0825646299454 Scarlatti: Complete Keyboard Sonatas

Scott Ross died on 13 June 1989, less than two years after these recordings
were first issued. The following obituary appeared in The Times on 17
June 1989.

Contents Sommaire
The Times obituary of Scott Ross

Vivi felice

Introduction to the sonatas

Notes on the sonatas

Scott Ross: Master interpreter of the

harpsichord repertoire

Glossary

20

Essential reading
Credits and acknowledgements

24
24

Hommage Scott Ross

25

Vivi felice

25

Introduction aux sonates

26

Notes sur les sonates

27

Repres

44

Bibliographie de base
Gnrique

47
47

Scott Ross, the American-born harpsichordist and, more rarely,

organist and pianist, died on 13 June of an Aids-related condition at
his home in Assas, Montpellier, France. He was thirty-eight.
Born in Pittsburgh, he came to live in France at the age of fourteen,
studied at the Conservatoires of Nice and Paris, and first rose to
prominence when he won the coveted Bruges International
Competition in 1971, setting such a standard in the opinion of the
judges that it was deemed impossible to make an equivalent
award until 1986. This success, coupled with the rising tide of
enthusiasm for Baroque music generally in the seventies, enabled
Ross to create for himself a career commensurate with his
considerable interpretative and technical gifts, though it was mainly
confined to France.
His image at that time, with his long unkempt mop of hair, his hippy
clothing and his small round spectacles, was more akin to that of
John Lennon than that of sober-suited harpsichordists of the Gustav
Leonhardt variety.
Many might have suspected Rosss integrity on seeing him thus
attired, but in fact his playing was always marked by scholarship
(evinced also in the editions he made with Kenneth Gilbert of
Scarlatti and DAnglebert), fastidiousness, elegance and, vitally for an
instrument still widely derided, an impression of rich sonorities.
Rosss repertoire was vast and fortunately he has left us a significant
legacy on record. His recordings of the harpsichord music of
Rameau and Franois Couperin won a Grand Prix du Disque, and
in 1985, already aware of his medical condition, he embarked upon
what will surely forever stand as a landmark in the history of
recorded music, an account for the Erato label, in co-operation with
Radio France, of all 555 of Domenico Scarlattis sonatas.
The desire to see the project through obviously had a beneficial
effect on his health, and he was extremely happy with the success it
achieved. Largely on account of that success, in 1988 he was named
Musical Personality of the Year by the Syndicat des Critiques
Franais, but even then he refused to rest on his laurels.
Outside the realm of performance, Ross enjoyed teaching, which he
did both at Quebec University (from 1973 until 1985) and at his
regular summer academies in Venice. He also cultivated a
knowledge of instrument making techniques that extended far
beyond those applicable to the keyboard family. He had an outgoing
but unaffected personality and many, many devoted friends. He
loved especially his collection of orchids at his retreat in Assas. It was
only natural that he should have wanted to die among them.

Vivi felice
Vivi felice. Live happily. These are the final words of the preface
to the only collection of Scarlattis pieces for keyboard instrument
published during his lifetime.
The words express a warm and generous wish. They are more than
the mere encouragement of a master to a pupil; they are those of a
friend. The dedication comes as a surprise compared with others of
the epoch when the high and mighty were addressed by their
humble and obedient servants or when Johann Sebastian Bach
quite deliberately dedicated his work to the glory of God by means
of the three letters S.D.G. alongside his signature. Scarlattis
1

injunction has a ring to it which is as modern as the music to which

it serves as preface: simplicity and straightforwardness are the very
essence of his personality.

Italian composer Alessandro Longo. This was the first time that
Scarlattis output could be seen in its true perspective and the edition
became the standard work of reference for fifty years. But even this
edition was not free from traces of somewhat off-hand treatment.
Longo, for instance, completely upset the order of the sonatas to be
found in the manuscripts by grouping them into suites, thereby
obliterating not only the feeling engendered by the different stages
of composition but also the pairing of the sonatas, an essential
element whose existence was to be brought to light once again by
Ralph Kirkpatricks research fifty years later. Longo, moreover,
following in the faulty footsteps of his forerunners, overloaded his
edition with arbitrary phrase marks and dynamics and the changes he
made, particularly in the harmonies, did little, in most cases, save
impoverish what Scarlatti had composed.

Scarlattis music is something of a tonic. It is free from complicated

overtones and theoretical dogma. It is designed to be played for
pleasure. Although it calls for a sound technique, it is always limpid.
Both the construction and the writing are bright and clear and there
is an abundance of rhythmic and thematic ideas. Above all, there is
charm and mastery displayed in the way the harmonies are developed.
Scarlattis corpus of keyboard works is also one of the most
voluminous and impressive in the history of music. To perform it in
toto takes no less than thirty-four hours. This is three times as long
as it would take to perform Couperins or Schumanns music for
keyboard and twice as long as one would need for Beethoven. Only
Bach can equal it in scale and even then it is necessary to include
what he wrote for organ as well as for other keyboard instruments.
The enormous edifice of Scarlattis keyboard music is made up
entirely of short pieces of only a few minutes length (the longest
lasts for only seven minutes and the shortest for two). There is
relatively little development of themes in Scarlattis writing, which
is made up essentially of the juxtaposition of swarms of melodic and
rhythmic ideas.

As might be expected, performances of the sonatas were on a par

with Longos edition. For years, with the notable exception of a few
brilliant interpretations headed by the recordings made by Wanda
Landowska and Vladimir Horowitz, Scarlattis sonatas were given a
poor airing. More often than not they served as appetisers at concerts
enabling late-comers to find their seats and allowing the performer
to warm up and to test audience reaction. The sonatas were also use
as studies. Marcel Proust mentions them in the following terms in
The Cities of the Plain: those confounded pieces which have so
often kept you awake when they have been played over and over
again by a merciless student on an adjacent floor.

There is another curious feature to his work: virtually all the pieces
are written in the simplest of all possible forms, binary form. The
sonatas are made up of two roughly equal parts, each one intended
to be repeated. The first part ends in the dominant in most cases, the
second invariably ends in the tonic and the sequences leading to the
endings are comparable. Exceptions to this framework are rare.
Scarlatti, who poured out musical ideas in abundance, appears to
have had little interest in bringing new developments into the
musical forms of his time.

Scarlattis work, then, appeared in poor editions and it was generally

given poor performances. There are, however, other aspects of his
life and work which even today raise problems. For example, there
is not a single manuscript sonata extant in the composers own hand.
There are plenty of manuscript versions, of course, but these are
invariably the work of copyists. There are several roughly
comparable manuscripts, each bound in volumes bearing the arms of
the Spanish royal household. They are now in libraries in Venice
and Parma. But the autograph texts have yet to be discovered if,
indeed, they ever existed. The authenticity, but above all, the
chronology of the sonatas must still remain open to argument.

On the other hand, when it comes to rhythms and modulations, his

imagination is extraordinary. Not only did he adopt with excellent
effect features which were already in common use, but he brought
a breath of fresh air into contemporary musical practice by using
popular rhythms, remote keys and contrasts of tone colour and by
transforming the harpsichord into a sort of orchestra in itself. Almost
as though he was simply playing around and enjoying himself,
Scarlatti discovered modulations which were to be re-adopted only
much later. By means of acciaccaturas, he introduced notes which
were foreign to traditional harmony, creating some extraordinary
effects in the process. Finally, he was a master at surprising the
listener by totally unprepared modulations.

There is another mystery, and it is to do with the circumstances in

which the sonatas were composed. It is generally thought that most
of them were written in Portugal and in Spain. Scarlatti was music
master to Princess Maria Barbara of Braganza, daughter of the King
of Portugal and later to become the Queen of Spain. But Scarlatti
could just as well have brought with him compositions written
during his brilliant career in Italy before he became an expatriate.
And then, what lay behind this apparently self-imposed exile? What
was the force which drove Scarlatti to leave his native country for
good at the age of fifty? For it meant abandoning his relations,
abandoning Italy, which was bursting with new musical ideas, and
abandoning a brilliant career as a composer of operas and as an
interpreter. We really do not know enough about him to be able to
answer these questions, but it would seem that the reasons for his
departure were psychological rather than financial. It seems certain
that his masterpieces, the sonatas, began to appear after his departure
from Italy. There is every reason to suppose that his exile was
enjoyable. His relationship with Maria Barbara was a model of
steadfastness and fidelity and he enjoyed the esteem of those around
him. He was given a knighthood and he raised a family. In spite of
all this, his life is almost completely undocumented. One of his
friends, the Italian singer Farinelli, was just about the only person to
provide contemporary evidence about him, and it was in any case
thanks to Farinelli that the bound copies of the sonatas finally found
their way to Italy after the queens death.

It is difficult to understand why the public should have had to wait

more than two hundred years to hear in its entirety this towering
achievement in the history of keyboard music. This is unfortunately
the fate shared by the bulk of the Baroque repertoire, which was
ill-served in the nineteenth century and more often than not is little
appreciated even today.
Thirty of Scarlattis sonatas were published in London during the
composers lifetime, but there was virtually no other
eighteenth-century edition of his music by French, English or Italian
publishers. There were a few anthologies and, here and there, some
transcriptions, but composers such as Thomas Roseingrave and
Charles Avison, although with the best intentions, saw fit to
complement the few sonatas with their own works, which did
nothing to further the cause of Scarlattis masterpieces.
There was to be little change in the nineteenth century. True, a
larger number of sonatas did get published, but the pianists who, one
way or another, were responsible for these editions Czerny in
1839 or, later, Hans von Blow, Busoni and Tausig had no
scruples about bringing them up-to-date, adding expression marks
and even notes which in most cases changed the entire character of
the works they had set out to make known.

In the face of such enigmas there is one solution to which I am

attracted. Farinelli hinted that Scarlatti was an inveterate gambler.
Gambling means gambling debts. It is not too far-fetched to suppose
that the queen should demand that some of the superb
improvisations with which the composer delighted the court should
be set down in black and white in return for her paying off the debts
he had incurred in gambling. It was true, he was a genius. But that
did not prevent him from being idle and he might well have agreed
to such a deal only on condition that he should be allowed to dictate

The first complete or very nearly complete edition dates from

1906. It was published by Ricordi in an edition prepared by the
2

his improvisations to the skilful copyists of the royal library. One can
go even further and see in this an explanation for the brevity of his
compositions: he was out to keep things as short as possible. Such an
explanation is no better or worse than any other, but it really does
seem, particularly in the case of the later sonatas, that they came in
bursts and that they were quite simply written down under
dictation. All this can only increase the admiration one feels for
Scarlatti, whose brilliance as a performer was matched by his
consummate skill as an improviser. It should not be forgotten that
while he was still in Italy, he had come out on top in a friendly
improvisation contest with Handel.

Closer examination reveals that things are rather more complicated

than the authors of modem treatises on musical composition would
have us believe. Most of these writers are inclined to find only what
they are looking for: proofs that the sonatas were more or less clumsy
forerunners of the Classical sonata, and opportunities to underline the
superiority of the great form which was to leave its mark on
nineteenth-century music. In reality, the two forms the Scarlatti
sonata and the so-called Classical sonata are quite distinct in the
same way as the opera seria is distinct from a Verdi opera and a
motet from a cantata. There is no reason to say that one is better than
the other.
A piece of music can be said to be in Classical sonata form when its
main theme is repeated in the same key in the restatement. This was
the structure adopted by C.P.E. Bach and his followers. It led on to
the form which is now so familiar to us.

Introduction to the sonatas

This recording keeps to the precise order in the catalogue drawn up
by Ralph Kirkpatrick at the beginning of the 1950s. The edition
used for the recording was the eleven-volume collection of the 555
sonatas published between 1971 and 1984 in the series Le Pupitre by
Heugel under the editorship of Kenneth Gilbert.
CDs 1 to 33 contain the sonatas from Kk 1 to Kk 555. The three
organ sonatas (Kk 287, Kk 288 and Kk 328) and the five suites with
figured basses (Kk 81, Kk 88, Kk 89, Kk 90 and Kk 91) appear on
CD 34.

Scarlattis concept of the sonata is something entirely different, and

any misunderstanding springs from the use of the word itself. One
should bear in mind, however, that Scarlatti and his contemporaries
adopted it long before Beethoven did. The main difference lies in
the general framework. Scarlattis sonatas are in binary form, the
pieces being divided into two distinct halves. The two halves are
comparable and complementary, but they are sufficiently contrasted
for the differences between them to allow more detailed analysis.

Pairing
The idea that many of the sonatas had originally been arranged
pairwise was put forward by Gerstenberg in 1935. Ralph Kirkpatrick
revived the idea in the course of his own research.

Scarlattis sonatas abound in all the traditional devices of musical

expression. They are also full of vitality and, inevitably, the
simplification inherent in any analysis is inclined to obscure the
wealth of the musical content.

The arbitrary layout of early editions of the sonatas ignored the fact
that in the Venice and Parma manuscripts about two-thirds of the
sonatas appear to form pairs or even, in some cases, sets of three.

Musical language
The style, writing and individual language of Scarlattis sonatas
combine to form a captivating world. The rhythmic and melodic
invention, the almost diabolical skill displayed in the use of the
instrument and the mastery of keyboard technique keep the listener
constantly enthralled. Comment, while not entirely superfluous, is
fraught with difficulty.

Scarlatti himself did not state specifically that the sonatas were
intended to be paired, even though the practice was frequent
amongst contemporary Spanish composers. Some of the pairings
might well appear open to doubt. In other cases, however, there is
irrefutable proof that pairing was intended. For example, the
copyists of the Venice and Parma manuscripts wrote that there
should be a swift follow-on between what are now known in
Kirkpatricks catalogue as Kk 347 and Kk 348. They also wrote that
the sonatas Kk 516 and Kk 517 had been copied in the opposite
order to that intended by the composer.

Rhythm
Scarlattis sonatas, particularly in the interpretation by Scott Ross,
appear to be driven along by an inner pulse. Occasionally, this is
reinforced by rhythmic ostinato passages identical with those to be
heard even today in Spanish songs and in flamenco. It could well be,
moreover, that these popular rhythms made a strong impression on
Scarlatti when he arrived in Andalusia (saetas, seguidillas, buleras,
rhythmic roulades).

There are other more refined proofs on the pairwise arrangement.

Take, for example, the change of key signature in Kk 527. The
copyists wrote out a key signature with three naturals. There can be
only one explanation for such a key signature, which would be
pointless unless it served to draw the attention of the player to a
change of tonality. In this pair of sonatas, the first is in C minor (three
flats) and the second is in C major. The placing of naturals on the
stave of the second sonata was quite deliberate. (On the other hand,
what is the explanation in the case of Kk 230 and Kk 231? The
pairing is of a similar type but the alteration of the key signature is
not brought to the performers attention.)

Accents
Scarlatti was a complete master of the art of providing accents for his
music. By introducing a note which was foreign to the general line
of a theme, or by inserting an unusual note into a chord, he
reinforced his melodies or their accompaniment. The sudden
explosion of a chord, a fast scale or a tight cluster of notes act as
interjections which highlight the text.
Instrumental styles
Scarlatti was a successful composer of operatic and orchestral music.
In spite of this, he devoted the last thirty years of his life entirely to
the harpsichord. We do not really know why this should have been
so, and the absence of letters or contemporary accounts of the
musicians life is particularly frustrating here. More than any other
composer of his day, however, Scarlatti resorted to orchestral devices
in his sonatas and to references to other instruments. We can often
hear the guitar in his music, the mandolin with its repeated notes,
percussion instruments or fanfares of trumpets.

The pairing of the sonatas is primarily a question of tonality, as in

the relationship between the various movements of suites
throughout musical literature. Those of Scarlattis sonatas which,
from the manuscript sources, appear to have been designed pairwise
(examples occur from Kk 150 onwards, right up to the final ones)
are in the same key. There are about a hundred pairs; only some ten
of them are in different modes (major/minor or vice versa). In all
other cases, a contrast is achieved by means of differing tempi or
differing time-signatures. On the other hand, where sonatas are
paired, there is scarcely ever any similarity of thematic material.

Modulations
One of the most remarkable sides to Scarlattis genius was his ability
to go through the keys in a variety of modulations, either gradually,
the accidentals being introduced one by one, or suddenly by an
abrupt shift to an unrelated key a whole tone or even a third away.

Form
The architecture of Scarlattis sonatas is simple. Such, at least, is the
impression one gets from looking at them or listening to them. This,
too, is the reputation which they share with most
eighteenth-century harpsichord compositions.
3

sonatas are paired together.

Virtuosity
Scarlattis limpid musical writing can at first glance lead one to the
conclusion that his works are easy to perform. Nothing could be
further from the truth. Clarity of writing has nothing to do with ease
of execution. Scarlatti, who was the most accomplished virtuoso
amongst contemporary harpsichord players, did not have to worry
about finding somebody to perform his music. In any case, his pupil,
Queen Maria Barbara of Braganza, for whom these pieces were
written, must herself have been a very skilled performer. Some of
the sonatas demand a high level of technique in the playing of scales
and arpeggios and passages in thirds and sixths and octaves.

The later sonatas are more varied in form but the first traces of what
lends them such opulence are to be found here. There is, for
example, the free form which first appears in Kk 19, and the
principle of the development of the second half of the sonata is to
be seen in Kk 9, albeit to a limited degree.
Four-fifths of the sonatas are closed but Scarlatti enriched the
form by various devices such as permutations of the sequences of the
two halves of the sonata to make it asymmetrical (right from
Kk 1 as against Kk 2, but also in Kk 4, 12, 21 and 24) and the
dropping of the traditional practice of landing up in the dominant at
the double bar separating the two halves of the sonata: half of the
sonatas in a minor tonality reach this point in the relative major (Kk
3, 5, 7, 9, 10, 15, 19 and 27). Similar examples are to be found in
the works of contemporary composers, but to a lesser degree. Later
on, Scarlatti exploited the surprise effect created by a sudden
modulation in the opening bars of the second half of a sonata.

Archaic styles
A few sonatas contain several distinct musical lines from beginning
to end as though they were designed for performance by an
instrumental trio or quartet. Others incorporate a number of typical
polyphonic features. Finally, there are a few sonatas which contain a
single upper voice and an accompanying bass line (figured or
unfigured) somewhat reminiscent of accompanied songs.

In these sonatas, there are few modulations, apart from shifts from
major to minor (or the opposite). The majority of the Essercizi are
in the minor, only thirteen out of the thirty being in the major.
There is a preference for the use of flats only eleven sonatas have
a key signature in sharps. The key signatures in this first edition are
written in the old shortened form: G minor has a single flat,
C minor has only two, etc. The same applies to the major keys: A
major is written with two sharps, E major with three. There are
never more than three accidentals in the key signature. It was only
later that Scarlatti exploited the possibilities provided by the
introduction of equal temperament.

Notes on the sonatas

CDs 1 and 2
Kk 1Kk 30 These sonatas, known under the title Essercizi per
gravicembalo, were the only pieces whose publication was supervised
by Scarlatti himself. The composer made his intentions clear in a
preface which includes a dedication to his future masters in Spain.
Was it he who chose the engraver? Did he himself correct the
proofs? It must be said that the engravers fame was greater than the
care he took over his work: the frontispiece shows a harpsichord the
wrong way round! And there is doubt as to how far the proofs of
the first edition conform with the original manuscripts. We have no
means of checking. Nevertheless, it was Scarlatti who chose the
pieces and no doubt he reworked them before sending them to his
English publisher.

As the Essercizi are by way of being an anthology, there can be no

question of seeking any special relationship between the different
pieces such as J.S. Bach intended in the thirty Inventions and, with
even greater reason, in the thirty Goldberg Variations (it might be
mentioned in passing that the latter, published for the first time in
1742, are virtually contemporaneous with the Essercizi). Scarlatti was
after something entirely different and he made his intentions clear in
his preface:

These thirty sonatas should not, however, be considered as the

composers first works. True, Kirkpatrick put them at the beginning
of his catalogue, which was based on the chronological sequence of
the sources, and Fortiers edition was the first tangible evidence of
Scarlattis compositions for the keyboard. Nevertheless, there can be
little doubt that Scarlatti made a selection of the thirty pieces
amongst many other compositions whose existence was to be
revealed only at a later date amongst various manuscript copies.

Reader,
Whether you be Dilettante or Professor, in these Compositions
do not expect any profound Learning, but rather an ingenious
jesting with Art, to accommodate you to the Mastery of the
Harpsichord. Neither Considerations of Interest, nor Visions of
Ambition, but only Obedience moved me to publish them.
Perhaps they will be agreeable to you; then all the more gladly
will I obey other Commands to please you in an easier and more
varied Style. Show yourself then more human than critical, and
thereby increase your own Delight. To designate to you the
Position of the Hands, be advised that by D is indicated the
Right, and by M the Left. Live happily.

These thirty sonatas are one of the jewels of Scarlattis uvre. For a
long time they were the most easily accessible; they appeared in
many editions and they were certainly the most played. Even today
they are the ones which have been most recorded. They are, in fact,
an anthology of Scarlattis compositions, bearing the stamp of the
composer in full possession of his art. Most of the characteristic
features of his writing throughout the 555 sonatas catalogued by
Kirkpatrick appear in these pieces. Scarlatti goes through the whole
gamut of keyboard technique and exploits to the full startling effects
such as handcrossing, jumps of two octaves or more, repeated notes
and virtuosic scale and arpeggio passages.

It was William Smith who discovered the first (?) sales advertisement
for the Essercizi. It is dated February 1739. According to Kirkpatrick,
it was in April 1738 that Scarlatti was awarded the Portuguese title
of Knight of the Order of Santiago, which is the title which features
on the first page of the edition. There is, therefore, every reason to
suppose that the first edition of the Essercizi dates from the end of
1738 or early in 1739.

From many points of view, these sonatas mark a transition in

Scarlattis life. From now on, Spain was to be the home of this
Italian composer. Operas were to be abandoned in favour of works
for the keyboard. There is a successful blend of classical tradition and
Spanish folk song and dance in the collection. Alongside toccatas
(Kk 1, 4 and 12) and concertante or polyphonic pieces, there are
others, such as Kk 2, 5, 17 and 24, which contain undeniable traces
of the influence of Spanish songs and dances.

CD 3
Kk 31Kk 42 These twelve sonatas were first published in England
in a sort of pirate edition put together by Thomas Roseingrave (cf.
Glossary) shortly after the first publication of the Essercizi.
Roseingrave included the first thirty sonatas, but changed the title of
the collection. He also changed the order and introduced pieces that
he had no doubt brought back from Italy twenty years earlier. He
opened the collection with one of his own compositions
publishing morals were rather different then from what they
are now!

All thirty pieces go along at a brisk pace, and this no doubt accounts
for Scarlattis reputed lack of interest in slow tempi. Fifteen are
marked Presto and fourteen Allegro. Only the very last piece,
nicknamed at a much later date the Cats Fugue (cf. Glossary
Gatto), is marked Moderato. It is only later that Scarlattis lyrical side
becomes evident, when strongly contrasted Allegro and Andante
4

The edition was never revised by Scarlatti. Evidence for this is

provided by Kk 33, which acquired its final form only three years
later by the addition of a majestic opening passage seventeen
bars long.

Apart from the two short dances, Kk 32 and Kk 34, and the fugue
movements, this is the first sonata for which Scarlatti does not
provide a rapid tempo marking.
Kk 53 The Parma manuscript stipulates that this sonata should be
preceded by the one now known as Kk 258. Kirkpatrick, however,
was unable to fall in with this injunction since he had opted for the
order in the Venice manuscript. It is nevertheless one of the first
signs that some of the sonatas were intended to be paired (cf.
Glossary).

The Scarlatti pieces added by Roseingrave to the Essercizi are quite

plainly early works, as are many of those in the hundred numbers
which follow in Kirkpatricks catalogue. There is often the imprint
of the Italian school. Kk 35, for example, is a toccata, and Kk 41 is
a four-part fugue. Both these pieces could quite well have been
written by Handel. There are traces of concertante style: Kk 37 and
Kk 40, for example, bring Vivaldi to mind. There are also dance
movements typical of those to be found in keyboard suites at that
epoch (cf. Kk 40 and Kk 42).

Kk 54 and Kk 56 have something of the flamboyant style

mentioned by Kirkpatrick. The music is based on a succession of
quavers and, like so many pieces in 3/8, 6/8 or 12/8, it is
reminiscent of a jota or an Italian tarantella.

Some of the tempo markings in these pieces are not to be found

elsewhere: Kk 32 is marked Aria and Kk 34 Larghetto. Two-thirds
of these sonatas are in the minor.

Kk 55 This is marked Allegro in the Venice manuscript and Presto

in Parma. It is interesting to compare the closing bars of each of the
two halves of this sonata with the corresponding passages in Kk 7
since here we have one of the rare occasions on which Scarlatti
repeats himself.

Kk 40 and Kk 42 are delightful minuets in pure Classical style (by

his use of notes ingales, Scott Ross takes us into the world of
Vivaldis Four Seasons). There is nothing Spanish about these pieces.
On the other hand, they bear features which were to persist
throughout Scarlattis keyboard compositions: a liking for hand
crossings (Kk 36 and Kk 44) and for swift movements right up and
down the whole width of the keyboard (Kk 31, 33 and 38), and
everywhere a complete disregard for technical difficulties.

Kk 57 is a short sonata, yet it contains no fewer than ten themes.

The fertility of Scarlattis imagination here is matched only by his
idleness in exploiting his ideas.
Kk 58 is a four-part fugue and it is constructed just as loosely as Kk
30 and Kk 41. On the other hand, the atmosphere is austere and
there is a fine contrast between a descending chromatic subject and
a rising diatonic countersubject.

Kk 41 is a fugue; it is the first of the eleven pieces in Kirkpatricks

catalogue not to appear in Alessandro Longos (cf. Glossary) edition.
Kk 43 to Kk 48 are taken from the Venice manuscript dated 1742.
They belong to the early manner, but display the flamboyant
character which Kirkpatrick associates with many of the first two
hundred sonatas. The style is livelier and the themes are more clearly
contrasted than in the previous pieces. Moreover, the rhythms
breathe an entirely different world, almost certainly the one that
Spain revealed to Scarlatti (cf. Kk 45).

Kk 59 This is an early work, as are, in all likelihood, the remainder

of the pieces until Kk 64. Its style stamps it clearly as having been
written long before the Essercizi. Like Kk 63 and Kk 64, Kk 59 is
comparable with the dance movements which in Scarlattis day
formed the main part of harpsichord suites. Kk 60 is likewise based
on a simple construction.
Kk 61 This is the only example of a series of variations in the entire
corpus of sonatas catalogued by Kirkpatrick The theme is a short
one: six bars followed by thirteen variations of increasing
complexity, as was customary at the time. All the repeats are written
out since most differ slightly from the first statement.

The fullness of the sound is striking. Some of the melodic patterns

and the accompanying figures are doubled in octaves (the cadences
in both halves of Kk 44, the stressed weak beats in Kk 45 and the
bass in Kk 46), scales fizz like rockets (Kk 43 and Kk 47) and in Kk
48, Scarlatti resorts to a rapidly executed Alberti bass. These sonatas
also reveal Scarlattis mastery of the art of writing for the
harpsichord. Kk 44 and Kk 46 in particular show how skilfully he
manages to amplify and diminish the sound of an instrument
generally reckoned to be somewhat lacking in dynamic range.

Kk 62 is asymmetrical, but this springs less from the central

organization of the two halves of the sonata than from the openings
and especially the closings of each one of them. The quaver post-crux
(cf. Glossary Crux) in the first half differs unusually from that in the
second, where it appears in semiquavers. Only the final closings,
which are startling in the violence of semiquavers spread over three
octaves, are identical in the two halves apart from a few notes in the
accompaniment.

In contrast with the pieces in Roseingraves collection, all these

sonatas have rapid tempi and only two of the six are in the minor.
CD 4
Kk 49 Here, the continuity of the music is interrupted several times
by fermatas between which there are cadenza-like figurations
oscillating between major and minor. The device is rhetorical in
style and it turns up again only in much later sonatas. Scarlattis
search for dramatic expression is also evident after the development
of the second half, which culminates in a lightning scale over very
nearly four octaves.

Kk 63 is marked Capriccio and Kk 64 Gavotte (cf. supra Kk 59).

Kirkpatrick points out the similarity between Kk 63 and a piece by
Adolfo Hasse published in London in 1740 (Op.2, Sonata No.4, 3rd
movement).
CD 5
Kk 67 The Classical, almost archaic, style of this sonata lies in the use
of imitation writing. There is not a single bar which does not
relentlessly repeat the four notes of the broken chord heard at the
outset.

Kk 50 A fine example of total use of the keyboard by means of hand

crossings, scales and arpeggios. The instruments four-octave range is
constantly exploited.

Kk 68 is also constructed from one end to the other on a single

rhythmic motif:

Kk 51 is somewhat akin to an Italian toccata, and the sheer delight

of playing the instrument is conveyed through an uninterrupted
succession of semiquavers occasionally highlighted by means of
chromatic figuration.

This sonata falls within the range of dance pieces to be found

amongst the early manner compositions. None of the manuscript
sources gives a tempo marking.

Kk 52 is a sumptuous work written in several voices and the

harmonic progressions it contains must certainly have interested
Brahms when he owned the collection which is now housed in
Vienna (cf. Kk 219 Kk 222).

Kk 69 Although this is a polyphonic and almost orchestral sonata, it

too is driven along by a single rhythmic motif:
5

The writing, however, is more sophisticated. For example, there is

a shift of a whole beat the first three times the rhythm appears in
the bass.

Kk 84 This is an odd piece of work. There is a systematic use of

parallel thirds and sixths alternating with a quaver reply pattern
between the two hands. Probably experimental.

Kk 70Kk 72 These three sonatas are quite clearly related to one

another. The use of imitation writing and the way the in which the
pieces move along in a predictable fashion show that they are in the
mould of the classical toccata. According to Giorgio Pestelli, these
are early works dating back either to when Scarlatti was in Venice
(17051709) or to when he was in Rome (17091719). Pestelli
suggests that Kk 72 is the very first piece written for the harpsichord
by Scarlatti, but there is no reliable evidence either to support or to
refute the idea.

Kk 85 This toccata shows every sign of being an early work. Like

Kk 82 it consists of a single section, but on this occasion there is a
repeat sign at the end.
Kk 86 and Kk 87 These are more carefully worked-out pieces. The
polyphonic writing in three parts in Kk 86 and in four parts in
Kk 87 and the interesting rhythmic patterns have led to their
being used for many transcriptions. They illustrate Scarlattis
polyphonic compositional technique of making each voice move
forward in single alternate steps. Many of the later sonatas feature
these short disjointed progressions.

Kk 73 is a suite of three pieces, the last two of which are marked

Minuetto. The thematic material in each one of them is given a
powerful accent on the strong beat of each bar:

Kk 88Kk 91 See CD 34.

Kk 92 The polyphonic writing of this sonata is notable for the
systematic repetition of the pattern:

The three ascending motifs appear in each piece in figurations of

increasing complexity. The last minuet has a figured bass, which
suggests that the whole group could be played by a small ensemble
of instrumental soloists with continuo.

Sonatas Kk 8 and Kk 238 are treated in the same manner.

Kk 74, like Kk 63, is a capriccio and the relationship between the

two is obvious. It is nonetheless interesting to note their differences
of dynamic treatment. The heavily-laden chords of Kk 63 and its
cadences contrast sharply with the fluidity of Kk 74.

Kk 93 Here we have the last but one of the five fugues in

Kirkpatricks catalogue. The theme is rather academic and the four
voices move along most of the time in parallel.
This is the last piece in the Venice manuscript dated 1742. (There
is, in fact, yet another piece, but it is simply a repetition of Kk 52,
with a few minor variants.)

Kk 75 is a minuet which one can quite well imagine being played

by a chamber ensemble. In both halves, there are quite clearly soli
and tutti passages.

CD 6
Kk 94 is a short minuet with a form unusual for Scarlatti. The
opening theme reappears without alteration a few bars before the
end. The piece does not feature in Longos edition, the only source
being the last movement of Toccata X (cf. Kk 82).

Kk 76 The polyphony here is a shade convoluted, and as though to

escape from this, Scarlatti concludes each of the two halves with a
dazzling passage spread over the whole keyboard. (cf. Kk 62, the
only similar example.)
Kk 77 Here we have a charming accompanied melody leading to a
minuet, and the writing clearly suggests performance by a chamber
ensemble of soloists and continuo. Later, it will be seen that almost
systematically, the sonatas tend quite naturally to go in pairs. The
twinning here of two contrasting pieces is the first example of what
Scarlatti was to make a general practice.

Faithful to the chronology of his sources, Kirkpatrick puts the

following three sonatas together as a result of their appearing
together in a French edition by Veuve Boivin. Kk 95 and Kk 96
appear in later sources. Kk 97 on the other hand appears nowhere
else, not even in Longos edition.
Kk 95 This sonata is by way of being a study for right-hand crossing
over a non-stop triplet figuration played by the left hand. Scarlatti
could well have switched hands for each repeat.

Kk 78 is also made up of two linked pieces. They are taken from

the Coimbra manuscript (cf. Glossary) where they appear under the
title Toccata X together with Kk 85, Kk 82 and Kk 94.

Kk 96 This splendid piece of work deserves its fame both for the
variety of its themes and for the orchestral nature of the writing. It
opens with the brass and the subsequent figures have a mandolin
accompaniment. Each half has a polyphonic passage leading to a
grand tutti closing.

Kk 79 is a very beautiful toccata treated in imitation. The closings

are full of rhythmic brilliance.
Kk 80 This is an entrancing minuet with a figured bass. It is the
second piece in Kirkpatricks catalogue not to appear in Longos
edition all the more surprising since Kk 79 and Kk 80 appear
together as number XLV in the Venice manuscript, the source used
both by Longo and Kirkpatrick.

Kk 97 This is an entirely different kettle of fish. I should be happy

to wager that the piece is not by Scarlatti. It does not appear in the
main sources and the compass is wider than in any of the sonatas
which Scarlatti wrote around this time. Above all, it is full of clumsy
writing not to be found anywhere else in his compositions (the
modulations in bar 15, the repetitions in bar 40, the octaves in bars
60 to 68 and the banal, resonant cadences).

Kk 81 See CD 34.
Kk 82 This piece, like Kk 85, is not in binary form, making it a rare
exception in Scarlattis output. However, not too much should be
read into this since the two pieces form part of a suite in the
Coimbra manuscript (cf. Glossary) under the title Toccata X. The
rest of the suite consists of sonatas Kk 82, Kk 85, Kk 78 (gigue and
minuet), and Kk 94 (minuet). Had Kirkpatrick followed strict logic,
he would have put the suite at the beginning of his catalogue; this,
however, would have deprived him of the chance of giving pride of
place to the Essercizi.

Now follow the pieces which feature in the Venice collection dated
1749. They do not, however, necessarily date from this epoch.
Kk 99 and Kk 100 These two pieces are combined to form a single
sonata in the Venice manuscript dated 1749. They are even joined
together by the instruction volti subito at the end of Kk 99. There can
therefore be no doubt about the pairing, even if one of the pieces is
in the minor and the other in the major.

Kk 83 Here, as in Kk 77, we have an example of two

complementary pieces. There is a strict, two-voiced prelude, note
against note (a third notes reinforces the harmony at each closing)
followed by a minuet whose two sections are unusually symmetrical.
6

Kk 101Kk 103 provide us with some of the rare examples of slurs

in the manuscript sources. All apply to arpeggios or rapidly-executed
scales, but it is difficult to rely on them for drawing any general
conclusions as to the manner of articulating Scarlattis compositions.

Kk 101 and Kk 103 both have highly spirited motifs. The unison
motif which appears in Kk 101 reappears in Kk 102 and this sonata,
in its turn, takes the inspiration for its closing from sequences already
used in Kk 7 and Kk 55.

Kk 120 This is where Scarlatti pushes his hand crossings to their

limits. The sonata is exceptionally difficult when played up to
tempo, i.e. Allegrissimo.
Kk 121 This sonata, which is just as flamboyant as the one which
precedes it, obliges the performer to make rapid leaps up to two
octaves. Note the whole-tone modulation at the beginning of the
second half.

Kk 104 is called a toccata in the Mnster and the Vienna

manuscripts. The piece is full of contrasts, such as alternating notes,
ostinato chords supporting melodic commentaries, and hand
crossing motifs which create the illusion of the music being played
by three hands.

Kk 122 The rhythmic pattern here is one that has often appeared
already:

Kk 105 It is tempting to pair this sonata with the preceding one

because of its tonality. But the time signatures are the same 3/8
and Scarlatti carefully avoided such repetitions in his pairing.
Note the appearance of the rhythmic pattern:

It appears throughout the sonata. The opening contains a dominant

cadence reminiscent of Kk 33.
Kk 123 Were it not for the unusual tonal layout, this sonata would
seem almost archaic, with its three-part note-against-note writing,
embellishments and imitative passages.

This is a sort of fingerprint to be found in a great many sonatas.

Kk 106 and Kk 107 In the Parma manuscript, Kk 106 is marked,
not Allegro, but Andante, which seems better suited to this generally
peaceful sonata and justifies its pairing with Kk 107. Note the odd
ending in the minor in Kk 107.

Kk 124Kk 125 A sumptuous pair of flamboyant sonatas. In Kk

124, a torrent of arpeggios provides a framework for a Spanish
theme accompanied by ostinato chords. Kk 125 is just as powerful
in its expression. It is written throughout for two voices. It owes its
asymmetry to differences in the post-crux in each half, even though
the rhythmical idea is the same.

Kk 108 is incredibly powerful. The harpsichord turns into an

orchestra complete with timpani.
Kk 109 and Kk 110 The only Adagio in the whole uvre (even
then, the marking in the Parma manuscript is Andante Adagio).
It is followed by a piece which quivers with syncopated rhythms

CD 8
Kk 126 The melodic sequences, separated from one another by
arpeggios and chromatic figurations over ostinato chords, differ
according to whether they fall on the beat or off the beat. And here
we have two of Scarlattis most familiar fingerprints.

trills, repeated notes and notes alternated between the two hands.

Kk 127 The systematic division of this sonata into groups of four

bars and the conventional harmonic progressions mean that it has
much of the character of a dance.

Kk 111 The bulk of this curious piece consists of a motif of two

off-the-beat chords for the right hand. The figure appears twenty-six
times, so with the repeats, one actually hears it fifty-two times!

Kk 128 This sonata has much in common with the preceding one
through the innocent charm of its thematic material and the style of
its harmonic progressions and rhythmic patterns.

Kk 112 This monothematic sonata hinges around the rhythms

constantly taken up by the left hand.

Kk 129 The division of each half of this sonata around the fulcrum
(called the Crux by Kirkpatrick, cf. Glossary) is underlined here by
two pauses which punctuate the somewhat repetitive musical
discourse.

The liberty acquired by Scarlatti in gradually breaking out of

the straitjacket of closed binary form is clearly marked in the
following pair of sonatas with the appearance of both free and
developed forms.

Kk 130 Most of the material here consists of parallel thirds and sixths
and octaves, and in the main the piece stays in the relative minor of
the opening tonality.
Kk 131 The tonality is unusual, and the sonata is based essentially
on moving thirds. Kk 23 and Kk 136 provide similar examples.

CD 7
Kk 113Kk 114 After a powerfully stated opening, Kk 113
continues with a long chain of quavers through major and minor
keys close to the tonic. Kk 114 provides a contrast by means of
varied rhythms. Everything is reminiscent of traditional Spanish
music. The opening is in the nature of a country festival and there
follows, in the second half, a descending seven-note throaty
Flamenco chant decorated with trills, rhythmic figurations and
rocketing scales.

Kk 132Kk 133 Charm and vivacity are the contrasting features

of this pair of fresh and luminous sonatas. Kirkpatrick saw in them
the climate of Aranjuez. Scarlattis increasing use of the free form
means that many new themes are introduced into the second half
of Kk 132.
Kk 134Kk 136 These three sonatas appear in exactly the same
order both in the Parma and Venice manuscripts. They are the first
triptych in Kirkpatricks catalogue, all the more justifiably on
account of the contrasting time-signatures: 2/4, 6/8 and 3/8.

