Domenico Scarlatti: Ninety Sonatas in Three Volumes, Volume I: Piano Book

This volume gives intermediate-advanced pianists access to Scarlatti's earliest sonatas in chronological order, making it ideal for tracing his stylistic development without jumping through scattered editions. The Kirkpatrick numbering and Urtext approach mean students study the composer's actual intentions, not the heavily edited Victorian versions that still circulate. Starting here and progressing through the three volumes creates a natural, achievable path through one of keyboard literature's most rewarding catalogs.

Scarlatti's early sonatas leap between dramatic gestures and intimate ornamentation, often within a single page. There's an improvisational quality to the harmonic language that sounds modern despite its 18th-century origins, combined with the pure joy of writing for fingers and keys that respond with immediacy and clarity.

Advanced intermediate pianists ready to expand beyond standard Classical sonata conventions, and serious music students preparing repertoire for auditions or recitals. Teachers seeking a single, reliable edition for their students will appreciate the scholarly apparatus and chronological organization without the clutter of competing interpretations.

• Treat the hand crossing passages as opportunities to clarify texture rather than display speed. Scarlatti wrote these for visual and acoustic effect; excessive velocity obscures the counterpoint.
• Approach the repeated notes and trill-like figures with rhythmic precision and voice them as distinct musical ideas, not as filler between outer voices.
• Let the harmonic shifts and unexpected chromatic moves breathe; these moments of tonal surprise lose their impact if buried in mechanical playing.
• Pay attention to the original clef notation in performance notes. Understanding what the manuscript looked like helps unlock Scarlatti's spatial and physical thinking at the keyboard.

Feature one or two of these sonatas on a student recital to showcase technical command and stylistic range. A single Scarlatti sonata pairs well alongside Baroque and Early Romantic works on a concert, giving audiences a direct comparison of keyboard aesthetics across generations. For curricula, use this volume to teach voice leading and harmonic innovation outside the German Classical tradition.

• Hand independence and crossing techniques
• Reading unfamiliar clef combinations and original notation
• Rapid scalar and arpeggiated figurations with controlled articulation
• Harmonic analysis of chromatic and unexpected tonal movements
• Ornament realization and period-appropriate embellishment