KEYBOARD WORKS OF DOMENICO SCARLATTI
Played by DOROTHY HOGBEN Sonata in D minor (Xo. 42) (Fifty Harpsichord Lessons)
Tempo di Ballo (No. 2) (Early Italian Music)
Sonata in F sharp minor (No. 14) (Fifty Harpsichord Lessons)
Sonata in D (No. 18) (Early Italian Music) Sonata in A (No. 32) (Fifty Harpsichord Lessons)
Toccata in G (No. 11)
Sonata in F minor (No. 7) (Early Italian Vivace in F (No. 10)
Couporin, Rameau, and Scarlatti, who
.flourished during the close of the seventeenth century and the first half of the eighteenth, were three great contemporary composers of harpsichord music. While Couperin and Rameau upheld the artistic traditions of France, Scarlatti was doing likewise in Italy, where he was born in 1683. Scarlatti has well been called the founder of modern pianoforte technique, and as a harpsichord virtuoso he secured a great reputation. In 1709, when Handel visited Rome. Scarlatti was selected to compete against the Saxon giant in a trial of virtuosity as an organist and harpsichordist. On the organ he proved Handel's inferior, but on the harpsichord the honours were more or less even. A large proportion of the short pieces Scarlatti wrote for the harpsichord he called sonatas,' but it must be pointed out that they bear little or no resemblance in form to the sonatas of Haydn and Mozart. At that period ' sonata ' was the vague general term for a piece of music to be played on instruments, while ' cantata ' meant a piece of music to be sung. These charming little ' sonatas ' of Scarlatti sound as fresh today as ever, and their tunefulness, delicacy of workmanship, and brilliancy of style combine to make them irresistibly attractive.