Scarlatti’s Piano Pieces: Baroque Masterpieces Left by the Maestro of Keyboard Sonatas

In 1685, the same year that Johann Sebastian Bach—often called the “Father of Music”—was born, the composer Domenico Scarlatti was born in Naples, Italy.

The son of Alessandro Scarlatti, renowned for his many operas and cantatas, he began his career as a composer and organist at age 15 and is said to have left as many as 555 harpsichord sonatas over his lifetime.

In this article, we’ve carefully selected from Scarlatti’s sonatas those works that are especially beloved by piano students and pianists in performance on the modern piano.

We’ll introduce them along with their musical characteristics.

Playlist

Scarlatti’s Piano Pieces: Baroque Masterpieces Left by the Maestro of Keyboard Sonatas
	Title	Playlist	Review
1	Sonata in G minor, K.30 “Cat’s Fugue”Domenico Scarlatti		Scarlatti’s Cat Fugue is a creatively inspired masterpiece
2	Sonata in A major, K. 208Domenico Scarlatti		Scarlatti's keyboard sonatas. Brimming with vitality under the influence of Spanish folk music.
3	Sonata in A-flat major, K. 127Domenico Scarlatti		Scarlatti’s Baroque musical masterpiece
4	Sonata in E major, K. 380Domenico Scarlatti		Scarlatti’s graceful sonata
5	Sonata in A major, K. 322Domenico Scarlatti		A lively Scarlatti sonata
6	Sonata in D minor, K. 1Domenico Scarlatti		Masterpieces of Scarlatti's Sonatas
7	Sonata in G minor, K. 450Domenico Scarlatti		Scarlatti’s innovative sonatas
8	Sonata in F major, K. 17Domenico Scarlatti		Scarlatti’s sonatas are masterworks of challenging keyboard music
9	Sonata in C major, K. 159Domenico Scarlatti		Scarlatti’s Hunting Sonata
10	Sonata in D minor, K. 9Domenico Scarlatti		The appeal and characteristics of Scarlatti’s sonatas
11	Sonata in D minor, K. 141Domenico Scarlatti		Scarlatti’s passionate and distinctive sonatas
12	Sonata in B minor, K. 27Domenico Scarlatti		Scarlatti’s sonatas, masterpieces of Baroque music
13	Sonata in E major, K. 20Domenico Scarlatti		Scarlatti’s sonata, a bright and virtuosic masterpiece
14	Sonata in D major, K. 478Domenico Scarlatti		A masterpiece that shines with Scarlatti’s innovative techniques
15	Sonata in E major, K. 531Domenico Scarlatti		Scarlatti’s bright and virtuosic harpsichord sonata