Sonata K208 by Scarlatti Lesson

In this video Simon Powis offers a lesson on Sonata K208 by Domenico Scarlatti. This piece in A Major was originally written for the keyboard.

Notes from Simon

When I set out to create a course for this piece for members of the Classical Guitar Corner Academy, I found myself a bit lost on what to discuss. This is a grade 8 piece and a player at that level should be able to perform the piece with good tone, rhythm, and voicing.

As I dug deeper I began to identify what it was that really made this work stand out from many others in the repertoire. What I discovered were some musical gifts from Scarlatti but also some opportunities for the performer to turn something beautiful into the sublime.

Sonata K208: Why is this piece so beautiful?

In the first section we have many expressive opportunities. For example, we have leaps or appoggiaturas that allow us to add tension and expression. These interact with stepwise motion passages. Likewise there are many dissonances and syncopations throughout. In other places Scarlatti interrupts an expectation with non-chordal tones. In fact, he does this right at the very beginning of the piece.

All of these different compositional techniques make this an exquisitely beautiful piece. Moreover, how you choose the fingerings can impact the effect of these expressive aspects. We can also take sixteenth-note passages to push and pull with the rhythm expressively.

Another aspect to the piece that can add to its beauty and expression is phrasing. We can use dynamics, especially through building chromatic lines and syncopation, to direct the phrasing. Finally, ornaments can decorate the texture throughout to add lace and frill.

Sonata K208: Performance

Here is a performance video that I made back in 2012.

It is such a beautiful piece, I hope to play it for as long as I live!

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This lesson comes from a longer, one-hour-plus course on this beautiful piece at CGC Academy. Join CGC Academy today to get access to the full course.