il consiglio dell'ombra (Alessandro Scarlatti) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  10. ↑ La caduta de 'decemviri (Alessandro Scarlatti) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  11. ^ Il prigioniero fortunato (Alessandro Scarlatti) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  12. ^ Dafni (Alessandro Scarlatti) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  13. ^ Il gran Tamerlano (Alessandro Scarlatti) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  14. ^ Griselda (Alessandro Scarlatti) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  15. ↑ Nicolò Maccavino, Ausilia Magaudda: La religione giardiniera (Napoli, 1698) - Il giardino di Rose (Roma, 1707): Nuove Acquisizioni , in: Devozione e Passione - Alessandro Scarlatti nel 350. anniversario della nascita , (Conservatorio di musica F. Cilea, Reggio Emilia) Rubettino Editore, 2013, pp. 303–368 (Italian)
personal data
SURNAME Scarlatti, Alessandro
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Scarlatti, Pietro Alessandro Gaspare (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian Baroque composer, father of Domenico Scarlatti
DATE OF BIRTH May 2, 1660
PLACE OF BIRTH Trapani or Palermo
DATE OF DEATH October 24, 1725
Place of death Naples