Domenico Scarlatti is very connected to the harpsichord that is easy to forget that he began his career as head of the Capella Giulia, the choir of St. Peter in Rome and also in Portugal initially wrote sacred music. His polyphonic Stabat mater proves impressively how Scarlatti was familiar with the traditional Franco Flemish polyphony of the late 16th and early 17th century. The eight-part mass of the Portuguese Joao Rodrigues Esteves (around 1700 ca. 1755) is stylistically a perfect complement.