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'Domenico Scarlatti does not belong.' [1]

Dean Sutcliff, 'The Keyboard Sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti and Eighteenth-Century Musical Style'
 

The Search for a place for Domenico Scarlatti in the Musical History
The above quote, although short, pretty much sums what musicologists had to say about Domenico Scarlatti. Scarlatti is no doubt a mysterious
character historically and musically. The search for Scarlatti's place in musical history has been a long journey, yet the finish line is yet to be found.
Ralph Kirkpatrick, the leading scholar on Scarlatti in the twentieth century, jokingly entertained the idea that Scarlatti's sonatas were actually written by
his student Maria Barbara to make fun of the fact that there was almost no evidence proving that Scarlatti wrote the sonatas himself.[2] Kirkpatrick's
fellow scholar Malcolm Boyd also suggested that there were so little left from Scarlatti's life that it seemed as if Scarlatti had hired someone to cover up
his life.[3] With the lack of historical evidence, musicologists turn to Scarlatti's music, particularly his (arguably) five hundred and fifty-five keyboard
sonatas, and hope that they shine a light on the ambiguity of Scarlatti's place in history. Scholars in the nineteenth century, including Allesandro Longo
and Hans von Bülow, generally considered Scarlatti a Baroque composer. Both Longo and Bülow edited Scarlatti's keyboard sonatas into groups of five
or six, under the frame of Baroque dance suites.[4] Bülow even titled the sonatas after Baroque dance movements, like Gigue and Sarabande, to
'sustain interest', even though Scarlatti himself was content with just calling all of his short keyboard pieces sonatas.[5] In the twentieth century,
musicologists started rethinking Scarlatti's place in Baroque period. Realising that putting Scarlatti with the big names of Baroque did not really work,
musicologists later argued that Scarlatti fell between Baroque and Classical period based on the melodic nature of Scarlatti's later keyboard sonatas.[6]
Unsatisfied with the classification of Scarlatti as a transitional composer, musicologist Dean Sutcliffe embarked on the issue again with a much more
open-minded attitude towards Scarlatti's placement in the musical history with focus on individual sonatas instead of the traditional reading of
Scarlatti's sonatas as a whole. In the light of Sutcliffe's book, I would like to argue that the 'displacement' of Scarlatti is a result of over-categorisation
and the rigid analytical regime of musicology. Not only was Scarlatti a chameleon who adopted all musical styles available at his reach in his sonatas, he
was using those musical styles responsively and critically.
 
            The biggest hurdle scholars faced when categorising Scarlatti is the apparent distance between his sonatas and the mainstream Baroque
musical style. In an essay commemorating J.S. Bach, Handel and Scarlatti's tercentenary birthdays, art historian David Fuller wrote concerning the use
of dotted style in Baroque music that 'but for his [Scarlatti's] birthday he might not be in this essay at all - and his vocal music is difficult of access, so
that generalizations are impossible.'[7] The fact that Scarlatti was born the same year as Bach and Handel has been a nightmare to historians and
musicologists because most of Scarlatti's works are far from the meticulous contrapuntal pieces composed by his contemporaries. However, Scarlatti
was evidently well-informed about the learned style as a young man. Kirkpatrick suggested that Scarlatti obtained his early musical training in Italy and
was well-acquainted with Palestinian counterpoint and the writing of Toccatas.[8] Scarlatti also allegedly had a keyboard duel with Handel in Rome in
1709, after which Scarlatti formed a great admiration for Handel's technical skills on the keyboard.[9]
 
 
            While we have to be cautious with Kirkpatrick's claims for the lack of references to support his theories,[10]Scarlatti's knowledge of the canonical
procedure of Toccatas and counterpoint is evidenced in his sonatas K.1-30 published in Essercizi in 1738. Although these sonatas do not live by the
rules of counterpoint as closely as Bach's keyboard works do (mainly because Bach's works are the rules of counterpoint by definition), they are
generally contained and almost all of them begin with imitative points. Whether the subtlety of these thirty pieces, in comparison to pieces numbered
K.31 onward, is due to the fact they were written before 1738 or due to Scarlatti's conscious effort of writing pieces that are more conventional for his
book of technical studies, I cannot imagine musicologists losing too much sleep over granting Scarlatti a place in Baroque if Essercizi was Scarlatti's only
publication. The most well-known piece from Essercizi, K30 Fugue in G minor, later named as ‘Cat Fugue', displays Scarlatti's knowledge of counterpoint
and canonic writing. Although the opening motif was known for its strange intervals by the standard of Baroque, it was never lost in the entire fugue.
[11] That said, 'Cat Fugue' is the most conventional out of all the sonatas in Essercizi, and probably out of all of Scarlatti's keyboard sonatas as well in
terms of the formal structure. Most sonatas in Essercizi do begin with a melody played by one hand that is immediately followed by the other hand. Yet,
they often quickly evolve to a more improvisatory compositional direction. Sonata in G major K.13 is a good example for us to see some features that
are specific to Scarlatti's sonatas.
 
