Cat fugue

The nickname, which was never used by the composer himself but was introduced only early in the 19th century, originates from a story about how Scarlatti came up with the strikingly unusual motif on which the fugue is built.

Legend has it that Scarlatti had a pet cat called Pulcinella, who was described by the composer as prone to walking across the keyboard, always curious about its sounds.

On one occasion, according to the story, Scarlatti wrote down a phrase from one of these "improvisation sessions", and used it as a lead motif in a fugue: The nickname was used in concert programmes in the 19th century (see Performances section below), and was also used by publishers including Muzio Clementi, Carl Czerny and Alessandro Longo.

The piece carries the inscription: "... the composer is indebted to 'Hamlet', a large black Angora who had been placed on the keyboard with the hope that he might emulate Scarlatti's cat and improvise a fugue theme".

Franz Liszt – who had been introduced to the piece by the Roman collector of manuscripts Fortunato Santini[4] – included it in his programmes in Berlin in the early 1840s;[5] Ignaz Moscheles also performed it, and both programmed it under the title Cat's fugue.