The Keyboard Sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti and Eighteenth-Century Musical Style [Hardcover]

W. Dean Sutcliffe (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2003

This investigation of one of the greatest yet least understood repertories of Western keyboard music reveals the reasons why the 555 keyboard sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti have not been written about more often. The lack of documentary evidence and the composer's position between the so-called Baroque and the Classical periods are crucial factors. W. Dean Sutcliffe also examines each individual sonata in unprecedented detail.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...a substantial contribution to the field." NOTES

"This reviewer does not doubt that Sutcliffe has added significantly to the scholarship about Scarlatti and that this book will be useful to the Scarlatti scholar...." Choice

"Anyone reading the book attentively will come away with a heightened awareness of the brilliance and originality with which Scarlatti not only flouted convention but also made seeming caprices part of a coherent musical language." Early Keyboard Journal, David Schulenberg

Book Description

This book investigates one of the greatest yet least understood repertories of Western keyboard music: the 555 keyboard sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti. It is the first book-length treatment in English of the sonatas in fifty years and it examines the reasons why this famous body of works, while frequently performed, has not been written about more often The lack of documentary evidence and the composer's position between the so-called Baroque and the Classical periods are crucial factors. Dr Sutcliffe also examines the each individual sonata in unprecedented detail.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 412 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (September 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521481406
• ISBN-13: 978-0521481403
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 6.8 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,210,621 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally!, May 13, 2005

By 

Eloi (Ely, NV USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Keyboard Sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti and Eighteenth-Century Musical Style (Hardcover)

Everyone who takes western music history lite, aka "music appreciation," hears a sample sonata by Domenico Scarlatti--usually K 159, 1, 141--and, depending on the textbook, reads a few words about binary sonata, Spanish influence, keyboard virtuosity--and then moves on to the far better known works of two other great composers born in 1685: Bach and Handel. In comparison to their work, a single Scarlatti sonata seems lightweight.

But those who become interested enough to listen to the numerous recordings--say, Pogorelich on piano or Kipnis on harpsichord--will be impressed not only with the quality of the 16 or so sonatas per CD but also with how unlike each sonata is from the one before. It gets addictive, and by the time one reaches sonata #555, the conclusion is obvious: there is no "typical" Scarlatti sonata. So what and why and how questions lead listeners first to CD program notes--mostly useless--and to Ralph Kirkpatrick's 1953 _Domenico Scarlatti_ (seminal work, but dated) and Malcolm Boyd's 1986 _Domenico Scarlatti--Master of Music_ (quite readable, but only about 75 pages deal with keyboard sonatas). The only other substantial treatment in English is Joel Sheveloff's unpublished 1970 Ph.D. thesis.

Finally, W. Dean Sutcliffe has written the most interesting and best-informed book on Scarlatti's sonatas since Kirkpatrick. It's a scholarly book, beginning with a review of past works on Scarlatti's sonatas. This is also a lively review of how the historical perception of Scarlatti has changed. Sutcliffe provides the known biographical details of Scarlatti along with the wry admission that we will never know--perhaps by the composer's design?--anything about his personal life. Sutcliffe is an academic, but his writing is nonetheless interesting and suggests some of the passion that the sonatas express.

The heart of the book then follows, a consideration of Scarlatti's harmony, rhythm ("syntax"), form, and a review of the harpsichord/(Florentine) piano debate. All of this discussion is supported by numerous printed examples of the score, just barely large enough to play from.

What if you only play recordings? One of the strengths of this book is that it includes frequent references to recorded performances. Sutcliffe doesn't provide such refs to provide examples for those who can't read music, but rather because he regards performances as just more evidence for his points. For example, he cites the performance of Mikhail Pletnev, noting all his omissions and additions in MP's recording of K 523. Sutcliffe doesn't do this in the spirit of "Aha, I caught you playing wrong notes" but as backup to his pointing out that the arrangements of Scarlatti's music by contemporaries Charles Avison and G.F. Handel make clear how Scarlatti just did not fit the conventions of Baroque music. Everyone feels the compulsion to adjust it in some way.

In another instance, Sutcliffe offers an absolutely brilliant analysis of K 474 that explains the motivic web that unifies this disquieting (aren't they all?) sonata, and considers the decisions several performers make on whether or not to perform a critical trill in m 46. This sounds very techie, but because of Sutcliffe's lively yet exact writing, you don't need to read music to profit from his analysis.

I don't always agree with Sutcliffe--for example, he sees the opening of the second half of K 461 as contrast between the Alberti bass and the learned style right hand part as support for his thesis that Scarlatti was trying to hit on the galant/baroque contrast, while I play 4-part counterpoint here. He completely misses the similarity in melodic contour and thus the relationship between the sections in contrasting tempo in K 162 (think Brahms op 76, 5).

Regarding the physical book, I have a gripe: The font is small, 10-point or maybe even 9-point--so Cambridge UP's washed-out print is hard to read.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An exploration of Scarlatti's music, his style, and many theories put forward about the music, June 24, 2008

By 

Craig Matteson (Saline, MI) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Keyboard Sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti and Eighteenth-Century Musical Style (Hardcover)

First, let me say how grateful I am to Robin Friedman for pointing me to this book.