            Since the issues musicologists faced when connecting Scarlatti and Baroque traditions were often generated by formal analysis on Scarlatti's
sonatas, we will first approach K.13 with the traditional analysis model to recreate what seems to be the rationale of Scarlatti's displacement. K.13 is a
lively and delicate sonata. Like most sonatas in Essercizi, it is in binary form with the second part as a transposition of the first part with slight
variations. For that reason, we will focus on the first part of the sonata here. The sonata begins as if it is in true cannon style.[12] The motif, formed by a
downward leap (Ex.1, marked 1A) followed by trilled quavers and descending steps in semi-quavers (Ex. 1 marked 1B), is first played by the right hand,
then followed by the left hand. Yet, that is as much cannon as we get. By b.3, the leap from the motif has dissipated into a quick sequence of upward
leaps (Ex. 1, marked 1C); and by b. 8, the only reminisce of the motif is the trilled pattern (Ex. 1, marked 1D), which is hidden in the new hand-crossing
sequences until b.14. Two bars of arpeggios, (Ex.1, marked 1E) without previous hint, are given before a completely new theme in minor arrives in b.
17.  The sentence beginning on b.17 is formed by two repeated units. The first unit is a pattern with trills on the penultimate semi-quaver of the bar
(Ex.1, marked 1F), which is played exactly the same twice. It is then answered by the second unit with decorated pedal on A (Ex. 1, marked 1G), which is
repeated and modified through bb.21-27. The sentence then attempts to repeat itself in b. 28 but this time the first unit is answered by five sequences
in a row combined with the arpeggios from 1D and the semi-quaver trill pattern from 1E in bb.29-33.  By b.38, yet another new idea has come along.
This time the unit, combined by a reverse leap inspired by 1A and the semi-quaver trill patter in 1F, was repeated exactly the same three times until
b.40, then repeated three times again in different register in bb. 42-44. Towards the end of the first section, the pedal in A surfaced again in bb.45-
47(Ex.1, marked 1H), but this time supported by ascending broken octaves on the left hand. It is followed by three bars of flirtations with third-apart
harmony and the section ends with a florid descending arpeggio destined on the tonic.
 
            The above analysis of the first part of K.13, if read alone, seems exhausting and illogical. However, it generated a few features that are worth
discussing: the exact and immediate repetition of short units, the prolonged sequences that result in extended phrasing, the usage of extremely
innovative technique at the time, like hand-crossing, and the randomness of displacement of musical materials. These features are not exclusive to the
sonatas in Essercizi, and are often more prominent in pieces numbered K.31 onward. Scholars like Sara Gross Ceballos, whose research focused on the
Spanish cultural influence on Scarlatti's sonatas, attributed the sequences with leaps and the repetition of short units to Scarlatti's extended stay in
Portugal and Spain due to his service to Queen Maria Barbara de Braganza. However, as Sutcliffe pointed out, the influence of the Spanish musical
culture on Scarlatti is still debated nowadays.[13] It is difficult to establish the relationship between Scarlatti's sonatas and Spanish musical culture
conclusively based on the Scarlatti's use of repetition and sequences because they are such general features.
 
            One of the more prominent features found almost exclusively in Scarlatti's sonatas within the late seventeenth century and the early eighteenth
century is the use of hand-crossing. The hand-crossing technique could be one of the most influential compositional devices introduced by Scarlatti.
Musicologist David Yearsley suggested that Scarlatti's hand-crossing compositional style might have influenced C.P.E. Bach and Rameau as well as
musicians in Spain, including Scarlatti's Portuguese colleague, Carlos de Seixas.[14] Ceballos argued that although most of Scarlatti's sonatas do not

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sound entirely Spanish, Scarlatti was inspired by the physical movement of fandango, the Spanish dance.[15] Ceballos suggested that the hand-crossing
on the keyboard was a simulation of the arch-like wrist movement in the Spanish dance.[16] Admittedly, there is always the frustration of not being able
to prove whether Scarlatti's knowledge of such Spanish dance or his first piece that features hand-crossing came first. Yet, Ceballos provided us a new
direction of looking into the conceptual influence instead of identifying thematic features of Spanish culture in Scarlatti's sonatas.
 
            Indeed, when we look at the formal structure of K.13, it seems that the influence of Spanish musical culture on Scarlatti is more conceptual than
thematic. As seen above, while K.13 is in clear binary form and does have well-defined phrase structure, phrases do not appear to flow logically from
each other. We can see where the musical materials are originated from, but we cannot trace the progress of how it comes to be the way it is. In other
words, there is no gradual development of musical motives long enough to be considered a compositional direction in the sonata, which is one of the
challenges of accepting Scarlatti as a Baroque composer. The lack of organic growth of motives makes it impossible for musicologists to dissect
Scarlatti's sonatas as they would when analysing other Baroque composers' works. The idea of the contradanza might offer us a reasonable
explanation of this bafflement. Contradanza is a dance form that is often incorporated in Spanish musical dramas. Given Queen Maria Barbara's love
for the theatre and Scarlatti's involvement in opera-writing, it is very likely that Scarlatti would have been exposed to the dance form.[17] According to
the dance treatise written Pablo Minguet e Yrol, a music scholar in Madrid in the eighteenth century, contradanza is a form of music that is stripped
from any nationality in order to fit all kinds of dance moves and audiences. Without the support of a strong musical style or musical nationality as the
stem of dance, the resulting dance music might seem logically inconsistent, much like Scarlatti's sonatas.[18] Le Guin's comment on the strange phrase
rhythm of seguidillas, a form of Spanish dance, seems to fit Scarlatti's sonatas as well.
 
