Domenico Scarlatti (Paperback)

by Ralph Kirkpatrick (Author) "In 1685 Naples was as populous, as noisy, and as dirty as it is now..." (more)
Key Phrases: closed sonata, closing tonality, tied trill, Alessandro Scarlatti, Maria Barbara, Maria Casimira (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
Not only the best examination of the subject which has appeared up to the present time, it is the only one commensurate with [Scarlatti's] true artistic stature, and the significance of his music to his time and ours.
(The New York Times )

Review
[Ralph Kirkpatrick has brought the composer to life as a man and as an artist against an eighteenth-century background as vigorous and as detailed as a picture by Canaletto.
(Virgil Thomson )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 496 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press; Revised edition (December 1, 1983)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691027080
• ISBN-13: 978-0691027081
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #218,044 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #41 in

  Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Arts & Literature > Composers & Musicians > Classical

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Scarlatti Primer..Plus, March 1, 2002

By	Albert E. Everett (Little Rock, AR United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The first 7 chapters are historical narratives without unusual merit except as an intoduction to the real book which is about music. There is a chapter on harpsichords. Kirkpatrick was not the first thinker on Scarlatti as evidenced by the extensive bibliography and appendix

He did establish the K identification number system which has stood the test of time at least in this country.

His real contribution is in identifying Scarlatti as a real musician writing music of extraordinary merit. His chapter on Scarlatti's harmony is very difficult reading.

The last chapter on "Performance of the Scarlatti Sonatas" should be read again and again by every musical teacher and student (he talks about tempo, rhythm, phrasing, articulation and attitudes).

Of course, one must have the sheet music on hand to see what it's all about, and a mind-set ready to accept Scarlatti into the company of Chopin and Liszt as well as Granados and Albéniz.

Kirkpatrick talks a little about the influence of Iberian song and dance forms on the sonatas of Scarlatti; a few others have scattered hints on this subject. I think the world would welcome a full-blown research here as a fitting sequel to this book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bedrock Scarlatti, May 14, 2005

By	Eloi "[e-mail]" (Ely, NV USA) - See all my reviews

Ralph Kirkpatrick's 1953 work remains THE book on Domenico Scarlatti and his keyboard sonatas. There have been no substantial revisions in the biography of DS since 1953. Georgio Pestelli and many others have questioned Kirkpatrick on chronology, but when it comes to analysis of individual sonatas, Kirkpatrick is strong. Kirkpatrick was not a musicologist, so his book is actually interesting to read!

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Domenico Scarlatti, January 28, 2002

By	peter Jones (uk) - See all my reviews

An indispensable reference for all those interested in one of the greatest keyboardists of all time. Kirkpatrick's work is one of real scholarship. Written in 1953, no one has since bested it.