Scarlatti Recommendations?

Greg_R

I'm an intermediate pianist who hasn't played any Scarlatti works. What are some of your favorite works by him that I'd be able to learn?

My recent pieces:

Chopin Op.9. #2 -> easier
Mozart K332 -> very challenging, but my finger facility has massively improved

I'd prefer something closer to the Chopin in difficulty.

BartK

These are about your level:

This one is more challenging but also quite fun:

pianoloverus

Here's an example of a slow one that's very beautiful. Based on your repertoire, I think you could listen to as many Scarlatti sonatas as you're inclined to on YouTube, choose one or more that particularly appealed to you, and probably decide for yourself if they were of an appropriate difficulty. Or choose a few and then ask your teacher for a recommendation among your choices.

Greg_R

Yes, for sure I will consult with my teacher. Usually I listen to the composer's pieces that are at a similar difficulty but Scarlatti has -ahem- a LOT of choices 🙂.

I learned my lesson with Bach... just because it looks easy on the page (versus a romantic era work) doesn't mean it's simple.

pianoloverus

Greg_R Usually I listen to the composer's pieces that are at a similar difficulty but Scarlatti has -ahem- a LOT of choices 🙂.

You don't have to listen to all 555 sonatas. If you wanted to, you could listen to 20 sonatas in less than an hour because you don't have to listen to the whole sonata to decide if it's a possible candidate(the second half is very much like the first). And for some of the sonatas it would probably be obvious after 30 seconds that they were extremely difficult and not a good choice.

Monviso

I really enjoy Scarlatti!
I second BartK’s recommendations: I find all 3 addictive.

In addition, I’d suggest K32 as a taster: it’s very short and easy, and utterly charming.
I also like K8 and K531

All the above are in Henle Book IV - except for K380 which is in Book I, but it is so much fun to play I decided it’s worth buying a whole additional book for…

Simonb

I played Sonata in D kp443 as part of my grade 8 last year.

And I'm currently working on a Sonata in G K259:

Cheers