Keyboard Sonatas, K.1-555

Historical context

Domenico Scarlatti’s Keyboard Sonatas, also known as Studies, represent a fascinating evolution in musical form. As “the book” notes, these works are essentially “expansions of the plan of the original Branle,” a dance form, with their first part typically concluding in either the principal or a complementary key. While retaining the underlying structures of dance tunes in his compositions, Scarlatti “generally abandons the names of dance tunes,” as “the book” observes.

“The book” further highlights Scarlatti’s significant stylistic contributions, noting that his works demonstrate “a great advance on Corelli in the clear definition of subjects and variety of rhythms.” This innovative approach, according to “the book,” enabled Scarlatti “to approach modern ideas of ‘development’,” even though he often employed “a patchwork of short subjects” within his pieces.

Drawn from George Grove; J. A. Fuller-Maitland (ed.), Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians (2nd ed.), Vol. 2 (1906) — public domain, archive.org.