'Really it is impossible to summarize the sequidillas, Nor is it possible to reduce its rhythmic nature to anything easily summarizable, beyond the very
general observation that it tends to resist the paired-off phrasing that underlies the temporality, the logic and the dialogic capacity of galant style - while
being chameleonically capable of adopting it. The peculiar phrase rhythm that  characterizes the sequidillas is both a result and a cause of its rhetoric
and affectual ambitus. It lends itself to the sharp comment instead of to dialog, and to the circular insiders' game of sarcastic wit instead of to the
linear, logical inclusive progression of thesis-antithesis-synthesis.' [19]
 
            Even though Le Guin's comment is on sequidillas, if we apply her idea of the dance being a chameleon to Scarlatti's sonatas, that is, each of
Scarlatti's sonata[s] a container that holds all kinds of compatible musical styles, it explains the seemingly random arrangement of musical materials in
K.13. The analysis of K.13 above is based on the traditional model of formal analysis that we often use on Classical music. However, in Scarlatti's case, it
generated few insights, if not more confusion, other than a survey of musical features that are used in the sonata. Le Guin's quote gives us a new
possible way to view Scarlatti's sonatas. Because of the obvious change of mood and use of musical materials, we can divide the first part of K.13 into
blocks that are derived but not developed from the opening theme. Bb. 1-6 introduces the opening theme that is later broken down into pieces of
musical materials; the opening theme itself is only featured at the very beginning of each part, and is never heard again. Bb.7-17 bares similarities to
Bourrée, a lively French double-timed dance with a quarter-bar anacrusis.[20] Although this section does not feature an exact dactyl rhythm that is
often found in a Bourrée, it does highlight the first beat of the bar melodically.[21] The hand-crossing and the repeated notes simulate the dance move
'Pas de Bourrée', a rapid feet movement originated in ballet, from which Bourrée, the musical form, was named.[22] Also, although the trilled motif 1B
from the opening theme is used throughout bb.7-17, the motif does not function as a recognisable whole anymore. The trill serves as the end of each
sequence while the semi-quavers serves as the upbeat of next sequence. This confirms that Scarlatti was more interested in musical innovation than
the common practice of Baroque of recollecting the main theme throughout the piece. Scarlatti introduced a new musical idea in G minor in bb.17-29
characterised by trill pattern marked 1F. This section is played in contrapuntal style exactly like the beginning of the sonata as if it is unaware of the
existence of the Bourrée. The trill patterned 1F is then carried to the next section bb.29-37. Once again, Scarlatti introduced something completely new
in this short section. While the trill patterned 1F continues, the left hand now features static chords. The practice of having florid passages on the right
and continuous motionless chords on the left hand could be interpreted as a reminder of Tambourin, a French dance characterised by the drum-like
bass.[23] Lastly, bb.38-63 is an alternation between the contrapuntal style and the melody-oriented galant style until the first part of the sonata finishes
with a descending arpeggios in D major, the dominant key in true Baroque manner. If we take a step back and look at the sectionalisation of the sonata,
it is almost like Scarlatti could not decide on whether to settle on the contrapuntal style, the Bourrée style, the Tambourin style or galant style.
 
            While Le Guin's idea of the chameleonic nature of the sequidilla  is helpful in generating a more suitable model of analysis for Scarlatti's sonatas,
there are parts of her comment that might not directly apply to Scarlatti's works. Firstly, her comment of the chameleonic character being a refutation
of galant style would be confusing given the fact that Scarlatti is famously known for his use of the dialogical, lyrical musical approach that is often
identified as the galant style. We have to understand that Le Guin's book concerns the development of tonadilla, a type of Spanish music drama that is
highly conversational and dramatic.[24] When Le Guin mentioned galant style, she was referring to the Neapolitan comic style available in Madrid in the
mid eighteenth century, which she equated with 'buffo style, modern style, dialogic style or [...] the umbrella term galant style',[25] instead of the galant
style that is most often indentified with keyboard music in the mid to late eighteenth century. Also, because Le Guin's research focused on Spanish
music drama instead of Spanish music alone, her comment would have concerned more of the phrase structure of the lyrics of opera buffa than the
texture of music itself. So when we read Le Guin's comment, we have to be mindful that on one hand, Scarlatti did challenge the symmetrical structure
of arias from opera buffa; on the other hand, Scarlatti often adopted the melody-oriented feature of galant style.
 
