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Domenico Alberti (around 1710 - 1740) was an
Italy|Italian singer, harpsichordist and composer
whose works bridge the Baroque Music|Baroque and
Classical Music Era|Classical periods.

Alberti was born in Venice and studied music with
Antonio Lotti. He wrote operas, songs and sonata
(music)|sonatas for keyboard instruments, for
which he is best known today. These sonatas
frequently employ a particular kind of
arpeggio|arpeggiated accompaniment in the left
hand which is now known as the Alberti bass. It
consists of regular broken chord (music)|chords,
with the lowest note sounding first, then the
highest, then the middle and then the highest
again. This pattern is repeated. Today, Alberti is
seen as a very minor composer, and none of his
works are played or recorded with any regularity,
but Alberti bass was used by many later composers,
and became an important element in much keyboard
music of the Classical music era.

In his own lifetime, Alberti was known as a
singer. He often used to accompany himself on the
harpsichord. Little is known of his life, but he
was Venice|Venetian Ambassador
(diplomacy)|ambassador to Spain in 1736, when the
famous castrato singer Farinelli heard him sing
there. Farinelli was said to be impressed, even
though Alberti was an amateur.

Alberti's best known pieces are his keyboard
sonatas, although even they are very rarely
performed. It is thought he wrote around 36
sonatas, of which 14 have survived. They all have
two movements, each in binary form.

It is probable that Wolfgang Amadeus
Mozart|Mozart's first violin sonatas, written at
the age of seven, were modelled on Alberti,
although Mozart's examples are generally
considered superior.

Alberti died in 1740 in Rome.