Kk 115Kk 116 Several of the sequences in these two sonatas come

to an end with long scale passages or sustained pauses. The music
becomes dramatic, being reinforced with acciaccaturas and
surprising modulations.

Kk 137Kk 138 The regular quaver movement in Kk 137 is

triggered off by a syncopated theme which reappears at the
beginning of the second half after each post-crux. There are few
sonatas of such perfect symmetry as Kk 138, which contains three
almost identical sequences repeated in the same order:
A,B,C/A,B,C.

Kk 117 This is an isolated sonata written throughout for two voices

in alternate quavers for right and left hand.
Kk 118Kk 119 The steady Non presto Kk 118 serves as a prelude
to the almost incredible outbursts of Kk 119 where Scarlatti achieves
a crescendo by increasing the weight of the obsessively-repeated
chords. The first chords consist of three notes, and these are
gradually increased until they reach as many as eleven.

These are the last pieces in the Venice manuscript dated 1749. Only
two out of the next nine sonatas appear in the Parma manuscript. Six
of the others are taken from English manuscripts (Worgan and
7

Fitzwilliam) and the last one, Kk 147, is taken from copies made by
Abb Santini and now housed in Mnster (id.). The three sonatas
Kk 142, Kk 143 and Kk 144 do not appear in the Longo edition.

has not disappeared entirely. The first eight sonatas are virtually in
two-part writing, but very quickly Scarlatti introduces items
requiring greater keyboard mastery, as for instance the
heavily-charged passages in Kk 156 and Kk 158, and the wide jumps
in Kk 157.

Kk 139 (CD 8) Kk 140 (CD 9) Two highly virtuosic sonatas. The

second, in particular, is one of the most difficult in the whole of
Scarlattis works.

Kk 159 is a wonderful little sonata. The opening sounds like a

fanfare of hunting horns. The general form of the piece is Classical in
that the main theme reappears in the tonic at the end of the second
half.

CD 9
Kk 141 This is one of Scarlattis best-known pieces. The series of
repeated notes over an accompaniment which is heavily laden with
acciaccaturas provides a contrast with the generous flow of the
concluding passages of the two halves.

Kk 160Kk 161 With all due deference to supporters of the

fortepiano, I feel that it should be suggested that the writing of Kk
161 demands a two-manual harpsichord in order to make it possible
to play the same notes written for the two hands and to bring out
the alternating motifs. The discourse of these two sonatas is
punctuated by several fermatas.

Kk 142 Many of Scarlattis moto perpetuo pieces in quavers are much

akin to Italian tarantellas. This one stands out from the rest on
account of its use of acciaccaturas and syncopations and through the
interjections which lead up to each post-crux.

From time to time, Scarlatti resorts to unusual binary forms. Some,

like Kk 162, which it is interesting to compare with Kk 176, have
a structural base of contrasting tempi. Both these pieces contain
series of slow and fast sequences, while remaining within the
tradition of binary form. Note that after the double bar, it is the fast
sequence which resumes in Kk 162 and the slow sequence in Kk
176 (cf. also Kk 170).

Kk 143 This is a difficult piece with chains of fast parallel thirds,

sixths and octaves. In addition, there are some awkward contrariwise
leaps, not used by Scarlatti subsequently.
Kk 144 and Kk 146 The sources used by Kirkpatrick as the basis
for his numbering system provide no evidence that these two sonatas
should be associated with each other. Nevertheless, from the purely
musical point of view, they meet the usual criteria for pairing.

Kk 164 From one end to the other, this sonata repeats, either with
or without acciaccaturas, the same figure made up of two crotchets
and a triplet. Scott Ross succeeds in breaking the monotony by the
occasional use of the lute stop.

Kk 147 Doubts may be cast on the authenticity of this sonata on

account of the opening and the demi-semiquaver passages in the
post-crux. Jol Shevaloff and Gerstenberg reject all the pieces from
Kk 142 to Kk 147 (these do not appear in the main sources) as being
foreign to Scarlatti both in form and harmony.

This triplet figure again appears in Kk 165 alongside a minim or two

crotchets. The linear character of sonatas Kk 164 to Kk 170
strengthens the case for their having been designed for amateurs who
would be put off by the sometimes considerable difficulties of pieces
from the flamboyant period.

With Kk 148, we begin a new series of sonatas which differ radically

from the preceding ones. They are shorter and less complicated and
appear to meet the promise made by Scarlatti in his preface to the
Essercizi to provide easier and more varied pieces for his admirers.

Kk 166 The above-mentioned linear character is particularly

evident here in the simplified accompaniments, which are limited to
a single note or a two-note chord on each beat.

The twenty-nine pieces in this series form a group in the first

volume of both the Parma and the Venice manuscripts (the latter is
dated 1752). All bear the title Toccata in the Parma manuscript.
They are not strictly speaking pedagogical pieces, but there is no
denying that they gradually increase in difficulty whereas many of
the ones before demand a high degree of skill. Gradually, we come
back to the level of difficulty to which Scarlatti has accustomed us.

Kk 167Kk 168 The background picture is much the same here as

in Kk 164, but the elaborate triplets are supplemented by trills and
mordants and the tempo is faster. This sonata is paired with
Kk 168, which appears to be a study for the stressing of weak beats.

A number of the pieces require a more extended keyboard than

usual (Kk 148Kk 153) because of the mordants. This fact,
combined with the even more important question of the style of the
sonatas, has led experts to wonder about the instrument on which
the pieces were intended to be played. There were some fortepianos
at the court of Spain, and Kirkpatrick suggests that the first eight
sonatas (Kk 148 to Kk 155) were written for these instruments.
Shevaloff takes this idea even further and goes right up to Kk 265!
As research stands at the present time, all this cannot be more than
mere conjecture.

Kk 169 This sonata is based on the rhythm of a Spanish tango.

It could well be paired with Kk 171 on account of its style
and contrast. The two pieces, however, appear separately in the
various sources.
Kk 170 This sonata complements the ideas put forward on the
previous page about Kk 162 and Kk 176 with regard to the different
varieties of binary form. Here, the layout is simpler, the slow and the
quick sequences being separated from each other at the double bar.
Kk 171 Yet another example of a pedagogical sonata. The repetition
here occurs on the following rhythmic motif:

The pairing of sonatas becomes very nearly the general rule in this
series. Twenty of the first twenty-one sonatas are paired and the last
(Kk 176) forms a sort of pair in itself.
The accompaniments in these pieces are simplified, the chords rarely
have more than two notes in them, and in Kk 149 and Kk 154 they
are often reduced to groups of three quavers or crotchets.

Kk 172 The rhythm here is that of a tarantella, and Scarlatti goes

through the whole range of the modulations in his repertoire:
modal: after the crux in each half, the sequences modulate from
major to minor and vice versa;
harmonic: the harmonies progress through part of the cycle of
fifths before the first crux, creating an atmosphere worthy of
Beethoven;
in whole-tone steps: these appear in each half, rising in the first
(from B flat to C) and in the second, first rising then descending
(from G to A, then from D to C).

A Scarlatti fingerprint is nevertheless apparent in many sequences

such as:

CD 10
With Kk 156, the undertaking to keep the music fairly easy seems
to have fallen by the wayside, even though the pedagogical element
8

CD 11
Kk 174 A hand crossing study. The right hand then the left hand
keep on traversing the non-stop quaver pattern in the middle of the
keyboard. The fine amplification of the syncopated pattern in the
final cadence is worth noting.

Kk 188 There is a series of semiquaver triplets in this sonata which

are identical with those in Beethovens second trio. Although it is of
course a pure coincidence, one cannot help noticing the fact when
playing them.
CD 12
Kk 189 Many of the Scarlattis fingerings have more to do with
showmanship than with musical performance. For example, the
player is required to perform the post-crux of this sonata with one
hand only. Most composers provide fingerings designed to help
performers actually to be able to play their works, but on this
occasion, Scarlatti imposes a difficulty in order to create a stage effect.

Kk 175 A study in the playing of acciaccaturas, particularly

developed in the openings and the central parts of each half. Many
of the chords contain up to ten notes, including some outside
accepted harmony, and they create a telling, almost frightening
effect.
Kk 176 This sonata, whose structure has been compared with that
of Kk 162, is the last piece in Volume 1 of both the Venice and the
Parma manuscripts. Kirkpatricks catalogue continues with the
sonatas which appear in the second Venice volume (Kk 177 to
Kk 201).

Kk 190Kk 193 The Venice manuscript, and in consequence

Kirkpatricks catalogue which is based on it, provides no tempo
markings for these sonatas. We have therefore used the Parma
manuscript as a guide to the tempi for the present recording an
illustration of the usefulness of comparing sources even if, in the case
of the pairing of sonatas, not all doubts can be cleared up.

All these pieces were composed before 1752. Most of them are in
pairs, and the earlier ones in particular the sonatas in 3/8 in
addition to containing the usual Scarlatti rhythmical figures,
summon up images of flamenco song through the introduction of
tense and ornate melodies which hover above as ostinato bass. One
of Scarlattis fingerprints,

From Kk 189 to Kk 198, for example, the Venice manuscript

suggests only three pairs, leaving four of the pieces isolated and
these are nevertheless associated in the Parma manuscript:
In the Parma manuscript, Kk 190 forms a triptych in B flat major
with Kk 189 and Kk 202;
Kk 191 likewise forms a triptych in D major with Kk 213 and Kk
214;
Kk 196 makes a pair in G with Kk 210;
Kk 198 makes a pair in B minor with Kk 203.

is heard both in Kk 178 and Kk 179. The development in Kk 180

displays an extraordinary extension of this Spanish style of singing.
The tense vocal line is here accompanied by chords which are made
progressively richer and create a genuine crescendo effect. Note also
the opening in Kk 177 and the sequences which conjure up a fanfare
of trumpets.

Kk 190 It was Kirkpatrick who drew attention to Scarlattis habit of

dividing each half of his sonatas into two distinct zones, and the
division here is unusually clear. The two zones are separated by a
fermata which is itself announced by a descending arpeggio. Note
how after the fermata, the tonal schema hovers between major and
minor in a manner frequently adopted by Scarlatti.

Kk 177 is the first in a new series of sonatas, and up to Kk 201 they

appear in Kirkpatricks catalogue in the order in which they are to
be found in the second Venice volume.

Kk 197 Here we have yet another example of the usefulness of

comparing sources. There is a very slight difference between the
Parma and the Venice manuscripts on the transition from the first
half of this sonata to the second. The Venice manuscript carries
straight on whereas the two halves are separated in the Parma
manuscript. In his critical edition, Kenneth Gilbert leaves the choice
to the interpreter. Scott Ross opts for the second solution.

Kk 177Kk 180 form two pairs in which the metres are inversed:
C3/8, 3/8C, proof that the progression of movements is less
important than contrast of metre in the system of pairing.
Kk 181 A single theme runs right through this sonata,
characterised by the following rhythm:

Kk 198 A singleton toccata in two-part writing (there is a pedal

point in the development and there are chords in the closing
cadences). The severe style of this piece puts it alongside sonatas Kk
70, 71 and 72. The tonal layout is straightforward, but the cadences
are rich in sound.

The intervals in the rising scale lend it an oriental character.

Kk 182 The sequences in this sonata are linked by a short figure in
which two notes run from octave to octave. On this occasion,
Scarlatti takes his music into the realm of the theatre. The tense
vocal-chant style appears in the second half of the sonata and is
maintained until the end. The concluding passages of the two halves
are different.

Kk 199Kk 200 These two sonatas illustrate how Scarlatti manages

to free himself from the bonds of traditional binary form. Both are
open. Kk 199 is concentrated: the second half includes only two of
the three sequences heard in the first half. Kk 200 is free: the
beginning of each half is different, but the atmosphere is the same.
The free form occurs again in Kk 201.

Kk 183 Were it not for the trills and the syncopated passages which
underline the gap between Scarlatti and his European
contemporaries, the opening of this sonata and the imitation passages
could well have made it an allemande from a typical harpsichord
suite of the time.

Kk 202 Here, Scarlatti offers yet another original form created out
of three different sequences: A 3/8 B 6/8 C 3/8. The outside
sections (A and C are clearly related and they serve as a frame for B,
which is a lengthy and constantly modulating sequence on the
rhythm of a sicilienne. The final layout, resulting from the interplay
of the repeats, is: A/A/B/C/B/C.

Kk 184 This sonata opens conventionally enough, but very soon we

are led into a typical Spanish dance atmosphere, full of
hand-clapping, heel-stamping and the rattle of castanets.
Kk 185 One of the rare cases in which the main theme is announced
in the bass. Although it has the style and the carriage of a chaconne,
this sonata is developed with Scarlattis own brand of magic.

CD 13
The sonatas numbered from 202 to 205 in Kirkpatricks catalogue
do not appear in any of the manuscripts in the Venice collection.
The source is therefore the Parma manuscript, where they are to be
found in the fourth volume dated 1752. Kk 203 forms a pair with
Kk 198 they follow one another in the Parma manuscript under
the numbers 20 and 21. The next two sonatas, 22 and 23, also form
a pair, but curiously enough, on this occasion Kirkpatrick stresses
their association by giving them the numbers 204a and 204b in his

Kk 186Kk 187 These two sonatas are related to one another by

similarities in the various rhythmic patterns they contain, and it is
tempting to extend the relationship to include all the pieces from
Kk 183 onwards as forming a suite in F minor. Five pieces appear at
this point in the Venice manuscript, but on various grounds they
have already been incorporated in Kirkpatricks catalogue.
9

catalogue. The first is complex in form: the metres vary

(C 3/8, 6/8) and the tonality shifts constantly between major and
minor. The second, on the other hand, is a sort of elaborate minuet
constructed over a single rhythmic pattern.

Kk 219Kk 222 Once again, in these two pairs of sonatas, we have

the same systematic contrast between the orchestral style of the first
piece and the voluble outpourings of the second. The handling of
the tonalities in these four sonatas is exceptionally fertile. The keys
constantly hover between major and minor and there are numerous
series of sudden modulations a whole tone upwards. There are
frequent changes of key signature, as many as five in the case
of Kk 220.

Alessandro Longos edition (Ricordi) includes neither Kk 204a nor

Kk 204b.
Kk 205 This is a singleton, but it has features in common with Kk
211 (repeated notes) and Kk 214 (syncopations). The free form
contains a blend of fragments in duple time (C) and triple time
(12/8).

Nobody listening to these recordings should be in the slightest doubt

that the music is rich, generous and invigorating. But is it really
something that was rediscovered only in the twentieth century? The
Vienna Library, for example, possesses a collection of manuscript
copies of pieces by Scarlatti. These copies were the work of Abb
Santini and at one time the collection was owned by Johannes
Brahms, who made careful notes on each volume, comparing the
sonatas with those which were published at the time by Czerny. He
even went so far as to make a detailed index. Even though the two
composers were worlds apart, one must nevertheless suppose that
Brahms subjected the sonatas to the closest scrutiny. One wonders if
his reason for using the opening of Kk 223 as the theme for one of
his most popular lieder (op.72 no.5, 1876) might not have been a
wish to underline his interest in Scarlatti.

Kk 206 There can be no doubt that this piece marked a turning

point in Scarlattis life as a composer. In the preceding sonatas, there
are clear indications that he was seeking new types of formal
structure. From now on, he kept strictly to the forms he had finally
arrived at, sometimes striving for greater simplicity, even if it meant
giving more attention to the development in the second halves of
the sonatas and to their tonal structure. The first experiments in the
pairing of sonatas have already been noted. From now on, not only
was the pairing to become systematic but a clear pattern appears.
There are many more slow movements and these serve as preludes
to the quicker movements by which they are invariably followed.

In the two pairs formed by Kk 223Kk 226, polyphonic sequences

(those in Kk 224 are to be found also in Kk 150) and rhythmic
sequences containing syncopations and accented weak beats appear
side by side. Such variety and freedom of compositional style
produce a dazzling effect. Note the closings in Kk 226, which differ
somewhat unusually from each other, the whole sonata being
brought to an end by a taut stretto.

People usually think of Scarlatti as the composer of virtuosic music

and his pieces in slow tempi are not well known. From now on, we
begin to see the composer harnessing his prodigious performing
skills to the expression of pure lyricism.
Kk 206Kk 207 These sonatas provide an illustration for the above
remarks. They are full of surprises and are sharply contrasted. On the
one hand there is a generous and flowing melodic line and on the
other a stream of dazzling virtuosity.

Kk 227 As is the case with Kk 170, this sonatas unusual character

springs from the differences in time signature in the two halves, the
first being in 2/4 and the second in 3/8. Note the particularly
virtuosic conclusion in F sharp minor to the first half. Just as later
composers were to do Chopin and Liszt, for example Scarlatti
often exploited the remote keys for their ease of performance.

Kk 208Kk 209 Yet another marvel! If I had to choose one sonata,

it would be Kk 208. All the more so since the piece with which it
is paired, a joyous and lilting jota, is a perfect antidote to the
melancholy of its mate.

CD 15
The evolution of Scarlattis compositional style can be seen if a
comparison is made between identical passages in the earlier and the
later sonatas in Kirkpatricks catalogue. Take, for example, the way
left and right hand scale passages are linked in Kk 229 (CD 14) and
Kk 43, or the interplay of alternate notes in Kk 230 and Kk 29.
These details are introduced into sonatas which are certainly more
balanced and have a greater degree of finish even though they may
not be any richer in style.

Kk 210 This little monothematic sonata should no doubt be paired

with Kk 196; the two pieces appear consecutively in the Parma
manuscript.
Kk 211Kk 212 The contrast here is remarkable. After Kk 211,
which meanders gently along and contains spicy overtones of the
mandolin, there comes the heroic power of Kk 212, particularly
evident in the development. The surprise effect produced by the
enchainments of the development is enhanced by the abrupt key
change at the double bar.

In itself, the treatment of alternate notes reveals differences. Those

in Kk 39 and Kk 104 demand the use of two manuals. This does not
apply in the case of Kk 418 or Kk 468. On the other hand, the
writing suggests that the notes should be given greater resonance
than in Kk 230.

Kk 213Kk 214 Another beautifully-balanced and contrasted pair.

Kk 213 was used as the signature tune for the year-long broadcast of
the complete Scarlatti recording on French radio.
Kk 215Kk 216 The development sections in the second halves of
both these sonatas are exceptionally beautiful. In Kk 215, a series of
punctuations, laden with acciaccaturas (carefully omitted by Longo)
and repeated three times (CEF) provide a good illustration of the
sudden modulations that Antonio Soler speaks about in his Llave de
la modulacin. The opposite applies in the case of Kk 216. The
harmony is made to evolve in a hardly perceptible fashion, rather in
the manner of Schubert in some of his sonatas. On this occasion, the
tense vocal improvisation is turned into a melody.

Kk 231 contains a rhythmic pattern which is obstinately repeated

sixty times:

Kk 232Kk 233 Note the similarity between the rhythmic motifs in

the post-crux of these two sonatas.

CD 14
Kk 217Kk 218 Whilst it is true that most of the openings of the
sonatas are treated in imitation, there are few that are as ornate as
Kk 217. The post-crux on the other hand is powerful and orchestral
in atmosphere. Moreover, the whole of the keyboard is traversed
with hand crossing passages. There is contrast, too: Kk 218 brings
this pair to a close with a particularly spirited moto perpetuo.

Kk 234 The whole of this sonata is based on short sequences which

reply to each other in imitation. In each post-crux, however, a theme
on unaccented beats makes an appearance.
Kk 235 This sonata is in a highly individual form: there is a
sicilienne in place of the development. As in Kk 202, the 6/8
sequences modulate a long way from the opening key, but the outer
sections do not have the same symmetry as in Kk 202 (only the
post-crux from the first section of the sonata appears after the 6/8 to
10

bring the piece to a close). This strengthens the concept of

development whereas Kk 202 is closer in spirit to sonatas containing
several alternating tempi.

Kk 253 The beginning of the second half of this sonata, where there
are gentle modulations around three repeated quavers, is one of its
most noteworthy features.

Kk 238 The rhythms in this sonata recall pieces in the French style.
Yet, according to Kirkpatrick, these very rhythms are based on a
folk-song from Estremadura. It should be noted that, following the
custom of the time, the proper value of rests and upbeats is not
shown in the score. The notation of Kk 92 in a similar context is
more accurate.

Kk 254 This uncomplicated little sonata appears to be an

experiment in the staggering of imitation voices. There are four
sequences in canon at the octave, and a large number of tiny
off-the-beat accents which lend it a slightly chaotic charm.
Kk 255 In the excellent preface to his edition of Scarlattis sonatas,
Kenneth Gilbert tells the delightful story of the oytabado and tortorilla
markings which appear above some of the sequences in this sonata.
For a long time, these were supposed to be the names of stops on
the Portuguese organ. In reality, as L.F. Tagliavini has shown, they
simply refer to a folk dance and to the cooing of a turtle-dove.

Kk 239 There is an insistent repetition (78 times!) of the same

rhythmic motif

easily recognisable as being that of a Spanish traditional dance, the

Seville seguidilla.

Kk 256Kk 257 Scarlatti embroiders a large number of imitations

of the initial motif of the first of these sonatas to make a highly lyrical
composition which serves as a graceful prelude to Kk 257,
a two-part toccata. Note the different endings to the two halves of
Kk 256; likewise, those in Kk 254.

Kk 240Kk 241 The first is one of Scarlattis longest sonatas. The

Spanish theme at the heart of this piece is carefully heralded by a
series of short sequences which appear with perfect symmetry in the
two halves. The sequences are successively in imitation style, either
driven along by firm rhythmic motifs or yet again enlivened by
harmonic progressions moving stepwise in whole tones. This sonata
forms a pair with Kk 241, a gigue with a long chain of quavers.

CD 17
Kk 258 This sonata and Kk 53 form one of the rare pairs in the
Parma manuscript. Is it a scribes mistake? Was it a consequence of
the difficulty of making a collection of Scarlattis works which could
well have been scattered? It is hard to say.

Kk 242Kk 243 The absence of a first beat in the accompanying

figures of Kk 242 is one of Scarlattis fingerprints. In Kk 243, it is
the very insistence of the rhythmic patterns and the variety of the
melodic figures to which they give rise which reveal the identity of
the composer.

Kk 259 is an example of the so-called concentrated form. The

opening, treated in imitation, does not appear in the second half, but
there is the same disposition of four sequences in the two halves.
Kk 260 There are a few unusual features in this long symmetrical
sonata. The closings are different, which is rare, and the key
signature is altered eight times, which is unique. The tonal picture
in both sections of the sonata is complex, and the modulating
passages could be described as developments in three sequences.

CD 16
Kk 244Kk 245 A pair in the unusual tonality of B major there
are only five sonatas with five sharps in the key signature. The
composer here roams through all the keys at his disposal, particularly
in Kk 244, which incidentally contains the fingerprint

Kk 261Kk 262 Both these sonatas are in the unusual key of

B major. In the first, this tonality is soon abandoned in favour of
A minor and there follows a gripping development in the second
half where powerful chords punctuate a feverish repetition of the
same note (eighty times). The A minor sequence reappears in
identical form in B minor and C sharp minor. Kk 262 is a sort of
tarantella streaked through with lightning scales.

Kk 245 is a gigue.
Kk 246Kk 247 This pair of sonatas is marked by the intricacy of
the writing. Kk 246 is rich in modulations, particularly enharmonic
modulations, and in Kk 247, Scarlatti overlays the basic rhythmic
motif

Kk 263Kk 264 The first sonata, a toccata in the minor, closes with
one of the heavily-laden cadences to be found in the earlier pieces
in Kirkpatricks catalogue. Nevertheless, the freedom with which
Scarlatti handles the imitation entries in this sonata and the
interrupted rhythmic passages in the opening mean that it is out of
the question to ascribe the piece to the composers early period. The
second sonata, which is in the major, provides several instances
of Scarlattis mastery in controlling the dynamics of the harpsichord.
In the final part of the extension, he gradually swells out the chords
to bring them up to seven notes, thereby creating an unusual
crescendo effect.

with secondary motifs such as

Kk 248 It would be pleasant to hear the development of this piece

played by a guitar accompanied by other instruments in order to
bring out the contrast between its perpetually modulating motif and
repeated notes over an almost identical bass.
Kk 249 This piece is typified by the introduction of a number of
Spanish rhythms including that of the oytabado (cf. Kk 255) and by
Scarlattis use of modulating bridge passages which are virtually
tutti passages.

Kk 265 is a rondo. A short principal subject is followed by three

couplets in 6/8. There is a coda in which the principal subject is
developed.

Kk 250 Somewhat unusually, the sources indicate a number of slurs,

which inevitably leads one to the conclusion that the sonata was
intended for a single-manual instrument.

Kk 266Kk 267 These are written respectively for two voices and
for three voices. From the first crux onwards, right up to the end, the
following rhythmic motif appears in every bar:

Kk 251 This piece takes on the strangely modern atmosphere of a

popular waltz as a result of a slight change in the now familiar motif

Kk 252 The opening is fairly conventional, but the fandango-like

rhythm in the post-crux, in which the motif

CD 18
Sonata Kk 268 marks the beginning of a new series of takes in Scott
Rosss recording, the instrument used being one by William Dowd.

is repeated 32 times, comes as something of a surprise.

Kk 268, Kk 269 In Kk 268, Scarlatti seems to be trying out the

various directions in which a modulation can be taken. Several
11

times, having set off in a given tonality, which he establishes by

means of the motif:

variety through the triplets which appear in the closings and in the
modulations in the second half. Kk 284 is a sprightly rondo whose
theme appears alternately in the major and the minor over a G in the
bass. An octave G pedal point repeated on the first beat of every bar
creates an effect something like the drone of a hurdy-gurdy, all of
which contributes to giving this superb piece the atmosphere of a
country dance.

he leads the musical discourse to a tonality a third away, a fourth or

even a fifth, only to come back to the point of departure. Kk 269 is
another of the many tarantellas which feature as the second partner
in a pair. This one modulates rather more than usual.

By using a lute stop, Scott Ross adds a degree of character to the

piece and emphasises the wide leaps carried out by the left hand.

Kk 285Kk 286 Marked Allegro in the Venice manuscript, Kk 285

appears as Andante Allegro in the Parma manuscript. The theme
is, in essence, the motif heard in the first bar, and it is repeated
throughout the sonata. The accompaniment is straightforward.
Kk 286 is a gigue, accented with syncopations and acciaccaturas.
The stream of quavers is frequently accented by lower semitone
appoggiaturas. Several of the sequences are repeated note for note,
making it possible to create an echo effect on two keyboards.

Kk 271 A two-part toccata.

Kk 287 & Kk 288 See CD 34.

Kk 272 There are hardly any bars where the rhythmic motif

CD 19
Kk 289Kk 292 These four sonatas constitute either a short suite or,
just as easily, a couple of pairs. Each one of the pieces is set in
movement by a rhythmic motif which is maintained throughout.
The motif appears in the opening (in the case of Kk 290, it is not
heard in the first few bars). Nobody could deny the elegance of
these pieces, whose simple charm is matched by the mastery of
the writing.

Kk 270 None of the sources provides a tempo for this sonata, which
seems to be a sketch experimenting time and time again with the
opening motif

does not provide the impetus throughout this slightly monotonous

sonata. Its partner, Kk 273, provides a complete contrast. The form
is quite unusual. The second half opens with a 6/8 pastorale, which
breaks away from the 3/8 metre of the rest of the sonata. The
dance-like atmosphere is enhanced by the fact that the piece is
divided up into five eight-bar sections. The closing stages of each
half are full of splendid virtuosic sequences.

Kk 293 is a toccata. The motifs are for the most part treated in
imitation. The result is a piece of three-part polyphony, just a shade
laboured, which frequently moves along in a series of harmonic shifts.

Kk 274Kk 276 According to Kirkpatrick, this is the first of the

triptychs. In all, he allows only four, which means that the way he
interprets his own definition for this type of group is highly
restrictive. By following exactly the same principles tonal unity,
variety of time signature and proximity in the sources as many
as twelve triptychs can quite easily be located. The Parma manuscript
proposes even six further ones. Note the systematic use of the motif
announced in the first bar of Kk 274, the frequent interruptions
in the rhythmic figuration of Kk 273 where quavers, triplets,
semiquavers and accented weak beats come in quick succession.
Note also the exclusive use of the minor in Kk 276 and the way
in which a short thirteen-bar coda leads back to the original key of
F major.

Kk 294Kk 295 In Kk 294, scale patterns of a rather repetitive

nature alternate with short polyphonic sequences, and the tonality
oscillates between major and minor. The piece feels somewhat
improvised. Kk 295 picks up the motifs of Kk 284. The main theme
over a drone bass is used to bring the piece to an end and the
couplets are placed at the beginning of each half. Modulating
sequences placed between fermatas lend this short piece an
increasingly declamatory character.
We have now arrived at the end of Volume V, which comes to a
close with Kk 295. The beginning of Volume VI contains some
splendid surprises.

Kk 277Kk 278 In lyrical pieces such as the first of this pair, one
cannot but admire the charm and the economy of Scarlattis writing.
Kk 278, too, is an uncomplicated little piece in the shape of a
tarantella with a well-defined crux which is underlined by a fermata
led into by means of a descending arpeggio.

Kk 296Kk 299 These two pairs placed at the head of the last of the
three Venice volumes dated 1753 are real masterpieces. They have
all the thematic wealth, the full sound and the rhythmic and
harmonic contrasts of the flamboyant period with, in addition, the
lyricism of the slower movements (Kk 296, 298).

Kk 279 This piece is a sort of harmonic maze in which Scarlatti

seems to enjoy himself simply by wandering through every possible
key: A/a/C/G/A/B/b/G sharpA flat/B flat/e flat/d flat
c sharp/F sharp/b/e/D/G/A, and, of course, going through
enharmonic changes in the process.

The repeated notes in Kk 298 sing out in the manner of a mandolin,

no doubt more of a Neapolitan instrument than a Spanish one.
Virtuosity is forced to its extreme limits in Kk 299, which is
certainly one of the most taxing technically of all Scarlattis works.
The extract quoted below demonstrates its kinship with the studies
of Chopin or of Liszt.

Kk 280 A fine example of the concentrated form pushed to its

limits. Nothing which appears up to the first crux in this sonata
features in the second half. The development, however, retrieves
some of the material of the post-crux (had new material been used,
the sonata would have been in free form).

Kk 300Kk 301 Here we have two sonatas imbued with charm and
simplicity. They appear at the end of the Parma manuscript, likewise
dated 1753. The fact, however, that the Venice and the Parma
manuscripts carry the same date does not necessarily have any
bearing on the actual dates of composition.

Kk 281Kk 282 There is a surprising feature in the construction of

Kk 282. The two halves of the sonata are made up of three separate
segments: a,b,c//d,e,f. Segments a and d, and above all c and f,
resemble each other closely though the closings and the
transpositions differ slightly. The central segments, b and e, on the
other hand, although bearing some resemblance to each other
through their melodic lines in the minor, are strongly contrasted in
tempo (b: Allegro, c: Andante), in metre (b: duple, c: triple 3/4) in
tonality and style of accompaniment (ostinato in b, polyphonic in c).

CD 20
Kk 302 This is one of the few Andante ternary form pieces in
Kirkpatricks catalogue. It is centred around a continuous stream of
triplets and the resulting fluidity is suddenly interrupted at the end
of each half by a cascade of arpeggios and a torrent of scales.

Kk 283Kk 284 The rhythmic motifs on which Kk 283 is based

reappear in Kk 270. The present prelude, however, shows greater
12

Many of Scarlattis sonatas are written around a tiny motif which is

taken up again and again. In most cases, the figure is a rhythmic one.
Sometimes the motif is a melodic arabesque and by means of
repetitions, modulations and even complete transformations, it
becomes the driving force of the whole piece.

and vice versa in Kk 319. He appears to be less interested in the

digital facilities offered by the tonality than in the modulations made
available to him: from F sharp to C, the remotest key (C minor in
Kk 318, C major in Kk 319). The key signatures are altered and
there are a large number of enharmonic changes.

Kk 303 The whole impetus of this piece is provided by the

following motif:

Kk 320Kk 321 A pair of Allegros which exercise the players skill

in playing sixths (Kk 320) and arpeggios (Kk 321). The second of
the sonatas contains one of the typical rhythmical patterns of which
Scarlatti was so fond:

Kk 304Kk 305 The final rhythmic motif contained in Kk 305 is

worth noting:

Kk 322Kk 323 Another pair in fast tempi. The writing is

nevertheless limpid and the sonatas are relatively easy to perform.

Scarlatti uses this rhythm again in Kk 311 in conjunction with

descending arpeggios. Both sonatas feature stressed pedal points.

Kk 324Kk 325 This pair, on the other hand, is more difficult on

account of complicated passages for the left hand, the runs in sixths
and thirds which crop up all over in Kk 324 and the stretches which
appear systematically in Kk 325 (post-crux and development).

Kk 306Kk 307 Here we have repetitions, almost ad infinitum, of

the simplest musical material: eight notes starting in the second bar
of Kk 306 and six notes for the right hand at the beginning of
Kk 307. Yet another example of the drive supplied by a short
motif. One could almost speak of action music, rather as one
speaks of action painting. This same principle is to be found at
work in many of the 6/8 pieces.

The seventh volume of the Venice manuscript begins with Kk 326;

it contains the pieces to be found in volumes 8 and 9 of the Parma
manuscript. The latter are dated 1753 and 1754. So far as we
know, Parma is earlier than Venice, which, incidentally, bears the
date 1754.

Kk 306 is the first sonata in the seventh volume of the collection

edited by Kenneth Gilbert for the series Le Pupitre published by
Heugel. For the most part, these pieces are not particularly difficult
to play. They are perhaps a little lacking in inspiration. Nevertheless
they are often of great clarity and are always admirably constructed
around relatively simple rhythms and harmonies. There are no
hand-crossing passages; nor are there any of the leaps which make
some of the pieces rather difficult to perform.

Kk 326Kk 327 In this pair, Kk 326 has the feel of a toccata and Kk
327 is reminiscent of an early dance. The modulations in Kk 326
frequently move through the cycle of fifths and are closer to the
German school than to Scarlattis usual style. The regular
subdivisions of Kk 327 and the five-quaver motif, repeated more
than a hundred times in various guises
turn the piece very nearly into an item of choreography.

Kk 308Kk 311 Here we have two pairs of sonatas written

throughout for two voices. They are full of charm and simplicity.
More often than not, the bass is made up of crotchets or minims.

Kk 328 See CD 34.

Kk 329Kk 330 The thematic material of Kk 329 consists of a short
four-bar ritornello. It appears first in the major then, later in the first
half, in the minor. It gradually undergoes several transformations and
is repeated in a number of different tonalities. Kk 330, which is a
gigue subdivided somewhat unsystematically, is nevertheless written
in a straightforward style. There is a good deal of interplay between
repeated quavers and semiquaver scales and arpeggios.

Kk 312Kk 313 There is a preponderance of work for the left hand

in this pair. Patterns like

in Kk 312 or
in Kk 313 are divided between the two hands and performance is
rendered all the more difficult by the fact that the last note in each
group is at some distance from the others.

Kk 331Kk 332 Scarlatti springs a few of his special surprises

on us in these sonatas. In the first piece there is a constantly-repeated
three-note figure which, either in the left hand or the right
hand, emphasises the first beat of nearly every bar rather in the
manner of percussion or pizzicato. In the second, the cadences,
unisons, modulations and arpeggios create an entirely individual
orchestral effect.

Kk 314Kk 315 Kk 314 provides yet another example of the fluid

developments which Scarlatti mastered so well. The writing is in
three parts and the harmonies seem to feel their way carefully,
creating an atmosphere of suspense. In Kk 315, there is a series of
six-note motifs whose imitation sequences come to an end with a
3/4 hemiola at the end of each half.

Kk 333 The two halves of this sonata are entirely different in tempo,
metre and character. It is rather as though Scarlatti put half of one
sonata with half of another to make a sort of contracted pair.

Kk 316Kk 317 By varying the weight of the chords and the

melodic lines in these pieces, Scarlatti manages to extend the
dynamic range of the harpsichord.

Kk 334 Another singleton amongst a series of pairs. This piece is a

sort of bulera in which the regular pattern of quavers is occasionally
spurred on by syncopations. After the opening, the bass line, which
could well have been figured, moves along on each beat of the bar.

CD 21
What temperament was used by Scarlatti in 1750? Were the
instruments at the court of Spain tuned unequally so that the
thirds could be really in tune? Were the remote keys, laden with
sharps and flats, put at a disadvantage? Keys like F sharp, B and
D flat, which are so convenient for virtuoso playing, are rarely
tried out. There are three pairs of sonatas in these keys and a few
isolated pieces which modulate into these reputedly difficult
tonalities only to escape from them rapidly by slipping from the
major into the minor.

The seven pairs which follow are all in quick tempi.

Kk 335Kk 336 By resorting to the use of the lute stop in the
recording of this sonata, Scott Ross emphasises the genial character
of the opening ritornello. In Kk 336 note the role played by the
rhythmic motif:
which on several occasions gives body to this sonata.

Kk 318Kk 319 These are the only sonatas written in F sharp

major. In order to establish the setting for what was a most unusual
key for the time, Scarlatti opens each piece with a scale passage over
the whole extent of the keyboard, from top to bottom in Kk 318

Kk 337Kk 338 These are two far more opulent sonatas. Kk 337 is
a true concertante piece, with contrasting tutti and soli passages.
13

There are repeated full chords, polyphonic interludes accompanied

by a developed bass line, scales in parallel, arpeggios etc. In the case
of Kk 338, the almost constant use of the eight-note motif:

(5, 7, 13 bars) and the variety of its rhythms, provides a contrast with
the second, which is more akin to a toccata, characterised as it is by
regular four-bar sequences and by a bass line which moves along on
each beat.

and the regular subdivision of the piece into four-bar segments lends
the piece the character of a dance.

This pair of sonatas marks the end of the seventh volume of the
Venice manuscript, the first of the three volumes bearing the date
1754. The two sonatas which follow appear only in the Parma
manuscript (Volume IX, also dated 1754).

CD 22
Scarlatti strews his compositions with idiosyncratic rhythmical
figures. They often fall on the weak beats and compensation for the
absence of the initial strong beat is provided either in the
accompaniment or in the melodic motif. From time to time he
seems to take enjoyment in slipping a small unexpected sound into
closing passages.

CD 23
Kk 356Kk 357 These are interesting pieces on several counts.
Firstly, from the technical point of view, they are the first to exploit
the highest notes on the keyboard (cf. Introduction to the sonatas).
Both of them require the use of a high G, and subsequent sonatas
frequently go beyond the D which is the top note on most
harpsichords. The instrument for which Scarlatti wrote them was in
all probability the Spanish harpsichord, but we have only
descriptions to go on. A few spinets also have such a compass. From
the stylistic point of view, we can see the characteristics of what
Kirkpatrick describes as the late manner. A new world begins
here, an even more dazzling one. There is all the opulence which
we associate with Scarlattis flamboyant period combined in masterly
fashion with the variety of form and clarity of writing of the middle
period. Nevertheless, the progression from one style to the next is
hardly perceptible.

Take, for example, Kk 340, in which the five bass notes

occur eight times rather with the sound of a percussion instrument.

In Kk 261, there is a rather comical-sounding motif

high up on the keyboard this time but also repeated eight times,
which rings out like a bugle call.
Kk 341Kk 344 Four sonatas in the key of A, only the first of which
is in the minor. Do they fall into pairs? Or are they a triptych with
an isolated sonata? I am in favour of the first suggestion, not only
because we are amongst a large number of pairs which come one
after the other with increasing regularity, but also because the two
sonatas Kk 343 and Kk 344 provide marvellous contrasts in writing
and movement, the very essence of the pair notion.

The text of Kk 356 bears the somewhat perplexing marking per

cembalo expresso (cf. Glossary Cembalo expresso).
Sonata Kk 358 is the first piece in the eighth volume of the Venice
manuscript dated 1754. Scarlatti was sixty-nine years old and he was
to die three years later. The question is, do the pieces we find here
actually date from this period? In the absence of an autograph
manuscript, it will probably never be possible to answer this
question.