            Le Guin's opinion that the freedom of the phrase structure of sequidilla, and Scarlatti's sonata in this case, is a refutation of elements of the
galant style raises the question of whether Scarlatti's sonatas are politically motivated. As mentioned above, Le Guin referred galant style to Neapolitan
opera buffa style. Le Guin's comment hinted the presumed adversity of the Spaniards towards the Italian style during their course of searching for a
national music.[26] By refuting the opera buffa style, the Spaniards refused to admit the influence of Italian music over Spanish music. The political
motivation of refuting the tidy phrasing of galant style seems to make sense up to this point. Yet, Ceballos's political reading of the use of galant style in
Scarlatti's sonatas contradicts Le Guin's comment. In her analysis on Scarlatti's Sonata in F major, K.256, Ceballos suggested that the alternation
between the serious learnt style and the lyrical galant style is a political confrontation. She argued that because the learnt style and opera seria were
 strongly associated with Isabel Farnese and Felipe V of the unpopular Bourbon royalty,  the use of the galant style in K.256 was Scarlatti's endorsement
to their successors, Fernando VI and Maria Barbara, who brought 'more modern sensibilities' into music and preferred opera buffa over opera seria.
[27] Ceballos believed that the 'openness' of the galant style used sparingly in K.256 symbolises an escape from the rigidity of the learnt style, which
represents the old regime.[28] And she argued that the fact that K.256 ends in galant style marks the glory and victory of Fernando VI over Felipe V. [29]
 
            However, there are a few points that would challenge Ceballos's argument. First of all, Ceballos argued that the emergence of galant style is to
protest against the rigidity of learnt style. Yet, if we look closely to the score of K.256, the imitative nature of the beginning of the piece has not withered
throughout the entire piece. Ceballos was right that the sonata is in singing style. The slow tempo and thick harmony at the beginning of K.256 suggests
that choral, almost hymn-like, style is in place.(Ex.2a) Ceballos suggested that the 'galant style' passage starts after the entrance of the second part from
b.61 till the end of the sonata. While it is true the texture of the music has gotten a lot lighter from b.61, the sonata is still serious, highly repetitive and
harmonically modest.(Ex.2b) If the beginning of K.256 is to be conceived as a chorus of an opera seria, then it is more fitting to describe the style from
b.61 to be a duet or a trio within the same opera. In other words, the texture of the piece has changed, but not the style. Ceballos also forgot to
mention that the choral texture returned in bb. 75-76 right before the ending of the sonata.(Ex.2c)  If Scarlatti were to make a political statement with
K.256, one would expect him to be a lot more blunt. We have seen sonatas by Scarlatti that are a lot more innovative in terms of phrase structure and
harmonic progression. Why would Scarlatti stick with the serious character of the beginning of the piece and bother to make a return of the choral style
near the end of the sonata if he wanted to disown the opera seria style related to Felipe V? Also, learnt style is not solely associated with opera seria, it
is also part of the Austo-Germanic musical culture especially in the context of keyboard music. It is almost too convenient for Ceballos to make the
connection between learnt style to opera seria and then the connection between opera seria and the Bourbon royalty. Le Guin's comment that freedom
of phrase structure is a refutation of galant style could also be biased. After all, rigidity of phrase structure is the norm of Baroque music whether it is
arias in opera buffa, French overture or toccatas. The idea of through-composition was not generally accepted until the nineteenth century. It is
questionable that the liberty of formal structure of Scarlatti's sonatas was motivated by adversity towards Italian music, especially when Scarlatti
himself was born in Naples.
 

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            Nonetheless, it is interesting that although both Le Guin's and Ceballos's comments deal with nationalism of music, they came up to such
opposite conclusions. While Le Guin's comment concerns the phrase structure of the sonatas, Ceballos was more concerned about overall style and
texture of the music. Yet, their comments both concern nationalism of music for Scarlatti's sonatas, while in fact the phrase 'national music' was not
even heard of until late eighteenth century, by then Scarlatti was long gone.[30] This takes us back to the 'Spanishness' of Scarlatti's music. Is the
'Spanishness' of Scarlatti's sonatas to be blamed for his displacement in history? We have long considered the Spanish musical culture as the 'other' of
the European music, not only in Baroque but also in later periods. However, Minguet and Le Guin's comments on  the chameleonic writing suggested
that the seventeenth and eighteenth century Spain was more adaptive to other musical styles in Europe than we previously assumed. The very
existence of the contradanza was to promote the integration of musical features from all over Europe in Spanish plays.[31] I believe that the design and
innovation of Scarlatti's sonatas are purely musically motivated instead of politically motivated.
 
            In fact, music composed in early eighteenth century are generally audience-oriented, that is, composers would have taken their audiences'
reactions into account as they composed. For instance, under the title of his book of Chorale Preludes, J.S. Bach wrote 'Denen Liebhabern zur Gemüths-
Ergötzung' (for the refreshment of the spirits of amateurs).[32] If we look back on the simultaneity of K.13, it seems obvious that Scarlatti was motivated
by his audience's reactions. Every time Scarlatti introduces a new style, that styles stays as long as it needs to make the audience comfortable with it,
hence the irregular phrase structure. Then Scarlatti hit his audience with a completely different style to play with their expectations. Thus, the
chameleonic nature of Scarlatti's sonatas is more likely to be a tool to comment on different compositional styles instead of a means with political
intention. The following examples will further discuss the peculiarities of Scarlatti's sonatas in relation to Scarlatti's use of styles and their expected
effects.
 
