Domenico Scarlatti was born in the same year as Bach and Haendel. After serving in various capacities at several European courts, he settled in Portugal. In response to a knighthood conferred on him by King John V, he dedicated to the king (1738) a volume of what he modestly called Essercizi, consisting of over five hundred pieces for the keyboard. As one listens to these Sonatas, it is the never-failing invention and vitality of the music that is so remarkable. In these works, concentrated into the resources of one keyboard instrument, one can hear all the fire and passion of Spanish life.