So, here are another 20 fast and dazzling sonatas:
(Sonata selection, performance times and grades are subjective)
1. K 3 – (A minor - Presto) – Electrical piece with ultra fast scale rushes. Looks easy on the page, but wait until you try to play it up to tempo (2:40) Grade 8.
2. K14 – (G major – Presto) Looking for fast (very fast) scale runs interspersed with a beautiful staccato melody? Look no further than this sparkling gigue. (3.05) Grade 7
3. K 20 - (E major – Presto) Virtuosistic sonata that is the sort of “expected” Scarlatti: guitar imitation, Spanish rhythms, fast scales in thirds, repeated notes and lots of ornaments. Great show off piece. If you want to develop a certain kind of technique, burn the Czerny and play this sonata instead. (3.00) Grade 6.
4. K 43 (G minor – Allegrissimo) Ferocious and virtuosistic sonata. (2:40) Grade 7
5. K64 – (D minor – Allegro) – A determined and energetic gavotte, one of Scarlatti’s most played and well known pieces. (1:45). Grade 6.
6. K 96 – (D major – Allegro) Another “typical” Scarlatti sonata (similar to the overplayed K 380). Richly textured. It has everything in it: Horn calls, fast repeated notes, trills, suspensions, cross relations, parallel fifths, big leaps, scale runs and guitar imitations (5.05) Grade 8
7. K 119 – (D major – Allegro) – Another sonata ideally suited to replace some of the common technical studies. Fast repeated notes, broken chords, arpeggios, leaps, crossing hands, scale runs. This unusual, percussive – watch out for the castanet sounds! - sonata has a very catchy, dancing motif. One of my favourites. (5:40) Grade 6.
8. K 120 (D minor – Allegro) A fast sonata full of nervous energy, this is the cross hand piece to end all cross hand pieces! Leaping bass figures, double notes in both hands. Unusual and difficult.. (4:15) Grade 8.
9. K 124 – (G major – Allegro) Tired of practising arpeggios? Try this sonata instead. A breezy arpeggio study with very fast triplet semiquavers. Uplifting and extroverted. Go and jump on a lake, Hanon!. (4: 40). Grade 7
10. K 162 – (E major - Andante) After a slow, lyrical beginning all hell breaks loose, and a fast, dazzling sonata ensues with occasional returns to the slow theme. (5:20) Grade 8.
11. K 175 (A minor – Allegro) – A vigorous impulsive sonata with most of the finger work on the right hand. The left hand (which demands a hand span covering at least an octave) plays sonorous chords and tone clusters – with up to ten notes! – imitating the strumming of a guitar. This Sonata was composed in 1752. Here Scarlatti succeeds in making conventional harmonies with slight changes sound quite extraordinary for the period. The Sonata has real Spanish character with vitality and bravura. Musically, the guitar-like sounds of the left hand chords are particularly fascinating. (3:45). Grade 5
12. K 201 – (G major – Vivo) – Uplifting and dazzling. Arpeggios and thirds, another excellent replacement for technical studies. Requires brilliant figurations for both hands. (3:40). Grade 5
13. K 373 (G minor – Presto a fugato) Wonderful sonata with scales (some chromatic) alternating hands over the whole extent of the keyboard. (2:45) Grade 5.
14. K 406 – (C major – Allegro). This is joyful music that makes you want to skip and jump and dance! This is the kind of music that makes you smile for hours after listening to it. This cures depression, serious! Great for your trills and glissando-like scales. (3.05) Grade 6
15. K 421 – (C major – Allegro) One of my favourites, this is a brilliant and dazzling sonata with plenty of repeated notes. It is said to represent children running through the streets of Madrid. (3:30) Grade 6
16. K 454 (G major – Andante spirituoso) After a calm opening and nice little folk-like tune this sonata goes onto a breathless sequence of scurrying scales and broken chords over the entire length of the keyboard on both hands. Unexpected changes. Good Czerny replacement and warm-up piece. (4:50) Grade 5.
17 . K 470 – (G major – Allegretto) – Starts with determined, percussive chords, which are followed by a fast figuration of great delicacy equally shared between the hands. Good Czerny replacement and warm up. Fast and dazzling this sonata exudes confidence. (4:50) Grade 6.
18. K 487 (C major – Allegro) A percussive sonata, full of zest and unresolved dissonances that make it sound brittle and sharp. Difficult octave leaps on the left hand. (4:10) Grade 7
19. K 502 (C major – Allegro) – Inventive sonata with many original musical ideas. Starts lively in 3/8 and modulates to G minor to end the first half in G major. On the second part changes meter to 2/4 and returns to 3/8 at the end. Dotted figuration, including dotted rests. (3:55) Grade 6
20. K 513 (C major – Pastorale: Moderato – Molto allegro – Presto) One of the few sonatas written in different movements (tempos). Shepherd pipes and bagpipes drones are imitated. The final movement (presto) is exhilarating and virtuosic. This Pastorale was composed in 1756 during Scarlatti’s late period. It recalls the piping of the shepherds who came down into Rome from the surrounding hills at Christmas time. They begin in a moderate tempo, the drone of their bagpipes is heard in a quicker section, and finally they celebrate in a joyful Presto. (5:40) Grade 8.
