Historische und evolutive Dynamik im Oratorienschaffen von Alessandro Scarlatti

Alessandro Scarlatti’s oratorios are well known, and about half of his almost forty compositions are still available today. Scarlatti was active in the late 17th and early 18th century. Towards the end of the 17th century, after a long period of development, starting with the spiritual exercises of St Filippo Neri, the oratorio was formally established. It was equally significant that even though it too was continually developed, the basso continuo as a technical parameter retained its importance. Scarlatti thus found himself – in terms of both genre and composition – in a peculiar position, consolidating tradition on the one hand and espousing radical change on the other. This was well expressed by the triumph of the metastasian oratorio poetry, and by the introduction of the galant style and the phasing out of the thoroughbass. A certain development can also be seen in Scarlatti’s oratorio composition. The librettos of his first oratorios appear to be quite archaic and the tonal language still noticeably related to the recitar cantando, while in the later works the libretti seem to be moving, astonishingly, towards the metastasian model. Furthermore, the mature baroque tonal language was showing the first signs of dropping the thoroughbass as a compositional technique. However, in the course of his highly personal style change, Scarlatti composed a great number of magnificent works, which could also be seen as a model for future generations.