            While most composers used different styles as genres consistently throughout pieces, Scarlatti used them as 'historical idea or tradition, alluding
to it in the course of his sonatas' as Giorgio Pestelli suggested.[33] This created a perfect framework for Scarlatti to comment on different musical styles
in late seventeenth and early eighteenth century through his sonatas. Scarlatti's critical use of musical materials is rather prominent in Sonata in D
minor, K.516. This sonata is probably the most ornate sonata by Scarlatti. This piece is so over-run with ornamentations, especially the mordents and
trills before the first repeat line, that the number of bars with ornaments are more than the number of bars without ornaments. Many pieces from
Baroque would be interpreted with added ornamentations even without markings. The fact that Scarlatti wrote out so many mordents tells us that the
ornaments in this sonata do not only function as decoration, they define this piece. At the beginning, these mordents only seem to be the by-product of
the chaconne style. Although the sonata does not have the most typical harmonic progression of chaconne (I-V-vi-V), it follows the harmonic grouping
of four bars of three beats that is commonly found in chaconne.[34] Bb. 1-39 consists of two long sentences, each sentence is formed by five groups of
four bars. Each group bares the harmonic progression of I-V-I or i-V-i and would lead to a key change to the next group. (Ex.3, marked 3A) This simple
harmonic pattern is more obvious in the next section where the trills seize all the attention from the audience. Bb.40-68 consists of four groups of
eight-bar phrases that are separated by two bar-long pauses.(Ex.3, marked 3B) Both Pestelli and Sheveloff suggested that the odd pauses in Scarlatti's
sonatas are making fun of the non-stop, tiring moto perpetuo practice of counterpoint writing.[35] But in the case of K.516, these pauses might be here
because the phrases are so ornamented that they would be extremely tiresome for audiences without pauses. Each bar features a chord decorated
with lower auxiliary note in alto and tenor parts. On top of that, the first beat of each bar is ornamented with trills on both of the inner parts. These
trills seem to exist for no apparent reason; they are not leading towards a cadence, they are not to decorate a note with thin texture, they are simply in
every single bar. The only possible explanation is that Scarlatti wanted to annoy his audience purposefully with the use of trills. One can almost
visualise an extremely decorative Baroque lady wearing a wig so big that she would fall over any second. On one hand, the excessive trills create a
physical humour that is both tiring and laughable to anybody. On the other hand, they can also be interpreted as a learned humour attempting to
make fun of the over-ornamentation of rococo styles or harpsichord music of Scarlatti's time in general. Scarlatti's acquaintance in Vienna, M. L'Augier,
recalled Scarlatti's comment on his fellow harpsichordists 'that the music of Alberti, and of several other modern composers, did not in the execution,
want a harpsichord, as it might be equally well, or perhaps, better expressed by any other instrument; but, as nature had given him ten fingers, and as
his instrument had employment for them all, he saw no reason why he should not use them.'[36] From Scarlatti's comment, we can see that he did not
appreciate unnecessary complications in harpsichord compositions. So it is more likely that he wrote in the trills in K.516 purposefully as a joke than
added the trills as a sincere decorative device.
 
            The second part of K.516 seems to be making fun of a completely different matter. After the first repeat line, the I-V-I pattern and the chordal
nature remain. However, this time, the chords are no longer decorated with auxiliary notes and trills. Instead, the attention is shifted to the static
repeated notes on the alto part. The non-stop static notes last for twenty-two bars in bb.101-133, as if basso continuo has relocated in the alto part.
Sheveloff named Scarlatti's repetitive patterns 'vamp' in her analysis on K.260. She claimed that these 'vamps' have 'a result somewhat vexing to the
reader's concentration'.[37] Indeed, this could be Scarlatti's experiment of testing out if basso continuo works in the inner-part and mocking the
seriousness and the obsession of basso continuo in German compositions. This reading of Scarlatti's sonatas begs the question of whether Scarlatti
would jeopardise his sonatas in order to make fun of the over-ornamentations of harpsichord music in his time. However, as Scarlatti himself said in
the preface of Essercizi, his pieces are 'ingenious Jesting with Art', which suggests that Scarlatti probably did not expect his pieces read seriously.[38] 
 
            Scarlatti's presumed ill-willed use of Baroque compositional styles has almost been accepted as a common sense amongst musicologists. This is
probably because of our narrow definition of Baroque music. For a long time, when people talk about Baroque, they refer to J.S. Bach, Handel, Vivaldi,
Telemann, Corelli, but mostly Bach, the master and the inventor of the German learnt style, alone. By embracing learnt style as the leading musical style
in Baroque, it is inevitable that we would either confirm or deny composers that ran at the fringe of the contrapuntal tradition of being part of Baroque.
This phenomenal still holds true today at some levels. However, even though learnt style seemed to be the dominant style of Baroque music, there
were a lot more happening in the musical scene outside Germany in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. As mentioned above, the traditional
opera seria and the 'modern' opera buffa were both thriving and spreading from Italy to other parts of Europe; French overture became a standard
genre often featuring in suites written in any part of Europe by the beginning of eighteenth century. J.S. Bach himself had expressed that as a German
musician, he was expected to perform music from Italy, France, England and Poland.[39] Georg Muffat wrote in the dedication of his Florilegium
primum that 'As I mix that French manner with the German and Italian, I do not begin a war, but perhaps rather a prelude to the unity, the dear peace,
desired by all the people.'[40] Both the testimonies from Bach and Muffat suggested the musical scene in late seventeenth and early eighteenth
century was like a melting pot that allowed composers to explore and interact with all the available musical styles, not only learnt style, but also galant
style, features rooted from opera seria, French overtures and Spanish folk songs. I am not claiming that nationalism had no place in the Baroque
period, but from the above testimonies, it seems that composers were more motivated by improving and exchanging musical styles from all around
Europe than by national rivalry. What is unique and 'problematic' with Scarlatti is the multiplicity within each of his sonatas. It is a shame that
musicologists has only identified Scarlatti's humour towards the Austro-Germanic musical culture so far. With Scarlatti's awareness of the surrounding
musical styles, it only makes sense that his musical wit would have extended to his usage of other musical styles in his sonatas.
 
