Editing Alessandro Scarlatti (section)

==Music==
[[File:Alessandro Scarlatti 2.png|thumb|Scarlatti as a young man, attributed to [[Lorenzo Vaccaro]] (c1770)<ref>Portrait of Alessandro Scarlatti, attributed to Lorenzo Vaccaro (c1770). ''Grove Music Online.'' Retrieved 19 Nov. 2023, from https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-8000923029 .</ref>]]

Scarlatti's music forms an important link between the early [[Baroque music|Baroque]] Italian vocal styles of the 17th century, with their centers in Florence, Venice and [[Rome]], and the classical school of the 18th century. Scarlatti's style, however, is more than a transitional element in Western music; like most of his Naples colleagues he shows an almost modern understanding of the psychology of modulation and also frequently makes use of the ever-changing phrase lengths so typical of the Napoli school.

His early operas—''Gli equivoci nel sembiante'' 1679; ''[[L'honestà negli amori]]'' 1680, containing the famous aria "Già il sole dal Gange"; ''[[Il Pompeo]]'' 1683, containing the well-known airs "O cessate di piagarmi" and "Toglietemi la vita ancor," and others down to about 1685—retain the older cadences in their [[recitatives]], and a considerable variety of neatly constructed forms in their charming little arias, accompanied sometimes by the string quartet, treated with careful elaboration, sometimes with the continuo alone. By 1686, he had definitely established the "Italian overture" form (second edition of ''Dal male il bene''), and had abandoned the [[ostinato|ground bass]] and the [[binary form]] air in two stanzas in favour of the [[ternary form]] or [[da capo]] type of air. His best operas of this period are ''La Rosaura'' (1690, printed by the [[Gesellschaft für Musikforschung]]), and ''Pirro e Demetrio'' (1694), in which occur the arias "Le Violette", and "Ben ti sta, traditor".

From about 1697 onwards (''La caduta del Decemviri''), influenced partly perhaps by the style of [[Giovanni Bononcini]] and probably more by the taste of the viceregal court, his opera arias become more conventional and commonplace in rhythm, while his scoring is hasty and crude, yet not without brilliance (''L'Eraclea'', 1700), the [[oboe]]s and [[trumpet]]s being frequently used, and the [[violin]]s often playing in unison. The operas composed for Ferdinando de' Medici are lost; they might have given a more favourable idea of his style as his correspondence with the prince shows that they were composed with a very sincere sense of inspiration.

[[File:Alessandro Scarlatti - Griselda. (BL Add MS 14168 f. 5r) crop.jpg|thumb|left|An autograph manuscript of Scarlatti's ''[[Griselda (Scarlatti)|Griselda]]'']]

''[[Mitridate Eupatore]]'', accounted his masterpiece, composed for Venice in 1707, contains music far in advance of anything that Scarlatti had written for Naples, both in technique and in intellectual power. The later Neapolitan operas (''L'amor volubile e tiranno'' 1709; ''La principessa fedele'' 1710; ''Tigrane'', 1714, &c.) are showy and effective rather than profoundly emotional; the instrumentation marks a great advance on previous work, since the main duty of accompanying the voice is thrown upon the string quartet, the harpsichord being reserved exclusively for the noisy instrumental [[ritornello|''ritornelli'']]. In his opera ''Teodora'' (1697) he originated the use of the orchestral ''ritornello''.

His last group of operas, composed for Rome, exhibit a deeper poetic feeling, a broad and dignified style of melody, a strong dramatic sense, especially in accompanied recitatives, a device which he himself had been the first to use as early as 1686 (''Olimpia vendicata'') and a much more modern style of orchestration, the horns appearing for the first time, and being treated with striking effect.

{{listen|filename=Scarlatti - Toccata 3.ogg|title=Toccata 3|description=Performed by Sylvia Kind on a harpsichord of the type made in the early 20th century|format=[[ogg]]}}

Besides the operas, [[oratorio]]s (''Agar et Ismaele esiliati'', 1684; ''La Maddalena'', 1685; ''La Giuditta'', 1693; ''Humanita e Lucifero'', 1704; ''Christmas Oratorio'', c. 1705; ''Cain'', 1707; ''S. Filippo Neri'', 1714; and others) and serenatas, which all exhibit a similar style, Scarlatti composed upwards of five hundred chamber-cantatas for solo voice. These represent the most intellectual type of chamber-music of their period, and it is to be regretted that they have remained almost entirely in manuscript, since a careful study of them is indispensable to anyone who wishes to form an adequate idea of Scarlatti's development.

His few remaining Masses and church music in general are comparatively unimportant, except the great ''[[Messa di Santa Cecilia|Saint Cecilia Mass]]'' (1721), which is one of the first attempts at the style which reached its height in the great Masses of [[Johann Sebastian Bach]] and [[Ludwig van Beethoven]]. His instrumental music, though not without interest, is curiously antiquated as compared with his vocal works.