Domenico Scarlatti’s Musical Style: His Keyboard Sonata K. 2888

Abstract

This study focuses on the musical style in Scarlatti’s sonata K. 288, as K. 288 has not yet been explored in detail in the Scarlatti scholarship. Not only the form, but also other musical elements, such as melody, harmony, and rhythm are being explored. Furthermore, irregular groupings are discussed. By examining some characteristics shown in K. 288, this paper shows Scarlatti’s ‘originality’ and contributes to discovering Scarlatti as “the interesting historical figure” (Sutcliffe 2003, 1). In addition to the analysis, the scope of this paper was expanded by including a comparison with a contemporary pastiche composition by the author of this paper. This pastiche composition was written to emulate Scarlatti’s style, and this paper discusses the similarities and differences between the two pieces. In this way, theory and practice are combined, which would broaden the horizon of musicology and music theory. Therefore, this research would be of interest to not only musicologists but also musicians and composers.

Keywords

• Domenico Scarlatti
• 18th-Century keyboard music
• sonata form
• musical style