            To show that Scarlatti bended other musical styles other the Germanic practices at his command to make his sonatas work, we will take a look at
Sonata in G minor, K.426. Like most of Scarlatti's sonatas, K.426 is in binary form. It consisting of two parts that bare similarities but not exact
repetitions. One of the most perplexing feature of this piece is the strange pauses between the first five phrases (Ex4) Sheveloff and Pestelli's theory
that these pauses are 'antipodes of the perpetuum mobile' might not apply in K.426 because the phrases between these pauses lack the momentum
we would expect of toccatas or cannons, hence the 'joke' would not work here.[41] Considering the triple meter of the sonata, it seems more likely to
me that Scarlatti adopted the abrupt pauses from fandango in order to emphasising the difference of mood and style among the phrases.[42]
Fandango is a Spanish dance for a single couple; it begins with instrumental introduction with odd pauses, followed by the florid sung cante. [43] There
are two themes alternating between these pauses, each of these recalls something from the opening theme in bb.1-13 (Ex.4, marked 4A). The first
theme first appears in bb. 15-25. (Ex. 4, marked 4B) Scarlatti adopted the bar-long repeated note from the opening theme and turned it into a pedal on
E-flat in octave played by the right hand while the left hand plays simple accompaniments. Each bar has different harmonies until the theme finishes
with a two-octave descending arpeggios. This delicate, sweet theme is followed by the second theme (Ex.4, marked 4C) comes after the pause in b. 26.
The second theme is a lot more rhythmic and rugged. The octaves and the open intervals on the right hand is a reminder of the horn call style. On top
of the alternation of themes, the tonality does not help stabilising the sonata either. The opening theme is in G minor, the first theme is first played in A
major, followed by the second theme in C minor with an imperfect cadence. The first theme then returns in B-flat major, but finishes in C major. Lastly,
the second theme is repeated in D minor, which stays until the end of the first part of the sonata. The alternation between the sweet theme and the

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rugged minor theme that does not get resolved gives the piece instability and the sense of danger. Scarlatti borrowed the pauses from the instrumental
introduction of fandango, but there is no way Scarlatti could have created the sense of unsettlement if he did not take a step further to develop it into a
big section with multiple key changes.
 
            The sung cante section of K.426 starts in b.53 with an overlapping dialogue between the two hands. It might be slightly sexist to draw the
connection from the sensitivity in the first theme above to femininity and the ruggedness from the second theme to masculinity. But given the fact that
fandango is performed by a single pair of couple, it is not unreasonable to consider that Scarlatti wanted to highlight the tension between the female
and the male in the dance. The bass, representing the male, features a five-note ascending pattern on the bass (Ex. 4, marked 4D) that is followed and
overlapped by the four-note descending pattern on the right hand, representing the female. (Ex. 4, marked 4E) The fact that the tenor part was a lot
closer to the bass in terms of pitch singles out the high-pitched lyrical phrase on the right hand to sound almost like a lonely sigh. When the phrase is
repeated in bb. 63-71, both the bass and the soprano become more 'determined'. The left hand five-note pattern is now notated in octaves. (Ex. 4,
marked 4F) Scarlatti added two notes on top of the original pattern, which emphasised the previously tied downbeat. (Ex. 4, marked 4G) The five-note
pattern is a common feature towards the end of Scarlatti's sonatas, the exact same melodic shape can be found in K, 516 (Ex. 3) and K.255(Ex.5)  as well,
but it is rarely played in octaves. Besides, considering it is quite unusual for Baroque composers to notate octaves for pieces meant for harpsichord, the
notated octaves on the left hand here suggests that Scarlatti wanted to dramaticise the action between the two hands as if it is an argument between a
couple. Although Scarlatti adopted the pauses and the tension between male and female from fandango, he clearly did not want the lively, fast-moving
feature of fandango as he marked the sonata 'Andante'.  It is interesting that Kirkpatrick paired K.426 with K.427 in G Major marked 'Presto, quanto sia
possible'. Kirkpatrick probably thought the contrast between the slow, sensitive K.426 and the ruthlessly fast K.427 was compatible. From the above
analysis on the themes and the dialogue between the two hands, it seems that what Scarlatti wanted to achieve in sonata is to convey sensitivity and
masculinity and the drama that the two brought about. This tension is likely be lost if the sonata is marked to be played at the expected tempo of
fandango.
 
