Frescobaldi.—Another element tending to give Unity to the composition was developed when composers learned to work out a single subject, or melodic phrase representing a definite musical idea, by introducing it a number of times in the course of the composition, sometimes with slight variation, but always recognizable and used in such a way as to bind the various parts the more closely together by their similarity of conception. Several organists at Rome wrote music which possessed such unity of idea. One of these was Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583-1644), a man who was a close student of the best Italian music of his time, and who had, moreover, been brought into contact with Netherlands ideas through travel in Belgium. On his first appearance as organist of St. Peter’s in Rome, in 1615, so great fame had preceded him that over 30,000 people are said to have attended the performance. His skill on the clavier was no less than that on the organ; and for both of these instruments he wrote Ricercari, Canzone and Capricci, which showed considerable unity of subject, together with fluency in the treatment of chromatic progressions, and a wealth of invention, which displayed itself in novel themes and unusual harmonies; his compositions are well worth study.
Pasquini.—In the second half of the 17th century, Bernardo Pasquini (1637-1710), a pupil of the opera composer Cesti, carried on the work at Rome. In his toccati he shows great freedom in departing from the strict vocal style, and his clavier works have features, like the sustained trill, which distinguish them decidedly from organ works.
Method of Playing the Clavier.—The method of playing the clavier used by these old masters was peculiar. In a work on the subject published by Di Ruta, about the year 1600, the rules given include holding the fingers out flat on the keys, and scarcely using the thumb at all, allowing it to hang below the level of the keyboard. The scales were played each with two fingers, according to fixed rules; so that smoothness combined with rapidity seems to have been made impossible.
The Sonata and Overture.—Starting with the harmonic form of the old dance tunes, composers now began to elaborate this to a form capable of expressing more serious ideas, by giving more definiteness to the musical subject treated, and by introducing material derived from the old vocal forms. Corelli, the violinist (1653-1713), and the violinists of his school, restricted the name Sonata to combinations of such movements, in distinction from the lighter forms of the Suite; and the celebrated opera composer, Alessandro Scarlatti (1659-1725), applied similar methods to the composition of his operatic overtures, writing them in three parts: first, a moderately fast movement, which was followed by a slow movement, the whole closing with a movement in quick tempo.
Domenico Scarlatti.—Clavier music lagged somewhat behind violin music, owing to the greater perfection of the violin as an instrument, and also to the popularity of the lute, which was much affected in fashionable circles. Finally, however, a man appeared who possessed the genius to develop the peculiar resources of the harpsichord to a remarkable extent. This was Domenico Scarlatti, the son and pupil of Alessandro Scarlatti. The latter was himself a skilful clavier player and composer; but his son attained a proficiency so far eclipsing that of any of his predecessors as to place him entirely without the pale of comparison with any of them. Domenico Scarlatti, who was born at Naples in 1683, two years before Handel and Bach, first attracted attention when about twenty-one years old, as an opera composer; but achieved his greatest successes as a virtuoso on the harpsichord, winning a world-wide reputation for his wonderful playing, which was a revelation of what could be done with this hitherto undeveloped instrument. In one of Handel’s Italian journeys a contest of skill was instituted between these two musical giants; and the result was a drawn battle so far as the harpsichord was concerned, although Handel triumphed at the organ. Scarlatti traveled about somewhat, spending most of his later life in the position of court music master at Madrid. He finally returned to his birthplace, where he died in 1757.
Scarlatti’s Use of Form.—In the matter of form, Scarlatti developed still further the work of his predecessors, applying to the harpsichord the principles asserted by Corelli and his school. His Sonatas were written in one movement only, and have very definite subjects, which are carried out along recognized lines. His Capriccii—short pieces written in a rhythmic and delicately staccato style—are some of his best works, and undoubtedly paved the way for the Scherzi, written by Beethoven and Mendelssohn. His compositions are short, but concise and definite.
Scarlatti’s Style of Playing.—But his chief addition to musical material lies in the new style of playing which he invented. Novel effects, like crossing the hands, long leaps, broken chords in contrary motion, rapidly repeated notes, and runs in thirds and sixths—effects which were in many cases far ahead of his time, since they were not used by succeeding composers until a much later period—were employed by him with the utmost fluency, so that he has been aptly called the father of modern pianoforte technic.
