In 1709, two 24-year-olds faced off in a Roman palace: Domenico Scarlatti won on harpsichord, Handel on organ, and Scarlatti reportedly crossed himself for the rest of his life whenever Handel’s playing was mentioned. Born in Naples in 1685, the same year as Bach and Handel, Scarlatti grew up under a domineering father, Alessandro, who used his son’s talent to chase Medici patronage. This episode follows his rise to musical director at the Vatican chapel and his surprising decision to leave it all in 1719 for Lisbon.

We examine his role as music teacher to Princess Maria Barbara, his knighthood from the King of Portugal in 1738, and how he followed the princess to Spain when she married the crown prince, settling in Madrid in 1733. We discuss why almost all of his 555 keyboard sonatas were written after age 67, how he imitated Spanish guitar strums and castanets on the harpsichord, his use of the Phrygian mode, the 30 published exercises that went viral in England, and the two centuries of cataloging by Longo, Kirkpatrick, and Pestelli.

• Why the persistent rumor that Scarlatti visited London has no primary-source support
• How Farinelli’s letters became the main window into Scarlatti’s daily life at the Spanish court
• The signature midpoint pivot that structures nearly every sonata
• His two marriages and ten children while serving the royal household
• His lost grave in Madrid and the minor planet 6480 named in his honor