Sonata in D minor K. 1 (L. 366)

Domenico Scarlatti · Level 4 (Intermediate) · Baroque · Piano

The sonata that opens the Kirkpatrick catalogue: a bright, transparent Allegro in 4/4 in D minor, with runs shared between the hands. One of the 555 one-movement sonatas Scarlatti wrote for the harpsichord, usually in two repeated halves, brilliant and full of Iberian colour. D minor, 4/4, 31 bars (about one minute), complete score.

▶ Play this piece with the interactive score

How to practise it

• Listen first: the site plays it while the score scrolls.
• Wait mode: the score waits for you at every note, at your own pace.
• Tempo challenge: play in time, with a score and a map of the bars you got right.
• Keep the sixteenth notes light and even, and the right-hand chords detached. Light, precise touch, loose wrists in the repeated notes and hand crossings. One hand sometimes plays two voices: hold the long notes for their full value and let the main line sing louder than the accompaniment. Fast writing: work section by section in Wait mode, then in dotted rhythms, and raise the tempo in steps of 5–10%.

More pieces by Domenico Scarlatti

• Sonata in C major
• Sonata in C minor K. 11
• Sonata in D major K. 491
• Sonata in G major K. 455
• Sonata in F♯ minor K. 25 (L. 481)
• Sonata in G major K. 75 (L. 53)
• Sonata in A major K. 220 (L. 342)
• Sonata in F minor K. 238 (L. 27)

Source : Knute Snortum (gravure LilyPond, GitHub, d’après l’édition Longo) · CC BY-SA 4.0