Keyboard Sonata in E minor, K. 15

Collections

Editions (3)

• Lvl 5 2m 30s
• Lvl 5 2m 30s
• Original Lvl 5 2m 30s

Musical Terms (3)

• Adagio e cantabile Italian
  Slow and in a singing style; Scarlatti's own marking for the Sonata K. 208 in A major, one of his most expressive slow movements.
  Shape the long melodic phrases as a singer would, with gentle rise and fall of dynamic. This is one of Scarlatti's rare deeply lyrical markings — resist the urge to rush toward the cadences.
• Essercizio Italian
  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.
  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.
• Non presto ma a tempo di ballo Italian
  Not fast but at a dance tempo; Scarlatti's own marking for Sonata K. 430 in D major, indicating a moderate dance character without rushing.
  Play with a buoyant, lifted dance feel — not a slow Andante, but a relaxed dance in which every beat is physically felt. The lightness of a Spanish dance underlies this marking.