Piano Forum



International Piano Day 2024
Piano Day is an annual worldwide event that takes place on the 88th day of the year, which in 2024 is March 28. Established in 2015, it is now well known across the globe. Every year it provokes special concerts, onstage and online, as well as radio shows, podcasts, and playlists. Read more >>

Topic: Simple questions on: Scarlatti Sonata: K141, K17, K27  (Read 3962 times)

Offline twinkletoesfaery

  • PS Silver Member
  • Jr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 58
I'm going to ask very simple and silly sounding questions on these sonatas.  Never properly played any but have been trying to go through them.  Reading the notes are easy task but when it comes to playing it many problems arise which probably should not be regarded as problems at all.  I'm trying to teach myself so help is muchly needed.

1. What does D and M mean?



2. I get confused with which should be played with the Left or Right hand.  I can't reach some of the chords.





Here are the non-annotated ones:



Offline bernhard

  • PS Silver Member
  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 5078
Re: Simple questions on: Scarlatti Sonata: K141, K17, K27
Reply #1 on: August 07, 2005, 09:39:55 AM
Your questions are not silly at all. They have been the subject of some pretty hot debate amongst musicologists (these guys don't have a life ;D)

1.   D – means right hand ; M – means left hand (destro = right handed; mancino = left handed,  in Italian).

I can see you are using John Sankey’s edition. He makes it really easy by printing notes that should be played with the left hand diamonded headed. Keep in mind that this is his personal interpretation, not necessarily the way Scarlatti played (which we have no way of knowing). I strongly recommend you read his reasons for it – they are very compelling, but personally I think he overdoes it a bit, and crosses hands in far more places than it is really necessary. Here is his site:

https://www.sankey.ws/harpsichord.html

Explore the links at the bottom of the page.

Observing the diamond shaped notes (to be played with the left hand) and the normal, round shaped notes (to be played with the right hand) should clarify your questions in regards to the highlighted places in your score. Again, this is Sankey’s suggestions, you do not need to follow them. Investigate which movement is best for you. In the case of  k141, the highlighted chords are all to be played with the left hand. I am not sure why you cannot reach them, they are all one octave range or less (do you have very small hands? If so, it is all right to arpeggiate them).

Finally, do compare Sankeys’s edition with Kenneth Gilbert’s Urtext complete edition (Heugel) – which is , in my opinion, the best so far in regards to faithfulness to the original manuscripts. And if you can, read Ralph Kirkpatrick’s “Domenico Scarlatti” (Princeton) where he gives extensive guidance on the matter of performance, interpretation and ornamentation of the sonatas.

You are in for a really exciting time of discovery. Scarlatti, yeah! :D

Best wishes,
Bernhard.
The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side. (Hunter Thompson)

Offline twinkletoesfaery

  • PS Silver Member
  • Jr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 58
Re: Simple questions on: Scarlatti Sonata: K141, K17, K27
Reply #2 on: August 07, 2005, 10:39:50 AM
Thanks a bucketload Bernhard! Your reply is more than useful for me.  I never realise that them diamonded headed things.  That is very helpful.  I can reach most of them chords except for the third bar - I have to really strectch and I personally find it easier to play the last note with my right.  I do love John Sankey's edition then.  You're the man for Scarlatti indeedy!

I'll check out Kenneth Gilbert's when I can play Sankey's properly.  It's much easier to stick with the easy ones and then move on the the more original style. 

Thank you again Bernhard!

Offline bernhard

  • PS Silver Member
  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 5078
Re: Simple questions on: Scarlatti Sonata: K141, K17, K27
Reply #3 on: August 07, 2005, 10:56:53 AM
You are welcome :)

(As I said, you may find - as I do - that Sankey's crosses hands more extensively than is needed - he is interested in the visual effect, so his edition may not be the "easier" after all. Another point is that he does not indicate in his scores - or play in his midis -  repeats. Both parts in a Scarlatti sonata should be repeated. He probably avoids repeats in his recordings to save computer space).

Best wishes,
Bernhard.
The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side. (Hunter Thompson)

Offline twinkletoesfaery

  • PS Silver Member
  • Jr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 58
Re: Simple questions on: Scarlatti Sonata: K141, K17, K27
Reply #4 on: August 07, 2005, 11:21:46 AM
I guess the crossing over of the hands makes it much more fun to play.  K27 has some on the first page and it seems exciting. :)

Offline kharl737

  • PS Silver Member
  • Newbie
  • ***
  • Posts: 1
Re: Simple questions on: Scarlatti Sonata: K141, K17, K27
Reply #5 on: November 15, 2006, 09:33:54 AM
Hi , I have a problem with K27 in the A part : after the arpeggios that are repeated 7 times; there is an arpeggio progression that actually draws a melodic line:



in that small section I seem to have a fingering problem because no matter how hard I worked on it, I often get a glitch or mess up something at the end (end of measure 20 and first notes of 21) , it seems i'm not totally comfortable at fast tempo (I can get it ok slower). I've already tried to change it but the results are not great.
The Longo edition does not detail the fingering in this part.
If someone could explicitly write down what works for them I would be thankful because it is the only part I'm still having difficulties with (my fingering investigations,along with the suggestions from the longo worked for the others).
For more information about this topic, click search below!
 

Logo light pianostreet.com - the website for classical pianists, piano teachers, students and piano music enthusiasts.

Subscribe for unlimited access

Sign up

Follow us

Piano Street Digicert