Alessandro Scarlatti and the Spanish National Church of S. Giacomo degli Spagnoli

Abstract

The document transcribed in this article, concerning Alessandro Scarlatti at Rome in the year 1704, clarifies an obscure episode in the biography of Alessandro Scarlatti (1660-1725) connected to a relevant moment in the musical history of the Spanish National Church of S. Giacomo at Rome. The information which it contains is important because it sheds light on the composer’s professional strategies; it also facilitates a review of several historical hypotheses on his career at Rome during the period 1702–08, after his earlier first period as Master of the Royal Chapel at Naples.