Kk 345Kk 346 These two pieces, which are paired in all the
manuscript sources, have hidden links. Both are based on repeated
rhythmic figures

These pieces contain all that remarkable drive which is to be found

throughout Scarlattis works, enriched more than ever by his
generous imagination and coloured by an abundance of themes,
rhythms and modulations.

and each figure is introduced by a somewhat similar series of notes:

four quavers, constantly repeated, provide the impetus for the
sequences connected with them.

The drive is always provided by the motifs and rhythmic figures

which can enliven whole sonatas. Take, for example, the repeated
notes in Kk 358 (these already featured in Kk 306) and the doubled
quavers in the bass of Kk 358 (cf. Kk 272, 274 or 322), or yet again
the weak-beat motifs in Kk 363 which are taken straight from
Spanish dances.

Kk 347Kk 348 In volume VII of the Venice manuscript, the last

bar of the 22nd sonata (Kk 347) carries a drawing of a hand with the
forefinger pointing authoritatively to the beginning of the next
sonata, accompanied by the injunction attacca subito. This is both
proof that it was intended that the sonatas should be paired and a
clue as to how it should be done. Note, in addition, the dramatic
effect produced by the pauses followed by chromatic scales and the
reappearance of handcrossings, placed however in such a way as to
reduce their difficulty. Hand crossings, absent from Kk 218 onwards,
make a timid reappearance here. They occur with greater frequency
in the final sonatas in the catalogue. (Kk 528Kk 529 and Kk 554).

There are always virtuoso passages, like the fast scales which disturb
the tranquil sway of Kk 361, or the scales and arpeggios in contrary
movement to be found in Kk 364 and Kk 367. In these works,
Scarlatti is more of a composer than a mere player of the
harpsichord. Elsewhere, he sometimes went so far as to make
performance of his music well-nigh impossible by overloading it
with technical difficulties. These pieces have a fullness of sound
which is all the more striking on account of the economy of the
means employed (cf. Kk 368).

Kk 349Kk 350 In addition to the usual contrasts of metre and

tempo, this pair offers variety of style. Kk 349 moves along in a series
of closely-knit figures, but in the left hand, the bass notes are
separated from the figuration. Kk 350, on the other hand, contains
wide-ranging arpeggios which spread out the music and stretch the
performers fingers.

Scarlatti is capable of recreating the sound of sections of an

orchestra with just a few notes: the brass (cf. Kk 358), the percussion
(cf. Kk 369), the strings (cf. Kk 368) or even an entire orchestra with
the help of an Alberti bass, treated nevertheless melodically
(cf. Kk 363).

Kk 351 is a rondo. The main subject is a binary Andante and in the

coda which rounds off the piece it is given ample treatment in the
quick tempo of the two couplets.

Kk 370Kk 371 Although Kk 370 has an orchestral atmosphere

about it, behind the tutti one can make out the repeated notes of a
mandolin. As for Kk 371, although it contains no systematic
modulations, it plays around amongst enharmonic changes (B flat
and F sharp major). Note also the two divisions of the 3/8 metre.

Kk 352Kk 353 These two sonatas are remarkable for their purity
of form and for the straightforward incisiveness of their musical
material. Note the fingerprint:

Kk 354Kk 355 These two sonatas are remarkably pure in style.

The first, more Spanish in character, with its unusual subdivisions
14

CD 24
The last 183 sonatas on this recording were played on a harpsichord
constructed by Anthony Sidey.

Kk 389, Kk 391, Kk 393 (CD 25) These three pieces have in

common their general feeling and dance-like character. The title of
Minuet, however, is applied only to Kk 393 in the two main sources
The Parma manuscript gives the title only to Kk 391.

Kk 372Kk 373 Kk 372 is just as orchestral in style, with its forte

seven-note chords. There are contrasts in register all through sonata
Kk 373, which is marked Presto e fugato. Apart, however, from the
whole-tone harmonic progressions in the two modulation zones, all
the motifs reappear, treated in imitation at the octave.

The tailoring of these minuets, however, is irregular, as is shown by

the way in which the strains are phased:
Kk 389 A (5/5) B (4/4) C (9/8/4) // A (4/4) B (3/4) C (9/8/4)
Kk 391 A (4/4) B (4/4) C (6/4/6) // B(4/4) A (4) C (6/4/6)
Kk 393 A (4/4/4) B (8/6) C (4/4) // A (4,4,6) B (8/6) C (4/4)

Kk 374 It is interesting to put Kk 279 and Kk 285 alongside Kk 374.

The three sonatas all contain the same rhythmic motif:

Only the second piece is asymmetrical in form. Note Scott Rosss

use of the lute stop in Kk 389.

each time expressed with greater lightness and freedom.

CD 25
Kk 394Kk 395 Kk 389 opens in an austere style and then explodes
into a cascade of arpeggios worthy of the great classical concertos.
All this leads into a sequence in which the taut line of a flamenco
chant is sustained by an accompaniment of parallel fifths. Kk 395,
too, has an exceptionally intense development in which a
syncopated melodic line is sustained by ostinato chords which
gradually slide down to the lower end of the keyboard. This is one
of the rare sonatas in which modulations occur in the post-crux.

The spare, almost severe style of many of the sonatas in the final part
of Kirkpatricks catalogue is frequently characterised by two-part
writing (from time to time, a third note is added to reinforce the
harmony). This is particularly true of sonatas Kk 374 to 379, three
pairs in fast tempo. The delicacy of these pieces, together with the
imagination they display, makes it impossible for me to associate
them, as G. Pestelli does, with the works written thirty years earlier
in Rome. Nevertheless, it has to be admitted that they do not go
beyond the top D of the harpsichord. Moreover, they have
something of the atmosphere of the dances which appear in the
earliest suites.

Kk 396Kk 397 There is a short three-bar Andante opening in

quadruple time to Kk 396, a sonata which then takes on the air of a
gigue. Kk 397 is called a minuet, but like similar pieces (Kk 389,
391, 393) it is tailored in a far from traditional fashion:
A (6/6) B (7) A (6/6) B (7) // A (6/6) B (7)

Kk 378Kk 379 The whole of Kk 378 is founded on the three-note

rhythmic motif which opens the piece. Placed on each side of the
crux, these quavers play a symmetrical role:

Kk 398Kk 399 The Andante of Kk 398 is full of resonant sound

effects. All the Cs over four octaves are used, as are all the Gs after
the double bar. The bass is set in movement once again by the
rhythm of a canari dance. In Kk 399, there appear a number of
contrasts in the divisions of the 3/8 metre.
Kk 400Kk 401 The pulse for Kk 400 is provided by a seven-note
motif which is announced in the opening bar. Little by little it is
reinforced, concentrated and finally pulled completely to pieces.
Yet it never loses its function of providing the driving force to the
piece. Kk 401 nods in the direction of a moto perpetuo, and
its long succession of quavers modulates through a series of
remote tonalities.

Kk 379 is marked Minuet, but the layout of the sequences is far

removed from the traditional subdivisions of four bars. Note the fast
scales marked con dedo solo (with only one finger). Here, Scarlatti
invented the glissando, which was to reappear only in the nineteenth
century.
Kk 380Kk 381 The first of this pair of sonatas is one of the most
famous and most frequently played of all Scarlattis works, but its
partner, in spite of its liveliness and beauty, is rarely placed alongside
it. All the sources, however, agree about the relationship, save, of
course, the Longo edition, which ignores it, influencing in the
process, it must be said, several generations of musicians.

Kk 402 The eminently symmetrical form of this piece is remarkable

for its simplicity. Each sequence, twenty bars in length, is separated
by a pause from the one which follows it. The opening is treated in
imitation, the transition contains virtuoso features, the pre-crux is
more orchestral in style and the post-crux, which is lyrical, leads into
the closing, which ends in unison.

Kk 382Kk 383 Most of the writing in these spirited sonatas is in

two parts, but both contain short polyphonic three-part passages
whose general progress constantly disconcerts the listener by the
overlay of varied rhythmic patterns. The intricacy of the rhythms is
such that a quite remarkable swirling sensation is created.

Kk 403Kk 404 The structure of these two pieces is straightforward

and symmetrical, somewhat on the lines of Kk 402.
Kk 405 This is one of the many 6/8 dance movements to be found
scattered throughout Scarlattis compositions. It is difficult to say
whether it owes more to the gigue or the tarantella, or if, on the
other hand, it was not the Spanish bulera which was the main
source of its inspiration. It is written in several voices and
modulates constantly.

Kk 384Kk 385 Once again, there appears in this pair of sonatas

that now familiar Scarlatti fingerprint where the first beat of each bar
in the accompaniment (opening of Kk 384) or the first beats in the
melodic sequences (development of Kk 384 and Kk 385 all the way
through) are elided.

Ones imagination is constantly stimulated by the sound effects

created in these sonatas. For example, surely it is great peals of bells
that are to be heard in the closing passages of Kk 403? Do not the
contrasting soli and tutti passages in Kk 402 imply the presence of an
orchestra? And, in the cases of Kk 406 and Kk 407, one cannot but
think that there is a village band at work, complete with trumpets
and drums.

Kk 386Kk 387 The first of this pair, written throughout for two
voices, is in the style of a toccata. The tonal zones are lit up by
chromatic scales and by rhythmic and broken arpeggios. The initial
motif is stretched over the whole keyboard and the closing passages
are punctuated by parallel octaves.
Here we come to the last of the volumes dated 1754 in the
collection of Venice manuscripts.

Kk 408Kk 409 The Andante which forms the prelude to this pair
contains a string of duple and triple metre sequences in quavers, and
the short development is lent tension by means of the contrary
motion of these motifs. There is a long development at the

Each of the first three pairs of sonatas consists of a full-sounding and

relatively polyphonic piece in fast duple metre followed by another
fast piece in triple metre which one might call a two-part minuet.
15

beginning of the second half of Kk 409, and the colour is changed

every four bars by slight chromatic shifts.

CD 27
Kk 428, Kk 429 are also contrasting pieces. Kk 428, driven along
by a motif which is announced at the end of the opening, is an
austere work with a pedal bass and ostinato repetitions. Kk 429, on
the on the other hand, has all the charm of a barcarolle, with
arabesques in the bass and a sinuous oscillating melodic line. The
result is one of those remarkable lyrical pieces of which Scartatti held
the secret.

CD 26
Kk 410Kk 411 The way in which the various registers of the
harpsichord are exploited the same motif is repeated on different
octaves makes Kk 410, as well as many other of the sonatas from
this period of Scarlattis life, particularly interesting for their variety
of colour and provides a possible explanation for the marking per
cembalo expresso in Kk 356. The regular subdivisions of Kk 411 into
four-bar sequences and its single theme (arpeggios in contrary
motion) give the piece something of the atmosphere of a minuet.

Kk 430 is a tiny singleton marked Non presto ma a tempo di ballo.

Its swaying rhythm is characterised by the two semiquavers heard in
the very first bar and by two heavily-accented bass notes which
punctuate the crux.

Kk 412Kk 413 The first of this pair of sonatas has a single theme
and the piece is propelled throughout by the rhythmic sequence
announced in the opening bars. Note the whole-bar rests around the
crux and the dramatic effect they create. Kk 413 is a devil-may-care
tarantella or even perhaps devilish on account of the wide leaps
which have to be executed by the left hand.

Kk 431Kk 433 The final stages of Kirkpatricks catalogue provide

confirmation for the concept of a triptychal arrangement of pieces.
These three sonatas in fast tempo are increasingly complex. The
first, Kk 431, is one of the simplest and shortest pieces you could
have. Kk 432 is a toccata with a somewhat laborious bass line.
Finally, Kk 433 is an elaborate gigue full of contrasting thematic
material. In addition to the 6/8 themes, there are polyphonic
sequences alternating with virtuoso passages.

Kk 414Kk 415 The first part of Kk 414 is in the somewhat archaic

style of a toccata, providing no clue about what is to follow: a quite
remarkable development, full of saeta rhythms punctuated by
harmonies which are heavily laden with acciaccaturas. The surprise
is rendered all the greater by the change of tonality at the double bar.
Kk 415 is entitled Pastorale. There is nothing in the writing or the
form which makes it remotely like anything by Scarlatti, save
perhaps one or two pieces intended as studies (Kk 95, 100).

Kk 435Kk 437 This second triptych contains pieces of an

orchestral nature. Kk 435, which is written in imitation style, is
somewhat severe. Towards the end it becomes particularly resonant
through the use of parallel sixths and octaves. Kk 436 shimmers with
the sound of mandolines and castanets, and Kk 437 conjures up a
picture of a village band complete with drums and trumpets.

Kk 416 This is a splendid, brilliant and highly developed toccata. It

can serve perfectly well as a prelude to Kk 417, which is a long
fugue, the last of such pieces to be found in Scarlattis works. The
main subject is slow and austere.

Kk 437Kk 438 Kirkpatrick claimed he could hear the sound of

church bells in Kk 437s minims played in unison by both hands and
repeated several times. The image is a fine one for the austere
writing of this sonata, which provides a sharp contrast to the simple
ritornellos and static development of Kk 438.

Here we begin the series of sonatas which was copied out in Volume
X of the Venice manuscript dated 1755.

Kk 439Kk 440 Yet another pair consisting of a prelude and a

minuet. The two pieces are rich and full of charm. Kk 439 consists
of a large number of short, dense and varied sequences. All the
features occurring in Kirkpatricks analysis of Scarlattis forms are to
be found here in the space of a few bars, and in Kk 460 they are
taken to their fullest extent. Opening (bars 14), continuation (58),
transition (914), pre-crux (1519), post-crux (1923), closing
(2428), final closing (2832).

Kk 418Kk 419 A continuous stream of quavers, rather in the

manner of a toccata, gives way in Kk 418 to a series of alternate
notes. The tempo marking at the beginning of Kk 419 is very
precise: Pi tosto presto che allegro. The rhythms of the piece are
frequently disjointed.
Kk 420Kk 421 These two sonatas are in the simplest of all possible
forms: A B /A B. In each one of them, A and B, which are of
roughly similar length, are separated by a fermata. The whole
atmosphere of Kk 421 is dominated by a semiquaver moto perpetuo.
In the case of Kk 420, the two sequences are strongly contrasted: on
the one hand, the rhythm of a saeta, announced in the very opening
bar, and on the other, the saetas melodic incantation.

The phasing of the minuet Kk 440 is absolutely regular: A (4x4), A

(2x4), B (4x4). The piece ends with a petite reprise, five bars long, the
only occasion on which Scarlatti resorted to a practice of which
Couperin was particularly fond. Had Scarlatti ever come across the
French composers pieces? He could well have done, since
Couperins fourth book of harpsichord pieces had been available in
published form since 1730.

Kk 422Kk 423 There is a long-drawn-out opening to the first of

these pieces. It is followed by an unaccompanied passage treated in
imitation, leading to another passage containing a single line of
flamenco-like chant. The post-crux goes through all the registers of
the harpsichord, octave by octave. Kk 423 is set in motion by
semiquaver triplets from the very first bar (id. Kk 397).

Kk 441Kk 442 The opening quaver motif is repeated obsessively

throughout Kk 441 and the resulting tension is reinforced by the
modulations and the figuration of the accompaniment. Scarlatti takes
these quaver motifs into the remotest tonalities and treats his
accompaniment in very much the same way as jazz players were to
do much later. All the beats are accented and the left hand leaps
as far as three octaves. The tension to be found in Kk 442 is
entirely different. It lies for the most part in the rhythm, but the
wide leaps in the accompaniment, especially in the post-crux,
reinforce it considerably.

Kk 424 uses a rhythmic pulse already heard a great number of times,

whereby the impetus of the sonata is constantly stimulated by
quavers introduced in the opening bar.
Kk 425 is constructed around two equally characteristic rhythmic
patterns in contrary motion.

Kk 443Kk 444 The richness of the writing in this splendid pair of

sonatas is in sharp contrast with the simplicity of their themes and
motifs. Kk 443 is dominated throughout by a saeta rhythm, and
Kk 444, with its 6/8 metre, is in the nature of a gigue. As with
Kk 337, the melodic lines of the two sonatas often move within
the space between two notes played by the little finger of each hand.
The modulations are not only tonal but also modal. In Kk 444,
the continuity of the musical discourse is interrupted by a series
of pauses.

Kk 426Kk 427 The partners in this pair of sonatas differ from each
other both in tempo and character. Kk 426 is a gentle piece made
up of separate sequences which vary in register and tone. It is
followed by the impetuous Presto quanto sia possibile of Kk 427 in
which railroads of semiquavers are from time to time whipped along
by four powerful chords on the rhythmic pattern:

16

Kk 445Kk 446 A particularly fast toccata serves here as an

introduction to a pastorale. Kk 445, whose kinship with Kk 348
springs from its semiquaver motifs, owes its lively character to its
tempo, modulations and punctuation. Each post-crux is brought to a
halt by rests which interrupt the flow of semiquavers. The same type
of tension is maintained in Kk 446 by the tempo and modulations
and the wide leaps in the accompaniment.

Kk 464Kk 465 The opening of Kk 464, too, is unusual on account

of the number of imitative entries. The following fingerprint appears
(as it does in Kk 462):

Note in Kk 465 the repeated notes of a prolonged pedal point

underpinning the basic tonality, and the motif:

CD 28
Kk 449Kk 450 Yet another pair made up of pieces in quick
tempo. The virtuosic character of Kk 449 is underlined by the use
of broken sixths, and in Kk 450, we have a Spanish tango whose
rhythm is maintained remorselessly from beginning to end.
Throughout, the piece is for four voices (sometimes five) and the
writing is particularly dense and resonant.

which characterises the closings.

Kk 466 Kk 467 The opening duple motif of Kk 466 becomes the
accompaniment for a good part of the sonata. Over this
accompaniment, there are occasional ternary figures, the only
example of three against two. Groups of three notes also appear
amongst the chains of quavers in Kk 467. Note the contrary
movements of the main voices.

Kk 451 is one of the rare singletons in these final volumes. It comes

last in the tenth Venice volume and the twelfth Parma volume, both
dated 1755. Kirkpatrick thought that they were composed only
shortly before being copied into these manuscripts. In 1755, Scarlatti
had only two years left to live. He was nearly seventy, Bach had just
died, and Mozart was soon to come into the world.

CD 29
Kk 468Kk 469 Most of the material for both halves of Kk 468 up
to the crux is provided by slightly varied versions of the opening
theme. The writing of the repeated notes in the closing figures
suggests that these should be treated rather differently from the
examples already met (cf. Kk 418, 230, 104, 84). In Kk 469, there
are chains of quaver motifs which create a static development at the
beginning of the second half (cf. Kk 438).

Kk 452Kk 453 These two pieces appear amongst the sixty sonatas
in the second volume of the Mnster manuscript. Neither Venice
nor Parma includes them. They are the only pair consisting of two
slow pieces.

Kk 470Kk 471 This pair consists of a toccata and a minuet. The

phasing of the latter is as irregular as that of similar pieces (Kk 440,
397, 389, or 393). Both sonatas are in 3/4 but clearly demand to be
played one-in-a-bar. Note the saeta rhythms in the middle of each
half of Kk 470.

We now embark on the Venice and Parma manuscripts dated 1756.

From now on, these two sources supply the same pieces in the same
order, right up to the last twelve sonatas.
Kk 454Kk 455 In Kk 454, the rhythm of a seguidilla serves as a
support for a wild outpouring of virtuoso figures, and in Kk 455, a
whole series of repeated notes in the post-crux provide the basis for a
long development which is occasionally sustained by a central
harmonic pedal point.

Kk 472Kk 473 The writing of Kk 472 is uncomplicated. The

piece contains a typical polyphonic sequence (here for two voices)
which is subtly thrown off balance by the off-setting of rhythms
between the two hands. Similar treatment can be observed in Kk
267 and above all in Kk 254. As is so often the case, it is the
two-quaver pulse of the saeta rhythm which provides the drive for
the whole piece right up to the closings in each half.

Kk 456Kk 457 The theme of Kk 456 is limited to a five-note

motif announced in the opening. It reappears constantly, modified
and transposed. Kk 457 is a 6/8 piece, full of typical Scarlattian
syncopations.

Kk 474Kk 475 Kk 474 is characterised by the use of mordants,

acciaccaturas and clusters. The repeated chords in thirds of Kk 474
seem to provide the initial impetus for the continuing stream of
quavers in Kk 475. The closings of each half are hurried along by a
few syncopations but especially by triplet motifs.

Kk 458 Here we have a rich sonata filled with a wide variety of

components which Scarlatti succeeds in binding together by means
of a rigorously defined tonal schema supported by pedal points. All
the sources pair it with Kk 459, a highly original piece as to its form:
in both halves of this sonata, the two zones separated by the crux are
made to contrast with each other not only through their character
but also by differences of metre (3/8), of mode (minor/major) and
of tempi (Allegro/Presto).

Kk 476Kk 477 Much of the material for this pair is provided by

broken arpeggios and passages in contrary movement. The opening
of Kk 477 recalls the sound of hunting horns indeed, Kirkpatrick
saw the whole of this piece as the distant echo of a hunt.

Kk 460 This magnificent piece could well serve as the perfect

illustration of Scarlattis concept of the sonata. Most of the sequences
are divided off by fermatas. In order of appearance, we have the
opening (bars 113), its continuation (1426), an interlude (2730),
a repeat of the opening (3143), a modulating transition (4456),
and the usual sequences on each side of the culminating point of this
first half: pre-crux (5673), post-crux (7385) and closing in the
dominant (8596). This material is stated in a different order in the
freely-developed second half: motifs taken from the post-crux
(96100 and 116122), the transition (100116), the interlude
(123131) and the opening (132136) lead to the second
culminating point, itself a point of departure for the post-crux
(137149) and the closing (149158).

It is often possible to clear up the question as to whether sonatas

should be grouped in twos or threes by comparing the two main
sources. In this case, however, there is no sure answer, since Parma
and Venice have these sonatas in a slightly different order. There is
a choice between a triptych consisting of Kk 478479480 and
a singleton Kk 484 (Venice) or two pairs, Kk 478479 and
Kk 480484 (Parma, volumes XIII and XIV). The second
arrangement is more satisfying musically, even though it cannot be
derived from Kirkpatricks numbering (cf. also Kk 53 and Kk 258).
Kk 478Kk 479 The variety of the thematic material in Kk 478 and
the range of harmonic modulation in Kk 479 mean that these two
sonatas feature amongst the many highly successful items in the last
part of Kirkpatricks catalogue.

Kk 462Kk 463 The openings of these two sonatas are unusual. Kk

462 dispenses with imitative entries of voices, and in Kk 463 there
is a canonic entry on the fourth. Both pieces are based on regular
quaver motifs in doubled thirds, sixths or parallel octaves in Kk 462
and syncopated in Kk 463.

Kk 480 is an orchestral piece in which solo and tutti passages reply to

each other in the manner of woodwind and strings. It can be paired
with Kk 484, a piece whose virtuosic character is not immediately
obvious from the way the music looks on the page. Fast leaps (up to
three octaves in the space of a quaver) have now replaced hand
17

crossings, which scarcely ever appear in these final sonatas. The

difficulty, however, is much the same!

Kk 500 is constructed more simply. Note the way in which the

imitation passages are brought closer together as in Kk 493 (four
bars, then two bars in the opening and the beginning of the
development in the second half).

Kk 481Kk 483 The writing in this triptych is relatively

straightforward, most of it being for two voices (there are a few
chords in Kk 481) but there are one or two curious details such as
the highly unusual brief restatement of the opening at the end of the
second half of Kk 481 and the little handcrossings in the closings of
both halves of Kk 482.

CD 31
Kk 501Kk 502 The forthright construction of Kk 501 (which
would be concentrated were it not for the added sequences in bar
80) and the fluidity of the writing, which is enhanced by trills and
triplets, provide a sharp contrast with the complex nature of Kk 502.
Scarlatti takes unusual pains over the expression of unequal notes,
and we have here the only example of his use of dotted rests:

Kk 484 is the opening piece in both Parma and Venice manuscripts

dated 1756 (Venice XII and Parma XIV).
CD 30
Kk 485Kk 487 This is the last but one of Scarlattis triptychs, and
it contains a great number of technical difficulties, including fast,
rocketing scales (closings of Kk 485 and Kk 487), leaps in octaves
going progressively from a third to a twelfth (Kk 487), parallel sixths
and octaves in the minor post-crux of Kk 485 and double trills for one
hand in the opening of Kk 487 (cf. Kk 189 and Kk 501). Note that
Kk 485 demands a harpsichord with a range exceeding five octaves:
from a bottom F to a top G. This is the widest compass in all
Scarlattis sonatas.

Note the variety of embellishments:

and the particularly resonant accompaniment in octaves.

Kk 503Kk 504 The central part of each half of Kk 503 contains
yet another reference to Spanish popular song, a feature already
noted in Kk 499 and in many other sonatas from Kk 180 onwards.
The chant here is sparser, the accompaniment more ostinato and the
whole context is more severe; but the dramatic impact is similar. In
spite of the non-stop progression of semiquavers in Kk 504, it is
possible to make out the different divisions which Scarlatti
establishes in his movements in 3/8 metre:

Kk 488Kk 489 A great many of Scarlattis sonatas deviate from the

traditional practice of landing up at the double bar in the dominant,
and this applies particularly to the later pieces. Although in this pair,
the double bar is in fact reached in the dominant, there are surprises
in store: the tonality at the beginning of the second half of Kk 488
is a third below the dominant and in Kk 489 it is a whole tone
below.

Kk 505Kk 506: Kk 505 is a toccata written in a severe style. Kk

506 is an explosion of virtuosity and Spanish rhythms. The contrast,
which could hardly be greater, is rendered even more striking by the
simplicity of the forms and the stark nature of the writing for the
most part for two or three voices.

Kk 490Kk 492 This glorious triptych contains three of the finest

of Scarlattis sonatas. Chords, heavily laden with acciaccaturas, lend
the music a dramatic character, and consistent use is made of Spanish
popular dance rhythms: the saeta in Kk 490

Kk 507Kk 508 Several rapid note-clusters (trills and semiquavers)

lend an exciting atmosphere to Kk 507, as though the piece is
intended to serve as an announcement for the dramatic sonata to
follow. For there can be no doubt that the language of Kk 508 is full
of highly rhetorical devices such as free cadences marked arbitri,
strict-tempo cadences with arpeggios running over five octaves, and
contrasting passages with resonant octaves.

the seguidilla in Kk 491

and the bulera in Kk 492

Moreover, all three pieces are thoroughly virtuosic and the rapid
scales in Kk 490, which are already impressive, become nothing
more nor less than rockets in the post-crux of Kk 492. Note also the
arpeggios in the post-crux of Kk 491, the thirds in Kk 492 and the
sixths in Kk 490.

Kk 509Kk 510 Up to the crux in each half, all the voice entries in
Kk 509 are treated in imitation. Themes and motifs announced by
one hand receive replies from the other hand. Immediately after the
opening of Kk 510, the writing becomes polyphonic, virtually note
against note. Incidentally, it is worth noting that the sonata begins in
D minor and ends in the major.

Kk 493Kk 494 The imitation treatments of each successive motif

in the opening of Kk 493 are gradually brought into closer
proximity (the first motif is imitated over a two-bar distance, the
second over one and a half bars and the third over a half-bar), ending
up with a complete synchronisation of the two voices. The sonata
then takes on a polyphonic character, a typical imbalance being
created by the rhythmic off-setting of the different voices already
met with in Kk 254, 267 and 272. Kk 494 is a festival of
modulations, and a series of motifs in parallel thirds and sixths turns
the sonata into a truly virtuosic piece.

Kk 511Kk 512 On completion of the opening, the first of this pair

moves along in a chain of quavers grouped in fours. The second half
is rich in modulations. Kk 512 exploits the modulation scenario
provided by the opening five-note pattern.
Kk 513 This piece, called a pastorale, is one of the most famous and
the most frequently recorded of Scarlattis sonatas. It is in two linked
movements and the rhythm of the sicilienne is doubtless more
evocative of southern Italy than it is of Spain or Portugal. The 3/8
Presto finale is a virtuosic toccata.

Kk 495Kk 498 Although the pairing of sonatas is generally

governed by contrasts in style and metre, there can be a rhythmic or
thematic kinship between the two members of a pair. Kk 495 and
Kk 496, for example, share a triplet motif in quavers, and there is a
similar association to be observed between the quaver motifs of
Kk 497 and Kk 498 (a six-quaver cell in Kk 497 and a five-quaver
cell in Kk 498).

Here, we come to the end of the volumes dated 1756 in the Venice
and Parma sets. The subsequent volumes bear the date 1757, the
year of the composers death.
Kk 514Kk 515 The first sonata in this pair is placed right at the
beginning of Longos edition and it is separated from Kk 515 (Longo
255). It has often come as a considerable surprise to musicians
meeting Scarlatti for the first time, for the music is exceptionally arid
and the melodic line leaps around in a totally perplexing manner.
Its meaning becomes apparent only when it is placed in its
proper context.

Kk 499Kk 500 Can traces of Spanish cante hondo be discerned in

the sort of improvised chant which appears in the middle of Kk 499?
Ostinato chords provide a support for this intense melodic line and
the dramatic nature of the piece is heightened by the surrounding
festoons of arpeggios. Note the harmonic contrast achieved at the
beginning of the second half by the modulation into C major.
18

Kk 516Kk 517 A dance-like piece in 3/8 metre precedes here a

concertante sonata, and the order is specifically indicated by the
scribe of the Parma manuscript. At the head of Kk 516, he writes:
The following sonata must be played first. Should we exclude the
theory that the instruction was faultily transcribed and that it applied
in reality either to the erroneous order of pieces in the Venice
manuscript or to the unusual order of sonatas Kk 532 and 533?
However that may be, the idea that the pieces should be paired is
quite clear. Note the fine development in Kk 516 and the way the
sonata modulates into remote keys.

of late Beethoven. It could well be that the sonatas grouped

together here are sketches that Scarlatti did not have time to revise,
and it should always be borne in mind that the manuscripts in which
they appear were not directly intended for publication.
Kk 534Kk 535 This pair of sonatas is full of fine music. The first
piece is an aria cantabile, treated for the most part in free imitation. It
provides a sharp contrast with the toccata which follows it, a moto
perpetuo in semiquavers which is not far removed from Kk 198.
Kk 536Kk 537 The fluidity of Scarlattis writing in 3/4 cantabile
pieces has already been pointed out. Here, we have perhaps a
reminiscence. One is reminded of Kk 501 in the style of the
development after the double bar, and in the case of Kk 537, the
opening recalls the polyrhythmic figures in Kk 193 and Kk 69,
where imitation passages are repeated in ever shorter sequences.

Kk 518Kk 519 These two pieces provide further evidence of the

composers intention to arrange his sonatas in pairs. Although Kk
518 is in F minor, it ends in the major, which is the tonality of
Kk 518 (cf. Kk 509, which is in the major, and Kk 510, in which
only the closing is in the major). Note the different closings in the
two halves of Kk 518, its numerous modulations and the use of
octaves in Kk 519.

Kk 538Kk 539 Note the rhythmic patterns

CD 32
The following four sonatas, which constitute a couple of pairs, seem
more or less designed for work on a particular technical difficulty
(Debussys tudes come to mind):
Kk 520 could be entitled Study in Thirds (each post-crux features
them);
Kk 521 could in turn be called Study in Embellishments on account
of the variety of mordants, acciaccaturas and note-clusters it
contains. Note the way the rhythm is broken up in the closing
figurations;
Kk 522 features a number of passages containing various octave
figurations;
Kk 523 could be a study in contrary stepwise movements and leaps,
as these raise problems for the performer throughout the piece.

which provide the impetus for Kk 538, and the broad tonal schema
of Kk 539.
CD 33
The manuscript copies in the royal collections were intended for the
personal use of Queen Maria Barbara. There is a possibility that
Scarlatti did not consider these copies as final versions of his
compositions. Although Kirkpatrick looked upon these last sonatas
as the full flowering of the composers work, it is nevertheless
understandable that some authorities feel that they are no more than
preliminary sketches.
Kk 542Kk 543 These are the last sonatas in the Venice manuscript.
Note the mordants, trills and spirited note clusters in Kk 543 which
contrast with the austere construction of Kk 542, a piece notable for
its shifts between major and minor and for a number of accented
rhythmic passages.

Kk 524Kk 525 One is immediately struck by the sheer volume of

sound generated by this pair. Kk 524 contains a host of double notes,
and the development is enriched by a powerful series of parallel sixths
and octaves. Eight-note chords appear on a certain number of first
beats in Kk 525. The melodic line of this sonata, which is in 6/8
metre, is in the style of the popular Andalusian dance, the bulera.

Here, we come to the final set of twelve sonatas in the queens

manuscripts. They are to be found only in the Parma set and were,
if not Scarlattis last compositions, certainly the last pieces to be
copied down during his lifetime.

Kk 526Kk 527 In the Venice manuscript, naturals at the beginning

of Kk 527 cancel out the accidentals on the stave in the preceding
sonata. One would have liked to have been able to observe a similar
cancellation in the Parma manuscript. Nevertheless, Venice provides
fairly convincing proof that these two pieces were meant to be
paired. Note the admirable freedom of the tonal schema.

Kk 544Kk 545 The most heavily-charged of all the sonatas in this

recording serves as a prelude to one of Scarlattis most dishevelled
and outlandish pieces, one of the three sonatas marked Prestissimo.
Note the short cadences which punctuate the different sequences of
Kk 544 and the powerful tone of Kk 545, where the uninterrupted
stream of quavers is reinforced by a bass line in octaves.

Kk 528Kk 529 These two particularly resonant sonatas, with their

percussive features, conjure up visions of an orchestra. Hand
crossings, which seemed to have lost favour, make a reappearance.
The fact that both sonatas contain several notes higher than top D
preclude any idea of either of them being paired with other sonatas.

Kk 546Kk 547 A pair in which a cantabile piece is contrasted with

a fine toccata whose closings have much in common with Kk 545.
Kk 548Kk 549 In this pair, a rhythmic piece precedes a sonata
which has all the appearance of a toccata, the sort of movement
which generally serves as a prelude. There is an almost obsessive
repetition of a whole series of musical ideas throughout these
sonatas, whose general structure is based on modulations and
transpositions. Note the independent finger control required of the
performer for the trills in Kk 549, as was the case with the trills
which lie in the middle of the chords in Kk 541.

Kk 530Kk 531 The tonality of Kk 530 and the modulations the

piece goes through (B, G sharp, F sharp) lend it both great clarity
and ease of execution through the use of the sharps, i.e. the keys
which correspond with the black keys on todays piano. This brings
us back to the problem of the temperament used by Scarlatti. As was
the case of the F sharp or B major sonatas of the middle period, it is
likely that the tuning was not far removed from equal temperament.
Note the short sequences framed between pauses in Kk 531.

Kk 550Kk 551 The thematic material in this pair of sonatas is

developed with great freedom and imagination. Nevertheless, there
are several facile, even careless, passages which are untypical of
Scarlatti. Should we look upon these as signs of fatigue or simply
proof that the pieces were no more than preliminary sketches?

Sometimes one gets the impression that in writing these sonatas

perhaps dictating them Scarlatti had in mind one or other of the
pieces that had previously appeared in the Parma or Venice
manuscripts. Could these pieces be reminiscences, centred around a
motif, a theme or a simple little turn of phrase? In Kk 532 for
instance, there are some quick scales which recall Kk 379, and the
way the rhythm is broken up by hemiola-like figures brings Kk 419
to mind. Some of the final sonatas in Kirkpatricks catalogue appear
to be curiously lacking in flesh and on occasion they contain
elements which were inserted into earlier compositions. This is not
exactly the sign of a late period. It is not, for example, the equivalent

Kk 552Kk 553 Kk 552 has a single thematic motif:

Scarlatti exploits this motif over various registers in what is a

relatively polyphonic sonata. Kk 553 has a greater wealth of
sequences which bear all the signs of being reminiscences. There is
19

the rhythmic fingerprint

Kk 328 is the last of the three organ pieces in Kirkpatricks catalogue

(cf. Kk 287 and Kk 288).

already heard so often, and there are motifs in thirds for the
right hand which receive widespread arpeggio responses from the
left hand.

Glossary
Acciaccatura From the Italian verb acciaccare meaning to crush or
flatten; the name of a type of musical ornamentation found in
eighteenth-century harpsichord music. Scarlatti made frequent use
of the acciaccatura in his sonatas. The ornament appears in a
number of accompanying bass lines in order to strengthen the
sound (bass lines in Kk 141, cadences in Kk 208 and modulations
in Kk 490). He also made use of it in a great number of melodic
lines in order to provide pointing for the phrasing (e.g. Kk 132,
etc.). The theory behind the acciaccatura appears in the writings
of Francesco Gasparini, who was one of Scarlattis teachers, but it
is clear that Scarlatti made a far more extensive use of the device
than Gasparini had envisaged. (cf. LArmonico pratico al cembalo,
Venice, 1708).

Kk 554Kk 555 The writing and the sheer perfection of

construction of these last two sonatas takes us right back to the
opening pieces in this catalogue. It is rather as though the circle is
now complete, so that we can no longer distinguish the beginnings
and the endings of this splendid body of music which, when all is
said and done, tells us so little of the life of its author.
CD 34
Kk 81 This sonata, together with those numbered from Kk 88 to
Kk 91, forms part of a special group in Scarlattis compositions. Each
consists of a series of linked movements in which there is a single
melodic line accompanied by a figured bass. Played as such on the
harpsichord, these pieces really cannot be very satisfying. In the
present recording, Scott Ross plays them together with an
instrumental chamber ensemble.

Ambitus Apart from a few exceptions, the ambitus (compass) of

Scarlattis sonatas falls into three categories: the pieces numbered
from Kk 1 to Kk 100 are written for a keyboard on which the
highest note is a c (the lowest note, a G, occurs only twice); the
pieces numbered from Kk 101 to Kk 364 are written for a keyboard
on which the highest note is a D (the lowest note is a G); and,
finally, many of the pieces numbered from Kk 364 to Kk 555 are
written for a keyboard on which the highest note is a g (the lowest
note, an F, occurs only four times).

Kk 88Kk 91 The sonatas in this group, like Kk 81, consist of

a series of linked movements. They are performed here by strings:
violin and cello, and by double-reed wind instruments: oboe
and bassoon. Kk 81 and Kk 89 are performed by strings and wind,
Kk 88, Kk 90 and Kk 91 by strings alone. The continuo is provided
by a cello and harpsichord in all the pieces. There are no instructions
about instrumentation in the manuscript sources, and the choices
made for the present recording were arrived at on purely musical
grounds by Scott Ross and the musicians who worked with him.
The sonatas alternate between quick and slow movements, as was
the custom with Italian chamber music in the early part of the
eighteenth century. Corelli, for example, wrote most of his works
for violin and figured bass on similar lines.

There are only six sonatas which fall outside these categories. All
contain errors of instrumentation, numbering or copying. Some are
of doubtful authenticity. Sonatas Kk 43, 70 and 94 require a top D,
bringing them more into the group beginning with Kk 100.
Similarly, Kk 97, 148 and 153 require an E flat. There are grounds
for doubting the authenticity of Kk 97 and the other two appear to
have been intended for the fortepiano.

Generally, there are four movements (It is only in Kk 89 that one

finds three movements: Allegro, Grave, Allegro). In the other
sonatas, the overture is always marked Grave, and there are four
beats to a bar. The Allegro movements are always in binary form,
with repeats. Occasionally, they take on the characteristics of a
dance, as for example the minuet which brings Kk 88 to a close and
the gigue in Kk 90.

Authenticity The absence of autograph manuscripts and of

contemporary accounts about Scarlatti makes it inevitable that there
are problems over the authenticity of the sonatas, even though the
choices made by Kirkpatrick are based on firm grounds. It is possible
that further works may be attributed to Scarlatti. Jack Werner and
Robert Clark Lee have researched the question and Heugel have
announced the publication in their Le Pupitre series of a twelfth
volume of sonatas edited by Kenneth Gilbert, who discusses the
arguments in favour of their being included in the works catalogued
by Kirkpatrick.

The figuring of these sonatas is somewhat scanty. Generally, it is

only the sixth chords which are shown. There are a few sevenths
and they are more in the nature of suspensions, as are the rare ninths.
Only in the first bars of Kk 88 do we find any dynamics: bar 2 is
marked piano and bar 3 forte. Several writers, including Jol Sheveloff
and Giorgio Pestelli, have suggested that this type of instrumentation
could be applied to other of Scarlattis sonatas. They point out that
the minuet in Kk 73 is also figured and that the style of Kk 77 and
Kk 78 is somewhat akin to that of sonatas Kk 89 to Kk 91.

