Essercizio
Italian composer
Definition
Exercise or study; the title Scarlatti gave to his published collection of 30 keyboard sonatas (1739), echoing Bach's Clavier-Übung. Though presented as a teaching tool, the pieces demand considerable virtuosity.
Interpretive Guidance
Approach each Essercizio as a complete character piece, not merely a technical drill. Scarlatti's exercises have distinct moods, harmonic surprises, and idiomatic keyboard writing that reward musical shaping beyond the mechanical.