The Scarlatti family
is one of many musical dynasties in
music history. Only two of its number
are still well-known today: Alessandro
and his son Domenico. Alessandro was
born in Palermo as the second son of
Pietro Scarlata - the family name in
its original form - who was active as
a tenor. During his career Alessandro
lived and worked in several cities:
Rome, Naples and Venice. At a young
age he was already a famous and much
sought-after composer. His younger brother
Francesco – almost forgotten today -
was less lucky. He was appointed as
violinist at the royal court in Naples
in 1684, but returned to Palermo in
1691, and stayed there for about 24
years. He tried to find appointments
at the courts of Vienna and Naples,
but failed. In 1719 he travelled to
London, where he participated in public
concerts. In 1733 he went to Dublin,
where he seems to have died in 1741
or soon after. Domenico suffered tribulations
too. It was only after the death of
his father that he felt completely free
to follow his own path, although he
had left Italy five years earlier, in
1720.
This disc pays attention
to a part of the oeuvre of the Scarlatti
family which is rarely performed and
recorded. As the title of this disc
indicates, its subject is an exploration
of how these three Scarlattis dealt
with polyphony. The Council of Trent
(1545-1563) stated that polyphony, and
in particular polyphony as applied by
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, was
the best way to implement the liturgical
ideals of the Church. But at the beginning
of the 17th century the musical aesthetics
fundamentally changed: the text was
put into the centre, and the music was
supposed to express the affetti
of the text. But polyphony continued
to play an important role in the style
of composing during the 17th and 18th
centuries, in Italy and elsewhere. There
were two ways of using polyphony, and
both can be heard on this disc.
In most cases the polyphony
is enriched by the declamatory style
and the harmonic freedoms of the stile
nuovo. Domenico Scarlatti composed
a number of works in this 'mixed' style.
These included his ten-part Stabat
mater and the setting of the Magnificat
which is recorded here. Examples
of text expression are the staccato
on "dispersit superbos" (scattered
the proud) and the ascending figure
on "exaltavit" (exalted). Domenico's
uncle Francesco goes much further in
his setting of the Miserere (Psalm
50/51). The first two verses are full
of dissonances, and in the 18th verse
strong dissonances are used again on
the words "contribulatus" (broken [spirit])
and "contritum" (contrite [heart]).
Francesco demonstrates his contrapuntal
skills in the doxology, where he writes
a double fugue in eight parts on the
passage "et in saecula saeculorum".
Alessandro Scarlatti's setting of the
Salve Regina was published in
a collection of sacred pieces, printed
in Amsterdam in 1707/8. In it he grasps
the opportunities to translate text
into music.
In the 17th and 18th
centuries some music was still written
in the old-fashioned polyphonic style,
the stile antiquo. Alessandro
Scarlatti referred to his compositions
in this style as written "alla Palestrina".
On this disc the Mass by his son Domenico
represents this style. It is written
for four voices and b.c. It was found
in an archive in Madrid which drew the
nickname 'Missa di Madrid'. From this
one may conclude that it was written
during his time in Spain. Here there
is hardly any connection between text
and music, except some madrigalisms
here and there. His use of harmony in
this work is conservative.
The ensemble Ex Tempore
give fine performances here. The fact
that some pieces are written in the
stile antico of the 16th century
does not mean that they should be performed
as renaissance music. Fortunately Florian
Heyerick is well aware of this, which
is reflected in a more declamatory style
of singing and the presence of greater
dynamic contrast than would be appropriate
in real 16th-century music. The
Miserere by Francesco Scarlatti
contains a number of solo sections which
are sung by members of the ensemble,
and they do so very well.
To sum up: this is
a most interesting and captivating recording
of relatively little-known, but first-rate
music.
Johan van Veen
for
details
Ex Tempore/Florian Heyerick 