Boivin Here we have a name which appears on a good number of

French eighteenth-century scores. Franois Boivin was one of the
great music publishers of his time and, following his death in 1973,
his widow, Madame Veuve Boivin, kept the business going for a
further twenty years. She herself was a member of the publishing
family Ballard, and there were many publications of music in
partnership with Le Clerc, Corette, de Brotonne, Castagnerie, etc.
The signs above their shops were just as famous. The Ballards, then
the Boivins, had the Rgle dOr and the Le Clercs had the Croix dOr
(cf. Annick Devries and Franois Lesure: Dictionnaire des diteurs de
Musique franais (Dictionary of French Music Publishers), Minkof,
1979). Six volumes published by Boivin brought Scarlatti to the
attention of the French public. There is some doubt about the exact
dates of publication, but the earliest, based apparently on
Roseingraves edition, would seem to have come out as early as
1739. The exact sources of the editions have not yet been identified.
Kirkpatrick nevertheless adopted two of Veuve Boivins sonatas (Kk
95 and Kk 97) which do not appear in the so-called main sources.
There must nevertheless be some doubt about their authenticity.

There is an interesting picture by Richard Van Loo, painter at the

Spanish Court from 1727 to 1752, which shows Queen Maria
Barbara at the harpsichord, flanked by a violinist and a viola da
gamba player. It was therefore customary to perform music with
chamber ensembles, and the instrumentation we suggest seems to be
justified even though no precise description has been provided. In
spite of all our efforts, we have not been able to obtain a
reproduction of the painting. According to all reports, it is in the
Leningrad Museum. There is, however, a monochrome
reproduction of it in Curt Sachss book on the history of musical
instruments.
Kk 287Kk 288 Two of the three pieces for organ form a pair. The
score states that they should be played on an organo da camera con due
tastatura flautato e trombone, i.e. a chamber organ (a positive organ
without pedals) with main flute and reed stops. The organ used for
this recording is the one in the church at Saint-Guilhem-le-Dsert.
Although it is not a chamber organ, its style and timbre meant that
it was entirely suitable for our purposes.

Cembalo expresso This expression appears as a subtitle to Kk 356.

Nobody quite knows what it means. Kirkpatrick says only that since
the sonata in question goes up to a top g, it cannot have been
written for a fortepiano. There were fortepianos at the Spanish
court, but they did not go beyond a top E. Both Kk 356 and 357
20

are written out on four staves in order to bring out the different
melodic lines. Kenneth Gilbert points out that this layout, which
favours the idea of the pieces being played on a two-manual
harpsichord, is in contradiction with the structure of instruments
going up to a g. The Spanish harpsichords which appear in the court
inventories had only a single keyboard. Further to this curious
problem, Kenneth Gilbert has more recently put forward the idea
that Kk 356 could be the first of a long series of pieces of extended
range and that the marking per cembalo expresso underlined the fact
that they were intended to be played on instruments which had been
suitably extended and adapted for them. The French, in this
connection, talk about a harpsichord which has been raval. Why
could one not talk about a harpsichord which has been squeezed
(expresso) in order to extract the last drop of sound out of it, in much
the same way as one talks about squeezing a lemon to get the last
drop of juice out of it? (Kenneth Gilbert at the Nice Symposium).

later, Longo, made sure that it would stick. We know that Wanda
Landowska had a famous cat, but we shall probably never know if
Scarlatti had such a pet. Nothing, however, is more alien to his style
than to give a title to one of his compositions, however suitable it
might be from an anecdotal point of view.
Gilbert Kenneth Gilbert was born in Montreal. After training at the
Conservatory there, he came to France and Italy to complete his
studies, working with Gaston Litaize, Ruggero Gerlin and Nadia
Boulanger. As an organist in Montreal, he played a decisive role in
the movement towards the Classical organ. After making his
London debut as a harpsichordist in 1968, he began to give concerts
in the leading towns and cities of Europe and America, and to make
a large number of records. He has taken part in numerous radio and
television broadcasts as well as in a great many festivals. His work as
a musicologist has led him to edit new editions of music for the
harpsichord by Couperin, Rameau, dAnglebert and Frescobaldi.
He also edited Couperins works for the organ, Bachs Goldberg
Variations and the monumental edition of all Scarlattis sonatas. The
latter work was selected by the Committee of the European Music
Year in 1985. Kenneth Gilbert taught first at the Montreal
Conservatory and at Laval University in Quebec. He was appointed
to the Royal Antwerp Conservatory in 1971. In the following year,
he took over from Gustav Leonhardt at the Haarlem Summer Organ
Academy in the Netherlands and likewise from Ruggere, Gerlin at
the Chigiana Academy in Sienna in 1981. He has conducted the
harpsichord class at the Stuttgart Hochschule since October 1981,
the year in which he became director of the Early Music
Department at the Strasbourg Conservatory where, until 1985, he
ran the post-graduate harpsichord course, the only one of its kind in
France. He has just been appointed professor of harpsichord playing
at the Salzburg Mozarteum. Kenneth Gilbert has exercised a great
deal of influence over the young generation of harpsichordists both
in Europe and America through his playing and his pedagogical
career in the field of early music.

Chronology Any attempt to draw up a chronology of the sonatas

is of necessity severely hampered by the lack of an autograph
manuscript and of reliable evidence as to the circumstances in which
they were written. Kirkpatrick based his catalogue on a chronology
taken from previous editions and the manuscripts at present
available. Anyone, however, who listens to the first hundred sonatas
is inevitably led to the conclusion that many of them were written
long before the Essercizi. In 1967, Giorgio Pestelli published a
different chronology based on stylistic evidence. Jane Clark has in
turn come up with a number of suggestions which shed an entirely
new light on ideas prevalent today. Alessandro Longos classification
in the 1906 edition was based essentially on key signatures. This led
to a total chronological and stylistic confusion.
Coimbra The University Library in Coimbra, a town a hundred miles
or so to the north of Lisbon, contains the one and only source of a
Minuet by Scarlatti (Kk 94). The town was rightly famous for having
provided shelter for the exiled University of Lisbon on several
occasions during the Middle Ages, and one of the organists at the
cathedral was the Portuguese composer Carlo Seixas. An album of
Toccatas per cembalo y organo by Seixas includes a Toccata by Signor
Domingo Escarlate. This suite consists of a group of four pieces by
Scarlatti (Kk 85, Kk 82, the first part of Kk 78 and Kk 94). Manuscript
annotations reveal that the work was well and truly designed as a suite
in which the pieces should be played one after the other. This provides
proof that on certain occasions at least, it was the practice for Scarlattis
sonatas to be put into groups. Seixass album is dated 1720, the very
year in which Scarlatti took up his post as Kapellmeister in Lisbon. He
had therefore just arrived in Portugal, and this fact provides at least
some degree of justification for the theory that the sonatas had been
previously composed in Italy.

Hand crossing Scarlattis sonatas are full of markings which invite

the player to play certain passages in the bass with the right hand and
others in the treble with the left hand. The actual crossing
movement is carried out over the hand which is entrusted with the
continuity of the sound in the middle. Quite often, the device
smacks of showmanship, and without resorting to a whole theory of
hand crossings, one should nevertheless draw attention to a few
salient points. Occasionally, musicality is sacrificed for the sake of
theatrical effect. For instance, in Kk 27, which is an admirable piece,
Scarlatti stipulates that the hand crossings should be alternated: the
figuration is played first by the left hand and then by the right hand
and finally by the left hand again. This means that the hands fly in
turn over the fine harmonies provided by the suspensions of sixths
and sevenths, and the pattern is repeated three times, the two hands
playing a different role each time. (I have often wondered if the last
of these repetitions imposed by the gyrations of the two forearms
was not superfluous from the musical point of view).

Crux Ralph Kirkpatrick drew attention to a special characteristic of

the binary form as practised by Scarlatti. He observed that the two
halves of each sonata (which are separated by a double bar, implying
that each should be repeated) are themselves divided into two parts.
He gave the name of crux to the theoretical point dividing the zones,
the first of which is more dynamic on account of its rhythms, themes
and modulations, and the second more static, modulating practically
never and often containing virtuoso figuration. This division is to be
found but rarely in the first manner pieces. It is almost as though
Scarlatti adopted it as a regular practice only after being in contact
with musicians in Spain and Portugal, where it began to appear at
the end of the seventeenth century. It is occasionally underlined by
an arpeggio, a cadence or a fermata and it can be discerned both
visually and aurally by the fact that in the static zone after the crux,
the same musical sequences are to be found, on the first occasion in
the dominant (in the first halo and on the second in the tonic (at the
end of the sonata). When analysing the sonatas, Kirkpatrick uses the
terms pre-crux and post-crux to distinguish the musical sequences
immediately before and after the crux.

There are other sonatas in which it would seem simpler to play the
top notes with the outside fingers of the right hand, keeping the
inside fingers for the accompaniment. Purists like to point out that
if you do this, you lose the whole point of many of the hand
crossings, which is to impose a certain degree of psychological
pressure on the performer, even if there is nothing that can actually
be heard. I suppose that I must indeed go along with that point
of view to a certain extent, at least so far as television broadcasts
are concerned.
Kirkpatrick has decisively refuted Burneys somewhat discourteous
comment which linked the disappearance of hand crossings with
Scarlattis increasing portliness. It would seem, in fact, that Scarlatti
did not put on weight as he grew older. It has to be admitted,
though, that the hand crossings are useful for determining the
chronology of the composers works.

Gatto Kk 30 was given the nickname The Cats Fugue on

account of the cautious stepwise movement of its opening theme.
The name dates from the nineteenth century and the insistence
placed upon it by many pianists, Liszt and Moscheles prominent
amongst them, and by publishers including Clementi, Czerny and,

Fifteen of the thirty Essercizi contain hand crossings, but they

disappear completely in the archaistic pieces between Kk 59 to Kk
96 and in the didactic sonatas after Kk 148. They are to be found in
21

only five of the sonatas from the so-called middle period (Kk 174,
175, 182, 217, 243). Amongst the final group of 300 sonatas, apart
from Kk 528, 529 and 554, there are only about ten which resort to
hand crossing, and even then only in moderation.

Longo The name Longo will always be associated with the first
complete edition of Scarlattis keyboard works and with the first
complete catalogue of the sonatas drawn up in connection with it.
The eleven volumes of the edition appeared in 1906 (the date of the
copyright) and new editions were put out regularly by the
publishers, Ricordi, until recent years. The great merit of the edition
was to acquaint the entire world with 545 sonatas. Until that time,
only a handful of pieces forty or so had been available.
Unfortunately, Longos edition reflects very much the spirit of the
age late nineteenth/early twentieth century and was designed
for pianists who were not particularly interested in accurate scores.
At times, one is surprised and even scandalised by the liberties taken
by Longo. He came from a Neapolitan family of musicians and was
himself a composer. It would appear that he produced his edition in
partnership with his father. Kenneth Gilbert discovered the texts
used for the first edition in the library of the Naples Conservatory.
They consist mainly of a most carefully-produced copy of the
Venice manuscript made, in all probability, by the father but heavily
laden with the sons additions in the shape of phrase markings,
dynamics and fingerings, which means that the edition is no longer
acceptable today. What is even more serious is that Longo actually
altered the text in many places and completely destroyed the order
in which the sonatas originally appeared. He ignored the gradual
development of Scarlattis style and the groupings suggested by the
manuscripts (pairs and triptychs) and reorganised them into suites
according to tonality. From a musical point of view, this made no
sense whatsoever. In addition, Kirkpatricks catalogue reveals that
there are eleven sonatas which Longo did not include in his edition,
i.e Kk 41 (fugue in D minor), Kk 80, 94, 97, 142, 143, 144, 204a,
204b, 452 and 453. The two sonatas Kk 204a and b are in fact a
single piece.

Harpsichord Even today, experts argue about the precise

instrument for which Scarlatti wrote his sonatas. Clearly, most of
them were written for the harpsichord: it is named in the title of the
Essercizi. But exactly which harpsichord? Each has particular
characteristics of tone, keyboard and compass. Scarlatti himself left
no clue as to his intentions. Some of the sonatas can be played on
the organ, and three of them (Kk 287, Kk 288 and Kk 238) are
specifically written for this instrument. But there again, which
organ? No doubt a chamber organ of some sort, since a pedal
instrument is not required. Some of the sonatas, too, could well have
been intended for the fortepiano, since these instruments were to be
found at the Spanish court. Jol Sheveloff is a keen supporter of this
idea. Finally, it is possible that Scarlatti also had in mind people who
played on clavichords or spinets, and in particular on the English
double bent-side spinet. In support of this idea, Kenneth Gilbert
notes in the preface to his edition of the sonatas that the latter
instrument has, if not a low F, at least a high g. All the authors
quoted in the bibliography at the end of this cursory notice devote
a few paragraphs to this problem, in particular William Dowd in the
paper he delivered to the Nice Symposium on Scarlatti. For the
present recording, Scott Ross used five different harpsichords:
For sonatas Kk 32 to Kk 93 (excepting Kk 80 and from Kk 88 to
Kk 91 inclusive), an Italian harpsichord made by Jean-Louis Val. All
these sonatas were most probably composed before Scarlatti went to
Portugal and, later, to Spain. The choice of this instrument, with its
highly individual timbre, seems perfectly justified.

Manuscripts There is no autograph manuscript of the keyboard

works of Domenico Scarlatti. However surprising it may seem, the
fact remains that to this day, apart from the Essercizi and a few other
sonatas published later by both Roseingrave and Boivin, the only
known source of these pieces is entirely the work of copyists. In the
main, these sources consist of two sets of fifteen bound volumes in
the libraries of Venice and Parma. Additional copies are to be found
in Mnster, Vienna, Cambridge, etc. Although there appears to be
little hope of ever finding manuscript copies in Scarlattis own hand,
there still remains scope for research into the precise circumstances in
which the extant manuscripts came into being. It is not impossible
that they were dictated. At the time, it was not unusual for music to
be taken down during performance; this happened, for instance, in
the case of compositions by blind organists. The question arises as to
whether Scarlatti systematically resorted to the services of talented
copyists, limiting himself to actual performances of his pieces in their
presence. A careful examination, moreover, of the Venice and the
Parma manuscripts brings to light a sufficient number of disparities to
justify the theory that both are merely copies of copies (cf. the Nice
symposium, 1985, and Jol Sheveloff on the theory of there being or
having been a third source).

For all the other pieces, four French-style double-manual

instruments (8, 8, 4) by the following makers were used:
Anthony Sidey (from Kk 94 to Kk 188 and from Kk 356
to Kk 555),
William Dowd/Von Nagel (from Kk 268 to Kk 355),
William Martin (from Kk 1 to Kk 30, and from Kk 189
to Kk 267),
David Ley (Kk 31 and from Kk 88 to Kk 91).
Finally, the three sonatas specifically composed for the organ were
recorded on the organ in the church of Saint-Guilhem-le-Dsert.
Kirkpatrick Ralph Kirkpatrick was born in the United States in 1911
and made an international career as a harpsichordist. His greatest claim
to fame, however, was his contribution to our knowledge of Scarlatti
through his book on the composer which appeared after ten years of
research. In the thirties, his studies took him to Paris, where he worked
with Wanda Landowska and Nadia Boulanger. His concerts and
recordings earned him renown. He appeared with the greatest
instrumentalists of his time, including Alexander Schneider and Pierre
Fournier, and he made a complete recording of the keyboard works of
J.S. Bach. He also took an interest in contemporary music, and Elliott
Carter wrote a concerto for harpsichord and string orchestra for him in
1961. Darius Milhauds Sonata for violin and harpsichord, op. 257
(1945), was given its first performance with Kirkpatrick at the
keyboard. But it was Scarlatti who lay at the centre of his life and work
He travelled all over Italy, Spain and Portugal in search of the
composers traces and visited all the other European countries which
housed the manuscript sources. Very little new material has come to
light during the thirty years that have elapsed since the completion of
his work. In order to bring wider attention to Scarlattis compositions,
he published a facsimile of the Parma manuscript (Johnson reprint,
1972, 18 volumes) and an anthology of sixty sonatas (Schirmer, USA),
which he analysed in detail and also recorded. His crowning
achievement, however, was his book, which nobody interested in
Scarlatti should fail to read. It contains not only an account of the
composers life and a description of his work, but also a great many
exceptionally useful hints for performers, who can, for once, take
advantage of the experience and guidance of a master of the keyboard.

Minuet There are ten or so minuets to be found here and there

amongst Scarlattis compositions at least, such is the title given to
these sonatas in the manuscript copies. The justification for the title
lies more in the spirit of the pieces than in their framework.
Choregraphers of the Baroque era would almost certainly have been
puzzled by these pieces, where odd and even number of bars are
made to alternate. Only Kk 440 bears a reasonable resemblance to
the standard model of a minuet by virtue of the symmetry of its
construction. Most of the other pieces marked minuet are
asymmetric. The only justification for the title lies in their being in
triple time and in enjoying a dance-like quality together with a
certain unity of thematic material.
Mode Shifts from major to minor and vice versa seem to have been
used by Scarlatti more as a means of bringing variety to the general
tonality of a piece than of altering the character of the musical
discourse. Many sonatas move from one mode to the other without
there being any change in the overall atmosphere. Moreover, there
are three sonatas (Kk 444, 510 and 519) which begin in the minor
and end in the major, thus lending greater homogeneity to the pairs

Ralph Kirkpatrick died on 13 April 1984.

22

they form with Kk 443, 509 and 518, all three of which are written
in the major. The actual distribution of modes throughout
Kirkpatricks catalogue should nevertheless be noted. Most of the
first hundred numbers are sonatas in the minor. The proportion
changes radically afterwards. Twenty-three out of the twenty-five
didactic sonatas which are to be found in the initial Parma and
Venice volumes (from Kk 148 onwards) are in the major, and out
of the last three hundred sonatas there are fewer than sixty in the
minor. When there are sharps in the key signature, the chances are
that the piece will be in the major; if there are flats, one can expect
the minor. Sonatas in the major with flats in the key signature are
twice as rare as sonatas with sharps. The opposite is true in the case
of pieces in the minor.

Tempi The tempo of Scarlattis sonatas is the celebrated tempo

ordinario. Nearly four hundred sonatas in duple or triple metre are
marked either Allegro or Allegretto. But the number of sonatas
which are slower than the ordinario is far from negligible. More than
ninety are marked either Andante or Adagio. Also, only seventy are
given a faster tempo marking: Presto or Prestissimo. The general
distribution of tempi is therefore very much what it is in music of
the Classical or even Romantic eras. After all, the typical
four-movement sonata contains two allegros, a slow movement and
a quicker finale. In Scarlattis case, most of the slower pieces are
paired with a fast one, to which it forms a sort of prelude. Some
fifteen isolated slow movements date from the composers youth and
appear somewhat at random in the chronology (Kk 32, 34, 40, 41,
42, 52, 77, 80, 83, 86, 92, 94, 109, 132, 144).

Pairing Today, it ought to be just as outlandish to divorce a

Scarlatti sonata from its partner as it would be to separate one of
Bachs preludes from its accompanying fugue. The last four hundred
sonatas in Kirkpatricks catalogue fall naturally into pairs where the
tonality is common to both pieces and contrast is provided by the
metre. The result is musically coherent and balanced. The pairing is
so clearly systematic that it is difficult to understand how Alessandro
Longo managed to ignore it in his edition of the sonatas. The
objective reasons justifying the theory that the sonatas should be
paired are to be found in the Introduction to the works. The rare
singletons and triptychs merely serve to prove the rule. It is
nevertheless far from easy to draw up an accurate catalogue of pairs
since Scarlatti himself did not make his intentions clear. Moreover,
the manuscript copies differ occasionally, which is far from helpful.
The Parma manuscript reveals 192 possible pairs and eighteen
triptychs whereas the Venice manuscript shows only a possible 187
pairs and twelve triptychs. By combining the two sources,
Kirkpatrick ended up with 194 pairs but only four triptychs. He was
left with 155 singletons. Some of these, however, can be combined
to make several triptychs or suites containing several movements.
There are also a few double sonatas which actually constitute pairs.

Tonality Scarlatti joined other composers of his day in the

evolution towards the use of equal temperament, which was to
prevail in all music for the coming two centuries. He used all the
tonalities. They are often indicated in archaistic style in the sources,
thus reducing the complication of key signatures. The only tonalities
not to be found are C sharp (or D flat) major and C sharp (or D flat)
minor. All the sonatas containing many sharps or flats in the key
signature are from the middle period and Kirkpatrick considered
them to be more experimental than inspired. As a general rule, no
particular character can be ascribed to a given key. Nevertheless, it
is worth noting that D is the favourite key. About a hundred sonatas,
two thirds of them in the major, are in this tonality.
Transcriptions The orchestral character of some of the sonatas,
together with the wealth of Scarlattis thematic invention and the
truculence of his rhythms, have tempted many musicians to make
transcriptions. This happened as soon as the sonatas first appeared in the
eighteenth century and Alessandro Longo revived this curious tradition
in his monumental edition. The two most famous transcriptions are
those made by Charles Avison in the eighteenth century and Vicenzo
Tomasini at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Parma The music department of the Biblioteca Palatina, which

today forms part of the Arrigo Boito Conservatory, has owned a
collection of fifteen bound volumes containing 464 sonatas since
1908. A facsimile edition was published in 1972 in the United States
under the editorship of Ralph Kirkpatrick (Johnson Reprint
Corporation). It is now accepted that the Parma manuscript
antedates the Venice manuscript, at least in so far as the sonatas
copied after 1750 are concerned. Jol Sheveloff examined this
question in the course of his thesis. Nevertheless, he did not entirely
dismiss the possibility that both manuscripts could have been based
on a third source which has still not come to light. Kenneth Gilbert
has noted that there are some unusual markings here and there on
the Parma manuscript which could well have been put there by the
scribe responsible for the Venice manuscript to remind him how far
he had got with his copying. During the Nice Symposium (cf.
Essential reading), Kenneth Gilbert surmised, perhaps a little
tongue-in-cheek, that these markings might have coincided with
the summons to meals, since each section of copying could well
have been completed in a single work session.

Charles Avison, an English composer, published a series of concerti

grossi for strings in 1744. They are scored for seven parts and
generally consist of four movements based on all or part of a sonata
from the Essercizi or Roseingraves edition. Ten of the movements,
however, do not correspond with any of the sonatas catalogued by
Kirkpatrick In all probability, Avison wrote them himself in the style
of Scarlatti. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the Italian
composer, Vincenzo Tomasini, used some of Scarlattis sonatas for
the score of his ballet Les Femmes de bonne humeur, one of the first to
be choreographed by Leonide Massine for Diaghilevs Russian ballet.
It is based on a comedy by Carlo Goldoni, and Tomasini chose
twenty-three of the most lyrical or rhythmical of Scarlattis sonatas,
either entirely or in part, for the twenty-three scenes of the ballet.
Scarlatti inspired other composers such as Alfredo Casella, who in
1926 wrote a suite for piano and orchestra entitled Scarlattiana.
Arthur Benjamin wrote a suite for flute and strings in 1945. Gordon
Bryan wrote a large number of works based on Scarlattis works.
These include a suite for piano, percussion and strings entitled
Scarlattiana and several concertos: for oboe (194243), flute (1944),
viola (1946), violin (1948), and horn (1949). He also wrote two trios
for flute, oboe and piano (194750). Arrangements of the sonatas for
other instruments are so numerous that it would be difficult to draw
up a list of them. They include pieces for the harp, the guitar, the
accordion and for wind ensembles.

Roseingrave Thomas Roseingrave, an English organist and

composer, was one of Scarlattis admirers. He came to Italy after
completing his musical studies and followed Scarlatti to Venice and
to Rome. When he returned to London at the age of thirty, he put
on a production of Narciso, one of Domenico Scarlattis last operas,
and set about the task of making the English public aware of the
composers work In 1739 he published two volumes of Suites de
Pices pour le Clavecin which contained the thirty Essercizi sonatas,
twelve further ones (Kk 31 to 43), a fugue by Alessandro Scarlatti
and one of his own compositions which he put at the beginning of
the collection. Roseingrave had virtually abandoned his own
musical career by this time. It is highly likely that he sought to make
his own edition more attractive than the Essercizi edition of the
previous year by adding some of the pieces which he had brought
back from Italy some twenty years before. However that may be,
these pieces are to be found in other sources, in particular in the
Vienna manuscript and in the Venice manuscript dated 1742. There
are, however, a few slight differences (cf. Kk 33).

Venice Since 1835, the Palazzo Marciana, opposite the Doges

Palace, has housed fifteen superb volumes bearing the arms of the
royal houses of Spain and Portugal. They contain manuscript copies
of 496 of Scarlattis sonatas. Laura Alvini is at present supervising the
production of a facsimile edition of these volumes. Jol Sheveloff
carried out a detailed analysis of the manuscripts in a thesis he
presented in 1970.

23

Essential reading
Ralph Kirkpatrick Domenico Scarlatti, first published in 1983 by the
Princeton University Press.
Jol Sheveloff The keyboard music of Domenico Scarlatti, published by
Ann Arbor University, Michigan, USA, 1970.
Kenneth Gilbert Prface de ldition intgrale en onze volumes de luvre
pour clavier de Domenico Scarlatti, Heugel, Paris 1983.
Nice Symposium Record of the Proceedings of the International
Symposium on Domenico Scarlatti, organised by the Nice Early Music
Festival in 1985.
Roberto Pagano Scarlatti, Alessandro e Domenico, due vite in una,
published by Arnaldo Mondadori in 1985.

Credits and acknowledgements

Scott Ross began his recording of Scarlattis 555 sonatas on Saturday
16 June 1984.
Ninety-eight sessions were needed and the last was completed on 10
September of the following year. In all, there had been eight
thousand takes.
The recordings were made in the following locations:
Radio France, Paris: Studio 103 (Sonatas 31 to 40, 61 to 188
and 268 to 365), Studio 106 (Sonatas 41 to 60), Studio 107
(Sonatas 372 to 555)
Chapel, Chteau dAssas (Sonatas 1 to 30 and 219 to 267)
Salle Tinel, Chartreuse de Villeneuve-ls-Avignon
(Sonatas 356 to 371)
Alain de Chambure was the musical supervisor. Alain Duchemin
was in charge of the sound balance for most of the sonatas, except
for Kk 293 to Kk 355 and sonatas Kk 94 to Kk 112, which were
respectively looked after by Madeleine Sola and Bernard Charron.
The technical team consisted of Jean-Michel Bernot, Pascal Besnard
and Alain Joubert for two-thirds of the recordings and editing
sessions. The remaining third was in the hands of Solne Chevassus,
Catherine Lhritier, Ysabelle Van Wersch-Cot, Olivier Beurotte,
Franois Caillard, Vincent Decque, Olivier Dupr and Patrick
Nuiry. Scott Ross himself did a great deal of the editing.
The whole project was carried out as a co-production between
Radio France and Erato.
To date, this is the only complete recording of Scarlattis keyboard
works.
The 555 sonatas went out on the air in a series of more than two
hundred broadcasts by Radio France and in European Broadcasting
Union programmes on the occasion of the three hundredth
anniversary of Scarlattis birth in 1985.
I should like to thank Kenneth Gilbert for his invaluable assistance
in the preparation of these notes. He not only undertook to give me
guidance on its contents but also agreed to read the manuscripts.
Alain de Chambure Translation: John Sidgwick

24

Hommage Scott Ross

rythmique, et surtout dun charme et dune matrise du

dveloppement harmonique.

La mort a interrompu Scott Ross le 13 juin 1989, moins de deux ans

aprs la publication de cette intgrale des sonates de Scarlatti.
Monument discographique, pope, succs international
Scott, dj clbre, avait rendez-vous cette fois carrment avec la
gloire, et hlas, trs vite aprs, avec la maladie. Drision suprme, il
connut la gravit de son mal le jour mme o lAcadmie Charles
Cros le couronnait pour le coffret. Quelle fut sa place dans le sicle?
Sans aucun doute celle du plus grand claveciniste franais.

De toute lhistoire de la musique, cest lune des uvres les plus

imposantes par sa dimension. Son excution ne reprsente pas moins
de trente-quatre heures de musique. Pour le seul clavier, cest trois
fois ce quont crit Couperin ou Schumann, deux fois la dure de
luvre de Chopin ou Beethoven. Il ny a que Bach qui atteigne de
telles dimensions, encore faut-il ajouter luvre dorgue celle quil
a consacre au clavecin.
Ce monument de la musique pour le clavier nest form que de
courtes pices : quelques minutes (la plus longue en a sept, la plus
courte peine deux). Scarlatti juxtapose plus quil ne dveloppe,
dans un foisonnement de matriaux thmatiques et rythmiques.

Le plus grand dabord par ltendue de son rpertoire : Scott dans sa

courte vie aura interprt toutes les uvres majeures pour clavecin,
tout Couperin, tout Rameau, puis Bach, Haendel, Scarlatti et
dautres compositeurs moins universels dAnglebert, Fourqueray,
Padre Soler. Il les aura dpoussirs, anims de sa pulsion inimitable,
tout en recueillant le meilleurs de ses ans, tels les clavecinistes
Gustav Leonhardt et Kenneth Gilbert. Mais surtout ce virtuose
ail comme lcrit Jacques Lonchampt portait le monde en lui et
nul nest all si loin avec cet instrument dexploration indit, ce
scanner qutait pour lui le clavecin. Et le grand critique soulignait
cette sonorit de miel et de feuille dor, cette finesse darticulations,
cette virtuosit joyeuse et comme ngligeante, ce charme et cet
humour, cette grandeur de style, jamais dsinvolte et souvent secou
par de puissants accs lyriques.

Autre curiosit : la quasi-totalit des pices est crite selon un schma

identique, le plus simple qui soit la forme binaire. Les sonates se
composent de deux parties sensiblement gales, quil est prvu de
rpter; la premire se termine le plus souvent la dominante, la
seconde toujours la tonique, et les squences qui terminent ces deux
parties sont comparables. Les exceptions sont peu nombreuses.
Scarlatti, grand pourvoyeur dides musicales, ne semble pas se
proccuper de renouveler les formes de son poque.
En revanche, ce qui concerne les rythmes et les modulations est
stupfiant dimagination. Non seulement Scarlatti intgre avec
bonheur ce qui se faisait alors, mais il renouvelle compltement les
habitudes de son temps, introduisant des rythmes populaires, jouant
sur des contrastes sonores, transformant le clavecin en vritable
orchestre, poussant le plan harmonique de ses compositions dans des
rgions inhabituelles. Scarlatti trouve comme par jeu des
modulations subtiles qui ne seront reprises que beaucoup plus tard ;
il introduit par lartifice des acciaccatures des notes trangres
lharmonie classique, crant ainsi des objets sonores inattendus. Il
possde enfin lart de surprendre son auditeur par des modulations
sans prparation.

Quand la mort nous la pris, certes Scott Ross avait bien des uvres
de Bach en commande les mdias, toujours simplistes, voyaient
en lui le Glenn Gould du clavecin ce qui avait le don de mettre
Scott en fureur, et comme il sest toujours ingni faire le contraire
de ce quon voulait quil ft, il abordait un nouveau rpertoire, celui
de la fin du XVIIIe sicle Mozart tout simplement. Ses intimes
connaissaient aussi sa passion pour Chopin et pour le piano. Depuis
longtemps il rvait dun concert o il aurait eu sur scne un clavecin
et un piano, et o il aurait jou successivement Couperin et
Debussy. Sa sret de got, sa fabuleuse facilit digitale auraient
permis ce challenge.

Il est difficile de comprendre quun tel monument de la musique

pour le clavier ait d attendre plus de deux cents ans pour tre enfin
livr au public dans son intgralit. Cest hlas le sort que cette
musique partage avec la plupart du rpertoire baroque, mal servi au
XIXe sicle et le plus souvent mal aim jusqu nos jours.

Scott avait aussi un got quil gardait encore plus secret pour la
musique contemporaine, mais ce got tait trs slectif, par exemple
il adorait Ligeti mais pensait beaucoup de mal des clavecins des
interprtes duvres contemporaines. Ces machineries passeraient
vite selon lui au rayon des antiquits, alors que les Taskin, les Blanchet,
les Ruckers et autres clavecins anciens resteraient vivants. Scott avait
aussi un livre en chantier et son criture, sa pense, gardaient
llgance et lacuit de son jeu.

Au XVIIIe sicle, hormis ldition des trente sonates faite Londres

de son vivant, les diteurs, quils soient franais, anglais ou italiens,
nont pratiquement pas dit luvre de Scarlatti. Il nexistait que de
rares anthologies, des transcriptions, et des compositeurs, pourtant
bien intentionns, comme Thomas Roseingrave ou Charles Avison,
compltaient les rares sonates publies par leurs propres uvres, ce
qui ne contribuait pas servir les chefs-duvre du compositeur.

Pour tous ses amis, pour son public travers le monde entier, Scott
Ross laisse en dpit dune vie si brve limage dune perfection
acheve, dun interprte qui a ralis ce quil portait en lui. Et en
mme temps lhomme paradoxal, multiple, tait si riche que sans
doute chacun peut avoir son souvenir de Scott Ross.

La situation changera peu au cours du XIXe sicle. Un plus grand

nombre de sonates seront dites, mais les pianistes qui sont
lorigine de ces publications, comme Czerny en 1839, ou plus tard
Hans von Blow, Busoni ou Tausig, nont pas hsit mettre ces
sonates au got du jour, ajoutant des notes, des articulations, des
indications de nuances qui le plus souvent dnaturent les uvres
quelles voulaient faire connatre.

Denise Fasquelle

Vivi felice
Vivi felice. Vivez heureux. Ce sont les derniers mots qui prfacent
lunique recueil des pices publies par Scarlatti.

La premire publication quasi intgrale date de 1906. Cest luvre

dAlessandro Longo, compositeur italien, qui la ralise pour les
ditions Ricordi. Prsente dans sa vritable dimension, ce fut
ldition de rfrence pendant cinquante ans. Mais cette dition
ntait pas non plus sans dsinvolture. Longo en particulier a
boulevers lordre des sonates qui figurent dans les copies
manuscrites, les groupant en suites, faisant disparatre non
seulement le sentiment des tapes de composition mais la notion de
couplage des sonates, une notion essentielle qui nest rapparue que
cinquante ans plus tard grce aux travaux de Ralph Kirkpatrick.
Suivant les mauvaises habitudes prises par ses prdcesseurs, Longo
a, par ailleurs, surcharg son dition dindications arbitraires
concernant le phras, les nuances, etc. Ces modifications, en
particulier celles qui concernent les harmonies, ont gnralement t

Un vu chaleureux : plus, cest un ami qui parle. Formule

surprenante quand on pense aux ddicaces des matres de lpoque,
les trs humbles et trs obissants serviteurs des puissants de ce
monde, ou encore quand on pense aux trois lettres S.D.G. dont
Johann Sebastian Bach paraphait ses partitions plaant dlibrment
son uvre sous le seul signe de la gloire de Dieu. Une formule aussi
moderne que luvre quelle prface, simple, directe, cest lesprit
mme de Scarlatti.
Une uvre roborative, sans tats dme, sans thories, faite pour le
plus grand plaisir de jouer. Elle ncessite une technique solide, mais
cest une uvre lumineuse : claire par son criture et sa
construction, dune incroyable imagination thmatique et
25

dans le sens dun appauvrissement de ce que Scarlatti avait compos.

Les disques numrots de 1 33 comprennent les sonates de Kk. 1

Kk. 555. Les trois sonates pour orgue (Kk. 287, 288, 328) et les
cinq suites qui prsentent des basses chiffres (Kk. 81, 88, 89, 90 et
Kk. 91) sont regroupes dans un 34e et dernier disque.

Comme on peut limaginer, linterprtation des sonates de Scarlatti

fut limage de ce qutait ldition Longo. Pendant des annes, mis
part quelques belles exceptions (les enregistrement de Wanda
Landowska, ceux de Vladimir Horowitz en tte), les sonates de
Scarlatti furent plutt mal servies, on les prsentait en guise
dapritif, au dbut dun concert, pour mettre en apptit les
auditeurs, attendre larrive des retardataires, se chauffer les doigts ou
jauger son public. Elles servaient aussi ltude : [] ces morceaux
maudits qui vous ont si souvent empch de dormir, quun lve
sans piti recommence indfiniment ltage contigu au vtre
(Marcel Proust parlant de Scarlatti dans Sodome et Gomorrhe).

Couplage
Ce couplage est une notion que Ralph Kirkpatrick a remis en
vidence aprs les travaux de Gerstenberg (1935) sans toutefois lui
donner un caractre impratif.
Les ditions prcdentes, par leur ordonnance arbitraire, avaient
nglig le fait que dans les manuscrits de Venise et de Parme,
pratiquement plus des deux tiers des sonates semblent associs, deux
par deux, parfois trois par trois.

Mal dite, mal traite, son uvre posait galement des nigmes qui
ne sont toujours pas rsolues. Il nexiste par exemple aucun
manuscrit autographe de Scarlatti pour ces sonates. On dispose certes
de manuscrits, mais ils sont dus des copistes. Il existe plusieurs
copies relativement comparables, relies aux armes de la maison
dEspagne. Elles sont actuellement conserves en Italie aux
bibliothques de Venise et de Parme. En revanche, le texte
autographe demeure introuvable si toutefois il a exist.
Lauthenticit, mais surtout la chronologie des sonates reste matire
discussion.

En labsence dindications provenant de la main de Scarlatti, ce

couplage, qui existe galement chez dautres compositeurs espagnols
de lpoque, peut certes tre contest, mais a et l il existe des
preuves irrfutables. Les copistes des manuscrits de Parme et de
Venise ont, par exemple, indiqu que les sonates qui portent
aujourdhui dans le catalogue de Kirkpatrick les numros Kk. 347 et
Kk. 348 devaient tre enchanes rapidement et que les sonates
Kk. 516 et Kk. 517 ont t copies dans lordre inverse de celui
prvu par le compositeur.
Il existe aussi des preuves plus subtiles de ce couplage, par exemple
le changement darmature en tte de Kk. 527 : les copistes ont plac
l trois bcarres. Comment expliquer cette indication somme toute
inutile, si ce nest justement pour appeler lattention du lecteur sur
un changement inhabituel : dans cette couple de sonates, la premire
est en ut mineur (trois bmols) et la seconde en ut majeur : labsence
darmature nest pas un oubli. (Mais que dire alors du couplage
similaire entre Kk. 230 et Kk. 231 o la suppression de larmature
nest pas souligne ?)

Autre nigme, celle des conditions dans lesquelles les sonates ont t
composes. On pense que la plupart dentre elles ont t crites au
Portugal et en Espagne : Scarlatti tait Matre de Musique de la
Princesse Maria Barbara de Bragance, fille du Roi du Portugal puis
Reine dEspagne. Mais Scarlatti aurait pu tout aussi bien emmener
avec lui des compositions faites lors de sa brillante carrire en Italie,
avant de sexiler. Pourquoi cet exil, dailleurs ? Quelle force pousse
Scarlatti quitter son pays natal lge de cinquante ans et pour
toujours ? De fait, il abandonne sa famille paternelle, une Italie en
pleine effervescence musicale, une carrire brillante dinterprte et de
compositeur dopras. On sait trop peu de choses sur lui pour pouvoir
rpondre, mais les raisons de son dpart sont sans doute plus
psychologiques que financires. Il est certain que lapparition de son
uvre magistrale correspond ce dpart. Il sest agi sans doute dun
exil heureux : sa relation avec Maria Barbara fut dune constance et
dune fidlit exemplaire, et il avait lestime de son entourage. Anobli,
il fondera une famille et pourtant un silence presque total entoure
son existence jusqu sa mort. Il ny a gure que son ami le chanteur
italien Farinelli il jouait galement un rle musical prpondrant
la cour dEspagne qui ait laiss quelques tmoignages sur lui, cest
en tout cas grce lui que les sonates copies et relies sont finalement
parvenues en Italie, la mort de la Reine.

