Scarlatti in Spain and the influence of Flamenco

Scarlatti followed Princess Maria Barbara of Braganza to the courts of Seville 1729
when she married prince Ferdinand of Bourbon, Spains future king. There does not
seem to be much doubt that Scarlatti did indeed dwell in various Andalucan cities
and towns to where he familiarised himself with the popular folk music of that region.
We should bear in mind at this point that Spanish folk music, Andalucan folk music
and flamenco are three separate entities and should not be confused as one of the
same.
There is no question that the influence of Andalucan folk music and traces of early
flamenco filtered heavily into many of Scarlattis sonatas, and the sonatas in this
addition K.208 and K213 are no exception. Lavished with the essence of the Spanish
culture and the soul of Andaluca, Scarlattis sonata can quiet readily evoke the
empathy of Spanish tragedy, and this is felt most keenly throughout Sonata K.213.
However, Kirkpatricks portrayal of Scarlatti in Spain and the influence of flamenco
seems a little romantic in light of the following.
In light of his later music, it is by no means difficult to imagine Domenico
Scarlatti strolling under the Moorish arches of the Alcazar or listening at
night, in the streets Seville to the intoxicating rhythms of castanets and the
half oriental melodies of Andalusian chant. 1
Although a very large portion of Scarlattis life in Spain was spent in Madrid 17331750, it is very unlikely that he accumulated much influence of Andalucan folk
music there. As Madrid was be no means part of the geographic triangle of
Andaluca. 2 This was made up of, Cadiz, Jerez de la Frontera and Triana of Seville,
which incidentally is claimed to be the historical birthplace of flamenco. There is no
doubt that Scarlatti indeed strolled through the streets of Seville, and for that matter,
Cadiz and Granada. These are all cities heavily laced with Moorish invasion and
occupation, with many elements that were adopted by Byzantine chants from the
primitive church in Spain and more importantly, fused by nomadic clans of gypsies
who eventually settled in Andaluca. 3 The factors that have to be considered when we
talk of Scarlatti and the influence of flamenco are as follows. The foundation of the
flamenco cante jondo (deep song) is deeply rooted in the psyche of the Andalucan
1

ibid, 76
Madrid did not become associated with flamenco until around 1840s in a pre-cafes cantantes forum.
However, it has since established itself as a city of flamenco excellence.
3
Lester: A Performers Approach to Scarlatti, The English Harpsichord Magazine
2

gypsies, which have been forged out of the intimacy of small social gatherings.
Ironically, the making of this tradition was due to the re-conquest of Andaluca in
1492, in an attempt by the Spanish state to rid Spain of all gypsies, along with many
other ethnic minorities that included the Arabs, Jews and Moors. However, this did
not deter the spirit of the gypsies; in fact, it served only to emphasise the growing
need for group solidarity within the gypsy community against imperial power. This
was to unite them with the Jews and Moors, along with rogues vagabonds and social
outcasts of all types. As now, the ethnically mixed gypsies retreated to the mountain
regions of Spain in order to escape ethnic persecution; they indeed drew strength from
this amalgamation of cultures to which they assimilated to advance their own
community. In turn, this spawned an ethos of group solidarity against outside
discrimination, which was central to the building blocks of traditional flamenco. 4
Thus, this period of hibernation was to form the fundamental essence of cante gitano
(gypsy song) and over the next two hundred years they would absorb Arab, Christian
and Jewish folk cultures and create their own songs and dances i.e. tons, soleares,
and seguiriyas. 5 These flamenco songs were performed in the most intimate family
and social surroundings, on special occasions such as weddings, baptisms and much
later in local festivals. 6 They represented the pain and suffering of a people that were
constantly discriminated against, conveyed personal laments of human suffering and
describe the conflict between hope and despair.
However, this attempt to rid Spain of these so-called undesirables was to no avail,
which then gave way in September 1783 to a decree by royal edict of Charles III in
the most profound attempt to establish some kind of social order amongst the gypsies,
which in turn, forced them to live under official state control in urban areas outside
the town centres call barrios. 7 This move to confine the gypsies to these barrios was
to advance their musical culture even more, as they were able to absorb and
incorporate the songs and dances of Andalucan folklore, which created yet newer
forms of flamenco i.e. martinets, tarantas and malagueas.
This now sheds light on Scarlatti and his association with flamenco, and it is evident
that flamenco was undoubtedly in its very early stages at the time Scarlatti resided in
4

Malefyt: 82
Summerfield: 317
6
Washabaugh: 34
7
Barrios were the main gypsy settlements situated outside Triana of Seville, the El Albaicn in
Granada, which are over populated slums and are still evident today. See Malefyt: 1998, 84-85
5

