Description
K.11 comes from Scarlatti's Essercizi per Gravicembalo, published in London in 1738. This collection of thirty sonatas, printed in his lifetime, was what first made his keyboard sonatas widely known. Though they call themselves exercises, they are more than finger drills.
It is in C minor. It has a stately character, combining solemn chordal writing with virtuosic passagework. In binary form with each half repeated, it lasts only about 59 seconds yet packs in some 551 notes, a dense little piece. The shadow of the minor key gives its brilliance a settled weight.
Rated intermediate, its range fills exactly the full span of a 61-key keyboard. The dense flow of notes calls for rhythmic precision. Slowing the playback to check where the beats fall within the fine figuration, and looping the first and second halves separately with A-B, keeps it from falling apart as the tempo rises. The hand colours also help you follow how the two hands pass material between them.
Selected sonatas from Scarlatti's output of 555, known for innovative keyboard technique and original musical ideas.
Browse all songs in Keyboard Sonatas →Sheet Music
Sheet music provided by Mutopia Project
About the Composer
Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757)
Domenico Scarlatti was born in Naples and spent the latter part of his life at the Spanish and Portuguese courts. Born in the same year as Bach and Handel, he is renowned for his 555 single-movement keyboard sonatas, notable for their bold leaps and incorporation of Spanish dance idioms. This site includes his Sonatas K. 455 and K. 491, among others.
View all works by Scarlatti →