            The slow tempo becomes more important as we approach the second part after the first repeat line of the sonata. In most of Scarlatti's sonatas
in binary form, the second parts would be a transposition of the first section with some slight ornamental changes. So it is rather unconventional, even
for Scarlatti, to begin the second section of K.426 with the rhythmic pattern from the 'female voice' from b.54 that is now part of an ascending sequence
boiling towards a heavy eclipse with the help of the stepwise descending bass line in octaves. After that, the jolly phrases and pauses from the
beginning of the first part are recalled, as if nothing happened. However, this time the second theme is not repeated. Instead, an extremely long
passage with minimal melodic change on both hands stretches from b.134 to b.153.(Ex. 4, marked 4H) This self-contained section features the bar-long
repeated notes from the feminine theme 4B with broken chords on the left hand. There is no marked ornaments, no rhythmic variations. The harmonic
changes rely only on minimal stepwise melodic change. The long static passage seems to recall the feminine theme but without the sweetness, which
now sounds like indecision and a slow torturous journey towards the painful climax in b.153. No doubt melodic repetition with subtle harmonic is one
of the distinguishing features of Scarlatti's sonatas as seen earlier. However, repeating the same stylistic pattern across eleven bars is quite
uncharacteristic of Scarlatti's sonatas. Scarlatti seems to be playing with over-sensibility here by testing his audience's patience with the uncertainty and
the length of this passage. If we read this as part of Scarlatti's narrative of a game between a male and a female, he could be hinting the over-sensitivity
of the female. If we look at this in a pure musical standpoint without the narrative, his exaggeration of sentimentalism in K.426 could be mocking the
over-dramatisation of opera seria.
 
            It is understandable for earlier scholars to consider Scarlatti as an outcast of Baroque. Indeed, from a musical structure and formal analysis
standpoint, we have to look far from seventeenth and eighteenth century to find Scarlatti's equivalent. To scholars [who] relied on technical analysis,
Scarlatti's mosaic sonatas are Frankensteinian projects.  Some musicologists criticised Scarlatti's sonatas of being under-developed, oddly-phrased and
illogical, and came to the conclusion that he did not belong. However, from the examples above, we can see that all these 'symptoms' could be traced
from existing musical styles in the late seventeenth century and early eighteenth century. In contrary to what music scholars have accepted for a long
time, Scarlatti was actually very much involved and in touch with the existing musical styles in the late seventeenth century and early eighteenth
century. From this stand point, Scarlatti did not displace or distant himself from his contemporaries, we did. While Scarlatti himself seemed content
with his position as a composer, we felt the obligation to find him a home. Charles Rosen once said 'In the great German masters Bach and Handel, the
contrasts are of little importance, the styles fused. They pick and choose where they please; it is perhaps one of their advantages over Rameau and
Domenico Scarlatti'.[44] This quote spells out the 'problem' with Scarlatti's sonatas. While Bach and Handel melted and blended foreign styles to fit in
their works, Scarlatti picked out the most distinguished feature of each musical style and used it in the most uncompromising way; there are no smooth
edges, only pauses if necessary, between each theme. Scarlatti was like a child with ADHD with the talent and the cruelty to put completely unrelated
styles together in one piece to defy his listeners' expectations.
 
            The question of 'why does Scarlatti not belong' has been a bafflement in the last two centuries because we have based the question on our
acceptance of the conventional idea of what Baroque is. Scarlatti's friendship with Handel and his promotion of the hand-crossing technique in Iberia
and possibly to C.P.E. Bach shows that Scarlatti's place in history is actually not as lonely as we previously assumed. The search of a 'correct' place for
Scarlatti is a classic case of the vicious cycle of means becoming the cause. Categorisation is a means to organise knowledge; however, in the case of
Scarlatti, our obsession of fitting musical styles into rigid boxes hindered us from gaining further insights on Scarlatti's work. Without denying the effort
put in the study of Scarlatti's music previously, it might be worthwhile to explore new possibilities by rethinking whether the line between each musical
period and that between nationalities of musical styles in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century are really so clear cut. When the question
does not yield satisfactory answers, we ought to consider challenging the question itself. We have been so faithful in the definition of Baroque written
in dictionaries that we forget the diversity and competition exist nowadays also existed in Scarlatti's life time; that the difference of the self-perception
and the reception between Scarlatti and J.S. Bach could be as big as that of YoYo Ma and 50 Cents as we speak. Instead of asking 'Why does Scarlatti not
belong?', it might be more useful to ask the question 'Does Scarlatti need to belong?'.
 

Bibliogrphy
[1] Dean Sutcliffe, 'Scarlatti the Interesting historical Figure', The Keyboard Sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti and Eighteenth-Century Musical Style,
(Cambridge, 2008), 1.
 
 
[2] Ralph Kirkpatrick, 'Who Wrote the Scarlatti Sonatas? A Study in Reverse Scholarship', Notes, 29/3 (1973), 426-431.
 
[3] Malcolm Boyd, 'Nova Scarlattiana', The Musical Times, 126/1712 (1985), 589.
 
[4] Domenico Scarlatti, 545 Scarlatti Sonatas, ed. Alessandro Longo, (Ricordi, 1913), XI. as quoted in Sutcliffe, 28.
 
[5] Domenico Scarlatti, Three Suites, ed. Hans von Burlow, (Los Angeles, 2001) as quoted in Sutcliffe, 28.
 
[6] Sutcliffe, 38-39.
 