Le couplage des sonates, comme du reste lorganisation des suites

dans toute la littrature musicale, est en premier lieu un fait tonal.
Les couples de sonates de Scarlatti qui apparaissent avec une certaine
vidence dans les sources manuscrites ds Kk. 150 et jusquaux
dernires, sont dans la mme tonalit. On en dnombre une
centaine, dont seulement une dizaine prsentent deux sonates dans
un mode diffrent (majeur/mineur ou linverse). Elles sont par
ailleurs toujours contrastes par leur tempo et/ou leur mesure
(lent/rapide ; binaire/ternaire ou linverse). En revanche, dans les
couples de sonates la similitude du matriel thmatique nexiste
pratiquement pas.
Caractres dominants concernant les formes
Larchitecture des sonates de Scarlatti est simple. Cest du moins
limpression qui se dgage leur lecture, leur audition ; cest aussi
leur rputation, comme celle, du reste, de la plupart des
compositions pour clavecin du XVIIIe sicle.

Devant cette srie dnigmes, une hypothse me sourit : Farinelli

laisse entendre que Scarlatti tait joueur, un joueur invtr. Or qui
dit joueur dit dettes de jeu : on peut imaginer la Reine sauvant la
mise du joueur malchanceux en exigeant la mise noir sur blanc de
quelques-unes des superbes improvisations dont il rgalait la cour.
Quil ait t gnial nempche pas de limaginer paresseux
acceptait-il ce contrat condition de pouvoir dicter ses uvres aux
habiles copistes de la bibliothque royale ? On peut mme penser
quil y a l une raison de la brivet de ses compositions : il ne
cherchait pas vraiment dpasser une sorte de minimum. Cest un
scnario qui en vaut un autre, mais il semble bien, notamment pour
les dernires, que les sonates ont t composes par rafales et quelles
ont bel et bien t dictes. Cela ne fait quajouter ladmiration que
suscite Scarlatti, aussi brillant excutant que gnial improvisateur.
(Lorsquil tait encore en Italie, il avait remport au clavecin une
joute amicale qui lavait oppos Haendel.)

y regarder de prs, la chose nest pas aussi vidente quon sest plu
lcrire dans des traits de composition modernes ; leurs auteurs ny
trouvant que ce quils cherchaient : des origines plus ou moins
maladroites de la sonate classique, des raisons daffirmer la supriorit
de la grande forme qui marquera la musique du XIXe sicle. Or les
deux formes (la sonate de Scarlatti, la sonate dite classique) sont
simplement diffrentes ; comme lopra seria diffre de lopra de
Verdi, le motet de la cantate : rien nautorise une hirarchie de ces
valeurs. La forme sonate classique saffirme comme telle dans les
uvres o le thme principal est repris la rexposition dans la
mme tonalit ce fut le monde formel de Carl Philipp Emmanuel
Bach et de son cole on connat la suite

Introduction aux sonates

La sonate selon Scarlatti est autre. La confusion vient du terme mais,

aprs tout, Scarlatti et ses contemporains lavaient choisi bien avant
Beethoven. Elle est autre notamment par sa forme : celle-ci saffirme
par une organisation en deux parties ce que lon appelle la forme
binaire. Les deux parties sont musicalement comparables,
complmentaires, mais suffisamment diffrentes pour que les
diffrences donnent lieu une analyse plus approfondie.

Lintgrale enregistre par Scott Ross suit, pas pas, lordre du

catalogue tabli par Ralph Kirkpatrick au dbut des annes
cinquante. Elle a t ralise partir de ldition intgrale des 555
sonates faite par Kenneth Gilbert entre 1971 et 1984 (Heugel,
collection Le Pupitre, 11 volumes).
26

Disons-le tout de suite, les sonates de Scarlatti sont minemment

riches de motifs, de squences et de tous les artifices de la rhtorique
musicale. Il en rsulte des uvres dune grande vitalit ; la
simplification quimplique lanalyse cache malheureusement, le plus
souvent, la richesse musicale.

Sous le titre des Essercizi per gravicembalo ces sonates furent en effet les
seules pices dont Scarlatti assura personnellement la publication,
prsentant ses intentions dans une prface, avec une ddicace ceux
qui dornavant seront ses nouveaux matres en Espagne.
A-t-il choisi le graveur, corrig les preuves ? Le graveur tait
clbre : Fortier, plus clbre quattentif le frontispice du recueil
est publi avec un clavecin lenvers ! Quant aux preuves,
sont-elles absolument conformes loriginal ? Les doutes qui
subsistent restent incontrlables. En tout cas Scarlatti choisit les
pices quil dsirait voir publier et les a sans doute retravailles avant
de les livrer son diteur anglais.

Caractres dominants du langage

Lunivers de Scarlatti est particulirement sduisant par le style,
lcriture et le langage qui lui est propre. Linvention rythmique et
mlodique, lhabilet quasi diabolique dans lutilisation de
linstrument, la matrise de la technique du clavier, tout concourt
lblouissement perptuel de lauditeur et rend le commentaire sinon
superflu du moins prilleux.

On ne doit pas considrer toutefois ces trente sonates comme les

premires uvres du compositeur. Kirkpatrick les place en tte de
son catalogue, dans la mesure o celui-ci est principalement bas sur
une chronologie des sources et que cette dition se trouve tre la
premire manifestation tangible de lactivit du compositeur pour le
clavier. Mais Scarlatti a sans doute choisi ces trente pices parmi
beaucoup dautres compositions dont les traces napparatront
quensuite dans diverses copies manuscrites.

Rythmes Les sonates de Scarlatti, notamment dans linterprtation

quen donne Scott Ross, semblent animes dune pulsion vivante et
fondamentale. Or, ces pulsions sont parfois renforces par des
cellules rythmiques ostinato, identiques celles que lon peut
entendre aujourdhui encore dans les chants espagnols ou dans le
flamenco. On peut imaginer dailleurs que ces rythmes populaires
aient touch Scarlatti son arrive en Andalousie (saetas, seguidillas,
buleras, mlopes scandes).

Sans doute les plus joues et encore aujourdhui les plus enregistres,
elles furent longtemps les plus facilement accessibles en raison des
nombreuses ditions.

Accent Scarlatti possde au plus haut degr lart daccentuer son

discours. Par lintroduction dune note trangre au dessin dun
thme ou encore par lintroduction dune note trangre un
accord, il renforce la phrase ou son accompagnement. Un accord
soudain, une gamme rapide ou un groupe de notes serres sont
autant dinterjections qui animent son texte.

Cest en ralit une anthologie de luvre de Scarlatti ; on y trouve

les marques du compositeur en pleine possession de son art. La
plupart des caractres dominants de son criture sont inscrits dans
ces pices, il joue de toutes les difficults techniques, accumule les
effets tels que les croisements de mains, les sauts sur deux octaves et
plus, les notes rptes ou les traits virtuoses de gammes et darpges.

Orchestre Sans que lon sache bien pour quelles raisons

labsence de correspondance et de tmoignage sur la vie du musicien
se fait sentir Scarlatti, qui avait pourtant lexprience de lopra et
de lorchestre, consacre les trente dernires annes de sa vie au seul
clavecin. En revanche, plus quaucun autre compositeur de son
temps, Scarlatti introduit dans ses sonates des lments proprement
orchestraux, des rfrences dautres instruments. Cest bien
souvent lcho dune guitare ou dune mandoline (notes rptes),
ailleurs cest le renforcement des percussions ou le dessin des
sonneries de trompettes.

Par bien des cts, ces sonates marquent une transition dans la vie et
luvre de Scarlatti : le compositeur italien adopte lEspagne et le
compositeur dopras dornavant se consacre au clavier. On trouve
dans ce recueil un heureux mlange de la tradition italienne et de
linspiration quoffre lEspagne avec ses danses et ses chants
populaires. Aux cts de toccatas (Kk. 1, 4, 12 ), de pices
concertantes ou polyphoniques (Kk. 3, 8, 30 ), on ne peut nier
les reflets de la danse et des chants espagnols dans des pices comme
Kk. 2, 5, 17 ou 24.

Modulations Lune des marques les plus tonnantes du gnie de

Scarlatti rside dans son habilet parcourir les tonalits par toutes
sortes de modulations, les unes progressives, les altrations
intervenant une une, les autres abruptes, o lauditeur est sans
transition amen dans une autre rgion tonale, parfois loigne,
souvent un ton entier, parfois une tierce.

La rputation faite Scarlatti dignorer les mouvements lents

vient en partie de ces trente pices. Elles sont vives dans leurs tempi :
15 Presto, 14 Allegro. Seule la dernire pice, surnomme
tardivement Fugue du chat (Cf. Repres Gatto) est propose
Moderato. Le grand Scarlatti lyrique, qui associe Andante et Allegro
dans des couples de sonates fortement contrastes, napparatra que
plus tard dans ce catalogue.

Virtuosit premire vue, lcriture limpide de Scarlatti ferait

penser que lexcution de ses uvres est relativement facile. Il nen
est rien. La clart de lcriture na rien voir avec la simplicit de
lexcution. Scarlatti, le plus virtuose des clavecinistes de son
poque, navait pas se soucier de lexcution de ses uvres : son
lve, la Reine Maria Barbara, pour qui ces pices taient crites,
devait tre elle-mme dune grande habilet. Certaines sonates
requirent de grandes aptitudes techniques, elles contiennent des
sries de tierces, de sixtes ou doctaves, des gammes, des arpges etc.

Les formes des sonates ultrieures seront aussi plus varies, mais lon
trouve ici en germe ce qui fera leur richesse. La forme libre par
exemple, qui apparat ds Kk. 19, le principe du dveloppement des
secondes parties de la sonate, qui bien que limit apparat ds Kk. 9.
Les quatre cinquimes des sonates sont du type ferm, comme la
plupart des pices binaires du XVIIIe sicle, mais Scarlatti enrichit
cette forme par diffrents procds tels que la permutation des
squences musicales dans les deux parties de la sonate, qui rend
celle-ci asymtrique (ds Kk. 1 par opposition Kk. 2 mais galement
dans Kk. 4, 12, 21, 24) ; ou encore labandon de la traditionnelle
dominante la double barre (la moiti des sonates en mineur
sarticule ainsi au relatif majeur Kk. 3, 5, 7, 9, 10, 15, 19, 27).

Style ancien Quelques sonates sont crites, de bout en bout

plusieurs voix, comme si elles taient destines un trio ou un
quatuor. Dautres incorporent des lments proprement
polyphoniques. Dautres enfin, semblent relever de ce quil est
convenu dappeler la mlodie accompagne o ne subsiste quune
basse (parfois chiffre) et un dessus.

On trouve des exemples analogues dans des pices dautres

compositeurs de lpoque, mais dans une plus faible proportion. Plus
tard, Scarlatti exploitera leffet de surprise qui peut natre des
permutations de matriels thmatiques, de lapparition de nouveaux
motifs, des dveloppements ou simplement dune brusque modulation
dans les premires mesures de la deuxime partie des sonates.

Notes sur les sonates

CDs 1 et 2
Kk. 1Kk. 30 : Dans luvre de Domenico Scarlatti, les trente
premiers numros du catalogue de Kirkpatrick forment un ensemble
trs particulier.

Dans ces pices, Scarlatti module peu, si ce nest pour passer du

majeur au mineur (ou linverse). La majorit des Essercizi est crite
27

en mineur : treize sonates seulement sur les trente sont en majeur ;

avec un got pour les tonalits en bmols (onze sonates seulement
ont une armature de dises). crites lancienne, les armatures de
cette premire dition sont dailleurs rduites : sol mineur avec un
bmol, ut mineur deux, etc. De mme pour les pices en majeur,
la est crit avec deux dises, mi trois. Il ny a jamais plus de
trois accidents la clef, ce nest quensuite que Scarlatti exploitera
les ressources du temprament gal.

Kk. 41 : une fugue, est la premire des onze pices du catalogue de

Kirkpatrick qui ne figurent pas dans ldition intgrale dAlessandro
Longo (Cf. Repres).
Kk. 43 Kk. 48 sont tires du manuscrit de Venise dat de 1742 ;
elles font partie de cette premire manire mais prsentent bien le
caractre flamboyant que Kirkpatrick attache bon nombre des
deux cents premires sonates. Leur style est plus vivant, leurs thmes
plus contrasts que ceux des pices prcdentes, quant leurs
rythmes, ils font dcouvrir un monde totalement diffrent, sans
doute celui que lEspagne inspire au compositeur (Cf. Kk. 45). Elles
ont une plnitude sonore trs frappante. Scarlatti nhsite pas
doubler en octave certains dessins mlodiques ou certains
accompagnements (cadences des deux parties de Kk. 44,
contretemps de Kk. 45, basses de Kk. 46) ; il emploie des gammes
rapides comme des fuses (Kk. 43, Kk. 47), et charge certains
accompagnements de basses dAlberti rapides (Kk. 48). Elles
manifestent aussi une grande matrise de la composition pour le
clavecin, tmoins les sonates Kk. 44 et Kk. 46 o lon est frapp par
lhabilet avec laquelle Scarlatti amplifie ou diminue le son de cet
instrument rput statique.

Le caractre anthologique des Essercizi exclut toute ide

dorganisation des pices les unes par rapport aux autres. Cest en
vain quon cherche ici le type de relations internes que J.S. Bach
propose dans ses 30 Inventions, fortiori dans ses 30 Variations
soit dit en passant les Variations Goldberg, publies en 1742, sont
pratiquement contemporaines des Essercizi. Le projet de Scarlatti est
dun autre ordre ; il a dailleurs prcis ses intentions dans la prface
que lon trouvera ci-dessous
Lecteur,
Que tu sois dilettante ou Professeur, ne tattends pas trouver dans ces
compositions une intention profonde, mais le jeu ingnieux de lart, afin de
texercer la pratique du clavecin. Je nai recherch dans leur publication, ni
lintrt, ni lambition, mais lutilit. Peut-tre te seront-elles agrables ;
dans ce cas jexcuterai dautres commandes dans un style plus facile et plus
vari pour te plaire. Montre-toi donc plus humain que critique, et ainsi tes
plaisirs en seront plus grands. Pour tindiquer la position des mains, je tavise
que par le D jindique la droite, et par le M la gauche : sois heureux.

Contrairement aux pices de ldition de Roseingrave, toutes ces

sonates ont des tempi rapides et deux des six sonates sont en mineur.
CD 4
Dans Kk. 49, Scarlatti interrompt plusieurs reprises la continuit
de son discours musical par des points dorgue entre lesquels des
formules cadentielles oscillent du majeur au mineur. Cest un
procd rhtorique quil nutilisera nouveau que dans des sonates
bien postrieures. Le souci dexpression dramatique apparat
galement lissue du dveloppement de la deuxime partie, qui se
termine par une longue gamme rapide sur prs de quatre octaves.

On doit au musicologue anglais William Smith davoir retrouv la

(premire ?) annonce publicitaire concernant la vente des Essercizi,
elle est date de fvrier 1739. Or Kirkpatrick indique que cest en
avril 1738 que Scarlatti est nomm Chevalier de lOrdre Portugais
de Santiago, titre qui figure sur la premire page de la publication. Il
est donc vraisemblable que la premire dition des Essercizi date de
la fin de 1738 ou du tout dbut de 1739.

Kk. 50 : Bel exemple doccupation de tout lespace du clavier, par

le jeu des croisements de mains, des arpges et des gammes ; les
quatre octaves du clavier sont constamment sollicits.

CD 3
Kk. 31Kk. 42 : ces douze sonates ont t publies pour la premire
fois en Angleterre, dans une sorte ddition pirate tablie par
Thomas Roseingrave (cf. Repres), au lendemain de la premire
publication des Essercizi. Tout en reprenant ces trente premires
sonates, il change le titre de louvrage, modifie lordre des pices et
augmente le nombre des sonates, mlangeant des pices quil avait
sans doute ramenes dItalie vingt ans plus tt avec lune de ses
propres compositions, en guise dintroduction. Les murs de
ldition taient lpoque bien diffrentes des ntres !

Kk. 51 : sapparente aux toccatas italiennes : le plaisir de toucher

le clavier se traduit par un enchanement sans relche de doubles
croches, parfois rehausses de chromatismes.
Kk. 52 : somptueuse sonate, crite plusieurs voix dont les formules
harmoniques ont d intresser Brahms lorsquil disposait de la
collection aujourdhui conserve Vienne (Cf. Repres).
Mis part les deux courtes danses Kk. 32 et Kk. 34, cest la premire
sonate du catalogue de Kirkpatrick o Scarlatti nindique pas un
mouvement rapide.

Scarlatti na pas rvis cette publication ; tmoin la sonate Kk. 33

quil compltera dune grande ouverture de 17 mesures dans la
forme dfinitive quil lui donnera trois ans plus tard.

Kk. 53 : Le manuscrit de Parme prcise que cette sonate doit tre

prcde de Ia sonate Kk. 258. Ayant choisi le parti de suivre lordre
qui rsulte du manuscrit de Venise, Kirkpatrick na pu prendre en
considration cette indication. Elle marque nanmoins lune des
premires volonts de couplage des sonates deux deux (Cf.
Repres).

Il est clair en tout cas que les pices ajoutes par Roseingrave aux
Essercizi sont des pices de jeunesse, comme bon nombre de celles
qui figurent dans les cent numros suivants du catalogue de
Kirkpatrick. On y trouve souvent la marque de lcole italienne :
Kk. 35 est par exemple une toccata, Kk. 41 une fugue quatre
parties ; lune et lautre de ces pices auraient pu tre de Haendel.
On y trouve la trace du style concertant : Kk. 37 et Kk. 40 font
penser Vivaldi ; les danses qui forment lessentiel des Suites pour
clavier de lpoque sont galement prsentes (Kk. 40, 42).

Kk. 54 et Kk. 56 participent de la facture flamboyante dont parle

Kirkpatrick : le discours stablit sur une continuit de croches
(comme bon nombre de pices 3/8, 6/8 ou 12/8, on pense aux
tarentelles italiennes ou aux jotas), le jeu des croisements et des
grands dplacements de mains, les doublures en octaves ou en tierce
donnent une dynamique inhabituelle au clavecin.

Les mouvements indiqus dans certaines de ces pices ne se

trouveront dans une autre composition : Kk. 32 est indiqu Aria,
Kk. 34 Larghetto. Les deux tiers de ces sonates sont crites en mineur.

Kk. 55 : Allegro dans le manuscrit de Venise, Presto dans celui de

Parme. Il est curieux de rapprocher la fin de chacune des deux
parties de cette sonate avec les squences correspondantes de Kk. 7,
un des rares exemples o Scarlatti se rpte.

Kk. 40 et Kk. 42 sont deux ravissants menuets dune coupe

classique (on remarquera que par le jeu des notes ingales, Scott
Ross nous renvoie dans Kk. 40 aux Saisons de Vivaldi).
Rien despagnol dans ces pices mais en revanche on y trouve
souvent des signatures musicales de Scarlatti qui persisteront tout au
long de son uvre : le got pour les croisements de mains (Kk. 36,
Kk. 44), pour les dplacements rapides couvrant tout le clavier (Kk. 31,
Kk. 33, Kk. 38), sans oublier le mpris des difficults techniques.

Kk. 57 : dans cette courte sonate, Scarlatti nenchane pas moins

dune dizaine de thmes ; la richesse de son invention na dgale que
la paresse avec laquelle il nglige dexploiter ses trouvailles.

28

Kk. 58 : est une fugue quatre voix, aussi peu rigoureuse que les
deux prcdentes (Kk. 30 et Kk. 41). Les thmes svres prsentent
en revanche un beau contraste entre un sujet chromatique
descendant et un contre-sujet diatonique ascendant.

Kk. 74 est un Capriccio, au mme titre que Kk. 63, si leur parent
est vidente, il est intressant de constater la conduite dynamique
diffrente des deux pices : les accords et les cadences charges de
Kk. 63 contrastent avec la fluidit de Kk. 74.

Kk. 59 : Cette pice, comme du reste les pices suivantes jusqu

Kk. 64, est vraisemblablement une uvre de jeunesse. Son style et
sa coupe la placent nettement en amont des Essercizi. Kk. 59,
comme Kk. 63 et Kk. 64, sapparente aux danses qui forment
lessentiel des Suites pour clavecin. La facture de Kk. 60 est
galement dune grande simplicit.

Kk. 75 : est un menuet dont on imagine galement lexcution en

formation de chambre ; les lments des deux parties opposant
lvidence soli et tutti.
Kk. 76 : Comme pour sortir dune polyphonie qui a tendance
tourner sur elle-mme, Scarlatti nous donne en conclusion des deux
parties de cette sonate, un trait fulgurant qui parcourt tout le clavier
sur prs de quatre octaves. ( rapprocher de Kk. 62, seuls exemples
de cet ordre.)

Kk. 61 : est de toute luvre catalogue par Kirkpatrick le seul

exemple dune srie de variations. Le thme en est court, il est
intressant de noter que toutes les rptitions sont crites, certaines
dentre elles accusant de lgres diffrences. Les treize variations qui
le suivent sans interruption prsentent, comme il tait dusage, des
formules de plus en plus charges.

Kk. 77 : Une ravissante mlodie accompagne prlude un menuet.

Lcriture incite une excution en formation de chambre avec
solistes et continuo. On verra par la suite que les sonates se groupent
tout naturellement deux deux dune faon presque systmatique ;
cette pice double associant prlude et menuet, est en quelque
sorte le premier exemple de ce qui deviendra systmatique
chez Scarlatti.

Lasymtrie de la sonate Kk. 62 vient moins de lorganisation

centrale de chacune des deux parties de la sonate que du dbut et
surtout de la fin de chacune delles. Les deux post-crux (Cf. Repres)
sont inhabituellement diffrentes, lune en croches, lautre en
doubles ; seule lultime conclusion, surprenante par son trait rageur
en quadruples croches sur trois octaves, est, son accompagnement
prs, identique dans chaque partie.

Kk. 78 : est galement form de deux pices qui senchanent. Elles

proviennent du manuscrit de Combre (Cf. Repres) o elles
figurent sous le titre de Toccata X avec Kk. 85, Kk. 82 et Kk. 94.

Kk. 63 : est marqu Capriccio, Kk. 64 Gavotte (Cf. supra Kk. 59).
noter daprs Kirkpatrick la similitude de Kk. 63 avec une pice
dAdolfo Hasse publie Londres en 1740 (Op. 2, Sonate no 4,
3e mouvement).

Kk. 79 est une trs belle toccata crite en imitation et termine par
des conclusions rythmiquement brillantes.
Kk. 80 : Ravissant menuet (chiffr). Cest la deuxime pice du
catalogue de Kirkpatrick qui ne figure pas dans ldition Longo, ceci
est dautant moins comprhensible quen ralit Kk. 79 et Kk. 80
sont associes sous le mme numro XLV dans le manuscrit de
Venise, source utilise par Longo et Kirkpatrick.

CD 5
Kk. 67 : Le style classique, voire archaque de cette sonate ressort de
son criture en imitation. Il ny a pas une mesure qui ne rpte
inlassablement les quatre notes de laccord bris entendu au dpart.

Kk. 81 : Voir CD 34.

Kk. 68 : est galement construit de bout en bout sur un motif
unique, rythmique

Kk. 82 comme Kk. 85, nest pas une pice binaire comme le sont
toutes les sonates de Scarlatti. Cette particularit prend toutefois une
signification particulire si lon considre ces pices comme faisant
partie dune suite, telles quelles figurent dans le manuscrit de
Combre (Cf. Repres). Sous le titre de Toccata X sont en effet
regroupes (dans lordre) les sonates Kk. 82, Kk. 85, Kk. 78 (gigue
et menuet), Kk. 94 (menuet). Ce manuscrit daterait de 1720. En
toute logique cela aurait d inciter Kirkpatrick les placer en tte de
son catalogue ; ceut t se priver de commencer par les chefs
duvre que sont les Essercizi.

Cette sonate sinscrit dans lventail des pices danser que lon
trouve dans les compositions premire manire. noter : les
manuscrits ne prcisent pas de tempo pour cette sonate.
Kk. 69 : Bien que polyphonique, voire orchestrale, cette sonate est
galement mue par une cellule rythmique unique

Lcriture en est toutefois plus savante : par exemple le dcalage dun

temps des trois premires expositions du rythme la basse.

Kk. 83 comme Kk. 77, regroupe deux pices complmentaires : un

prlude strict crit note contre note deux voix (une troisime note
vient renforcer lharmonie chaque conclusion) et un menuet dont
les deux parties sont dune rare symtrie.

Kk. 70, Kk. 71 et Kk. 72 : Ces trois sonates ont une parent
vidente, elles refltent le style classique des toccate par une criture
en imitation et un droulement sans surprise. Giorgio Pestelli fait
remonter ces pices aux premires annes de Scarlatti, lorsquil tait
Venise (1705-1709) ou Rome (1709-1719) ; il avance
lhypothse que Kk. 72 serait la toute premire pice crite par
Scarlatti pour le clavecin. Il ny a pas de srieuses raisons pour
confirmer ou contredire cette ide.

Kk. 84 : curieuse sonate o lemploi systmatique des tierces et

des sixtes parallles rpond un systme de croches alternes aux
deux mains.
Kk. 85, en forme de toccata, est manifestement une pice de
jeunesse. Elle est toutefois compose dune partie unique (Cf. supra
Kk. 82) dont la rptition est demande la double barre finale
(ce qui nest pas le cas pour Kk. 82).

Kk. 73 est une suite de trois pices, les deux dernires portant
lindication Minuetto. Leur matriel thmatique prsente une grande
similitude du fait de limpulsion des motifs qui tous trois prennent
fortement appui sur le temps fort de chaque mesure. Ces trois
motifs, ascendants, sont amens dans chaque mouvement en figures
de plus en plus serres

Kk. 86 et Kk. 87 sont dune facture plus labore. Lcriture

plusieurs voix de ces pices trois pour Kk. 86 et quatre pour Kk.
87 ainsi que leur intrt rythmique ont suscit de nombreuses
transcriptions. Leur rapprochement nous claire sur la manire dont
Scarlatti traite lcriture polyphonique, faisant progresser les
diffrentes voix par petits mouvements alterns. Bien des lments
de sonates plus tardives prsenteront de la sorte de courtes
progressions dsarticules.

Le dernier menuet est chiffr, ce qui confirme que lensemble

pouvait tre jou en formation de chambre, avec un ou plusieurs
instruments solistes et un continuo.

29

Kk. 88Kk. 89Kk. 90Kk. 91 : Voir CD 34.

Kk. 105 : du fait de sa tonalit, il serait tentant daccoupler cette

sonate avec la prcdente si ce ntait leur mesure similaire 3/8,
rptition que Scarlatti vite soigneusement dans ses couples.
noter, lapparition de la structure rythmique

Kk. 92 : son criture polyphonique est marque par la rptition

systmatique de la cellule

cest une sorte de signature que lon trouve dans de nombreuses

sonates.

Les sonates Kk. 8 et Kk. 238 procdent de mme.

Kk. 93 : Lavant-dernire des cinq fugues du catalogue de
Kirkpatrick. partir dun thme presque scolaire, ses quatre voix
progressent le plus souvent par mouvements parallles.

Kk. 106Kk. 107 : Le manuscrit de Parme propose non pas Allegro

mais Andante pour Kk. 106, ce qui parat mieux convenir cette
pice, somme toute paisible, et autorise son couplage avec Kk. 107.
noter la curieuse fin de cette dernire en mineur.

Avec cette fugue se termine le manuscrit dat de 1742 dans la

collection de Venise (Une dernire pice nest que la redite dune
sonate dj entendue Kk. 52 avec quelques variantes
secondaires).

Kk. 108 est dune incroyable puissance, le clavecin se fait orchestre,

le discours est ponctu de timbales.

CD 6
Kk. 94 : petit menuet dont la forme est inhabituelle chez Scarlatti :
son thme initial est repris lidentique quelques mesures avant la
fin. Cette pice ne figure pas dans ldition intgrale de Longo, sa
seule source est le dernier mouvement de la Toccata X (cf. Repres
et supra Kk. 82).

Kk. 109Kk. 110 : Le seul Adagio de toute lintgrale (encore que

le manuscrit de Parme propose Andante Adagio). Il prcde une
sonate frmissante de rythmes syncops

Fidle la chronologie des sources, Kirkpatrick groupe les trois

sonates suivantes en raison de leur parution vers 1746 dans une
dition franaise publie par la veuve Boivin (Cf. Repres). Kk. 95
et Kk. 96 apparaissent dans dautres sources plus tardives ; pour Kk.
97 en revanche, cest la seule trace connue dune sonate qui par
ailleurs ne figure pas non plus dans ldition intgrale de Longo.

Kk. 111 : Lessentiel de cette curieuse pice repose sur une srie
daccords contretemps de la main droite rpts 26 fois, ce qui fait
52 fois avec les reprises !

de trilles, de notes alternes aux deux mains et de notes rptes.

Kk. 112 : Monothmatique, cette sonate est entirement articule

autour de rythmes constamment survols par la main gauche.

Kk. 95 : Sorte dtude pour les croisements de la main droite, autour

dune inlassable formule centrale de trois croches la main gauche.
On peut imaginer que Scarlatti inversait les mains chaque reprise.

La libert avec laquelle Scarlatti sest progressivement affranchi des

rigueurs de la forme binaire ferme va se confirmer dans les couples
de sonates suivants, o vont apparatre des formes libres et
dveloppes.

Kk. 96 : Splendide sonate, justement clbre par la diversit de ses

thmes et son caractre orchestral. Aux cuivres de louverture
succde laccompagnement dune mandoline, une squence
polyphonique introduit un grand tutti qui termine chaque partie.

CD 7
Kk. 113Kk. 114 : Aprs une ouverture hroque, Kk. 113 droule
un systme continu de croches, en majeur et mineur, dans les
tonalits voisines de la tonique. Kk. 114 contraste par la varit de
ses rythmes ; tout voque la musique populaire espagnole : la liesse
de son ouverture, le chant tendu de la deuxime partie dont les sept
notes descendantes sont tour tour appuyes de trilles, de rythmes
et de gammes rapides comme des fuses.

Kk. 97, en revanche, je parierais volontiers que Scarlatti nest pas

lauteur de cette pice : elle ne figure pas dans les sources principales,
son ambitus dpasse celui des sonates quil crit lpoque, mais
surtout elle accumule des maladresses quon ne trouve nulle part
ailleurs dans son uvre (modulation mesure 15, rptitions mesure
40, octaves mesures 68 86, cadences aussi plates que sonores ).
Commencent ensuite les pices qui figurent dans le volume de la
collection de Venise dat de 1749. Il ne sagit pas pour autant de
pices datant toutes de cette poque.

Kk. 115Kk. 116 : Dans ces deux sonates, plusieurs squences se

terminent par de longues gammes ou des accords suivis de points
dorgue : le discours se fait dramatique, renforc dacciaccature et de
modulations imprvues.

Kk. 99 et Kk. 100 : forment en ralit une seule et unique pice

dans le manuscrit de Venise. Elles sont de plus relies par lindication
Volti subito la fin de Kk. 99 ; le couplage simpose donc, mme si
lune est en mineur et lautre en majeur.

Kk. 117 : Sonate isole, crite de bout en bout deux voix, en

croches alternes de la main droite la main gauche.
Kk. 118Kk. 119 : Non presto, le droulement rgulier de Kk. 118
prlude lincroyable dchanement de Kk. 119 dans laquelle
Scarlatti ralise un crescendo, par laugmentation du poids des accords
rpts jusqu lobsession. Les premiers ont trois notes ;
progressivement il nous fait entendre des combinaisons qui en
comporteront jusqu onze !

Les trois sonates Kk. 101, Kk. 102 et Kk. 103 nous donnent lun
des rares exemples des liaisons que lon trouve dans les copies
manuscrites. Elles portent sur des arpges ou des gammes rapides ; il
est difficile den tirer une conclusion gnrale sur larticulation dans
le jeu de Scarlatti.
Kk. 101 et Kk. 103 prsentent des motifs extrmement volubiles ; le
motif nonc lunisson dans Kk. 101 est repris dans Kk. 102 qui
sinspire galement dans ses formules conclusives des squences dj
utilises dans Kk. 7 et Kk. 55.

Kk. 120 : Cest lextrme limite laquelle Scarlatti a pouss ses

croisements de mains. A tempo, cest dire Allegrissimo, cette pice
est dune rare difficult.
Kk. 121 : Tout aussi brillante, Kk. 121 impose des sauts rapides
jusqu deux octaves. noter la modulation par ton entier au dbut
de la deuxime partie.

Kk. 104 : baptis toccata dans les manuscrits de Mnster et de

Vienne, il sagit dune pice riche dlments contrasts : notes
alternes, accords ostinato soutenant de vritables interjections
mlodiques, systmes croiss donnant lillusion dune pice joue
trois mains.

30

Kk. 122 : propose une cellule rythmique dj maintes fois utilise

par Scarlatti

CD 9
Kk. 141 : Lune des pices les plus connues de Scarlatti. La
succession de ses notes rptes sur un accompagnement charg
dacciaccature, contraste avec le droulement gnreux des
conclusions de chaque partie.

Elle parcourt toute la sonate dont louverture contient une cadence

sur la dominante qui rappelle Kk. 33.

Kk. 142 : Parmi les mouvements perptuels que Scarlatti nous

propose dans ses pices en croches, celle-ci saffranchit plus
nettement des tarentelles italiennes par ses acciaccature, ses syncopes et
les interjections par lesquelles il introduit les deux post-crux.

Kk. 123 : crite trois parties, notes contre notes, parfois en

imitation ou avec des broderies, cette sonate serait presque archaque
si ce ntait son plan tonal original.
Kk. 124Kk. 125 : Somptueux couple de sonates flamboyantes. Un
dferlement darpges encadre, dans Kk. 124, un thme espagnol
soutenu par des accords obstins. Tout aussi volubile, Kk. 125 est
entirement crite deux voix. Son asymtrie est due aux diffrences
des post-crux, encore quil sagisse de la mme ide rythmique.

Kk. 143 : Parmi les difficults nombreuses de cette pice o se

succdent tierces, sixtes et octaves parallles dans un tempo rapide, il
faut signaler de grands dplacements par mouvements contraires que
Scarlatti ne rutilisera plus par la suite.
Kk. 144 et Kk. 146 : Lordre du catalogue de Kirkpatrick et les
sources partir desquelles il a tabli sa numrotation nautorisent pas
les couplages de Kk. 144 et Kk. 146, il reste que musicalement le
rapprochement de ces deux sonates rpondrait aux critres habituels
des couples.

CD 8
Kk. 126 : Les squences mlodiques, spares par des arpges et des
lments chromatiques, soutenus par des accords obstins, se
diversifient selon quils appuient ou quils ludent le premier temps :
on a ici deux des signatures courantes de Scarlatti.

Kk. 147 : Lauthenticit de cette sonate peut tre mise en doute ds

son ouverture et par les traits en triple croches des post-crux. Jol
Sheveloff et Gerstenberg rejettent dailleurs comme trangres la
forme et aux harmonies de Scarlatti, toutes les pices, de Kk. 142
Kk. 147, qui ne figurent pas du reste dans les sources principales.

Kk. 127 : La coupe rgulire en squences de quatre mesures et les

progressions sans surprises, apparentent cette sonate une danse.
Kk. 128 : progression harmonique, coupe rythmique et simplicit
thmatique, apparentent cette sonate la prcdente.

Avec Kk. 148 commence une nouvelle srie de sonates

radicalement diffrentes de celles qui prcdent. Plus courtes, plus
simples, elles rpondent apparemment la promesse de Scarlatti dans
sa prface des Essercizi de prparer pour ses admirateurs des pices
plus faciles et plus varies.

Kk. 129 : La division des deux parties des sonates de Scarlatti autour
de ce pivot que Kirkpatrick nomme crux (Cf. Repres), est ici
rendue vidente par les deux points dorgue qui viennent ponctuer
un discours tant soit peu rptitif.
Kk. 130 : Tierces, sixtes et octaves parallles forment lessentiel du
matriel musical de cette pice dont la construction tonale se fait
principalement sur le relatif mineur de la tonalit de louverture.

Les vingt-neuf pices de cette srie sont groupes dans les volumes
numros 1 de Parme et de Venise (ce dernier dat de 1752). Elles
sont toutes dsignes Toccata dans lindex du manuscrit de Parme. Il
ne sagit pas proprement parler dune collection de pices
didactiques, mais on ne peut sempcher de constater une
progression de leur difficult. Les premires sont abordables au
commun des clavecinistes, alors que certaines pices prcdentes
ncessitent une technique confirme. Progressivement on retrouve
le niveau de difficult auquel Scarlatti nous avait habitu.

Kk. 131 : Dune tonalit inhabituelle, cette sonate repose sur des
dplacements de tierces des exemples voisins apparaissent dans Kk.
23 et Kk. 136.
Kk. 132Kk. 133 Charme et vivacit opposent ces deux sonates,
dans une ambiance de fracheur et de luminosit. Kirkpatrick y
voyait le climat dAranjuez. La construction libre que Scarlatti utilise
de plus en plus amne de nombreux thmes dans la deuxime partie
de Kk. 132.

Kk. 148 ncessite un clavier plus tendu que les claviers habituels. Ce
constat, mais surtout lexamen du style de ces sonates, amnent les
commentateurs sinterroger sur linstrument pour lequel elles furent
crites. Il existait des forte-piano la cour dEspagne ; Kirkpatrick
avance que les huit premires sonates (Kk. 148 Kk. 155) leur taient
destines ; Sheveloff gnralise cette hypothse pour les sonates
jusqu Kk. 265 ! En ltat actuel des recherches ce ne sont toujours
que des hypothses.

Kk. 134Kk. 135Kk. 136 : se suivent identiquement dans les

manuscrits de Parme et de Venise. Elles forment le premier triptyque
du catalogue de Kirkpatrick. Les pices sont contrastes par leurs
mesures : 2/4, 6/8, 3/8.
Kk. 137Kk. 138 : le mouvement perptuel des croches de Kk. 137
est mis en marche par un thme syncop repris au dbut de la
deuxime partie et dans chaque post-crux. Il y a peu dexemples de
sonates aussi parfaitement symtriques que Kk. 138 : trois squences
pratiquement identiques rptes dans le mme ordre A-B-C /
A-B-C.

Dans cette srie, le groupement des sonates par couples se gnralise.

Vingt des vingt-et-une premires sorganisent ainsi et la dernire
(Kk. 176) forme une sorte de couple elle seule.
Les accompagnements de ces pices sont le plus souvent simplifis,
les accords ont rarement plus de deux notes, dans Kk. 149 et Kk. 154
ils sont souvent rduits des formules de trois croches ou de trois
noires spares.

Ici se termine le manuscrit de Venise dat de 1749. Des neuf sonates

suivantes, seules les deux premires figurent dans le manuscrit
de Parme. Six autres proviennent de manuscrits anglais Worgan
et Fitzwilliam , la dernire Kk. 147 provient des copies faites
par labb Santini et conserves Mnster. Les trois sonates
Kk. 142/143 et Kk. 144 ne figurent pas dans ldition Longo.

La signature de Scarlatti apparat nanmoins au dtour de

nombreuses squences telles que :

CD 10
Avec Kk. 156, si lintention didactique demeure, la volont dcrire
facile semble sestomper. Les huit premires sonates sont
pratiquement crites deux voix, mais trs vite Scarlatti rintroduit
des lments qui ncessitent une plus grande matrise du clavier,
tmoins les agrgats volubiles de Kk. 156 ou Kk. 158, les grands
carts de Kk. 157.

Kk. 139 (CD 8)Kk. 140 (CD 9) : Deux sonates dune grande
virtuosit ; Kk. 140 notamment est parmi les plus difficiles de toute
luvre de Scarlatti.

31

Kk. 159, merveilleuse petite sonate, son ouverture voque une

sonnerie de cors, sa forme est classique en ce que le thme
principal est rexpos la tonique la fin de la deuxime partie.

Kk. 175 : tude pour les acciaccature, pousse trs loin dans
louverture et les zones centrales de chaque partie. Des accords
jusqu dix notes chargs dlments trangers lharmonie
crent des objets sonores dun effet percutant et froce.