Spain; the earliest development of some of the more reconignable flamenco forms that
were evident in the later part of the nineteenth century, were only beginning to merge
from around 1765-1860, some eight years after the death of Scarlatti. Also, the
chances of Scarlatti coming across young dancers thumping on castanets as
Kirkpatrick so romantically put it, would have been highly unlikely. This is not to say
that castanets, were not in existence at the time, as they are indeed an ancient musical
instrument used by the Arabs, Moors and Greeks to name but a few, but that they
were not part of the infant flamenco scene. Furthermore, before the advent of the
guitar, the traditional role of providing rhythmical accompaniment to the early cante
(song) and baile (dance) was filled by palmas (hand clapping) and tacuneos (heel
tapping). 8 The popularisation of the castanets and flamenco cante jondo for that
matter only began to emerged with the advent of the cafs cantantes, during the
period from 1860-1910. 9
So in conclusion, it seems very likely that Scarlatti would have had to be in close
contact and familiar with a gypsy clan member to enable him to be part of the
developing flamenco sound that is apparent in his sonatas. However, to befriend a
Andalucan gypsy at that time would have been a very tall order, as the gypsies were
considered by the payos (non-gypsies or Spaniards) to be untrustworthy, uneducated
and an immoral race of people. However, the gypsy clans were not keen on the local
Spaniards either, as Donn. E. Pohren quotes an old gypsy: the poor payos dont
understand that we are the last sons of God and that they are slaves to a system that
reduces their life to meaninglessness we symbolise everything that they lack:
integrity, individuality, freedom. 10
Nevertheless, the influence of Andalucan folk music was in plenty supply, as
Andaluca already had a rich colourful music of exceptional poetic charm to which
the rhythms and harmonies of many of the old traditional folk tunes such as the jota
and tons would have easily fallen on the ears of Domenico Scarlatti.

Schreiner: 1990, 128

The cafs cantantes were a period in the evolution of flamenco call the Golden Age and made the
art of flamenco available for the first time to the increasingly intrigued public. See Schreiner: 1990.
10
Schreiner: op. cit. 16
9

Scarlatti and the Guitar

The tonal resource of the harpsichord has some resemblance to those of the guitar and
the best sonatas that can be adapted to the guitar are those in which chords
accompany the cantabile of a solo voice and where Scarlatti uses his chord as filling
and not as reinforcement. 11 And yet a few others that are polyphonic in nature also
proved to be agreeable. We are all aware that Scarlatti was a virtuoso keyboardist and
although many of the pieces tease the interior of the guitar, most of his sonatas do not
transcribe for the guitar.
However, the sound of the Spanish guitar was very different when Scarlatti first
journeyed to the Iberian Peninsula in February 1729. Then, the much loved lute and
the noble viheula (Spanish plucked instrument of the sixteenth century) were rapidly
giving way to the earthier sound of the baroque guitar. This guitar, still with its five
courses, which equalled nine strings in total that were tuned from bass to treble A-DG-B-A, offered a more simplistic style of playing, with the use of rasgueado
(strumming technique), which the Italians termed battente, and provided a simple
accompaniment for popular songs and dances of the day. 12 Though this simple
approach does not for one moment demean the sophistication of the baroque guitar;
on the contrary, there was an abundance of music written in the punteado (plucked)
style. This came in the form of stately dances such as the Pavans and Galliards that
are reminiscent of sixteenth century Spanish court music, and in the form of the more
popular Andalucan dances of the day such as Zarabande and Canarios. These were
filled with irregular rhythms that are similar to that of the modern flamenco forms of
Guajiras and Peteneras, and the Jcaras being similar to that of the Sole. Much of
this music can be attributed to the virtuoso figure of the Spanish guitarist Gaspar Sanz
(1640-1710), to which much of his music has stood the test of time and is still, though
slightly modified performed today.
Now enjoying immense popularity, the baroque guitar that was present in the courts
of Seville, Granada and Cadiz would have been more likely to have adopted a more
courtly status of the baroque suite that was heavily influenced by the French school.
This more often than not would have consisted of a prelude, allemande, courante,

11
12

Kirkpatrick: op. cit. 286.

The guitar did not reach standard tuning until around 1750. See Tyler. 15-23, 52-54, 81-82

sarabande, gigue and perhaps a gavotte, as this was a very popular form of the
period. 13
So, in fact, for Scarlatti to absorb the Andalucan sprit, he would have had to step
outside the palace grounds and strolled through the local populated areas as so stated
by Kirkpatrick, where he would have undoubtedly have come across an abundance of
popular Andalucan folk music that was already steeped in oriental influences, 14 and
existed long before the clans of gypsies entered the Iberian peninsula. Though, the
likelihood of Scarlatti coming across full blown flamenco Juerga would have been
relatively slim.

13

Turnbull: 57-61
The oriental influence stems from centuries of Moorish domination, to which Cordoba was at one
point the capital of the Western Islamic world. Refer to Schreiner: op. cit. 11
14