Domenico Scarlatti

Selected Piano Sonatas Vol. I

Domenico Scarlatti is today considered one of music history's great piano composers, and the first-ever piano virtuoso. The present collection contains 24 sonatas from various creative periods, offering a survey of the rich and varied output of this Italian musician who worked at the Spanish court. Scarlatti triumphed over the heavy Baroque style with his characterful themes, natural cantabile melodies, and dance-like movements. The performance-technical moment is a formally constitutive element within his one-movement sonatas. For the first time in the history of piano music, the interpreter must cross the hands and master wide leaps. Renowned pianist Bengt Johnsson provides information on Scarlatti's life and career, as well as on the various sources on which this edition is based, in his preface to the edition. A few sonatas appear in print here for the first time. An additional 'bon-bon' is the reprint of a preface to the edition of 30 of Scarlatti's piano sonatas, published in 1738. Absorbing reading for all who wish to acquire a deeper understanding of Scarlatti's piano music.