Kk. 160Kk. 161 : Nen dplaise aux tenants du forte-piano,

lcriture de Kk. 161 impose un clavecin deux claviers : pour faire
sonner les mmes notes crites aux deux mains et faire chanter les
motifs alterns. Ces deux sonates ponctuent leur discours de
plusieurs points dorgue.

Avec Kk. 176, dont lorganisation formelle a t compare avec

celle de Kk. 162, se terminent les volumes 1 des manuscrits de
Parme et de Venise. Le catalogue de Kirkpatrick comprend ensuite,
de Kk. 177 Kk. 201, les sonates qui figurent dans le deuxime
volume de Venise.

Parmi les formes binaires exceptionnelles que et l Scarlatti nous

propose, il en est plusieurs qui sorganisent partir de longues
squences contrastes par leur tempi. Cest le cas de Kk. 162 quil
est intressant de rapprocher de Kk. 176. Lune et lautre prsentent
un enchanement de squences, lentes et rapides, tout en restant dans
le systme binaire. noter qu la charnire des deux parties, ce sera
la squence rapide qui sera reprise dans Kk. 162, la squence lente
dans Kk. 176. (Cf. Kk. 170).

Toutes ces pices ont donc t composes avant 1752. La plupart

dentre elles forment des couples et les premires notamment les
sonates 3/8 font entendre, outre les signatures rythmiques
auxquelles Scarlatti nous a habitus, ces chants tendus, orns,
monocordes, qui, sur des accords obstins, voquent le chant
flamenco. Ainsi la signature

sera entendue dans Kk. 178 et Kk. 179, alors que la deuxime partie
de Kk. 180 prsente un extraordinaire dveloppement de cette
scansion espagnole. Le chant tendu est ici port par des accords de
plus en plus riches qui crent un vritable crescendo. noter
galement dans Kk. 177 louverture et les squences qui voquent
une harmonie de trompettes.

Kk. 164 : Lemploi dun jeu de luth dans linterprtation de Scott

Ross vient rompre la monotonie de cette sonate qui rpte de bout
en bout, avec ou sans acciaccature, une courte cellule forme de deux
noires et dun triolet

Triolet que lon retrouve dans Kk. 165 associ une blanche ou
deux noires. La linarit des sonates de Kk. 164 Kk. 170 renforce
lhypothse dun ensemble de pices didactiques, ou du moins
destines un public damateurs que rebuteraient les difficults
parfois considrables des pices de la priode flamboyante.

Avec Kk. 177 commence une nouvelle srie de sonates qui jusqu
Kk. 201 sont prsentes dans le catalogue de Kirkpatrick dans lordre
du deuxime volume de Venise.
Kk. 177Kk. 178Kk. 179, Kk. 180 prsentent deux couples dont
les mesures sont inverses : C-3/8, 3/8-C, preuve que dans les
couplages la progression des mouvements est moins importante que
le contraste des mesures.

Dans Kk. 166 par exemple cette linarit se traduit en particulier

par un accompagnement simplifi des diffrents thmes,
laccompagnement se rduit une note ou un accord de deux notes sur
chaque temps.

Kk. 181 : un thme parcourt cette sonate, marqu par la pulsion

rythmique :

Kk. 167Kk. 168 : Aux triolets travaills dans Kk. 164, sajoutent
sur un canevas similaire des trilles et des mordants ; le mouvement
est galement plus rapide. Cette sonate est accouple Kk. 168 qui
semble proposer ltude des contretemps.

il prend un caractre oriental du fait des intervalles de sa gamme

ascendante.

Kk. 169 : Cette sonate aux rythmes de tango espagnol pourrait

former une couple avec Kk. 171 par le style et les contrastes. Les
deux pices sont toutefois spares dans les diffrentes sources.

Kk. 182 : Les squences de cette sonate sont relies par une courte
formule o deux notes courent doctave en octave, cest pour
Scarlatti loccasion de donner un ct spectaculaire sa musique. Le
chant flamenco apparat dans la deuxime partie de la sonate, et
jusqu sa fin. Les conclusions sont diffrentes.

Kk. 170 : Dans lexploration des diffrentes varits de formes

binaires, cette sonate complte les propositions donnes page
prcdente avec Kk. 162 et Kk. 176. Le schma est ici plus simple,
les squences lentes et rapides tant spares la charnire des deux
parties de la sonate.

Kk. 183 : Louverture et les passages en imitation feraient de cette

sonate une allemande telle quon en rencontre dans les suites pour
clavecin si ce ntait ses trilles et contretemps qui soulignent la
distance qui spare Scarlatti de ses contemporains europens.

Kk. 171 : Autre exemple de sonate didactique : la rptition se fait

ici sur la cellule rythmique.

Kk. 184, derrire louverture carre de cette sonate, les thmes

voquent lEspagne : danses, claquements de mains, de talons,
castagnettes
Kk. 172 : Dans un mouvement de tarentelle, Scarlatti ouvre tout
lventail des modulations quil utilise :
modales : aprs la crux de chaque partie, les squences passent du
majeur au mineur et rciproquement.
harmoniques : il parcourt une partie du cycle des quintes dans une
marche harmonique avant la premire crux ; il en rsulte une allure
proprement beethovnienne.
par tons entiers : tons ascendants dans la premire partie (de si
bmol do) ; tons ascendants puis descendants dans la seconde (de sol
la, puis de r do).

Kk. 185 : Un des rares exemples o le thme principal est exprim

la basse, mais ce thme lallure de chaconne est trait avec
lhabituelle fantaisie de Scarlatti.
Ce sont les diverses cellules rythmiques des sonates Kk. 186 et Kk.
187 qui leur donnent une parent, parent que lon serait tent de
gnraliser en considrant toutes les pices depuis Kk. 183 comme
une suite en fa mineur. Cinq sonates sont ici copies dans le
manuscrit de Venise mais, divers titres, elles ont dj t
incorpores ailleurs au catalogue Kirkpatrick.

CD 11
Kk. 174 : tude pour les croisements de mains, le dessin continu des
croches au centre du clavier est successivement survol par la main
gauche puis par la main droite. noter la belle amplification du
dessin syncop de la dernire conclusion.

Kk. 188 : on y trouve une srie de triolets de doubles croches

identiques ceux du deuxime trio de Beethoven ; pure concidence
que lon ne peut sempcher de remarquer en les jouant.

32

CD 12
Kk. 189 : Scarlatti impose souvent une disposition des mains dont
lintrt est plus visuel que sonore. Il fait ici jouer le dbut des post-crux
dune seule main : contrairement aux indications que donnent parfois
les compositeurs pour faciliter le jeu de leurs interprtes, il sagirait ici
plutt dune contrainte crant leffet thtral.

Ldition intgrale dAlessandro Longo (Ricordi) ne comprenait ni

Kk. 204a ni Kk. 204b.

De Kk. 190Kk. 191Kk. 192Kk. 193, le manuscrit de Venise,

et du mme coup le catalogue de Kirkpatrick qui le prend comme
base, ne donnent pas dindication de tempo pour ces quatre sonates.
Cest le manuscrit de Parme qui prcise les mouvements de ldition
de cette intgrale. Cest dire que la comparaison des sources est
toujours fructueuse, mme si pour les couplages des sonates, les
incertitudes ne sont pas toujours leves.

Kk. 206 est certainement une importante charnire dans luvre de

Scarlatti. Nous avons vu dans les dernires pices tout une srie de
recherches formelles ; Scarlatti ne sortira dsormais plus des formes
quil a inventories, cherchant davantage mme la simplicit, quitte
porter son attention sur les dveloppements de la seconde partie
des sonates et sur leur construction tonale. Nous avons galement vu
les premiers essais de couplage des sonates ; dsormais les couplages
seront non seulement systmatiques mais organiss avec une grande
rgularit ; les mouvements lents sont plus nombreux et toujours
suivis de pices rapides, les premiers formant en quelque sorte un
prlude aux seconds.

Kk. 205 : isole, cette sonate nest pas sans parent avec Kk. 211
(notes rptes) ou Kk. 214 (syncopes) ; la forme libre associe des
fragments binaires (C) et ternaires (12/8).

De Kk. 189 Kk. 198 par exemple, Venise ne suggre que trois
couples, laissant quatre sonates isoles, qui sont pourtant associes
dans Parme :
Kk. 190 forme dans Parme un triptyque en si bmol majeur avec
Kk. 189 et Kk. 202.
Kk. 191 de mme, un triptyque en r avec Kk. 213 et Kk. 214.
Kk. 196 une paire avec Kk. 210 en sol majeur ; Kk. 198 une paire
avec Kk. 203 en si mineur.

Les pices lentes de Scarlatti sont relativement peu connues ; le

compositeur tant associ lide de virtuosit. Les pices qui
commencent ici nous font dcouvrir un Scarlatti lyrique qui met au
service de lexpression toutes les ressources de sa prodigieuse habilet
dinterprte.

Kk. 190, la division de chaque partie des sonates en deux zones

distinctes, division trs typique des compositions de Scarlatti mise en
vidence par Kirkpatrick, est ici particulirement nette : ces deux
zones sont spares dun point dorgue, lui mme amen par un
arpge descendant. noter quaprs les points dorgue, la zone dite
tonale oscille entre le majeur et le mineur selon un procd que
Scarlatti utilise souvent.

Kk. 206Kk. 207 : illustrent ce propos ; les surprises sont tout aussi
inattendues que les contrastes sont forts. La grande veine mlodique
sassocie une virtuosit ruisselante.
Kk. 208Kk. 209 : autre merveille. Sil fallait ne garder quune
sonate, je choisirais celle-ci Kk. 208 ; dautant que la sonate suivante
qui lui est accouple, avec son allgre balancement de jota, est un
remde infaillible la mlancolie de la premire.

Kk. 197 : Autre illustration de ce quapporte la comparaison des

sources, les deux manuscrits de Parme et de Venise diffrent trs
lgrement quant lenchanement des deux parties de cette sonate :
directement enchanes dans Venise, elles sont spares dans Parme.
Dans son dition intgrale, Kenneth Gilbert laisse linterprte le
choix des versions ; Scott Ross a choisi la seconde.

Kk. 210 : Cette petite sonate monothmatique doit tre sans doute
associe avec Kk. 196 ; les deux pices en tous cas se suivent dans le
manuscrit de Parme.
Kk. 211Kk. 212 : Incroyable contraste, aprs Kk. 211, sinueuse et
pleine de charme, pimente de lcho dune mandoline, Kk. 212
prsente un dveloppement hroque, des enchanements qui font
penser Beethoven ! La surprise de ce dveloppement est dautant
plus forte quelle saccompagne dun changement de tonalit la
double barre.

Kk. 198 : Toccata isole, crite deux parties (plus une pdale dans
le dveloppement et des accords aux cadences conclusives). Le style
rigoureux de cette pice lapparente aux sonates Kk. 70, 71 et 72,
son plan tonal est peu dvelopp, ses cadences trs sonores.
Kk. 199Kk. 200 : Ces deux sonates montrent comment Scarlatti
saffranchit des contraintes de la forme binaire traditionnelle. De
forme ouverte lune et lautre, Kk. 199 est concentre : la seconde
partie ne reprend que deux des trois squences prcdemment
entendues dans la premire partie. En revanche Kk. 200 est libre : le
dbut de chaque partie est diffrent, tout en restant dans le mme
esprit. On retrouve cette forme libre dans Kk. 201.

Kk. 213Kk. 214 : Autre couple, sublime dquilibre et de

diversit. Kk. 213 servit dindicatif tout au long de lanne 1985
pour la diffusion de lintgrale de Scott Ross sur France-Musique.
Kk. 215Kk. 216 : Ces deux sonates prsentent au dbut de
leur deuxime partie des dveloppements dune rare beaut. Dans
Kk. 215, une srie de ponctuations, charges dacciaccature (que
Longo avait soigneusement gommes), rptes trois fois (utmifa)
illustre bien ces modulations abruptes dont parle Antonio Soler dans
son Llave de la modulacin. A contrario dans Kk. 216, cest un
dveloppement presque statique du motif de louverture qui fait
osciller lharmonie, comme plus tard le fera Schubert dans certaines
sonates. Le chant tendu se fait ici mlodie.

Kk. 202 : Scarlatti nous propose ici une autre forme originale,
organise partir de trois squences diffrentes (Cf. incipit) A 3/8B
6/8C 3/8. Les parties extrmes (A et C) ont une parent vidente :
elles encadrent une longue squence au rythme de sicilienne qui
module constamment. Par le jeu des reprises, lexcution fait
entendre A/A/B/C/B/C.
CD 13
Les sonates, qui au catalogue de Kirkpatrick portent les numros 202
205, ne figurent dans aucun des manuscrits de la collection de
Venise. La source en est donc le manuscrit de Parme o elles sont
copies dans le quatrime volume dat de 1752. Kk. 203 forme une
couple avec Kk. 198 : elles se suivent dans Parme avec les No 20
et 21 ; les sonates suivantes Kk. 22 et 23 forment galement une
couple, mais curieusement une fois nest pas coutume
Kirkpatrick les associe en leur affectant les No 204a et 204b dans
son catalogue. La premire a une forme complexe o alternent
plusieurs tempi (C 3/8, 6/8), le majeur et le mineur ; la seconde en
revanche est une sorte de menuet volubile bti sur une cellule
rythmique unique.

CD 14
Kk. 217Kk. 218 : Si la plupart des ouvertures des sonates sont
crites en imitation, rares sont celles qui sont aussi ornes que celles
de Kk. 217 ; au contraire, la suite de la crux est massive, orchestrale :
par le jeu des croisements de mains, cest tout le clavier qui est
sollicit. Contraste galement : Kk. 218 termine cette couple par un
perpetuum mobile particulirement volubile.
Kk. 219Kk. 220Kk. 221Kk. 222 : Mme systme de contraste
entre lcriture orchestrale des premires sonates de ces deux couples
et les formules volubiles des dernires. Du point de vue tonal
lorganisation de ces quatre sonates est particulirement riche :
mlange de majeur et mineur, nombreuses sries de modulations
abruptes au ton entier suprieur. Le dcor tonal des sonates change
plusieurs reprises ; larmature de Kk. 220 est modifie cinq fois.
33

Quil sagisse dune musique riche, gnreuse, roborative, nul

auditeur de cette intgrale ne devrait maintenant en douter. Mais
sagit-il vraiment dune redcouverte de notre XXe sicle ? La
Bibliothque de Vienne possde, par exemple, une collection de
copies manuscrites de pices de Scarlatti. Labb Santini, infatigable
collectionneur, les avait copies en son temps et Johannes Brahms
possda cette collection dans sa bibliothque musicale. Qui plus est,
il a soigneusement annot chaque volume, compar les sonates avec
celles qui taient publies lpoque par Czerny et il en a mme
tabli un index dtaill. Si tout apparemment spare les deux
compositeurs, il faut quand mme imaginer que Brahms sest
attentivement pench sur ces sonates. Est-ce pour tmoigner de cette
attention quil a fait de louverture de Kk. 223 le thme de lun de
ses Lieder ? (Opus 72 no 5 1876).

pas crits leur juste valeur. Dans le mme contexte, Kk. 92 avait
une notation plus prcise.
Kk. 239 : Fait entendre avec insistance une cellule rythmique

(motif repris 78 fois !) qui voque sans peine les danses populaires
espagnoles : cest en effet le rythme dune sguedille svillane.
Kk. 240Kk. 241 : La premire est une des plus longues sonates de
Scarlatti. La prsentation du thme espagnol qui est au cur de cette
pice est soigneusement prpare par une srie de courtes squences
qui apparaissent avec une symtrie parfaite dans les deux parties, tour
tour en imitation, propulses par des formules rythmiques solides,
ou encore animes par des marches harmoniques qui progressent par
tons entiers. Elle forme une couple avec Kk. 241, gigue au
mouvement continu de croches.

Dans les deux couples formes par Kk. 223Kk. 224Kk. 225Kk.
226, se juxtaposent des squences polyphoniques (celles de Kk. 224
ont dj t entendues dans Kk. 150), des squences rythmiques
marques de contretemps et de syncopes, des squences virtuoses
(accords briss, arpges divers) : on est bloui par la libert
dassociation dont fait preuve Scarlatti. noter les conclusions de
Kk. 226 : une inhabituelle diffrence les caractrise, la fin de la
sonate se termine sur une strette nerveuse.

Kk. 242Kk. 243 : La suppression du premier temps des

accompagnements de Kk. 242 est lune des signatures de Scarlatti ;
dans Kk. 243 cest la permanence de cellules rythmiques et la varit
des dessins mlodiques quelles engendrent qui marquent
lempreinte du compositeur.

Kk. 227 : limage de Kk. 170, le caractre exceptionnel de la

forme de cette sonate vient des mesures diffrentes de ses deux
parties : la premire 2/4 la seconde 3/8. noter la conclusion en
fa dise mineur de la premire partie, particulirement virtuose.
Scarlatti, en compositeur-interprte utilise, comme le feront Chopin
ou Liszt, les facilits digitales quoffrent les tonalits lointaines.

CD 16
Kk. 244Kk. 245 : Couple dans la tonalit inhabituelle de si majeur.
Seules quatre sonates ont ainsi cinq dises larmature ; cest
loccasion pour Scarlatti de parcourir tout lunivers tonal, notamment
dans Kk. 244, sonate par ailleurs marque par la signature

CD 15
On prend conscience de lvolution de lcriture de Scarlatti en
comparant lenvironnement de certaines squences identiquement
reprises dans des sonates spares au catalogue de Kirkpatrick. Il en
est ainsi par exemple de lenchanement des gammes de Kk. 229
(CD 14), limage de celui de Kk. 43 ou dans le jeu des
notes alternes de Kk. 230 limage de Kk. 29. Ces dtails sont
incorpors dans des sonates sinon plus riches du moins plus
quilibres et plus abouties.

Kk. 245 est une gigue.

Kk. 246Kk. 247 : Couple complexe par la densit de lcriture des
deux sonates qui la composent et les recherches de modulations
en particulier les enharmonies dans Kk. 246, et les recherches
rythmiques dans Kk. 247 o Scarlatti superpose une cellule de base

des cellules secondaires telles que

Sagissant de notes alternes, leur criture fait galement ressortir des

diffrences : la ncessit de recourir deux claviers dans les notes
alternes de Kk. 39 ou Kk. 104 ne simpose pas dans Kk. 418 ou Kk.
468. En revanche lcriture implique une articulation plus soutenue
que dans Kk. 230.

Kk. 248Kk. 249 : Couple qui prsente de nombreux lments

dinspiration espagnole. La rfrence la guitare est implicite dans
Kk. 248 avec notamment son dveloppement en notes rptes et
ses accords ostinato. Kk. 249 est marque de plusieurs rythmes
espagnols dont cet oytabado que lon retrouvera dans Kk. 255,
marque galement de ponts modulants qui sont de vritables tutti.

Kk. 231 fait entendre avec insistance une cellule rythmique rpte
soixante fois :

Kk. 250 : De faon inhabituelle, les sources prsentent pour cette

sonate des liaisons dont laboutissement semble destiner cette sonate
un instrument ne possdant quun seul clavier.

Kk. 232Kk. 233 : noter la parent entre les cellules rythmiques

des post-crux de ces deux sonates

Kk. 251 : Par la transformation mlodique du motif

si souvent rencontr, cette sonate prend une allure de valse populaire
dont les rsonnances sont trangement modernes.

Kk. 234 : Toute la sonate est btie sur de courtes squences qui se
rpondent en imitation, les post-crux introduisent nanmoins un
thme en contretemps.

Kk. 252 : Aprs un dbut sans vritable originalit, surprenante

surprise rythmique dans la post-crux o le motif

Kk. 235 : Dune forme trs particulire, un mouvement de

sicilienne intervient la place du dveloppement dans cette sonate.
Comme dans Kk. 202, les squences 6/8 modulent loin de la
tonalit initiale, mais ici les parties extrmes nont pas lapparente
symtrie quavait celle de Kk. 202 (seule la post-crux de la premire
partie est donne aprs le 6/8 pour conclure la sonate). Cela renforce
lide de dveloppement alors que Kk. 202 tait plus proche des
sonates plusieurs mouvements alterns.

aux allures de fandango est rpt 32 fois.

Kk. 253 : Contraste nouveau, entre les trilles nerveux du dbut de
cette sonate et sa deuxime partie qui tablit un climat doucement
modulant autour de trois croches rptes avec insistance.
Kk. 254 : Cette sonate, toute simple, semble explorer ce qui peut
rsulter du dcalage des voix en imitation. Au del des quatre
squences en canon loctave, de nombreux petits contretemps lui
donnent un charme lgrement chaotique.

Kk. 238 : Derrire ces rythmes qui voquent les pices la franaise,
Kirkpatrick nous rvle quen ralit se cacherait une chanson
folklorique de lEstremadure. On notera que suivant les habitudes de
lpoque pour ce type de rythmes, les silences et les leves ne sont
34

Kk. 255 : Kenneth Gilbert, dans la belle prface de son dition

intgrale, raconte la savoureuse histoire des mentions oytabado et
tortorilla que portent certaines squences de cette sonate. Longtemps
prsente comme les noms de jeux dorgue portugais, il sagirait plus
simplement, comme L.F. Tagliavini la dmontr, dune danse
populaire et du cri de la tourterelle.

des nombreuses tarentelles qui compltent les couples de sonates ;

elle module toutefois davantage.
Kk. 270 : Aucune des sources ne mentionne de tempo pour cette
sonate qui semble tre une esquisse rptant lenvie la formule
prsente louverture :

Kk. 256Kk. 257 : Avec de multiples imitations du motif initial

(premire mesure), Scarlatti nous offre une sonate lyrique qui
prlude avec grce Kk. 257, une toccata deux voix. noter les
conclusions diffrentes des deux parties de Kk. 256 et ci-dessus de
Kk. 254.

Le jeu de luth employ par Scott Ross donne du caractre cette

pice, en faisant ressortir les grands dplacements de la main gauche.
Kk. 271 : Toccata deux voix.
Kk. 272 : Il ny a gure de mesure o la cellule rythmique

CD 17
Kk. 258 : Cette sonate forme avec Kk. 53 lune des rares couples
nexistant que dans le manuscrit de Parme. Sagit-il dune ngligence
du copiste ? De la difficult quil avait rencontre pour runir les
uvres (parses ?) de Scarlatti ? Dix annes sparent Kk. 258 de
Kk. 53 dans les copies manuscrites de Venise.

ne donne le mouvement qui parcourt toute la sonate, mouvement

somme toute monotone et qui contraste avec ceux de Kk. 273, avec
qui elle forme une couple. Celle-ci est dune forme exceptionnelle :
le dbut de la seconde partie prsentant en effet une pastorale 6/8
qui rompt la mesure 3/8 du reste de la sonate. Lallure de danse du
dbut est renforce par la coupe de huit mesures rptes cinq fois.
Les conclusions de chaque partie sont dune belle virtuosit.

Kk. 259 : est un exemple simple de ces formes dites concentres :

louverture, en imitation, nest pas reprise dans la seconde partie,
mais on trouve dans chacune delles la mme ordonnance de
quatre squences.

Kk. 274Kk. 275Kk. 276 : Le premier triptyque selon Kirkpatrick

qui nen compte en tout que quatre, donnant une certaine restriction
ce type de regroupement. Sur le mme principe en effet : unit
tonale, varit des mouvements, numros successifs dans les sources,
on trouve facilement douze tryptiques. Le manuscrit de Parme en
suggre mme dix-huit.

Kk. 260 : Quelques aspects de cette longue sonate symtrique sont

inhabituels : les conclusions sont diffrentes, ce qui est rare, on
change huit fois darmature, ce qui est unique. Dans les deux parties
de la sonate, le plan tonal se rvle complexe, et les transitions
modulantes se prsentent comme de vritables dveloppements
ordonns en trois squences.

noter : lutilisation systmatique du motif prsent dans la

premire mesure de Kk. 274, les nombreuses ruptures de rythme de
Kk. 273 o se succdent croches, triolets, doubles croches et
contretemps, lutilisation du mode mineur dans la quasi totalit de
Kk. 276 ; une courte coda ramenant en treize mesures la tonalit
initiale de fa majeur.

Kk. 261Kk. 262 : sont crites dans linhabituelle tonalit de si

majeur (Cf. galement Kk. 244 et Kk. 245). Mais peine install
dans cette armature, Scarlatti sen dgage pour la nudit dun
la mineur. Cest loccasion du saisissant dveloppement de la
deuxime partie de cette sonate, fait de puissants accords qui
ponctuent la rptition fbrile de la mme note (80 fois). Cette
squence en la est reprise identiquement en si et en do dise).
Kk. 262 est une sorte de tarentelle zbre de gammes rapides.

Kk. 277Kk. 278 : Dans les pices lyriques comme la premire de

cette couple, on ne peut quadmirer le charme et lefficacit de
lcriture de Scarlatti. Kk. 278 est aussi toute simple, une tarentelle
la crux bien nette, souligne dun point dorgue amen lui-mme
dun arpge descendant.

Kk. 263Kk. 264 : La premire sonate, une toccata en mineur, se

termine par une de ces cadences charges que lon trouvait dans les
premires pices du catalogue de Kirkpatrick. La libert avec
laquelle Scarlatti traite les entres en imitation de cette pice ou les
ruptures de rythmes dans I`ouverture, empche toutefois de
rattacher cette sonate aux uvres de jeunesse. La seconde, en
majeur, offre plusieurs exemples de la faon dont Scarlatti matrise la
dynamique de ses pices. Dans la fin de lextension, les accords se
gonflent progressivement de une sept notes, crant un crescendo
inhabituel au clavecin.

Kk. 279 : Vritable labyrinthe harmonique o Scarlatti semble

samuser parcourir la plupart des tonalits : A/a/C/G/A/B/b/G
diseA bmol/B bmol/e bmol/d bmol-c dise/F dise/
b/e/D/G/A, passant tout naturellement par des enharmonies.
Kk. 280 : Bel exemple de forme concentre (C) pousse sa limite.
Rien de ce qui fait la sonate jusqu sa premire crux nest repris dans
la seconde partie. Le dveloppement en revanche reprend le matriel
sonore de la post-crux (avec un matriel diffrent cet t une sonate
libre).

Kk. 265 : est un rondo. Trois couplets 6/8 suivent un court refrain
binaire. La dernire reprise est suivie dune coda dveloppant
le refrain.

Kk. 281Kk. 282 : La construction de Kk. 282 rserve une surprise :

les deux parties de la sonate sont formes de trois volets spars :
a,b,c//d,e,f. Les volets ad et surtout cf se correspondent
intimement, aux transpositions et aux conclusions prs. Les volets du
centre, be en revanche, bien quapparents par leur ligne
mlodique en mineur, sont fortement contrasts par leur tempi
(AllegroAndante), leur mesure (binaireternaire), leur tonalit et
leur accompagnement (harmonique dans b, polyphonique dans e).

Kk. 266Kk. 267 : Sont respectivement des sonates deux et trois

voix. Ds la premire crux de Kk. 267 et jusqu la fin simpose
chaque mesure le balancement :

CD 18
Avec la sonate Kk. 268 commence dans lintgrale de Scott Ross,
une nouvelle srie denregistrements cette fois raliss sur un
clavecin de William Dowd.

Kk. 283Kk. 284 : Le prlude que reprsente Kk. 283 reprend les
motifs rythmiques sur lesquels tait base la sonate Kk. 270. Sa
facture est nanmoins plus varie du fait des motifs en triolets des
conclusions et des modulations de la seconde partie. Kk. 284 est un
alerte rondo dont le refrain est prsent alternativement en majeur
et en mineur sur la basse de sol, une octave de sol rpte une
chaque mesure sonne comme une pdale ou un bourdon de vielle,
les couplets ont une coupe par quatre. Ces lments imposent un
caractre de danse populaire cette superbe pice.

Kk. 268Kk. 269 : Scarlatti semble exprimenter dans Kk. 268 les
diffrentes directions que peut prendre une modulation. plusieurs
reprises, partant dune tonalit donne quil affirme trois fois par
la formule :

il conduit successivement son discours la tierce, la quarte ou la

quinte, pour revenir ensuite au point de dpart. Kk. 269 est lune
35

Kk. 285Kk. 286 : Le mouvement marqu Allegro dans Venise,

porte lindication Andante Allegro dans Parme. Le thme est pour
lessentiel le motif entendu la premire mesure, qui est rpte tout
au long de la sonate. Il volue sur un accompagnement ralis avec
simplicit. Kk. 286 est une gigue accentue de syncopes et
dacciaccature. Le dessin des croches est souvent marqu dappoggiature
au demi-ton infrieur, plusieurs squences se rptent
identiquement, permettant un cho sur deux claviers.

Kk. 303 est ainsi en quelque sorte mise en mouvement par la cellule
rythmique :

Kk. 287 et Kk. 288 : Voir CD 34.

Scarlatti reprendra ce rythme avec des arpges descendants dans

Kk. 311, sonate qui, limage de Kk. 305, fait entendre des pdales
harmoniques appuyes.

Des deux petites sonates Kk. 304 et Kk. 305, on peut aussi retenir
la cellule rythmique finale de Kk. 305 :

CD 19
Kk. 289Kk. 290Kk. 291Kk. 292 : Ces quatre sonates forment
aussi bien deux couples quune petite suite. Chacune delles est mise
en mouvement par une cellule rythmique que lon trouve tout au
long de la sonate. Cette cellule est prsente ds louverture (pour
Kk. 290 o il faut attendre quelques mesures avant de lentendre). Il
faut reconnatre une conomie de moyens dans ces pices, mais leur
simplicit na dgale que la parfaite matrise de leur criture.

Kk. 306Kk. 307 : rptent satit un matriel sonore rduit sa

plus simple expression : huit notes ds la deuxime mesure de Kk.
306, six notes la main droite ds le dbut de Kk. 307. Autre
exemple du rle moteur dune courte cellule, on pourrait parler ici
daction music comme on parle daction painting. Cest
galement ce principe que lon trouve dans nombre de pices 6/8.
Avec Kk. 306, commence le septime volume de ldition que
Kenneth Gilbert a ralise dans la collection Le Pupitre (Heugel).
Dans lensemble, ces pices ne prsentent pas de difficults
techniques considrables. Peut-tre moins inspires, ces pices
sont souvent limpides et toujours admirablement conduites, leur
organisation rythmique et harmonique est relativement simple. On
ne trouve aucun croisement de mains, pratiquement aucun de
ces grands dplacements qui rendent parfois les excutions
problmatiques.

Kk. 293 : est une toccata dont les motifs sont le plus souvent repris
en imitation. Il se forme ainsi un systme polyphonique trois voix,
quelque peu laborieux, qui procde souvent par marches
harmoniques.
Kk. 294Kk. 295 : Des gammes brises, quelque peu rptitives,
alternent avec de courtes squences polyphoniques. Le plan tonal de
Kk. 294 oscille entre majeur et mineur, on a parfois le sentiment
dune improvisation. Kk. 295 reprend les motifs de Kk. 284 : ce qui
tait refrain, marqu par des pdales en bourdon, termine luvre,
ce qui tait couplet se retrouve au dbut de chacune des deux
parties. Des squences modulantes isoles de points dorgue,
donnent en plus un caractre dclamatoire cette courte pice.

Kk. 308, Kk. 309, Kk. 310, Kk. 311 : forment par exemple deux
couples de sonates crites de bout en bout deux voix ; elles ont le
charme des pices faciles la basse est le plus souvent constitue de
noires ou de blanches.

Nous sommes la fin du volume V qui se termine avec Kk. 295 ; le

dbut du volume VI prsente son tour de magnifiques surprises.

Kk. 312Kk. 313 : La main gauche du claveciniste est davantage

sollicite dans cette couple. Les cellules telles que :

Kk. 296Kk. 297Kk. 298Kk. 299 : Ces deux couples, en tte du

dernier des trois volumes de Venise dat de 1753, sont de vritables
chefs-duvre. Leur richesse thmatique, leur plnitude sonore, les
contrastes rythmiques et harmoniques les rapprochent des sonates de
la priode flamboyante, avec en plus la dimension lyrique des
mouvements lents (Kk. 296, 298).

dans Kk. 312 ou :

dans Kk. 313 se rpartissent aux deux mains et leur excution est
dautant plus dlicate que les terminaisons de ces agrgats seffectuent
sur une note loigne.

Les notes rptes de Kk. 298 font chanter une mandoline, sans
doute plus napolitaine quespagnole.

Kk. 314Kk. 315 : On retrouve dans Kk. 314 ces dveloppements

fluides dont Scarlatti a le secret. crite trois parties, il stablit un
climat harmonique hsitant, une musique en suspension Kk. 315
reprend en imitation un dessin de six notes dont les reprises sont
interrompues par une sorte dhmiole 3/4 dans les conclusions des
deux parties.

La virtuosit est pousse lextrme dans Kk. 299, certainement

lune des pices les plus difficiles de toute luvre de Scarlatti.
Lexemple ci-dessous montre du reste la parent avec les tudes de
Chopin ou de Liszt.

Kk. 316Kk. 317 : En faisant progressivement varier la densit de

ses accords et de ses formules mlodiques, Scarlatti fait ressortir ici la
dimension dynamique du clavecin.

Kk. 300, Kk. 301 : Deux sonates empreintes de charme et de

simplicit. Elles terminent le volume VII du manuscrit de Parme,
galement dat de 1753. La datation homogne des manuscrits de
Venise et de Parme, nimplique pas pour autant une correspondance
avec les dates de composition.

CD 21
Quel tait en 1750 le temprament utilis par Scarlatti ? Les claviers
de la Cour dEspagne taient-ils ingalement accords ? Les
tonalits lointaines, charges de dises et de bmols, se
trouvaient-elles dfavorises ? Toujours est-il que les armatures de fa
dise, si, r bmol sont rarement employes par Scarlatti bien quelles
incitent la virtuosit. Il nexiste dans ces tonalits que trois couples
de sonates (quelques pices modulent dans ces tonalits rputes
difficiles), mais elles sen chappent rapidement en glissant du mode
majeur au mode mineur.

CD 20
Kk. 302 : Lun des rares Andante ternaires du catalogue de
Kirkpatrick. Cette sonate sorganise autour dune continuit de
triolets, il en rsulte une fluidit que Scarlatti interrompt
brutalement la fin de chaque partie par une cascade darpges, de
gammes torrentielles.
Bien des sonates sont crites partir dune petite cellule, prise et
reprise indfiniment par Scarlatti. Cest le plus souvent une ide
rythmique, parfois une arabesque mlodique et par le jeu des
rptitions, des modulations, voire des transformations, son rle
devient moteur, crant le mouvement.

Kk. 318Kk. 319 sont les deux seules sonates crites en fa dise
majeur. Pour assurer cette tonalit si peu usite lpoque,
Scarlatti, en guise douverture, parcourt dune gamme ltendue du
clavier : de haut en bas (Kk. 318) et de bas en haut (Kk. 319) ; mais
cest moins la facilit digitale de cette tonalit qui lintresse que
ltendue des modulations quil peut raliser. De fa dise jusquen ut,
36

opposition tutti/soli : accords sonores rpts, polyphonie soutenue

par des basses toffes, gammes parallles, arpges Kk. 338 par la
prsence quasi permanente dun motif de cinq notes

la tonalit la plus loigne : ut mineur dans Kk. 318, ut majeur dans

Kk. 319, les armatures changent, les enharmonies sont nombreuses.
Kk. 320, Kk. 321 : Deux Allegros proposent un travail sur les sixtes
(Kk. 320), sur les arpges (Kk. 321). On retrouve dans cette dernire
la signature rythmique chre Scarlatti.

et la rgularit de sa coupe (par quatre mesures), a galement le

caractre dune danse.
CD 22
Scarlatti parsme son uvre de signatures : formules rythmiques,
contretemps, lision dun temps fort, etc. Il semble aussi prendre
plaisir parfois glisser dans les conclusions, un petit signal sonore
inattendu. Dans Kk. 340 cest par exemple les cinq notes graves :

Kk. 322Kk. 323 : galement rapides, les deux sonates sont

nanmoins dune criture limpide et relativement faciles.
Kk. 324Kk. 325 : sont en revanche plus difficiles par le jeu
complexe de la main gauche, par les lments en sixtes et en tierces
qui parsment Kk. 324 et par les carts systmatiques quimpose
Kk. 325 (post-crux et dveloppement).

qui reviennent huit fois comme une percussion. Dans Kk. 261 cest
lironique motif aigu

Le septime volume du manuscrit de Venise commence avec Kk.

326 ; il comprend des pices que lon retrouve dans les volumes 8 et
9 de Parme. Ces derniers sont dats de 1753 et 1754, selon toute
vraisemblance, Parme est antrieur Venise.

qui, galement huit reprises, sonne comme un clairon.

Kk. 326Kk. 327 : Dans cette couple, Kk. 326 a des allures de
toccata et Kk. 327 de danse ancienne. Les modulations de Kk. 326
suivent souvent le cycle des quintes et tiennent plus lcole
allemande quaux habitudes de Scarlatti. La coupe rgulire de Kk.
327 et le motif de cinq croches, plus de cent fois rpt sous des
formes diverses lui confrent un caractre chorgraphique.

Kk. 341, Kk. 342, Kk. 343, Kk. 344 : Quatre sonates en la dont
seule la premire est en mineur. Scarlatti nous propose-t-il deux
couples ? ou un triptyque de trois sonates en majeur et une pice
isole ? Je penche pour la premire des hypothses, non seulement
parce que nous sommes environns de couples qui se succdent
de plus en plus rgulirement, mais parce que les deux sonates
Kk. 343Kk. 344 forment ensemble de merveilleux contrastes
dcriture et de mouvement qui marquent cette notion de couple.

Kk. 328 Voir CD 34.

Kk. 345Kk. 346 : Accouples dans toutes les sources manuscrites,

ces sonates ont une parent cache. Lune et lautre sappuient sur
des cellules rythmiques rptes :

Kk. 329Kk. 330 : Une petite ritournelle de quatre mesures forme

le matriel thmatique de Kk. 329. Expose en majeur puis,
lintrieur mme de la premire partie, reprise en mineur, elle sera
progressivement transforme et prsente dans un ventail de
tonalits. Tout aussi simple dans son criture, Kk. 330 est une gigue
la coupe incertaine, o le jeu stablit par lopposition de croches
rptes avec insistance et de gamme ou darpge de croches.

et celles-ci procdent on le voit dun alignement de notes assez

voisin. Cest le jeu rpt des quatre croches qui met en mouvement
les squences ou elles se trouvent.
Kk. 347Kk. 348 Au volume VII du manuscrit de Venise, la
dernire mesure de la 22e sonate (Kk. 347) est orne dune main,
dont le doigt tendu renvoie imprativement le lecteur au dbut de
la sonate suivante, avec la mention attacca subito. Cest une des
preuves de la volont daccoupler les sonates qui prcise de plus la
manire de le faire. noter galement leffet dramatique produit par
les points dorgue suivis de gammes chromatiques ainsi que la
rapparition des croisements de mains, dans une position qui ne
les rend toutefois pas difficiles. Les croisements de mains, disparus
depuis Kk. 218, rapparaissent timidement ici ; ils seront davantage
utiliss dans les dernires sonates du catalogue (Kk. 528-529 et
Kk. 554).

Kk. 331Kk. 332 : Avec ces deux sonates, Scarlatti nous mnage
quelques-unes des surprises dont il a le secret. Cest, dans la
premire, les sauts rpts de trois notes qui comme des pizzicati ou
une percussion, marquent, tantt la main droite, tantt la main
gauche, les premiers temps de la plupart des mesures, dans la
suivante, cadences, unissons, modulations et arpges donnent une
impression orchestrale trs particulire.
Kk. 333 : totalement diffrentes, les deux parties de cette sonate
contrastes par leur tempi, leur mesure et leur caractre, forment
une sorte de couple contracte dont Scarlatti naurait ralis que
deux moitis.

Kk. 349Kk. 350 : En plus des habituels contrastes de mesures et de

tempi, cette couple offre un contraste de jeu : Kk. 349 procde par
petits mouvements de broderie, seules les basses sont disjointes ;
Kk. 350 linverse cartle ses arpges et les doigts du claveciniste.

