Table of Contents
Domenico Scarlatti
Scarlatti was an Italian Composer of the Baroque Era. He was born in the same year as J.S. Bach (1685) and passed away in 1757. He is known for his 555 keyboard sonatas.
Things You Should Know
Catalog Numbers.
There are two main catalog systems for Scarlatti – Longo (L) and Kirkpatrick (K). Carl Czerny and Giorgio Pestelli also have catalog numbers, but they are rarely seen.
The Longo system, developed by Alessandro Longo in 1906, is a older and outdated catalog system. Longo was a Italian composer and musicologist who studied and taught at the Naples Conservatory. In 11 volumes, he presented all of Scarlatti’s works. Some teachers still prefer using this method, so it is good to try to memorize the L and K numbers of the Scarlatti piece you are working on.
Longo features many editorial markings such as dynamics and phrasing.
The K numbers by Ralph Kirkpatrick are a more updated catalog system. Kirkpatrick claims that Longo uses poor chronology, and he puts Scarlatti’s works in a more appropriate chronological order. Also, he cites that certain works should be places in pairs.
Kirkpatrick’s edition for Scarlatti sonatas do not have editorial markings. He has introductory notes on performance practices. Kirkpatrick edited 60 Scarlatti Sonatas that are published by Schirmer (I wish he would have edited all 555 sonatas though).
Click here for a list of Scarlatti’s keyboard sonatas in relationship with each catalog system.
Problems with Editions
I wanted to share just a little bit of what I discovered while looking at different editions of Scarlatti’s keyboard works.
Here’s a picture of some of the different editions I studied (borrowing the books from the USC music library)
Lets look at some issues with Sonata in E, K. 380.
Take a look at measure 56 at two different editions.
Here is a sample of a free version from IMSLP:
And here is an example of the Kenneth Gilbert Edition:
On the third beat of measure 56,there should be an F sharp in the bass note. The imslp version has an E there instead.
So from this, we can see that the Kenneth Gilbert edition is better than IMSLP. However, there is still a problem with the Kenneth Gilbert edition:
With measure 15, the sustained B should actually be a C sharp. When listening carefully to this recording by Horowitz, you can hear that the note is a C-sharp:
Best Editions Scarlatti
Schirmer Edition
Yes, that’s right, Schirmer! Kirkpatrick’s edited sonatas are published by Schirmer, and they include the best critical editions of Scarlatti Sonatas that you can find. If you plan on learning any of the 60 sonatas located in this edition, you must buy this version!
You can see what sonatas are present in this edition by clicking here.
Click here for reviews and pricing on Amazon.com!
Ricordi Editions
Emilia Fadini
Click here to see a sample of the Fadini Edition.
Complete critical edition edited by Emilia Fadini starting from 1978 (source)
From what Ricordi said about this edition (source):
“This critical edition of all the sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti is justified by the necessity of offering performers and scholars a text which is philologically faithful to the author’s intentions (in so far as this can be reconstructed through a comparative study of the surviving printed and manuscript sources) and which is presented as authentically as possible, free from editorial interference or suggestions for performance or interpretation. The study of musicology and especially of the performing traditions of baroque music has advanced considerably since Alessandro Longo achieved the mammoth task of publishing the entire corpus of Scarlatti’s sonatas for the first time, and today we can deal with problems of text and interpretation with a surer and deeper methodological awareness; all of these will be adequately treated in the Appendix to this edition, which will contain also a general thematic catalog of the complete sonatas.”
This edition is pretty pricey, but a must have for those who want the best complete edition for Scarlatti.
Click here for reviews and pricing on Amazon.com!
Click here for reviews and pricing on SheetMusicPlus!
Alessandro Longo
Here is a link to view the Longo edition for free.
The first published completed version of Scarlatti’s piano sonatas. Published in 1906.
In Ralph Kirkpatrick’s book, Domenico Scarlatti – Revised Edition, we can read Kirkpatrick’s evaluation of this edition: “Unfortunately, Longo’s numbering, and his arrangement of the sonatas in suites, completely disrupts the chronological and stylistic sequence of Scarlatti’s keyboard work. Numerous inaccuracies and copious insertion of editorial markings render a more satisfactory complete edition of the Scarlatti sonatas urgently desirable”.
In other words, you probably shouldn’t study from this edition.
Get Fadini’s edition instead.
If you still want to buy this edition for whatever reason:
Click here for reviews and pricing on SheetMusicPlus.
Dover Edition
Hashimoto Edition
Edited by Eiji Hashimoto, a student of Kirkpatrick who followed in his footsteps. (Do not confuse this edition with the Ricordi set edited by Longo, which is also published by Dover) Contains 90 sonatas and uses the K catalog system (Sonatas 1 -90). In three volumes. Click here to see what the 90 sonatas are.
Click here for reviews and pricing on Amazon.com!
Click here for reviews and pricing on Amazon.com!
Click here for reviews and pricing on Amazon.com!
Longo Edition
Taken from the expired copyright of the Ricordi Longo edition.
Edited by Longo. Contains 4 volumes. Each volume contains 40 sonatas.
I personally recommend either getting the free version of this edition off of imslp or getting the Ricordi complete edition.
Click here for reviews and pricing on Amazon.com!
Click here for reviews and pricing on Amazon.com!
Click here for reviews and pricing on Amazon.com!
Click here for reviews and pricing on Amazon.com!
Henle Verlag Urtext
A rather new edition of Scarlatti Sonatas published in 2006. A fourth volume of selected sonatas has recently been released (I can’t find it on Amazon). Edited by Sarah Cox.
Click here to see the selected Sonatas in Volume 1.
Click here to see the selected Sonatas in Volume 2.
Click here to see the selected Sonatas in Volume 3.
Click here for reviews and pricing on Amazon.com!
ABRSM Signature Series
Edited by Richard Jones. Features 9 keyboard sonatas that are critically edited. In 3 volumes. You can get a peek at what the score looks like by clicking here.
Click here for reviews and pricing on Amazon.com!
Click here for reviews and pricing on Amazon.com!
Click here for reviews and pricing on Amazon.com!
Alfred Masterwork Edition
Edited by Maurice Hinson. He features very interesting performance notes that explains ornamentation, articulation, and phrasing well. The editions by Alfred Masterwork focus on didactic purposes.
This book is recommended for intermediate level pianists. Contains 16 Sonatas.
Click here for reviews and pricing on Amazon.com!
This edition features 19 of Scarlatti’s easiest works. This is ideal for intermediate level pianists.
Click here for reviews and pricing on Amazon.com!
Features select sonatas for teaching purposes
Click here for reviews and pricing on Amazon.com!
Le Pupitre Edition
Edited by Kenneth Gilbert. Contains all 555 sonatas in 11 volumes.
Click here for reviews and pricing on Amazon.com!
K380….measure 15…is indeed a dotted half note B in the original Parma manuscript.
Hello,
I am currently owning several Scarlatti’s Sonatas score, edited by Emilia Fadini, and it’s from the Critical Edition, published by Ricordi. How would you judge this particular edition compared to all of the editions listed above? Thank you very much!