My Scarlatti Summer

About three months ago I wrote of my elation at buying the 34-disc set of Domenico Scarlatti’s complete keyboard sonatas as played by Scott Ross for a paltry $140. I also mentioned that I was up to the challenge of listening for weeks. The time frame expanded due to a confluence of factors, including work, family, other spectacular CD purchases, and a brief hiatus from extended listening sessions early last month. I have finally finished the set and feel compelled to indulge myself (again) and write about the experience.

Let me start by writing that I had originally set out to compile a list of my favorite sonatas and then report on the specific merits of the assorted little gems. After about five or six CDs and a list about fifty sonatas long I thought better of that approach. Better to report on the best individual discs I then surmised. Through about disc 20 that seemed a good approach. Then all the later discs revealed themselves to range from splendid to truly extraordinary. What to do?

Well, to keep it brief (or at least relatively so), I decided to simply write of my general impression of the set. So here it is: Domenico Scarlatti is one of the great musical geniuses of western music. Of this there is and can be no doubt. All of the works are of such high caliber that it is difficult to find a bad one. Or a mediocre one. The quality is so consistently high that nothing bad can be written. Only Bach, Beethoven, and Prokofiev wrote substantial bodies of keyboard music that maintain such a high level of quality throughout.

That is not to write that all of the sonatas are equal. They most certainly are not. For my own convenience, and this is certainly not meant to be even remotely academic or musicological, I view the sonatas as being in three or four (it gets fuzzy) different categories. Quite a good number of the works sound to be work-a-day compositions written for Her Royal Highness of Spain to play with ease. (She must have been quite a good keyboardist!) The structures are never less than impeccable and even the most pedantic of the works have their charms. Still, while a number of the sonatas give the impression of being obviously well written and superbly crafted, they nevertheless sound rather pedestrian, at least compared to the better works.

A large chunk of the works fall into a fuzzy realm ranging from inspired (gambling-debt) bill paying works to hastily penned improvisations. I would say most of the works fall into these “categories.” So much invention and so much musical joy emanate from these works that one has a tendency to hurriedly and greedily listen to as many of them in a row as possible. Ideas are spun out so quickly that it becomes difficult to keep track of them all.

Then there are the masterworks. These works are visionary and transcend the Baroque. There are some thrilling sonatas in that vast output and the effect they have on the listener (me) is something else. Probably starting at around Kk 230 or so they begin to show up regularly. A few of these works appear early on and the last 150 or so sonatas are full of them. Oh, how I wish I would have cited the specific sonatas and how I wish I had the technical musical vocabulary to describe what they contain! From a less than academic perspective, there are thrilling trills and arpeggios and grand, sweeping chords varied and repeated with vivacious speed. Little effects like seeming pizzicato passages appear here and there, and there are some other, occasional tricks I have not heard played on the harpsichord before. Scarlatti clearly took advantage of the fullest range of notes possible on the keyboards at his disposal. It is these masterworks that make the set most impressive. I would say, conservatively, that there are about 100 of them. These sonatas easily transcend their time and can be translated to the piano with no loss. And perhaps even gain.

That leads me to my next point. Scarlatti’s sonatas are best served overall by a harpsichord. His compositions are to the harpsichord what Chopin’s compositions are to the piano. That is, they represent the “natural” voice of the instrument, if you allow me a slightly anthropomorphic aside. Again, some of the works may even benefit from being played on the piano, but everything just sounds so right with the harpsichord. At some point you must hear Scarlatti played properly on a harpsichord. Now some of you may think: “Yuck, the harpsichord. Bah!” Don’t. Now I’ve heard some annoying sounding harpsichord recordings, but these sound good. The four different instruments used all have different sounds, and while the one used for the first 30 sonatas and some others is a little bright ‘n’ brittle, the one used for the final 200 or so is one of the most glorious sounding instruments I have had the pleasure to hear. There is a warmth and complexity of tone that somewhat belies its heritage. I’ve certainly heard fortepianos that sound worse.

And what of the playing? The playing is marvelous. Scott Ross was a supremely talented artist and the music world is poorer for having lost him at the terribly young age of 38. Thankfully he left behind this monumental achievement. (And apparently a pretty good batch of other recordings.) His technique is totally assured, his insights clear and profound. There is, at times, almost a sense of giddiness. All of these works were recorded in a little over a year and one can sense the thrill of discovery. See what I mean about monumental. The recorded sound can be a bit bright sometimes, and some extra-musical noise makes it in as well (airplanes, talking, etc), but overall the sound is excellent. This set is truly special and will hold an exalted position in my collection. It was worth every penny and then some.

To conclude, I’ll throw in my opinion here that after listening to all of these works it seems absolutely certain that these 555 gems were written over the course of many years. There is a general improvement in quality as one approaches the last works and the styles change over time. There are also groups of sonatas that were clearly written close together. I know there have been some who said that Scarlatti wrote these all quite quickly. If that were the case he would be the greatest composer who ever lived. As is it is, he is in the company of the greatest musicians in history.