Alessandro Scarlatti

Pietro Alessandro Gaspare Scarlatti was an Italian Baroque composer, known especially for his operas and chamber cantatas. He is considered the most important representative of the Neapolitan School of opera. Nicknamed by his contemporaries "the Italian Orpheus", he divided his career between Naples and Rome; a significant part of his works was composed for the papal city. He is often considered the founder of the Neapolitan School, although he has only been its most illustrious representative: his contribution, his originality and his influence were essential, as well as lasting, both in Italy and in Europe. Particularly known for his operas, he brought the Italian dramatic tradition to its maximum development, begun by Monteverdi at the beginning of 17th century and continued by Cesti, Cavalli, Carissimi, Legrenzi and Stradella, designing the final form of the da capo aria, imitated throughout Europe. He was also the inventor of the Italian overture in three movements, of the four-part sonata, and of the technique of motivic development. He was a model for the musical theatre of his time, as evoked by Handel's Italian works, who was deeply influenced by his theatrical music. From Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alessan...) under Creative Commons Attribution CC-BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b...)