Kk. 334 : Autre sonate isole dans cette srie de couples, cest une
sorte de bulera dont le dessin rgulier des croches est relanc par
quelques syncopes. Ds la fin de louverture, la basse, qui pourrait
tre chiffre, marque chaque temps dune seule note.

Kk. 351 : est un rondo, dont le refrain Andante, binaire, est

largement dvelopp dans une ultime coda, et cela dans le tempo
rapide de ses deux couplets.

Les sept couples qui viennent ensuite associent des sonates aux
mouvements rapides.

Kk. 352Kk. 353 : Une grande puret de forme rapproche ces deux
sonates aux lments simples et nerveux. noter les signatures :

Kk. 335 : Lemploi du jeu de luth dans lenregistrement de cette

sonate par Scott Ross, fait ressortir la bonhommie de sa ritournelle
initiale.
Kk. 336 : noter le rle de la cellule rythmique

Kk. 354Kk. 355 : Couple de sonates dune belle simplicit;

linspiration de la premire, plus espagnole, avec ses coupes
irrationnelles (5, 7, 13 mesures) et la varit de ses rythmes contraste
avec la seconde, plus proche des toccatas, marque par des squences
rgulires de quatre mesures et une basse sur chaque temps.

qui, plusieurs reprises, vient structurer cette sonate.

Kk. 337Kk. 338 : Ces deux pices sont, en revanche, beaucoup
plus riches. Kk. 337 est vritablement concertante, avec une
37

Ici se termine le septime volume de Venise, premier des trois

volumes dats de 1754. Les deux sonates qui suivent nexistent que
dans le manuscrit de Parme (Volume IX galement 1754).

Kk. 372Kk. 373 : Orchestrale, Kk. 372 lest tout autant, avec de
riches harmonies. Les contrastes de registres sont rpartis tout au
long de la sonate. Kk. 373 qui porte lindication Presto e fugato. De
fait part les marches harmoniques par ton entier dans les deux
zones modulantes, tous les motifs sont repris en imitation loctave.

CD 23
Kk. 356Kk. 357 : Ces deux pices sont intressantes plus dun
titre. Dun point de vue pratique, ce sont les premires recourir aux
notes les plus aigus du clavier (Cf. introduction au catalogue
raisonn). Lune et lautre ncessitent le sol, les sonates qui suivent
iront couramment au-del du r qui termine la plupart des clavecins.
Linstrument auquel Scarlatti les destinait, tait vraisemblablement ce
clavecin espagnol cinq octaves dont il nexiste plus que des
descriptions. Certaines pinettes avaient galement cet ambitus. Do
lindication complmentaire prcdant ces ambitus exceptionnels.

Kk. 374 : Il est curieux de rapprocher Kk. 279 et Kk. 285 de Kk.
374. Ces trois sonates sont mues par le mme motif rythmique

exprim chaque fois avec plus de lgret, plus de libert. Le

dpouillement des sonates de cette dernire partie du catalogue de
Kirkpatrick se traduit souvent par une criture deux voix ; (une
troisime note amenant parfois un rapide renforcement de
lharmonie). Il en est ainsi des sonates de Kk. 374 Kk. 379, trois
couples au tempo rapide. Leur finesse et leur fantaisie excluent pour
moi le rapprochement avec les uvres crites trente ans plus tt
Rome, comme limagine G. Pestelli. Il faut tout de mme noter
quelles ne dpassent pas le r aigu du clavecin, et quelles ont
souvent lallure des danses que lon rencontre dans les Suites plus
anciennes.

Du point de vue stylistique, on peut y voir ce qui caractrise la

dernire manire du catalogue de Kirkpatrick. Cest un autre
univers qui commence, plus blouissant encore. On y trouve
combines avec une grande matrise la richesse de la priode
flamboyante, la varit des formes et la simplicit dcriture de la
priode intermdiaire. Toutefois, le passage entre les diffrents
styles, est aussi subtil que progressif.

Kk. 378Kk. 379 : Les trois notes qui ouvrent Kk. 378 forment une
cellule rythmique qui animera toute luvre. De part et dautre de
la crux, ces croches joueront un rle symtrique

Plus curieuse est lexpression per cembalo expresso qui marque

Kk. 356 (Cf. Repres Cembalo expresso).
La sonate Kk. 358 ouvre le huitime volume du manuscrit de Venise
dat de 1754. Scarlatti avait soixante-neuf ans, il devait mourir trois
ans plus tard. Les pices regroupes ici, datent-elles de cette poque ?
En labsence de manuscrit autographe, il sera probablement
impossible de rpondre cette question.

Kk. 379 est marque Minuet, mais lorganisation des diffrentes

squences qui la composent, est loin de la coupe par quatre mesures
quimpose la tradition. noter les gammes rapides marques con dedo
solo : Scarlatti invente les glissandi que lon retrouvera plus tard au
XIXe sicle.

Dans ces pices lumineuses, on retrouve lextraordinaire pulsion qui

toujours anime les uvres de Scarlatti, et plus que jamais une
imagination gnreuse, riche de thmes, de rythmes et de
modulations.

Kk. 380Kk. 381 : La plus clbre et la plus enregistre de toutes

les sonates de Scarlatti (Kk. 380) forme une couple avec une pice
qui, malgr son allant et sa beaut, ne lui est que trs rarement
associe. Toutes les sources sont pourtant formelles quant
lexistence de cette relation ; toutes sauf bien sr ldition de Longo
qui lignore et dont il faut bien reconnatre lemprise sur plusieurs
gnrations de musiciens.

La pulsion provient toujours des motifs ou des cellules rythmiques

qui mettent en mouvement des sonates entires, telles les doubles
notes de Kk. 358 (comme autrefois celles de Kk. 306) ou les croches
doubles de Kk. 360 (comme autrefois celles de Kk. 272, 274 ou
322), ou encore les motifs en contretemps de Kk. 363 directement
issus des danses espagnoles.

Kk. 382Kk. 383 : Le plus souvent crites deux voix, ces sonates
pleines de vie ont en commun davoir de courtes squences
polyphoniques trois voix, compltement dsarticules par une
superposition de rythmes. La polyrythmie qui en rsulte fait
littralement tourbillonner ces pices.

La virtuosit est toujours prsente, comme en tmoignent ses

gammes rapides qui viennent secouer le tranquille balancement de
Kk. 361 ou les systmes de gammes et darpges par mouvements
contraires de Kk. 364 et de Kk. 367. Scarlatti est dans ces uvres
plus compositeur que claveciniste. Ce fut linverse quand il allait
jusqu rendre pratiquement impossible lexcution de certaines
pices surcharges de difficults. Les uvres ont une plnitude
sonore dautant plus frappante quelle est obtenue avec une grande
conomie de moyens (Cf. Kk. 368).

Kk. 384Kk. 385 : On retrouve dans cette couple de sonates la

signature que Scarlatti nous a dj souvent donne, marque par
llision des premiers temps de son accompagnement (ouverture de
Kk. 384), ou llision des premiers temps de ses squences
mlodiques (dveloppement de Kk. 384 et Kk. 385 de bout en
bout).

Quand il le dsire cest un vritable orchestre quil fait apparatre par

quelques notes : cuivres (Cf. Kk. 358), percussions (Cf. Kk. 369),
cordes (Cf. Kk. 368) ou tutti, simuls par des basses dAlberti,
traites nanmoins dune faon mlodique (Cf. Kk. 363).

Kk. 386Kk. 387 : La premire, crite deux voix de bout en bout,

a une allure de toccata. Les zones tonales sont parcourues de gammes
chromatiques, darpges rythms et briss. Kk. 387 est
particulirement sonore. Le motif initial parcourt tout le clavier, et
les conclusions sont accentues par des octaves parallles.

Kk. 370Kk. 371 : Orchestrale, Kk. 370 lest aussi, mais derrire les
tutti, cest une mandoline qui apparat, grenant ses notes rptes.
Kk. 371, sans moduler dune faon systmatique, joue avec
lenharmonie de si bmol (dominante de la sonate) et de fa dise
majeur. noter galement les deux divisions de la mesure 3/8.

Ici commence le dernier des volumes dats de 1754 dans la

collection des manuscrits de Venise.
Les trois premires couples associent deux mouvements rapides : le
premier binaire, sonore et relativement polyphonique ; le second
ternaire, sorte de menuet crit deux voix.

CD 24
Les 183 dernires sonates de lintgrale de Scott Ross, ont t
enregistres sur un clavecin construit par Anthony Sidey.

Kk. 389, Kk. 391, Kk. 393 (CD 25) sont en effet semblables dans
leur esprit et leur caractre de danse. La mention Minuet ne figure
toutefois que pour Kk. 393 dans les deux sources principales ;
Kk. 391 ntant appel Minuet que dans le Manuscrit de Parme.
38

intressantes par la varit de leur couleur. Par sa coupe rgulire de

quatre mesures et son thme unique (arpges par mouvements
contraires), Kk. 411 sapparente un menuet.

Les coupes de ces menuets sont toutefois irrgulires comme

lindique la rpartition de leurs thmes :
Kk. 389 A (5/5) B (4/4) C (9/8/4) // A (4/4) B (3/4) C (9/8/4)
Kk. 391 A (4/4) B (4/4) C (6/4/6) // B (4/4) A (4) C (6/4/6)
Kk. 393 A (4/4/4) B (8/6) C (4/4) // A (4/4/6) B (8/6) C (4/4)

Kk. 412Kk. 413 : Monothmatique, Kk. 412 est galement mue

par une cellule rythmique entendue ds les premires mesures.
noter les mesures de silences autour de la crux qui crent un effet
dramatique. Kk. 413 est une tarentelle endiable ou plutt
diabolique par ses grands carts la main gauche.

Seule la seconde est dune forme asymtrique. On notera lemploi

par Scott Ross dans son intgrale, du jeu de luth dans la sonate
Kk. 389.

Kk. 414Kk. 415 : La premire partie de Kk. 414 a le style quelque

peu archaque des toccate ; rien ne laisse prvoir ltonnant
dveloppement o le rythme des saetas est ponctu par des
harmonies charges dacciaccature. La surprise est renforce par le
changement de tonalit la double barre. Kk. 415 porte le titre de
Pastorale. Rien dans son criture ou dans sa forme ne la rapproche
des uvres de Scarlatti, sauf peut-tre dune pice en forme dtude
(Kk. 95, 100).

CD 25
Kk. 394Kk. 395 : Aprs un dbut dune grande conomie de
moyens, Kk. 394 explose : une cascade darpges digne des grands
concertos classiques, prcde une squence o le chant tendu dune
mlope espagnole est soutenu par un enchanement de quintes
parallles. Kk. 395 prsente galement un dveloppement dune rare
intensit : le chant syncop est soutenu par des accords ostinato qui
progressivement glissent vers le grave du clavier. Une des rares
sonates o les post-crux modulent.

Kk. 416 : est une belle toccata, brillante, dveloppe, qui peut
parfaitement servir de prlude la longue fugue Kk. 417. Cette
fugue est la dernire que nous rencontrerons dans luvre de
Scarlatti. Son thme en valeurs longues est svre ; elle se termine par
une srie damplifications.

Kk. 396Kk. 397 : Un Andante quatre temps sert de courte

ouverture (trois mesures) Kk. 396, qui sapparente ensuite une
gigue. Kk. 397 est intitule Minuet, mais, comme les pices similaires
(Kk. 389, 391, 393), sa structure est loin dtre traditionnelle :
A (6/6) B (7) A (6/6) B (7) // C (dvelopp) A (6/6) B (7)

Ici commence la srie des sonates qui furent copies dans le Xe

volume du manuscrit de Venise dat de 1755.

Kk. 398Kk. 399 : LAndante qui ouvre cette couple de sonates est
charg deffets sonores : sur quatre octaves, tous les do sont sollicits,
puis tous les sol aprs la double barre. Un rythme de canarie relance
la basse. Kk. 399 oppose plusieurs reprises les diffrentes divisions
de sa mesure 3/8.

Kk. 418Kk. 419 : Un dessin continu de croches aux allures de

toccata succde dans Kk. 418 des sries de notes alternes. Pi tosto
presto che allegro, telle est lexacte mention des mouvements, en tte
de Kk. 419, dont on remarquera le rythme souvent dsarticul.

Kk. 400Kk. 401 : Le mouvement de Kk. 400 est cr par une

cellule de sept notes entendue ds louverture. Elle sera petit petit
charge, concentre puis disloque, tout en gardant de bout en bout
un rle moteur. Kk. 401 sapparente galement un mouvement
perptuel. Le jeu continu de ses croches parcourt une srie de
tonalits loignes.

Kk. 420Kk. 421 : Ces deux sonates ont les formes les plus simples
qui soient : A.B./A.B. Dans chacune delles, A et B, qui ont
sensiblement la mme dure, sont spars par un point dorgue.
Dans Kk. 421, le mouvement perptuel cr par le droulement des
doubles croches, domine toute la sonate. En revanche, les deux
squences de Kk. 420 sont extraordinairement contrastes ; elles
prsentent sparment les lments des saetas : le rythme, affirm ds
la premire mesure, et lincantation mlodique.

Kk. 402 Sa forme, minemment symtrique, est dune grande

simplicit : chaque squence dune vingtaine de mesures tant
spare de la suivante par un point dorgue. On trouve ainsi :
louverture en imitation ; la transition qui amne des lments
virtuoses ; la pr-crux, plus orchestrale, opposant les registres du
clavier et la post-crux dont llment lyrique est suivi dune
conclusion qui se termine lunisson.

Kk. 422Kk. 423 : Entre une ouverture tire, suivie dune

imitation sans accompagnement, et une post-crux qui, doctave en
octave, parcourt tous les registres, Scarlatti fait entendre sur une note
unique le chant tendu dune incantation flamenco. Kk. 423 est mise
en mouvement par des triolets de doubles croches entendus ds les
premires mesures (id. Kk. 397).

Kk. 403Kk. 404 : ont des structures simples, symtriques, voisines

de Kk. 402.

Kk. 424 : utilise cette pulsation rythmique maintes fois entendue, o

le mouvement de la pice est perptuellement relanc par des
croches ici entendues ds la premire mesure.

Kk. 405 : est lune de ces pices dansantes 6/8 qui parsment
luvre de Scarlatti, sans quon puisse toujours reprer si la gigue
lemporte sur la tarentelle, ou si la bulera espagnole nen est pas en
dfinitive la source dinspiration. crite plusieurs voix, elle module
constamment.

Kk. 425 : est btie sur deux cellules galement caractristiques aux
rythmes contradictoires.

Lunivers sonore de ces sonates sollicite constamment limagination :

des cloches ne sonnent-elles pas toute vole dans les conclusions de
Kk. 403 ? Lopposition des squences soli et tutti nimplique-t-elle
pas lorchestre dans Kk. 402 ? Les fanfares populaires avec leurs
trompettes et leurs timbales ne simposent-elles pas dans Kk. 406 et
Kk. 407 ?

Kk. 426Kk. 427 : Couple aux contrastes de mouvements et de

caractres. la paisible Kk. 426, faite de squences spares, dont les
transpositions ouvrent un large ventail de registres et de sonorits,
succde la nerveuse Kk. 427 : Presto quanto sia possibile, dont le
mouvement endiabl de doubles croches est de temps autre fouett
par quatre puissants accords, serrs autour des rythmes

Kk. 408Kk. 409 : LAndante qui prlude cette couple enchane des
squences binaires et ternaires en croches ; son court dveloppement
cre une tension du fait des mouvements contraires de ces motifs.
Kk. 409 propose au dbut de la deuxime partie un long
dveloppement dont la couleur se modifie toutes les quatre mesures
par de lgers dplacements chromatiques.

CD 27
Kk. 428Kk. 429 Contraste galement dans ces deux sonates : Kk.
428, mue par un motif donn la fin de louverture, est tout
austrit, avec ses pdales graves et ses rptitions obstines ; Kk. 429
a le charme des barcaroles italiennes : arabesques de la basse,
oscillations sinueuses des motifs polyphoniques et longues gammes
conclusives, qui crent un de ces climats lyriques dont Scarlatti a
le secret.

CD 26
Kk. 410Kk. 411 : Les oppositions de hauteurs le mme motif
tant rpt des octaves diffrentes du clavier rendent Kk. 410,
et de nombreuses sonates de cette priode, particulirement
39

dans Kk. 446 par le tempo, les modulations, les grands sauts de
laccompagnement.

Kk. 430 : est une petite pice isole Non presto ma a tempo di ballo
dont le balancement est marqu par les deux doubles croches
entendues ds le premier temps et par deux basses fortement
soulignes qui ponctuent la pre-crux.

CD 28
Kk. 449Kk. 450 : Autre couple, forme de deux pices aux tempi
rapides. Des sixtes brises accentuent le caractre virtuose de Kk.
449. Kk. 450 est un tango dont le rythme impos
ds louverture sera maintenu sans relche. Constamment quatre
parties (parfois cinq), son criture est particulirement dense
et sonore.

Kk. 431, Kk. 432, Kk. 433 : Cest dans les pices de cette dernire
priode du catalogue de Kirkpatrick que saffirment les groupements
des pices en triptyque. Ces trois sonates au tempo rapide ont des
formes de plus en plus complexes. Kk. 431 est une des sonates
les plus simples et les plus courtes qui soient ; Kk. 432 est une toccata
qui offre un droulement aux basses quelque peu laborieuses ;
Kk. 433, enfin, est une gigue riche dlments thmatiques
contrasts : en plus des thmes 6/8, les squences polyphoniques
alternent avec des squences virtuoses.

Kk. 451 : est une des rares sonates isoles de ces derniers volumes.
Elle termine le Xe volume de Venise et le XIIe, volume de Parme,
dats de 1755. Kirkpatrick pense que leur composition prcde de
peu leur copie dans ces manuscrits. En 1755, Scarlatti na plus que
deux ans vivre. Il a presque soixante-dix ans, Bach venait de
mourir, Mozart allait natre.

Kk. 435, Kk. 436, Kk. 437 : Ce deuxime triptyque associe des
pices qui ont un caractre orchestral. crite en imitation, Kk. 435
a un caractre svre, par le jeu doctaves et de sixtes parallles, elle
prend la fin une singulire intensit sonore. Kk. 436 est frmissante
daccents de mandoline et de castagnettes ; Kk. 437 voque
galement une fanfare populaire avec ses tambours et ses trompettes.

Kk. 452Kk. 453 : Ces deux pices figurent parmi les soixante
sonates copies dans le deuxime volume du manuscrit de Munster.
En revanche, elles ne figurent ni dans Parme ni dans Venise. Cest
lunique couple de pices forme de deux mouvements lents.

Kk. 437Kk. 438 : Kirkpatrick entendait lcho de cloches dans ces

blanches pointes, rptes plusieurs fois lunisson aux deux mains
dans Kk. 437. Cest une belle image pour cette sonate lcriture
svre qui contraste avec les ritournelles simples de Kk. 438 et son
dveloppement statique.

Ici commencent les manuscrits de Venise et de Parme dats de 1756.

Ds lors ces deux sources comprendront les mmes pices dans le
mme ordre et cela jusquaux douze dernires sonates.
Kk. 454, Kk. 455 : Une dbauche de traits virtuoses rpond dans
Kk. 454, aux rythmes de seguidilla. Kk. 455 propose sur les principes
des notes rptes de la post-crux un long dveloppement soutenu en
plusieurs endroits, par une pdale harmonique centrale.

Kk. 439Kk. 440 : Couple nouveau, forme dun prlude et dun

menuet. Les deux pices sont riches et pleines de charme. Kk. 439
rassemble de nombreuses squences, courtes, denses, varies. Tous
les lments que propose lanalyse formelle de Kirkpatrick sont ici
rassembls en quelques mesures. La sonate Kk. 460 les fera entendre
dans leur plnitude. Ouverture (mesures 14), continuation (58),
transition (914), pr-crux (1519), post-crux (1923), conclusion
(2428), conclusion finale (2832).

Kk. 456Kk. 457 : Le thme de Kk. 456 se rduit au motif de cinq

notes entendu louverture et constamment repris, transform,
transpos. Kk. 457, 6/8 est perptuellement relance par des
syncopes dont Scarlatti a le secret.
Kk. 458 : Riche sonate o se succdent des lments disparates dont
Scarlatti parvient nanmoins former lunit grce un plan tonal,
strict soulign de pdales graves. Elle est accouple dans toutes les
sources Kk. 459 dont la forme est relativement originale : dans
chacune des deux parties de cette sonate, les deux zones que spare
la crux, sont non seulement opposes par leur caractre mais par leur
mesures (3/8- C), leur mode (mineur/majeur) et leur tempo
(Allegro/Presto).

Le menuet Kk. 440 est dune coupe rgulire. A (4x4), A (2x4),

B (4x4), il se termine par une petite reprise de cinq mesures,
seul hommage de Scarlatti une habitude chre aux
clavecinistes franais. Aurait-il eu connaissance des pices
de Couperin ? Son quatrime livre de pices pour clavecin tait en
tous cas publi depuis 1730.
Kk. 441Kk. 442 : Le motif en croches de louverture est rpt
jusqu lobsession tout au long de Kk. 441 ; la tension qui en rsulte
est accentue par les modulations et les accompagnements que
propose Scarlatti. Il dplace ces motifs en croches dans des rgions
tonales loignes et fait rebondir son accompagnement : tous les
temps sont marqus et la main gauche se balance jusqu franchir
trois octaves. La tension de Kk. 442 est dun autre ordre,
essentiellement rythmique, mais les grands carts de
laccompagnement, notamment dans la post-crux, entretiennent
singulirement cette tension.

Kk. 460 : Splendide sonate riche de thmes dont lcriture semble

avoir t faite pour servir de modle la prsentation de la forme
sonate du compositeur. La plupart des squences sont spares par
des points dorgue. On trouve successivement louverture (mesures
1 13), sa continuation (14 26), un interlude (27 30), une reprise
de louverture (31 43), une transition modulante (44 56) et les
habituelles squences de part et dautre du point culminant de cette
premire partie : pr-crux (56 73), post-crux (73 85) et conclusion
la dominante (85 96). Le libre dveloppement de la deuxime
partie rutilisera dans un ordre diffrent le matriel sonore dj
prsent. Cest ainsi quil tirera ses motifs de la post-crux (96 100 et
116 122), de la transition (100 116), de linterlude (123 131) et
de louverture (132 136). Ceci avant le deuxime point culminant
do partiront post-crux (137 149) et conclusion (149 158).

Kk. 443Kk. 444 : Splendide couple dont la richesse de lcriture

contraste avec la simplicit des motifs et des thmes proposs. Cest
le rythme des saetas entendu ds la premire mesure qui gouverne
Kk. 443, tandis que le 6/8 de Kk. 444 sapparente une gigue.
Comme dans Kk. 337, les deux sonates inscrivent souvent leur
dessin mlodique entre deux notes tenues par le cinquime doigt de
chaque main, crant une plnitude sonore proprement orchestrale.
Les modulations jouent non seulement sur les changements de
tonalit mais sur les changements de mode, des points dorgue
viennent suspendre la continuit du discours de Kk. 444.

Kk. 462Kk. 463 : Aprs des ouvertures inhabituelles : sans

imitation dans Kk. 462, en canon la quarte dans Kk. 463, ces deux
sonates reposent sur des motifs rguliers de croches, motifs doubls
en tierces, sixtes ou octaves parallles dans Kk. 462, ou heurts de
contretemps dans Kk. 463.

Kk. 445Kk. 446 : Avec des tempi particulirement rapides, un

mouvement de toccata introduit une pastorale. Kk. 445, dont la
parent avec Kk. 348 vient des motifs en doubles croches, est
particulirement vivante du fait de son tempo, de ses modulations et
de ses ponctuations : les post-crux sont deux reprises immobilises
par des silences qui viennent rompre le mouvement perptuel des
doubles croches. La tension qui en rsulte est galement maintenue

Kk. 464Kk. 465 : Louverture de Kk. 464 est galement originale

par la succession de ses imitations. On retrouve dans cette sonate,
comme du reste dans Kk. 462, la signature :

40

dj entendue dans maintes sonates. noter : dans Kk. 465, les notes
rptes dune pdale insistante (basses des zones tonales de chaque
partie), ainsi que le signal :

remplac les croisements de mains dont on ne rencontre plus gure

dexemples dans ces dernires sonates ; la difficult est sensiblement
du mme ordre !
Kk. 481, Kk. 482, Kk. 483 : Dune relative simplicit dcriture,
les sonates de ce triptyque, crites presque toujours deux voix (et
quelques accords dans Kk. 481) ont et l quelques dtails curieux :
la courte rexposition de louverture la fin de la seconde partie de
Kk. 481 est pour le moins inhabituelle ; tout comme les petits
croisements de mains alterns dans les conclusions des deux parties
de Kk. 482.

qui marque les formules conclusives.

Kk. 466Kk. 467 : Le motif de louverture de Kk. 466 servira
daccompagnement une bonne partie de la sonate,
accompagnement binaire sur lequel se greffe un dessin ternaire, seul
exemple de trois pour deux. Kk. 467 enserre galement des
groupes de trois notes dans un continu de croches. noter les
mouvements contraires des principales voix.

Avec Kk. 484 commenaient les manuscrits de Parme et de Venise

dats de 1756 (Venise XII Parme XIV).

CD 29
Kk. 468Kk. 469 : Le thme de louverture, avec de lgres
variations, forme lessentiel du matriel sonore de chaque partie de
Kk. 468 jusqu la crux. Les formules conclusives prsentent des
notes alternes dont la graphie incite une articulation diffrente des
exemples dj entendus (Cf. Kk. 418, 230, 104, 84 ). Kk. 469
droule une succession de motifs en croches qui tablit au dbut de
la seconde partie un dveloppement statique (Cf. Kk. 438).

CD 30
Kk. 485, Kk. 486, Kk. 487 : Cest lavant-dernier triptyque du
catalogue de Kirkpatrick. Il offre maintes difficults techniques telles
que : gammes rapides comme des fuses (conclusion de Kk. 485 et
de Kk. 487), dplacements doctaves allant progressivement de la
tierce la douzime (Kk. 487), sixtes et octaves parallles dans les
post-crux en mineur de Kk. 485, trilles de louverture de Kk. 487 o
Scarlatti impose lexcution des doubles notes par une seule main
(Cf. Kk. 189 et Kk. 501). noter que Kk. 485 exige un clavecin de
plus de cinq octaves allant du fa grave au sol aigu. Cest lambitus le
plus large de toutes les sonates de Scarlatti.

Kk. 470Kk. 471 : Couple forme dune toccata et dun menuet

dont la coupe est peine plus rgulire que celles des pices
similaires (Kk. 440, 397, 389 ou 393). Elles ont toutefois en
commun dtre manifestement un temps, et crites 3/4. noter
au centre de chaque partie de Kk. 470 les rythmes de saeta dj
entendus.

Kk. 488 Kk. 489 : Nombreuses sont les sonates de Scarlatti qui,
la double barre, sortent du cadre traditionnel de la modulation la
dominante. Ces surprises sont de plus en plus nombreuses dans les
dernires sonates. Dans cette couple, si la premire partie se termine
bien la dominante, le dbut de la seconde en revanche surprend
par sa tonalit inhabituelle : une tierce en-dessous de la dominante
dans Kk. 488, un ton au-dessous dans Kk. 489.

Kk. 472Kk. 473 : Dune criture simple, Kk. 472 prsente une de
ces squences polyphoniques (ici deux voix) dsarticules par la
superposition de rythmes dcals aux deux mains. Une disposition
analogue avait t donne dans Kk. 267 et surtout Kk. 254. Comme
dans de nombreuses sonates, le rythme de saeta avec la pulsion de
ses deux croches entendue ds la deuxime mesure, met en
mouvement toute la pice jusquau formules conclusives de chacune
des deux parties.

Kk. 490, Kk. 491, Kk. 492 : Somptueux triptyque qui groupe trois
des plus belles sonates de luvre de Scarlatti. Souvent dramatiques,
avec des accords chargs dacciaccatura, toutes trois font un large appel
aux rythmes des danses espagnoles : saeta dans Kk. 490

Kk. 474Kk. 475 : Mordants, acciaccatures, agrgats, marquent

Kk. 474, Les accords en tierces rptes de Kk. 474 semblent lancer
le droulement continu des croches de Kk. 475. Quelques
contretemps, mais surtout les motifs en triolets, viennent prcipiter
les conclusions de chaque partie.

seguidilla dans Kk. 491

et bulera dans Kk. 492.

Kk. 476Kk. 477 : Arpges briss ou par mouvement contraire,

forment une bonne partie du matriel musical de cette couple.
Louverture de Kk. 477 voque une sonnerie de cor ; Kirkpatrick
voyait dailleurs dans toute cette pice lcho lointain dune chasse
courre !

Elles sont aussi totalement virtuoses avec des gammes rapides

(Kk. 490) qui deviennent de vritables fuses (post-crux de Kk. 492),
des arpges (post-crux de Kk. 491), des tierces (Kk. 492), des sixtes
(Kk. 490).
Kk. 493Kk. 494 : Les imitations successives des motifs de
louverture de Kk. 493 se resserrent dans le temps (imitation sur deux
mesures du premier motif, sur une mesure et demie du second, sur
une demie mesure du troisime), pour finir par un synchronisme de
deux parties. La sonate prsente ensuite ces polyphonies, dsarticules
par le dcalage rythmique des diffrentes voix, dj rencontres dans
Kk. 254, 267 ou 272. Kk. 494 est un festival de modulations
modales et par tons entiers auquel sajoutent des motifs en tierces
ou sixtes parallles qui la rendent particulirement virtuose.

Le rapprochement des deux principales sources manuscrites clarifie

le plus souvent les questions concernant le groupement des sonates
en couples ou en tryptiques. Ici toutefois, la question reste entire
car lordre des sonates diffre lgrement de Parme Venise : on a
le choix entre un triptyque Kk. 478-479-480 et une sonate isole
Kk. 484 (disposition de Venise), ou deux couples : Kk. 478-479 et
Kk. 480-484 (disposition de Parme entre les volumes XIII et XIV).
Cette dernire combinaison est musicalement plus satisfaisante ; elle
ne dcoule pas toutefois de lordre du catalogue de Kirkpatrick
(Cf. galement Kk. 53 et Kk. 258).

Kk. 495, Kk. 496, Kk. 497, Kk. 498 : Si le contraste des
mouvements et des styles caractrise le plus souvent le couplage de
deux sonates, certaines pices peuvent avoir une parent rythmique
ou thmatique. Lemploi des triolets de croches unifie par exemple
la couple que forment Kk. 495 et Kk. 496. Il y a de mme une
parent dans les motifs en croches de Kk. 497 et Kk. 498 (cellule de
six croches pour Kk. 497, cellule de cinq croches pour Kk. 498).

Kk. 478Kk. 479 : La varit des diffrents thmes de Kk. 478,

ltendue des modulations harmoniques de Kk. 479, font de ces
deux sonates une des nombreuses russites de ces dernires sonates
du catalogue de Kirkpatrick.
Kk. 480 : est une de ces pices orchestrales o soli et tutti se
rpondent, comme alternent bois et cordes. Elle peut tre accouple
avec Kk. 484, sonate virtuose malgr son apparence graphique. Les
sauts rapides (jusqu trois octaves en lespace dune croche) ont

Kk. 499Kk. 500 : Faut-il voir dans la mlope centrale de Kk. 499
un cho du cante hondo espagnol ? Le chant est intense, soutenu
daccords ostinato ; les nombreuses guirlandes darpges qui
41

lentourent renforcent son allure dramatique. noter le contraste

harmonique obtenu au dbut de la seconde partie par la modulation
en do majeur. Kk. 500 est dune facture plus simple. noter ces
imitations successives en diminution, dj dcrites pour Kk. 493
(quatre mesures, puis deux, dans louverture et le dbut du
dveloppement de la deuxime partie).

Kk. 516Kk. 517 : La pice dansante (3/8) prcde ici la sonate

concertante. Cest du moins la volont expresse indique par le
copiste du manuscrit de Parme, il crit en effet devant Kk. 516 : La
sonate qui suit doit tre joue en premier. Doit-on exclure
lhypothse que la mention a t mal transcrite et quelle concernait
en fait lordre erron du manuscrit de Venise ? Reste quen tous cas
la volont de couplage est manifeste. noter le beau dveloppement
de Kk. 516 et ses modulations dans des tonalits lointaines.

CD 31
Kk. 501Kk. 502 : La construction simple de Kk. 501 (qui serait
concentre si ce ntait la squence ajoute mesure 80), la fluidit de
son criture marque de trilles et de triolets, contraste avec la
complexit de Kk. 502. On y trouve une recherche inhabituelle des
notes ingales ; cest lun des rares exemples o Scarlatti indique des
silences points.

Kk. 518Kk. 519 : Autre indice de la volont daccoupler les

sonates deux deux Kk. 519, bien quen fa mineur, se termine en
majeur, tonalit de Kk. 518 (Cf. de mme Kk. 509 (en majeur) et
Kk. 510, dont seule la fin est en majeur). noter les conclusions
diffrentes des deux parties de Kk. 518, ses nombreuses modulations
et lemploi des octaves dans Kk. 519.

noter la varit des ornements

CD 32
Les quatre sonates suivantes, qui deux deux forment des couples,
semblent plus ou moins consacres au travail dune difficult
technique. On pense aux tudes de Debussy :

et laccompagnement particulirement sonore en octaves.

Kk. 503Kk. 504 : Au centre de chaque partie de Kk. 503, cette
mme allusion aux chants populaires espagnols releve dans Kk. 499
et dans maintes sonates aprs Kk. 180. Le chant est plus dpouill,
laccompagnement est plus ostinato, le contexte plus austre ; leffet
dramatique est semblable. Malgr le mouvement continu des
doubles croches de Kk. 504, on peroit les diffrentes divisions que
Scarlatti oppose dans ses mouvements 3/8.

Kk. 520 pourrait sintituler tude pour les tierces : elle marque
en croches les deux post-crux ;
Kk. 521 serait alors une tude pour les agrments : elle
prsente une varit de mordants dacciaccature et dagrgats ; noter
les ruptures de rythme dans les formules conclusives ;
Kk. 522 pour les octaves briss;
Kk. 523 pour les degrs (les sonorits?) opposs : les sauts par
mouvements contraires sont particulirement dlicats tout au long
de cette pice.

Kk. 505Kk. 506 : Entre Kk. 505, toccata lcriture svre, et Kk.
506, toute de rythmes espagnols et de virtuosit, le contraste est
dautant plus frappant que les formes sont simples et lcriture
dpouille (le plus souvent deux et trois voix).

Kk. 524Kk. 525 : La puissance sonore est frappante dans lcriture

des deux sonates formant cette couple. Doubles notes, doubles trilles
dans Kk. 524, avec un puissant dveloppement de sixtes et doctaves
parallles ; accords de huit notes frappes sur certains premiers temps
de Kk. 525. Le dessin mlodique de Kk. 525 dans sa mesure 6/8
traduit la bulera espagnole, danse populaire de lAndalousie.

Kk. 507Kk. 508 : Plusieurs agrgats rapides (trilles, quadruples

croches) font frmir Kk. 507 comme pour annoncer la grande pice
dramatique qui la suit. Le discours de Kk. 508 est en effet marqu
dartifices de rhtorique cadences libres marques, arbitri,
cadences mesures (les arpges parcourent cinq octaves),
mouvements contrasts doctaves sonores

Kk. 526Kk. 527 : Dans le manuscrit de Venise, en tte de Kk. 527,

des bcarres viennent annuler les altrations de la sonate prcdente ;
on aurait aim quil en soit galement ainsi dans le manuscrit de
Parme, mais cest malgr tout un indice assez convaincant du
couplage de ces deux pices. noter ladmirable libert de leur plan
tonal.

Kk. 509Kk. 5 10 : jusquaux deux crux, toutes les squences de Kk.

509 sont traites en imitation ; thmes et motifs se rpondant dune
main lautre. Ds la fin de son ouverture, Kk. 510 est traite dune
faon plus polyphonique, pratiquement note contre note. noter
que la sonate commence en r mineur, se termine en majeur.

Kk. 528Kk. 529 : Ces deux sonates, particulirement sonores, qui

voquent lorchestre avec ses percussions et la varit de ses registres,
rintroduisent ces fameux croisements de mains dont la mode
semblait passe. Les notes aigus sollicites au-del du r, enlvent
toute ide de rattacher ces deux sonates un autre groupe que
celui-ci.

Kk. 511Kk. 512 : Les trois mesures de son ouverture termines,

Kk. 511 droulera un mouvement continu de croches
harmoniquement groupes par quatre. Ce sera loccasion de
nombreuses modulations dans le dveloppement de la seconde
partie. La cellule initiale de cinq notes sera galement loccasion de
modulations dans le dveloppement de Kk. 512.

Kk. 530Kk. 531 : La tonalit de cette sonate et les modulations

choisies (si, sol dise, fa dise) donnent la fois une clart sonore et
une facilit digitale pour lexcutant qui sollicite les feintes de son
clavecin (ou les touches noires de son piano). Ceci nous renvoie au
problme du temprament quutilisait Scarlatti. Comme pour les
sonates en fa dise ou en si de la priode intermdiaire, il est
vraisemblable que la partition tait voisine de celle du temprament
gal. noter les courtes squences encadres de points dorgue dans
Kk. 531.

Kk. 513 : Parmi les sonates les plus clbres de Scarlatti, Kk. 513,
maintes fois enregistre, est indique Pastorale. Cest une pice en
deux mouvements enchans dont les rythmes de sicilienne
voquent sans doute davantage lItalie du Sud que lEspagne ou le
Portugal. Le Presto final 3/8 est une toccata virtuose.
Ici se terminent les volumes dats de 1756 dans la collection de
Venise et de Parme. Les volumes suivants sont dats de 1757, lanne
de la mort du compositeur.

On a parfois limpression quen crivant ces sonates peut-tre en

les dictant Scarlatti stait remmor telle ou telle pice qui
figurait prcdemment dans les manuscrits de Parme et de Venise.
Sagit-il de rminiscences, au dtour dun motif, dun thme ou
simplement dune tournure de phrase ? Ainsi Kk. 532 nous donne
des gammes rapides qui voquent Kk. 379, ou encore des ruptures
de rythmes, sortes dhmioles qui font penser Kk. 419. Les
dernires pices du catalogue de Kirkpatrick ont une tendance

Kk. 514Kk. 515 : La premire des deux sonates de cette couple a

surpris bien des interprtes : cest en effet cette pice que Longo a
place en tte de son dition intgrale (la sparant de Kk. 515
Longo 255 qui lui est pourtant proche par le style) le
dpouillement de lcriture et lutilisation de tout lespace dun
clavier tendu jusquau sol aigu ne prend toute sa signification que si
lon replace cette pice dans son rel contexte.
42

labstraction, elles utilisent parfois quelques lments qui furent

insrs dans des compositions antrieures.

que Scarlatti utilise dans les divers registres dune sonate relativement
polyphonique. Kk. 553 est plus riche de diverses squences qui
sonnent comme des rminiscences : la signature rythmique :

Cette abstraction nest pas le signe dune dernire manire au sens

beethovnien. Il se peut fort bien que les sonates regroupes ici
soient des esquisses que Scarlatti navait pas eu le temps de reprendre.
Il faut garder en mmoire que les copies manuscrites dans lesquelles
elles figurent, ntaient pas directement destines la publication.

maintes fois entendue, les motifs en tierces la main droite auxquels

rpondent des arpges distendus la main gauche.
Kk. 554Kk. 555 : Par leur criture, leur facture parfaite, ces
dernires sonates nous renvoient aux premires pices de ce
catalogue. Comme une grande boucle qui se referme pour nous
empcher jamais de savoir o commence, o se termine cette
uvre blouissante qui livre en dfinitive si peu de ses secrets.

Kk. 534Kk. 535 : Dune belle densit musicale, cette couple

oppose un aria cantabile, organis pour lessentiel en imitation libre,
et une toccata au mouvement continu de doubles croches qui nest
pas sans parent avec Kk. 198.
Kk. 536Kk. 537 : La fluidit des triolets dans les pices cantabile
3/4 de Scarlatti, a dj t remarque ; une rminiscence peut-tre :
dans la forme du dveloppement aprs la double barre, on pense
Kk. 501, tout comme louverture de Kk. 537 fait penser aux
polyrythmies de Kk. 193 ou Kk. 69 : imitation reprise en squences
de plus en plus courtes.

