Domenico Scarlatti was born in Italy in 1685, the same year as Johann Sebastian Bach. Son of Alessandro Scarlatti, a composer renowned for his operas, Domenico followed in his father’s footsteps and became a brilliant instrumentalist and composer.

Thanks to his extensive knowledge of the harpsichord, he composed more than 550 sonatas for this instrument — the chief instrument of the baroque era. These hundreds of sonatas represent on their own a greater volume of keyboard compositions than that produced by any other composer.

Most of these sonatas have not been published or played publicly during the composer’s lifetime. They were meant for the Spanish royal court; the composer wrote them for Barbara of Portugal, who became Queen of Spain in 1729 by marriage to Ferdinand VI, King of Spain.

In the 20th century, harpsichordist Scott Ross would undertake the recording of all sonatas in… thirty-four discs!

The word “sonata” has several meanings in music. It can be either a musical form (structure of the movement of a piece) or a genre (written musical piece). In his sonatas, Scarlatti sets up a structure that would give birth to the sonata form, but also highlights the keyboard sonata as a whole. These pieces all have some inventiveness and creative originality.

The composer’s love for Portugal and Spain can be heard in the melodies, which move freely and occasionally make use of Hispanic intervals and dynamic Iberian rhythms.

These sonatas are built upon a simple binary structure: a first part exposes a first theme in the main tonality, and a second part often offers a second theme in the relative tonality or in the dominant tonality. This structure affirms the rules of the tonal system that the composer will be developing during his life.

The unchanging, solid and perfect architecture of the sonatas allows a unique creative freedom in music history: Scarlatti’s sonatas are instantly recognizable, however they all have a distinct, subduing originality.

These pieces’ rhythmic is inseparable from counterpoint and harmony. A chord sounds good and fulfills its purpose because it is placed on a downbeat or on an upbeat. The melody makes sense only thanks to the implicit harmony that it carries with it and to its place in the rhythmic.

Each sonata offers in a relatively short time a deep technical exploration of the harpsichord and a rich, contrasted universe, both profound and playful.

After being forgotten in the 18th century, these sonatas were rediscovered during the 19th century Romantic period. Frédéric Chopin used them to perfect his knowledge of the piano and said that “the day will come when Scarlatti's music will often be played at concerts and that audiences will appreciate and enjoy it”. The composer’s prediction came true, and many pianists would seize this musical monument, such as Maria Tipo, Vladimir Horowitz, Alexandre Tharaud, Emil Gilels, Christian Zacharias, Murray Perahia…

Writing the sonatas has always been a renewed source of happy accomplishments for Scarlatti. Thus he concludes with these words the short preface of his Essercizi per gravicembalo (Exercises for Harpsichord), a collection of thirty sonatas: “vivi felice” (live happily).