Scarlatti: The Complete Works, Volume IX

This volume assembles ten complete suites in a single, authoritative score, making it easier to explore Scarlatti's structural thinking across multiple movements rather than in isolation. The Kalmus edition presentation supports both performers seeking ambitious recital material and teachers building curricula around Baroque keyboard mastery.

Scarlatti's keyboard writing crackles with restless energy and unexpected harmonic turns. These suites balance the formal clarity of Baroque structure with a spirit of invention that feels almost improvisational, shifting rapidly between brilliant passagework, lyrical singing lines, and moments of genuine harmonic daring.

Advanced pianists and serious Scarlatti scholars will find this comprehensive volume essential for examining his output across a sustained span of works. Teachers preparing advanced students for competition, recital, or college auditions benefit from having authoritative texts of multiple suites at hand.

• Approach hand crossing passages with physical confidence rather than hesitation; Scarlatti wrote them idiomatically for the harpsichord of his era, and modern pianos reward clarity and rhythmic precision in these moments.
• Shape phrases around harmonic goals rather than metric downbeats. Scarlatti's melodies often pull across bar lines, and sensitive rubato in service of harmonic arrival creates compelling forward motion.
• Resist over-pedaling in fast passagework; the clarity and articulation Scarlatti demands often emerges more vividly with minimal sustain, particularly in the running sixteenth-note figures that dominate many movements.
• Study the rhythmic character of each suite individually. Some favor dance-like regularity while others embrace asymmetrical phrasing; recognizing these distinctions shapes how you weight the opening statement.

Program suites from this collection as substantial centerpieces in solo recitals, pairing them with later keyboard works to show the trajectory from Baroque to Classical sensibilities. These pieces also anchor a Baroque keyboard survey course or serve as core repertoire for students pursuing historical performance practice on fortepiano.

• Baroque keyboard ornamentation and embellishment conventions
• Hand crossing technique and physical confidence at the keyboard
• Harmonic analysis and functional harmony in Baroque contexts
• Rhythmic flexibility and period-appropriate phrase shaping
• Navigating wide intervallic leaps and extreme register contrasts
• Distinguishing dance forms and suite structure across multiple movements