CD 34
Kk. 81 : Cette sonate et les pices qui portent les numros Kk. 88
91, forment un ensemble spcial dans luvre de Scarlatti. Ce sont
en effet des sonates en plusieurs mouvements enchans dont
lcriture est rduite une basse chiffre et un dessus.
Manifestement leur interprtation au seul clavecin nest pas
entirement satisfaisante. Dans son intgrale, Scott Ross les joue
acccompagn dun ensemble de musiciens.

Kk. 538Kk. 539 : noter les cellules rythmiques

Kk. 88Kk. 89Kk. 90Kk. 91 : Comme la sonate Kk. 81, les

sonates de Kk. 88 Kk. 91, chiffres, plusieurs mouvements
enchans, sont excutes dans lintgrale de Scott Ross en
formation de musique de chambre. Les musiciens sont des
instrumentistes cordes (violon et violoncelle) et des instruments
anche double (hautbois et basson). Kk. 81 et Kk. 89 sont
instrumentes entre les cordes et les anches ; Kk. 88, 90 et 91 avec
les seules cordes. Dans tous les cas, le clavecin et le violoncelle
assurent le continuo. Cette instrumentation nest toutefois pas
impose par les partitions existantes ; elle rsulte dun choix musical,
celui de Scott Ross et des musiciens quil avait rassembls.

qui mettent en mouvement Kk. 538 et le large plan tonal de

Kk. 539.
CD 33
Les copies manuscrites des collections royales taient destines
lusage priv de la Reine Maria Barbara. Il est possible que Scarlatti
nait pas considr ces copies comme dfinitives. Kirkpatrick a
estim ces dernires sonates comme tant la quintessence de luvre
du compositeur.
Kk. 542Kk. 543 : sont les dernires sonates du manuscrit de
Venise. noter les mordants, les trilles et les agrgats volubiles de
Kk. 543 qui contrastent avec la construction stricte de Kk. 542,
marque doscillations majeur/mineur et de quelques fragments aux
rythmes accentus.

Ces sonates prsentent une succession de mouvements lents et

rapides, comme il tait dusage dans la musique de chambre italienne
au dbut du XVIIIe sicle. Corelli, par exemple, a crit selon un
schma analogue la plupart de ses uvres pour un ou deux violons
et basse continue. Les mouvements sont gnralement au nombre de
quatre, seule Kk. 89 nen propose que trois (AllegroGraveAllegro).
Dans les autres sonates, louverture est toujours marque Grave, elle
est quatre temps. Les pices marques Allegro sont toujours des
pices binaires avec reprise. Elles ont parfois lallure de danses, tel le
menuet qui termine Kk. 88 ou la gigue de Kk. 90.

Ici commence la srie des douze dernires sonates des manuscrits de

la Reine sonates qui nexistaient que dans la copie de Parme et qui
furent, sinon les dernires compositions, du moins trs certainement
les dernires pices retranscrites du vivant de Scarlatti.
Kk. 544Kk. 545 : La sonate la plus dense de toute cette intgrale,
prlude lune des pices les plus cheveles, lune des trois sonates
marques Prestissimo. noter les petites cadences qui ponctuent les
diffrentes squences de Kk. 544, ainsi que la puissance sonore de Kk.
545 dont la continuit en croches est renforce de basses en octave.

Le chiffrage de ces sonates est sommaire : il indique le plus souvent

des accords de sixtes, rarement de septimes, qui sont le plus souvent
des retards comme les quelques accords de neuvimes. Seules les
premires mesures de Kk. 88 donnent une indication : la mesure 2
est marque piano, la mesure 3 forte. Certains auteurs, en particulier
Jol Sheveloff et Giorgio Pestelli, ont dailleurs propos que ce type
dinstrumentation soit appliqu dautres sonates de Scarlatti,
remarquant par exemple que le menuet de Kk. 73 est galement
chiffr et que les sonates Kk. 77, Kk. 78, par leur style, sapparentent
aux sonates Kk. 89 Kk. 91.

Kk. 546, Kk. 547 : Couple opposant une pice cantabile et une belle
toccata dont il faut noter la similitude des conclusions avec Kk. 545.
Kk. 548Kk. 549 : Une sonate rythme prcde dans cette couple
la pice aux allures de toccata qui gnralement sert de prlude. Les
ides musicales nombreuses sont rptes avec insistance ; lessentiel
de larchitecture repose sur la varit des modulations et des
transpositions. noter lindpendance des doigts quimposent les
trilles de Kk. 549 comme du reste les accords avec trilles centraux de
Kk. 541.

Il est intressant de noter quun tableau de Richard Van Loo, peintre

de la Cour dEspagne de 1727 1752, montre la Reine
Maria-Barbara au clavecin, entoure dun violon et dune gambe. La
musique de chambre tait donc pratique et linstrumentation
propose est plus que vraisemblable, encore quaucune description
nen ait t faite. Malgr de nombreux efforts, il na pas t possible
dobtenir pour ce livre une reproduction de cette uvre qui serait
au Muse de Leningrad. On peut toutefois la voir en noir et blanc
dans le livre de Curt Sachs consacr lhistoire des instruments.

Kk. 550Kk. 551 : La libert et la fantaisie avec lesquelles sont

traits les diffrents thmes de cette couple de sonates, laissent parfois
la place quelques facilits, voire quelques ngligences bien
inhabituelles chez Scarlatti. Est-ce la marque desquisses provisoires,
le signe dune lassitude ?

Kk. 287Kk. 288 : Deux des trois pices spcifiquement marques

pour orgue. Elles forment une couple la partition mentionne
quelles doivent tre joues sur un organo da camera con due tastatura
flautato e trombone, cest--dire un orgue de chambre (positif sans
pdalier) avec deux registrations (principales), flte et anche. Lorgue

Kk. 552Kk. 553 : Un seul motif thmatique anime Kk. 552, motif
simple

43

utilis dans lenregistrement est celui de Saint-Guilhem-le-Dsert.

Sil ne sagit pas ici dun orgue de chambre, sa facture et ses timbres
lont distingu pour cet enregistrement.

publies par la veuve Boivin, qui ne figurent pas dans les sources
dites principales ; on peut avoir des doutes sur leur authenticit.
Cembalo expresso : lexpression cembalo expresso est place en
sous-titre de la sonate Kk. 356, sans que lon sache trs bien ce quelle
signifie. Kirkpatrick se borne constater que la sonate ayant des aigus
montant jusquau sol, il ne peut sagir dune indication concernant le
forte-piano. Il y avait des forte-pianos la Cour dEspagne, mais leur
clavier ne dpassait pas le mi. Prenant en compte lexceptionnelle
graphie de cette sonate qui, comme la suivante Kk. 357, est crite sur
quatre portes afin de faire ressortir les diffrents plans sonores,
Kenneth Gilbert souligne que cette disposition, qui inciterait jouer
sur les deux claviers dun clavecin, est contradictoire avec la structure
des instruments allant jusquau sol. Les clavecins espagnols rpertoris
lors des inventaires de la Cour nont en effet quun seul clavier.
Devant ce curieux petit problme, Kenneth Gilbert, plus rcemment,
met lide que cette sonate, la premire dune longue srie de pices
dont plusieurs dpasseront lambitus habituel, tait justement
marque per cembalo expresso pour bien marquer sa dvolution un
instrument agrandi, largi, tendu. Les franais diraient raval,
pourquoi ne pourrait-on pas parler de clavecin exprim comme on
dit aujourdhui exprimer le jus dun citron ou encore le suc de sa
pense (K. Gilbert au Colloque de Nice).

Kk. 328 est la dernire des trois pices spcifiquement marques

pour orgue du catalogue de Kirkpatrick (Cf. Kk. 287 et Kk. 288).
Ceci nexclut nullement linterprtation lorgue de nombreuses
autres pices.

Repres
Acciaccatura : Du verbe italien acciaccare : craser, aplatir, est sorti
le nom dun ornement que lon trouve dans la musique pour
clavecin du XVIIIe sicle. Cette acciaccatura fut largement utilise
par Scarlatti dans ses sonates. Dans certains accompagnements, il en
fit un procd renforant la sonorit (basses de Kk. 141, cadences de
Kk. 208, modulations de Kk. 490) ; dans de nombreuses lignes
mlodiques il lutilise pour accentuer le discours musical (ex Kk.
132, ). La thorie de lacciaccatura apparat dans les crits de
Francesco Gasparini qui fut lun des matres de Scarlatti, mais il est
clair que Scarlatti a exploit ce procd bien au-del de la thorie de
son matre. (Cf. LArmonico pratico al cembalo, Venise 1708).
Ambitus : Malgr quelques exceptions, les ambitus des sonates de
Scarlatti se regroupent en trois catgories :
les pices qui portent les numros de Kk. 1 Kk. 100 sont crites
pour un clavier dont la note la plus leve est un do (la note la plus
grave, un sol, nintervient que deux fois).

Chronologie : Labsence de manuscrit autographe et dinformation

sur les conditions dans lesquelles les uvres ont t composes,
rendent hypothtique ltablissement dune chronologie des sonates.
Kirkpatrick a fond son catalogue sur une chronologie des sources
existantes que sont les ditions et les copies manuscrites. Mais rien
ntablit une correspondance entre les dates de composition et
lapparition de ces sources. lcoute des cent premires sonates, on
peut se convaincre que bon nombre dentre elles ont t crites avant
la parution des Essercizi. Des considrations stylistiques ont conduit
Giorgio Pestelli publier en 1967 une chronologie diffrente ; nous
donnons sa classification dans le catalogue analytique. Jane Clark a
propos quant elle des hypothses qui changent profondment les
ides actuellement admises. La classification dAlessandro Longo dans
ldition de 1906 est avant tout tonale ; il en rsulte un total dsordre
chronologique et stylistique.

les pices qui portent les numros de Kk. 101 Kk. 364 sont
crites pour un clavier dont la note la plus leve est un r (la note
la plus grave est un sol).
Enfin, bon nombre de pices qui portent les numros de Kk. 365
Kk. 555 sont crites pour un clavier dont la note la plus leve est
un sol (la note la plus grave, fa, nintervient que quatre fois).
Il ny a gure que six sonates qui chappent cette rgle, elles
rvlent une erreur dinstrumentation, de numro, de copie ou plus
simplement jettent un doute sur lauthenticit des pices
correspondantes. Les sonates Kk. 43, 70 et 94 ncessitant un r aigu
sapparentent plutt des pices au-del de Kk. 100.

Clavecin : Linstrument auquel Scarlatti destinait ses uvres,

alimente encore aujourdhui les discussions des spcialistes. Le
clavecin est lvidence linstrument de base. Il est nomm dans le
titre des Essercizi et des premiers manuscrits de Venise (1742, 1749),
mais de quel clavecin sagissait-il ? Italien, espagnol, franais,
flamand ? Ils ont chacun des caractristiques de sonorit, de clavier,
dtendue, et dans ce domaine Scarlatti na pas laiss dindication
prcise. Par ailleurs, certaines sonates peuvent tre joues lorgue ;
il en est mme trois dentre elles (Kk.287, Kk.288 et Kk.328) qui
sont trs prcisment spcifies pour cet instrument. Mais quel
orgue ? sans doute un orgue de chambre ; il nest en tout cas pas
ncessaire de disposer dun instrument ayant un pdalier. On peut
imaginer galement que certaines sonates taient destines au
forte-piano ; il en existait la Cour dEspagne. Cette thse est
fortement dfendue par Jol Sheveloff. Enfin, il est possible que
Scarlatti ait galement pens aux possesseurs de clavicordes ou
dpinettes, notamment lpinette anglaise double courbure du
XVIIIe sicle. lappui de cette thse, Kenneth Gilbert fait
remarquer dans la prface de son dition intgrale des sonates que
cette pinette possde sinon un fa grave, du moins un sol aigu. Dans
la courte bibliographie donne la fin de ce guide, les auteurs ont
tous consacr quelques paragraphes ce problme, notamment le
facteur de clavecin William Dowd, dans une communication du
Colloque de Nice sur Scarlatti. Dans son enregistrement intgral des
sonates, Scott Ross a utilis cinq clavecins diffrents :

De mme Kk. 97, 148, 153 ncessitent un mi bmol ; on peut penser

que la premire sonate est douteuse et que les deux autres seraient
destines au forte-piano.
Authenticit : En labsence de traces autographes et de tmoignages
directs, lauthenticit des sonates est parfois problmatique, encore que
les choix de Kirkpatrick soient solidement tays. Jol Sheveloff, dans
son tude sur Scarlatti, considre par exemple que les sonates Kk. 95,
97, 142, 143, 144, 145 et 146 sont dune authenticit douteuse. En
revanche, il est aussi possible que dautres uvres puissent tre
attribues Scarlatti. Jack Werner et Robert Clark Lee sy sont
employs et lon annonce dans la collection Le Pupitre chez Heugel,
par Kenneth Gilbert, un douzime volume de sonates dont il discute
le rattachement au corpus des uvres rpertories par Kirkpatrick.
Boivin : Ce nom figure sur bon nombre de partitions franaises du
XVIIIe sicle : Franois Boivin fut lun des grands
diteurs-marchands de musique de lpoque et sa mort en 1733
Madame Veuve Boivin poursuivit pendant vingt ans lactivit de
son mari. Ne Ballard, elle tait dune famille dditeurs et les
co-ditions furent nombreuses avec Le Clerc, Corette, de
Brotonne, Castagnerie, etc Les enseignes des magasins taient non
moins clbres. La Rgle dor de Ballard puis de Boivin, la Croix
dor de Le Clerc en particulier (Cf. Annick Devries et Franois
Lesure : Dictionnaire des diteurs de Musique franais Minkof d.,
1979). Six volumes ont fait connatre Scarlatti au public franais. Les
dates des publications sont incertaines, la premire dition semble
avoir t faite partir de ldition Roseingrave ds 1739. La source
des autres publications nest pas encore clarifie. Dans son catalogue,
Kirkpatrick a nanmoins retenu deux sonates, Kk. 95 et Kk. 97,

pour les sonates Kk. 32 Kk. 93 ( lexception de Kk. 80, Kk.

88 Kk. 91) : un clavecin italien ralis par Jean-Louis Val. Il sagit
des sonates vraisemblablement composes avant que Scarlatti ne
rejoigne le Portugal puis lEspagne, ce qui justifie le choix de cet
instrument au timbre particulier.
pour toutes les autres pices, quatre clavecins de style franais
deux claviers (8, 8, 4), respectivement ralises par :
44

*
*
*
*

Antony Sidey (sonates Kk. 94 Kk. 188, et Kk. 356 Kk. 555),
William Dowd Von Nagel (sonates Kk. 268 Kk. 355),
Willard Martin (sonates Kk. 1 Kk. 30, Kk. 189 Kk. 267),
David Ley (sonates Kk. 81, Kk. 88 Kk. 91).

Kirkpatrick a clairement rfut le texte de Burney qui tablissait une

relation discourtoise entre la disparition des croisements de mains et
lembonpoint du matre vieillissant. Il semble en effet que Scarlatti
nait pas grossi en prenant de lge. Il nen reste pas moins que ces
fameux croisements sont des signes pour la chronologie des uvres
du compositeur.

enfin, les trois sonates spcifiquement marques pour orgue ont

t enregistres sur lorgue de Saint-Guilhem-le-Dsert.

Quinze des trente Essercizi impliquent des croisements, mais ils

disparaissent pratiquement des pices archasantes que lon rencontre
de Kk. 59 Kk. 96, et des pices didactiques aprs Kk. 148. Cinq
sonates seulement les utilisent dans les pices de la priode dite
intermdiaire (Kk. 174, 175, 182, 217, 243). Dans les dernires
sonates, mis part Kk. 528, 529 et 554 il ny en a gure que dix sur
trois cents qui recourent ce procd avec modration.

Combre : Cest la bibliothque de lUniversit de Combre,

quelque 150 km au nord de Lisbonne, que lon trouve lunique
source dun Menuet de Scarlatti (Kk. 94). Combre, justement
clbre pour avoir abrit plusieurs reprises depuis le moyen ge
luniversit de Lisbonne en exil, eut parmi les organistes de sa
cathdrale, le compositeur portugais Carlos Seixas. Or cest
justement dans un recueil de Toccate per cembalo y organo de Seixas
que lon trouve une Toccata Del Signor Domingo Escarlate. Cette suite
regroupe quatre pices de Scarlatti (Kk. 85, 82, 78 premire partie
et Kk. 94). Les indications manuscrites montrent quil sagit bien
dune suite o les pices doivent senchaner les unes aux autres. Le
regroupement des sonates de Scarlatti tait donc pratiqu. Le recueil
de Seixas date de 1720, lanne o Scarlatti prenait ses fonctions de
Matre de Chapelle Lisbonne ; il arrivait donc au Portugal. De l
penser que ces sonates ont t composes prcdemment en Italie

Crux : Ralph Kirkpatrick a fait ressortir une caractristique trs

particulire des formes binaires de Scarlatti. Il a remarqu en effet
que les deux parties qui composent chaque sonate ces deux
parties spares par une double barre qui implique la rptition de
chacune delles taient elles-mmes susceptibles dtre divises en
deux. Il a appel crux lendroit de cette possible division qui spare
chaque partie en deux zones : la premire, plus dynamique par ses
thmes, ses rythmes, ses modulations ; la seconde plus statique, qui
ne module pratiquement jamais et dont lcriture est souvent plus
virtuose. Cette division nexiste que rarement dans les pices
premire manire, comme si Scarlatti avait pris cette habitude au
contact des musiciens portugais et espagnols, chez qui on trouve
cette faon de procder ds la fin du XVIIe sicle. Elle est parfois
souligne par une cadence, un arpge, ou un point dorgue ; elle
saperoit la lecture et lcoute dans la mesure o, aprs chaque
crux cest--dire dans les zones plus statiques on retrouve
paralllement la mme musique : une premire fois la dominante
(dans la premire partie), une seconde fois la tonique ( la fin de la
sonate). Dans lanalyse des sonates, Kirkpatrick a utilis les termes
pr-crux et post-crux pour distinguer les squences musicales qui se
trouvent immdiatement avant ou aprs la crux.

Couple : Dissocier deux sonates formant une couple chez Scarlatti

devrait tre aujourdhui aussi exceptionnel que de sparer chez Bach
un Prlude de sa Fugue. Les quatre cents dernires sonates du
catalogue de Kirkpatrick sorganisent en effet deux deux, dans une
unit tonale et un contraste de mouvement qui forment un
ensemble musicalement quilibr. Cette organisation est tellement
systmatique quon a de la peine comprendre comment Alessandro
Longo avait pu la supprimer de son dition. On trouvera dans
lintroduction au catalogue analytique les raisons objectives qui
justifient ces groupements deux deux ; quelques sonates isoles,
quelques tryptiques ne font que confirmer cette rgle.
Ltablissement dun catalogue des couples est toutefois difficile
en raison de labsence dindication prcise de Scarlatti, et du manque
dunit qui rsulte des diffrentes copies manuscrites. Cest ainsi
que le manuscrit de Parme fait apparatre 192 couples possibles, et
18 tryptiques, alors que le manuscrit de Venise ne fait ressortir que
187 couples et 12 tryptiques. Par addition et comparaison de ces
deux sources, Kirkpatrick compte 194 couples mais seulement
4 tryptiques. Son calcul laisse donc 155 sonates isoles. On peut
nanmoins trouver dans ces 155 sonates plusieurs tryptiques, des
sonates doubles qui forment des couples elles toutes seules et des
suites de plusieurs mouvements.

Gatto : La marche prudente des intervalles qui forment le thme de

la sonate Kk. 30, a donn cette pice polyphonique le surnom de
Fugue du Chat. Cest un apport du XIXe sicle dautant plus
tenace que les pianistes (Liszt et Moscheles en tte) et les diteurs
(Clementi, Czerny puis Longo) se sont relays pour limposer. Si
Wanda Landowska avait un chat clbre, on ne saura sans doute
jamais si Scarlatti en avait un. Rien nest en tout cas plus contraire
son uvre que daccoler un titre, fut-il anecdotique.
Kenneth Gilbert : est n Montral. Aprs des tudes au
Conservatoire, il se perfectionne en France et en Italie avec Gaston
Litaize, Ruggero Gerlin et Nadia Boulanger. Organiste Montral,
il a jou un rle dterminant dans le mouvement vers lorgue
classique. Il fait ses dbuts comme claveciniste Londres en 1968.
Depuis, il se produit lorgue comme au clavecin dans les grands
centres dEurope et dAmrique ; il ralise de nombreux
enregistrements pour le disque, la radio et la tlvision de plusieurs
pays, et se fait entendre aux grands festivals dt. Ses travaux de
musicologue ont donn de nouvelles ditions de luvre de clavecin
de Couperin, Rameau, dAnglebert, Frescobaldi, luvre dorgue de
Couperin, les Variations Goldberg de Bach, ainsi que la monumentale
dition de toutes les sonates de Scarlatti, ouvrage slectionn par le
Comit pour lArme Europenne de la Musique en 1985. Aprs
avoir enseign au Conservatoire de Montral et lUniversit Laval
(Qubec), Kenneth Gilbert est nomm au Conservatoire Royal
dAnvers en 1971. En 1972 il prend la relve de Gustav Leonhardt
lAcadmie dorgue dt de Haarlem (Pays-Bas) et, en 1981, de
Ruggero Gerlin lAcadmie Chigiana de Sienne. En octobre de la
mme anne, Kenneth Gilbert devient titulaire de la classe de
clavecin la Hochschule de Stuttgart en mme temps quil prend la
direction du Dpartement de Musique Ancienne au Conservatoire
de Strasbourg o il assure un troisime cycle de clavecin, unique en
France (jusquen 1985). Il vient dtre nomm professeur de clavecin
au Mozarteum de Salzbourg. De part ses diverses activits
professionnelles et pdagogiques au service de la musique ancienne,
Kenneth Gilbert a exerc une influence considrable sur la jeune
gnration de clavecinistes, tant en Europe quen Amrique.

Croisements (de mains) : Luvre de Scarlatti est parseme

dindications qui amnent linterprte jouer certaines basses avec la
main droite, certaines notes aigus avec la main gauche. Le
croisement se fait au dessus de la main qui assure la continuit du jeu,
au centre du clavier. Il sagit souvent pour Scarlatti dun artifice
thtral qui met en valeur lhabilet de lexcutant. Sans faire une
thorie du croisement de mains, il faut quand mme relever
quelques dtails. Le thtral stablit parfois au dtriment du musical.
Dans ladmirable sonate Kk. 27, par exemple, Scarlatti stipule
prcisment que les croisements sont alterns : la formule
daccompagnement est successivement joue par la main droite,
gauche, et nouveau droite. La belle harmonie qui rsulte des
retards de sixtes et doctaves est donc survole par la main gauche,
puis par la main droite et nouveau la gauche. Le systme est donc
rpt trois fois avec une rpartition diffrente du rle des deux
mains. (Bien souvent, je me suis demand si la dernire de ces
rptitions, quimpose le ballet des avant-bras, ntait pas
musicalement superflue).
Dans dautres sonates, il parat plus simple, par exemple, de jouer les
notes aigus avec les derniers doigts de la main droite, gardant les
premiers pour laccompagnement. Il est de bon ton de dire quon
perd alors lessentiel : ce qui rsulte des mouvements difficiles, et qui
implique une tension psychologique de linterprte mme si cela
ne sentend pas ! Jen conviens, par principe ou plutt pour les
retransmissions tlvises.
45

Kirkpatrick : N en 1911 aux tats-Unis, Ralph Kirkpatrick fit

une carrire internationale comme claveciniste mais surtout
contribua la connaissance de Scarlatti en consacrant plus de dix ans
de sa vie la rdaction dun livre sur le compositeur. Ses tudes
lavaient conduit Paris o, dans les annes trente, il travailla
notamment avec Wanda Landowska et Nadia Boulanger. Ses
concerts et ses disques furent clbres : il enregistra notamment une
intgrale de luvre pour clavecin de J.S. Bach. Il joua avec les plus
grands instrumentistes de son temps : Alexandre Schneider, Pierre
Fournier et na pas nglig la musique contemporaine : Elliott
Carter lui a ddi un double concerto pour clavecin et orchestre
cordes en 1961. Il a aussi cr la sonate pour clavecin et violon de
Darius Milhaud, op. 257 (1945). Scarlatti a t au centre de son
travail et de son existence. Pour retrouver les traces du compositeur,
il a sillonn lItalie, le Portugal et lEspagne, ainsi que les pays
dEurope o sont conserves les sources manuscrites. Il ny a
pratiquement pas eu dlments nouveaux, fondamentaux apports
depuis trente ans son travail. Pour faire connatre Scarlatti, il a
publi un fac-simil des manuscrits de Parme Johnson Reprint,
1972, 18 volumes) et une anthologie de soixante sonates (Schrimers
Ed., U.S.A.), quil enregistra et analysa en dtail dans son ouvrage.
Enfin et surtout, il a rdig cette monographie trs complte que
lon ne saurait trop conseiller tous les amateurs de Scarlatti. On y
trouve non seulement un rcit de la vie du compositeur, une
prsentation de son uvre, mais aussi une foule dlments prcieux
pour les interprtes qui, pour une fois, peuvent trouver une tude
approfondie, rdige par un matre du clavier. Ralph Kirkpatrick est
dcd le 13 avril 1984.

excuter ses uvres devant eux ? Par ailleurs, ltude des collections
de Venise et de Parme rvlent suffisamment de diffrences pour
quon puisse imaginer que ces deux manuscrits ne soient que des
copies dune autre source. (Cf. Colloque de Nice 1985 et Jol
Sheveloff : lhypothse dune troisime source).
Menuet : Une dizaine de menuets parsment luvre de Scarlatti,
du moins cest le titre que portent les copies manuscrites de ces
sonates. Cest moins larchitecture des pices que leur esprit qui
justifie cette appellation. Les chorgraphes baroques seraient sans
doute surpris par ces pices o alternent souvent un nombre pair et
impair de mesures. Si Kk. 440 est relativement semblable au Modle
habituel du menuet par la symtrie de sa construction, la plupart des
pices marques Minuet sont dune construction asymtrique et
ingale. Seuls lunit du thme, la mesure ternaire et le caractre
dansant de ces pices justifient leur titre.
Mode : Le passage du mineur au majeur ou linverse semble
tre chez Scarlatti un procd de composition qui varie davantage la
tonalit gnrale que le caractre du discours musical. Dans de
nombreuses sonates, on passe de lun lautre sans changer
dambiance. Qui plus est, trois sonates (Kk. 444, 510 et 519)
commencent en mineur et terminent en majeur, rendant ainsi plus
homogne les couples quelles forment avec Kk. 443, 509 et 518,
toutes trois crites en majeur. Il faut nanmoins remarquer une
certaine rpartition des modes au fil du catalogue de Kirkpatrick : la
majorit des cent premiers numros est forme de sonates en
mineur, mais cette proportion change radicalement par la suite. Des
vingt-cinq premires sonates didactiques qui commencent les
premiers volumes de Parme et de Venise (Kk. 148 et suivantes),
vingt-trois sont en majeur. Quant aux trois cents dernires sonates,
il y en a moins de soixante en mineur. Le mode majeur est associ
aux dises ; le mode mineur aux bmols. Les sonates majeures avec
des bmols la clef sont deux fois moins nombreuses que les sonates
ayant des dises. Linverse est vrai pour les sonates en mineur.

Longo : Ce nom reste attach la premire dition intgrale de

luvre pour clavier de Scarlatti, au premier catalogue complet des
sonates qui fut tabli cette occasion. Termins en 1906 (date du
copyright), les onze volumes qui composent cette dition ont t
rgulirement rdits jusqu ces dernires annes par les ditions
Ricordi. Cette dition eut le grand mrite de faire connatre au
monde entier 545 sonates, alors qu lpoque on ne pouvait au
mieux trouver que quelques dizaines de pices. Elle tait
malheureusement faite au got du jour, celui du XIXe sicle
finissant, lintention de pianistes qui se proccupaient peu de
lexactitude des partitions. On est aujourdhui surpris sinon choqu
des liberts prises par lauteur de ce travail. Cest Alessandro Longo
qui a sign cette dition. Compositeur issu dune famille de
musiciens napolitains, il a semble-t-il ralis ce travail avec son pre.
Kenneth Gilbert a en effet retrouv au Conservatoire de Naples les
documents qui ont servi la prparation de ldition : une copie trs
soigne du manuscrit de Venise, qui serait de la main du pre, mais
surcharge par le fils de toutes les indications de nuances, de phrass,
de doigts qui font quaujourdhui cette dition est rejete. Plus
graves encore sont les modifications de texte faites par Longo, et le
bouleversement de lordre des sonates. Ngligeant lvolution du
style de Scarlatti et les groupements de sonates que suggrent tous les
manuscrits (couples, triptyques) Longo a regroup les sonates en
suites tonales qui ne correspondent aucune ralit musicale. Le
catalogue tabli par Kirkpatrick a fait par ailleurs ressortir onze
sonates que Longo navait pas incorpores dans son dition, savoir :
Kk. 41 (fugue en r mineur) Kk. 80,94,97,142, 143, 144, 204a,
204b, 452 et 453. noter que les deux sonates Kk.204a et b ne
forment en ralit quune sonate.

Parme : La section musicale de la Bibliothque Palatine rattache

aujourdhui au Conservatoire Arrigo Boito, conserve depuis 1908
une collection de quinze volumes relis contenant 464 sonates de
Scarlatti. une dition fac-simil de ces sonates a t publie sous la
direction de Ralph Kirkpatrick en 1972 aux tats-Unis (Johnson
Reprint Corporation).
Il est aujourdhui acquis que le manuscrit de Parme est antrieur au
manuscrit de Venise, en tout cas pour les sonates copies aprs 1750.
Jol Sheveloff a consacr une partie de sa thse dmontrer ce point
de vue, sans exclure toutefois lhypothse que les deux manuscrits
pourraient rsulter de la copie dune troisime source aujourdhui
inconnue. Kenneth Gilbert a fait remarquer ce sujet que le
manuscrit de Parme comportait et l un trait inhabituel qui
pourrait fort bien tre la marque place par le copiste du manuscrit
de Venise : ayant devant lui Parme recopier, il prenait soin
dindiquer sur son original un signe pour marquer lendroit o son
travail tait interrompu. Lors du colloque de Nice (Cf Bibliographie)
Kenneth Gilbert a mme avanc avec humour lide que cette
marque pouvait fort bien correspondre au moment o le copiste
tait appel au rfectoire : la musique entre chaque marque pouvant
fort bien tre copie en une sance de travail.

Manuscrits : Il nexiste aucun manuscrit autographe de luvre

pour clavier de Domenico Scarlatti. Aussi tonnant que cela puisse
paratre, part ldition des Essercizi et de quelques autres sonates
dites par Roseingrave et Boivin, les seules sources de lpoque
aujourdhui disponibles sont des copies manuscrites de ses uvres,
essentiellement deux collections de quinze volumes relis, conservs
dans les Bibliothques de Venise et de Parme. Dautres copies
complmentaires sont conserves Mnster, Vienne, Cambridge
etc. Sil y a peu despoir de dcouvrir des manuscrits de la main
mme de Scarlatti, la recherche en revanche peut sexercer sur les
conditions dans lesquelles ces manuscrits furent raliss. Il nest pas
impossible quils rsultent dune dicte. Le fait dcrire la musique
entendue, ntait pas exceptionnel lpoque (pour transcrire
notamment certaines compositions dorganistes aveugles). Scarlatti
aurait-il systmatiquement utilis le talent de copistes, se bornant

Roseingrave : Thomas Roseingrave fut lun des admirateurs de

Scarlatti. Organiste et compositeur anglais, il vint en Italie la fin de
ses tudes musicales et suivit Scarlatti Venise et Rome. Quand
trente ans il retourne Londres, il monte et dirige Narciso, lun des
derniers opras de Domenico Scarlatti, et semploie le faire
connatre en Angleterre. Sous le titre de Suite de Pices pour le
Clavecin en deux volumes, on lui doit en 1739 une dition des
Essercizi complte de douze sonates (Kk. 31 Kk. 43), dune fugue
dAlessandro Scarlatti et dune uvre personnelle quil prsente au
dbut de sa publication. lpoque, Roseingrave avait pratiquement
abandonn sa carrire. On peut imaginer que pour complter son
dition et la rendre plus attrayante que ldition des trente Essercizi
faite lanne prcdente, il ait sorti de ses archives quelques pices
ramenes dItalie vingt ans plus tt. Quoi quil en soit, ces pices
figurent galement dans dautres sources, notamment le manuscrit de
46

Venise : Face au Palais des Doges, le Palazzo Marciana abrite depuis

1835 quinze superbes volumes relis aux armes des Maisons
dEspagne et du Portugal. Ils contiennent une copie manuscrite de
496 sonates de Scarlatti. Une dition fac-simil de ces volumes a t
entreprise en Italie sous la direction de Laura Alvini. Lanalyse
dtaille des manuscrits a t faite par Jol Sheveloff dans une thse
datant de 1970.

Vienne et le manuscrit de Venise dat de 1742 avec toutefois de

lgres diffrences (Cf. Kk. 33).
Tempi : Le tempo des sonates de Scarlatti est ce fameux tempo
ordinario. Prs de quatre cents sonates sont ainsi marques Allegro ou
Allegretto, appliques des mesures binaires ou ternaires. Mais le
nombre des sonates plus lentes que lordinaire est loin dtre
ngligeable. Plus de quatre-vingt dix sonates sont par exemple
marques Andante ou Adagio, et en revanche, il ny a que
soixante-dix pices pour lesquelles Scarlatti demande un
mouvement plus rapide : Presto ou Prestissimo. En dfinitive cette
rpartition des mouvements nest pas trs loin de la rpartition des
compositions de lpoque classique, voire de lpoque romantique.
Aprs tout, la forme sonate en quatre mouvements comporte le plus
souvent deux Allegros pour un mouvement lent et un final plus
rapide. noter que dans la plupart des cas, un mouvement lent
forme une couple avec un mouvement rapide dont il est en quelque
sorte le pendant ou le prlude. Une quinzaine de mouvements lents
isols rsultent de la copie des pices de jeunesse dans un ordre
quelque peu alatoire (Kk. 32, 34, 40, 41, 42, 52, 77, 80, 83, 86, 92,
94, 109, 132, 144).

Bibliographie de base
Ralph Kirkpatrick: Domenico Scarlatti, premire dition en 1953,
Princeton University Press Traduction franaise en 1982 aux
ditions J.C. Latts.
Jol Sheveloff: The keyboard music of Domenico Scarlatti, 1970, Ann Arbor
University, Michigan USA.
Kenneth Gilbert: Prface de ldition intgrale en onze volumes de luvre
pour clavier de Domenico Scarlatti Heugel, Paris 1983.
Actes du Colloque International: Domenico Scarlatti, organis par la
Socit de Musique Ancienne de Nice, 1985.
Roberto Pagano: Scarlatti, Alessandro e Domenico, due vite in una
Arnaldo Mondadori Ed., 1985.

Tonalit : Scarlatti participe lvolution de son temps qui met

pratiquement pour deux sicles toute la musique au temprament
gal. Il utilise toutes les tonalits ; celle-ci sont souvent notes
lancienne dans les sources principales, ce qui limite les armatures.
Seules les tonalits de do dise (ou r bmol) majeur et de sol dise
(ou la bmol) mineur, nont pas t abordes. Les tonalits les plus
charges sont regroupes dans cette priode intermdiaire que
Kirkpatrick jugeait la plus exprimentale. Dune faon gnrale, les
tonalits nont pas de caractre dfini. noter que la tonalit de
prdilection est nanmoins celle de r o lon trouve une centaine
de sonates (les deux tiers en majeur).

Gnrique
Silence, moteur, Scarlatti premire !
Ctait le samedi 16 juin 1984. Scott Ross commenait
lenregistrement intgral des 555 sonates de Scarlatti.
La production a ncessit 98 sances denregistrement ; la dernire
eu lieu le 10 septembre de lanne suivante, aprs quelques huit
mille prises.

Transcriptions : Le caractre orchestral de certaines sonates,

labondance des thmes, la truculence des rythmes ont souvent tent
les transcripteurs. Ce fut le cas ds les premires ditions au XVIIIe
sicle et ldition monumentale dAlessandro Longo a relanc cette
curieuse habitude. Les deux transcriptions les plus clbres sont celles
de Charles Avison au XVIIIe sicle, et de Vicenzo Tomasini au
dbut du vingtime sicle.

Les enregistrements ont t raliss en diffrents lieux :

la maison de Radio France dans le studio 103 (sonates 31 40,
61 188 et 268 365), le studio 106 (sonates 41 60) et le studio
107 (sonates 372 555).
la chapelle du Chteau dAssas (sonates 1 30 et 219 267)
dans la salle Tinel de la Chartreuse de Villeneuve-ls-Avignon
(sonates 356 371).

Compositeur anglais, Charles Avison publia en 1744 une srie de

concerti grossi pour orchestre cordes. crits 7 parties, ces
concertos comprennent le plus souvent 4 mouvements qui
reproduisent toute ou en partie une sonate tire des Essercizi ou de
ldition Roseingrave. Une dizaine de mouvements ne
correspondent toutefois pas aux sonates rpertories par Kirkpatrick,
ils sont vraisemblablement dAvison lui-mme, crits dans le style
de Scarlatti.

Alain de Chambure a assur la direction artistique de lensemble.

Alain Duchemin a ralis la prise de son de la plupart des sonates,
lexception de lenregistrement des sonates Kk. 293 355, assur par
Madeleine Sola et des sonates Kk. 94 112 par Bernard Charron.
Lquipe technique qui a particip aux enregistrements et assur les
montages et mixage, tait constitue de MM. Jean-Michel Bernot,
Pascal Besnard et Alain Joubert pour les deux tiers de la production ;
le dernier tiers a t ralis avec Melles Solne Chevassus,
Catherine Lhritier et Ysabelle Van Wersch-Cot, MM. Olivier
Beurotte, Franois Caillard, Vincent Decque, Olivier Dupr, Patrick
Nuiry. Scott Ross lui-mme a galement assur le montage de
nombreuses sonates.

Au dbut du vingtime sicle, le compositeur italien Vicenzo

Tomasini puisa galement dans les sonates de Scarlatti pour raliser
la partition de son ballet Les femmes de bonne humeur ; lune des
premires chorgraphies de Lonide Massine cre en 1917 Rome
pour les ballets russes de Diaghilev. Au fil des 23 scnes de cette
comdie chorgraphique inspire dune comdie de Carlo Goldoni,
Tomasini a repris tout ou partie de 23 sonates choisies pour leur
lyrisme ou pour leur rythme.

Le projet a t men bien en coproduction par Radio France et

Erato.

Scarlatti a galement inspir des compositeurs comme Alfredo

Casella, qui crivit en 1926 une suite pour piano et orchestre
intitule Scarlattiana. Arthur Benjamin crivit en 1945 une suite
pour flte et cordes. Gordon Bryan crivit pour sa part de
nombreuses uvres inspires des sonates de Scarlatti : en 1939 une
suite pour piano, percussion et cordes galement intitule
Scarlattiana, divers concertos : pour hautbois (1942-43), flte
(1944), alto (1946), violon (1944-48), cor (1949) et deux trios pour
flte, hautbois et piano (19471950). Quant aux arrangements des
sonates pour dautres instruments, la liste serait encore plus difficile
tablir en raison de leur nombre et de leur varit, on trouve au
catalogue des diteurs de nombreux arrangements pour harpe,
guitare, accordon, ensemble dinstruments vents

Cest ce jour le seul enregistrement intgral sur disque de cette

uvre.
Les 555 sonates ont t prsentes au cours de plus de deux cents
missions sur France Musique et sur plusieurs antennes de lUnion
Europenne de Radiodiffusion, loccasion du tricentenaire de la
naissance de Domenico Scarlatti en 1985.
Pour la ralisation du catalogue analytique, je tiens remercier tout
particulirement Monsieur Kenneth Gilbert qui a bien voulu
accepter non seulement de guider ce travail, mais de relire les
nombreux textes qui le composent.
Alain de Chambure
47