[7] David Fuller, 'The "Dotted Style" in Bach, Handel, and Scarlatti', Bach, Handel, Scarlatti Tercentenary Essays, ed. Peter Williams, (Cambridge, 1985),
117.
 
[8] Ralph Kirkpatrick, 'Domenico Scarlatti's Early Keyboard Works', The Musical Quarterly, 37/2 (1951), 145-160.
 
[9] Ralph Krikpatrick, 'The Young Eagle', Domenico Scarlatti, (Princeton, 1953), 32.
 
[10] Joel Sheveloff, 'Domenico Scarlatti: Tercentenary Frustrations', The Musical Quarterly, 71/4 (1885), 399-436.

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[11] Domenico Scarlatti, 'Fugue in G minor', Essercizi, (London, 1738).
 
[12] Domenico Scarlatti, 'Sonata in G major', Essercizi, (London, 1738).
 
[13] Sutcliffe, 5.
 
[14] David Yearsley, 'The Awkward Idiom: Hand-Crossing and the European Keyboard Scene around 1730', Early Music, 30/2 (2002), 224-235.
 
[15] Sara Gross Ceballos, 'Scarlatti and Maria Barabara: A Study of Musical Portraiture', Domenico Scarlatti Adventures: Essays to Commemorate the
25th Anniversary of His Death, ed. Massimiliano Sla and Dean Sutcliffe, (Bologna, 2008), 209.
 
[16] Ceballos, 209.
 
[17] Elizabeth Le Guin,'Metropolitan Solipsism', The Tonadilla in Performance, (California, 2014), 137.
 
[18] Le Guin, 'Minguet e Yrol, Arte de Danzar a la Francesa (1758)', 121.
 
[19] Le Guin, 'Paradox of the Seguidillas', 126.
 
[20] Percy Alfred Scholes, 'Bouree', The Oxford Companion to Music, (London, 1970).
 
[21] Percy Alfred Scholes, 'Bouree'.
 
[22] Lincoln Kirstein, 'Dance Horizons', Dance: A Short History of Theatrical Dancing, (Princeton, 1969), 212.
 
[23] Janet Halfyard, 'Tambourin', CHARM: Oxford Music Online: http://0-
www.oxfordmusiconline.com.catalogue.ulrls.lon.ac.uk/subscriber/article/opr/t114/e6644?q=tambourin&search=quick&pos=1&_start=1#firsthit,
accessed on 1st April, 2015.
 
[24] Le Guin, 'Three Italian Styles', 94.
 
[25] Le Guin, 'Three Italian Styles', 94.
 
[26] Le Guin, '"A Horrible Storm": Nationalist Historiography and the Tonadillas', 7.
 
[27] Ceballos, 216.
 
[28] Ceballos, 216.
 
[29] Ceballos, 216.
 
[30] Le Guin, '"A Horrible Storm": Nationalist Historiography and the Tonadillas', 7.
 
[31] Le Guin, 'Minguet e Yrol, Arte de Danzar a la Francesa (1758)', 119.
 
[32] Johann Sebastian Bach, Clavierübung I, ed. Balthasar Schmid, (Nürnberg, 1747).
 
[33] Giorgio Pestelli, 'Bach, Handel, D.Scarlatti and the Toccata of the Late Baroque', Bach, Handel, Scarlatti Tercentenary Essays, ed. Peter Williams,
(Cambridge, 1958), 288.
 
[34] Alexander Silbiger, 'Chaconne', CHARM: Oxford Music Online, http://0-
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accessed 1st April, 2015.
 
[35] Sheveloff, 'Domenico Scarlatti: Tercentenary Frustration (Part II)', 117.
Pestelli, 'Bach, Handel, D. Scarlatti and teh Toccata of the Late Baroque', 287.
 
[36] Pestelli, 'Bach, Handel, D. Scarlatti and the Toccata of the Late Baroque', 290.
 
[37] Joel Sheveloff, 'Domenico Scarlatti: Tercentenary Frustration (Part II)', The Musical Quarterly, 72/1 (1986), 117.
 
[38] Domenico Scarlatti, Essercizi, (London, 1738) as quoted in Mark Lindley, 'Keyboard Technique and Articulation: Evidence for  the Performance
Practices of Bach, Handel, and Scarlatti', Bach, Handel, Scarlatti: Tercentenary Essays, ed. Peter Williams, (Cambridge, 1985), 220.
 
[39] Steven Zohn, 'Prologue', Music for a Mixed Taste - Style, Genre, and Meaning in Telemann's Instrumental Works, (Oxford, 2008), 3.
 
[40] Georg Muffat, Florilegium Primum, (Passau, 1695), 8. as quoted in Zohn, 3.
 
[41] Joel Sheveloff, 'Domenico Scarlatti: Tercentenary Frustration (Part II)', 117.
Pestelli, 'Bach, Handel, D. Scarlatti and teh Toccata of the Late Baroque'. 287.
 
[42] Janet Halfyard, 'Fandango', CHARM: Grove Music Online - http://0-
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accessed on 1st April, 2015.
 
[43] Israel J. Katz, 'Fandango', CHARM: Oxford Music Online - http://0-
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accessed on 1st April, 2015.
 
[44] Charles Rosen, The Classical Style: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, (London, 1971), 46. as quoted in Sutcliffe, 58.
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