Italian composer, who helped to establish the Neapolitan style of opera that dominated 18th-century music. Born in Palermo, Sicily, he was probably trained in Rome under the Italian oratorio composer Giacomo Carissimi. His earliest known opera, L'errore innocente, was produced in Rome in 1679. In 1684 a more important work, Pompeo, was performed in Naples, and Scarlatti was appointed musical director at the Neapolitan court. In 1702-3 he lived in Florence under the patronage of Ferdinand de Medici (1663-1713). Scarlatti was assistant choirmaster at the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome from 1703 to 1713. He reestablished himself in Naples in 1713, becoming musical director of the Austrian viceroy, and director of the Conservatorio di Sant' Onofrio. From 1719 to 1723 he worked in Rome. He then returned to Naples and lived there until his death.
Scarlatti was one of the first opera composers to strongly differentiate the singing styles of aria and recitative. His opera overtures established the Neapolitan overture type, which has three movements, in fast, slow, and fast tempos. His cantatas, numbering more than 600, introduced many advanced harmonic procedures to the musical vocabulary of the time.