And here are another 20 lyrical sonatas:
1. K 8 – (G minor – Allegro) In spite of the tempo indication this is a slow, lyrical sonata. .Melancholic and intense. (5:55) Grade 7.
2. K 30 - (G minor - Moderato) – A beautiful and complex fugue. (3:50) Grade 8.
3. K 77 (D minor – Moderato e cantabile – minuet) Painfully nostalgic and evocative lyrical sonata followed by a lively minuet. A masterpiece. (7:25) Grade 7
4. K 99 (C minor - ) – A beautiful , tranquil and lyrical sonata that grows in emotional intensity as it develops. (7:25) Grade 6
5. K 109 – (A minor – Adagio) – Beautiful lyrical writing in three and four part couterpoint. Excellent as a study in voicing. Recital material for the intermediate player. (7:35) Grade 6.
6. K 112 (Bb major - Allegro) – A beautiful, lyrical sonata. Crossing hands. (5:20) Grade 5.
7. K 147 (E minor – Lento) A beautiful lyrical and reflective sonata. (7:40) Grade 6
8. K 193 (E flat major - Allegretto) – A beautiful, lyrical sonata not too slow. (4:20). Grade 6
9. K 209 – (A major – Allegro) Uplifiting sonata, not too fast. (4:10) Grade 6
10. K 215 – (E major – Andante) – Sudden shifts of key abound in this sonata (6:00) Grade 7
11. K 259 – (G major – Andante) – A two and three voice invention. Lyrical and tranquil. Slightly reminiscent of K 208. (5:50) Grade 7.
12. K 318 (F# major – Andante) An unusual key that suggests that Scarlatti was familiar with equal temperament tuning. A lyrical and calm sonata. (6:20) Grade 7.
13. K 322 (Amajor - Allegro ) A delicate, joyful sonata with a Mozartian flavour. (2:55) Grade 6
14. K 381 – (E major – Allegro) – This beautiful two-voice invention is excellent for finger and hand co-ordination and independence. A most beautiful melody on the second part.(4:30) Grade 5.
15. K 426 (G minor – Andante) Another beautiful lyrical sonata, deeply reflective and tranquil, and not at all melancholic. Rich textures and highly musical. Very good as a study in long phrases. Sudden dramatic silences. (7:40) Grade 8.
16. K429 – (A major - Allegro) – Lyrical and gently lilting sonata. Counterpoint in three and four parts. (2:50) Grade 6.
17. K 491 (D major – Allegro) – Rhythmical percussive beginning followed by a romantic arpeggiated section (not unlike a Schubert impromptu) with a most pleasing melody. A masterpiece. (5:50). Grade 6
18. K 446 (F major - Pastorale: Allegrissimo) In spite of the tempo direction this is a relatively slow sonata, lyrical and reflexive. (5:00) Grade 6.
19. K 546 (G minor) – Written in 2 and 3 parts, this is another lyrical, melancholic sonata with a beautiful, flowing melody. Recorded by Benjamin Frith for Naxos. (5:17) grade 7
20. K 547 (G major – Allegro) – Lively and imposing sonata with a beautiful recurring motif. Two voice invention (with an occasional third voice) equally shared between hands. Effective at a slower tempo. Great warm up. (4:20) Grade 5.
Best wishes,
Bernhard.
My ten favourite sonatas (at the moment) are:
1. K1 in D minor
2. K27 in B minor
3. K24 in A major
4. K69 in F minor
5. K87 in B minor
6. K 141 in D minor
7. K213 in D minor
8. K427 in G major
9. K443 in D major
10. K492 in D major
My favourite recordings are (in no particular order):
1. Vladimir Horowitz (Sony)
2. Ivo Pogorelich (DG)
3. Mikhail Pletnev (Virgin)
4. Anne Queflelec (Apex)
5. Inger Sodergren (Approche/Harmonia Mundi)
6. Maria Tipo (EMI)
Ralph Kirkpatrick, in the preface to his edition of selected Sonatas (Schirmer) – which I strongly recommend you read – has a list of 155 questions (in regards to subjects ranging from technique and rhythm to melodic inflection and expressivity) to help you tackle any one of the sonatas. You must answer and investigate these questions for each sonata you play if you want to render it properly. And this is just the tip of the iceberg.
I think it is not for nothing Rachmaninov before his tours for 9 hours a day would work on Schletzer etude, it is not for nothing if Heifetz would not practice for one day, next day he would play only scales and arpeggios, it is not for nothing Josef Lhevinne records octave Czerny etude op. 740 like a most beautiful piece, and it is not for nothing Horowitz played entire op. 740 on one of his technical exames.
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