I think most pianists (and other keyboard players) are aware of the first time they heard the music of Domenico Scarlatti. This music has a sound and style that is uniquely his and when you play it, your conviction about its special character is strengthened. His music is wonderful stuff and his 500 or so keyboard sonatas are an ocean that few of us chart completely. Most of us are happy playing through several dozen of them and learning a few of them well. W. Dean Sutcliffe has made Scarlatti's keyboard sonatas an object of deep academic study and this work is a treasure and a gift of us who want to deepen our understanding of the master and his music.

And most of our understanding has to come through the music since there is almost no documentary evidence of Domenico's life. Many people have supplied stories, rumors, conjecture, and surmises. But there is precious little to nothing beyond a few letters. There isn't even an autograph copy of the sonatas. There are two large collections that copied out the sonatas and several individual copies found in various places over the centuries. However, nothing in Domenico's hand.

Sutcliffe organizes the exploration of the sonatas in seven chapters. Each chapter is a fascinating exploration of the sonatas from the perspective of an explanatory theory put forward at various times. The author includes their variants and refutations as well as where the speculations seem to explain something and where they actually make our understanding even cloudier. Each of these chapters uses various sonatas to make its point. While there are many musical examples (a generous number), you will have to either have a good collection of the sonatas or be willing to travel to a very good music library (say, at a music school of repute) to check out some of the less well known. The author also discusses various recordings of some of these works. By comparing what you think of them and what the author says about them you can get a better fix on where you and the author are relative to the music.

The first chapter takes us through what little we know of Domenico the man and the speculations by many about his life. Most of the chapter is spent showing us why this or that surmise is false. What we actually know is stated clearly, but even what many are sure of (say, the gambling debts) are shown to be myths more than history.

The second chapter is called "Panorama" and takes us through a large number of common theories put forward to explain Scarlatti's keyboard sonatas over the centuries. Is it really a written down improvisatory style? Were they written to teach keyboard playing for those he served at court? What is the influence of the organ and the newly invented piano on these works? What about the influence of the many nations he travelled to and through in his service to royalty? Stucliffe elucidates all these and more in a very interesting way.

Chapter 3 is called "Heteroglossia" and looks at how Scarlatti defies common labels. Yes, you can hear the Iberian in the music, but also the Italian. Is he a Baroque, Gallant, or a composer of some other tradition? Does Scarlatti achieve his effects by mixing topics in polyglot and opposing ways? This is a fascinating chapter.

Chapter 4 examines Scarlatti's syntax. Why does he seem to repeat music so much? How does he use rhythm within his phrase structure and is it like the phrase rhythm of anyone else? What about the ways in which he starts and end his sonatas and how about his use of sequence? Do these elements tie him to anyone else?

Chapter 5 looks at Scarlatti's breaks with traditions that could have been used to explain him. His counterpoint and voice leading is handled oddly at points. What about those disturbing clustered chords? Are they mixed harmonies, sonic effects, or depicting something in a programmatic way? The author also explores how quickly the sonatas should be played, especially the walking tempo Andantes. When Sutcliffe explores ornamentation I find myself taking his certainty with a good spoonful of salt. I think the author gives too much purpose to the ornaments written in the copied sources we have, especially when the ornaments differ in parallel sections of the music.

Yes, it is interesting and worth considering, but written music in this period did not require the slavish reproduction of notes and ornaments that much art music requires in the 20th Century. It was an improvisatory style and composers understood that players would change things as it suited them much like Jazz musicians have done for a century. Even the great Romantic, Chopin said that he never played his own music the same way twice. Is it possible that we journeyman musicians will produce something less wonderful than the great artist would have created in performance? Of course! But a slavish reproduction of just so many notes in a trill or failing to add unwritten ornaments where they seem called for also seems to take away from the glory of the music, too. So, read what Sutcliffe has to say and decide for yourself how you want to ornament these pieces.

Chapter 6 is called "Una genuine música de teclá" which translates, I believe, roughly to "a genuine style of music for the keyboard" or "a true keyboard musical style". Here the author deals with the profoundly odd aspects of Scarlatti's music that exploit they keyboard. He also notes the tortuous crossed hands in the few keyboard sonatas published in Scarlatti's lifetime. Some of the great pianists of the past re-arranged them to be played by hands in normal positions. Other pianists have dressed up the thin textures of the sonatas to take advantage of late 19th century's grand piano's vast sonority. If you are a pianist who wants to play Scarlatti, this chapter is especially relevant. Sure, dig deeply into every chapter, but this one deals with what Scarlatti is doing with your hands on the keyboard and speculates about why.

Scarlatti's use of form is discussed in chapter 7. Everyone who knows any of these sonatas understands the binary nature of these forms. (For those confused by the title "sonata", it simply means an instrumental piece as opposed to the sung piece of a cantata. Yes, the word came to mean something else again in the hands of masters such as CPE Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and hundreds of others, but Scarlatti is not dealing with "sonata form".) I enjoyed Sutcliffe's examination of what he calls Scarlatti's "balanced binary" form and how various subtleties are manifested.

If you are interested in Scarlatti, I cannot imagine you being without this book.

Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI