@@beechrad1965 Horowitz a Little too fast. His clear cut tone on the piano is incredible. This Sonata is one of the most mediative of all of his sonatas. Very few composers can meet the superb sentiment he can express. Scarlatti is not second to no one...thank you.
Scarlatti es un compositor extraordinario. Ayer me quedé muy sorprendido de que al menos tiene registradas 555 sonatas. Todas son espectaculares. Solo es cuestión de escucharlas varias veces. Por supuesto que el intérprete hace mucho. Este amigo Barton toca esta sonata impecable y con mucho sentimiento. Felicitaciones.
The hardest thing for me about the piece is making the upper voice sing while not losing the inner voices.....it's a sad lament...farewell to a loved one.
This is definitely Scarlatti's best sonata. So much different from the others I've heard. The melancholy of the minor seconds is just beautiful. In all honesty it kind of reminds me of Satie.
True. Surprisingly difficult because of the long notes that have to be 'kept' while the other voices go on. Give me a Chopin waltz any day. With pedal!
@@rothschildianumIt depends on which waltz of course. Like the Waltz in C sharp minor, Opus 64 No. 2: way easier to play than this beautiful K87 sonata, which is finger-wrecking if you meticulously respect the length of each note.
This sonata looks and sounds like a choral piece. If it were transposed down a little, say to G minor or F minor, it actually could be sung by a choir. I don't think Scarlatti could have played it so legato on the harpsichord without the sustaining pedal, which you use quite liberally.
watching Paul's fingers dancing on the keyboard you have the illusion everything is so simple. But then I go to the keyboard trying to play it myself....and it's a completely different story
Thank god for the double thumb g to f# at 0:35. Probably the best fingering option and reassuring to see. Written as finger 2 on the the g and then 1 on the f# with a held upper f# - impossible without massive hands!
Beautiful performance. I love the slow tempo. I can't understand why everyone doesn't play it that way. The faster versions (95pc of recorded performances) ruin it. This brings out the magic. I have two questions though. One: what piano are you using? (And what recording equipment - both seem excellent). Two (and I know others have asked this but I haven't yet seen the answer), in bar six there's an F sharp that you (and everyone else it seems) plays as an A. I think both sound good but the A seems to be more common. Is it a mistake in the score? Anyway, great work either way.
@@ijdoti Thanks. One or other version has to be mistaken though because, although we might not know whether or not Scarlatti intended A, he can't simultaneously both have intended it and not intended it. The urtext definitely seems to have F#. The A seems to be a later interpretation, unsupported by any contemporary sources that I can find. And yet all performances seem to have it, literally every single one. I'm not sure I've ever heard anyone play F#. It's particularly odd that this performer plays A while simultaneously displaying a score that shows F#. Assuming the score he has put up is the score he's working from he must be playing the A from memory (ie from his recollection of performances that he has heard) rather than playing what's written. I'm not complaining - I too think A sounds better. I just can't find any evidence that it's what Scarlatti wanted, and certainly can't understand why virtually every version of the score is at odds with virtually every performance.
Yes great points. I'm very sure the player was not playing off this score though (perhaps they could clarify?). What makes you think Scarlatti didn't change his mind though? He was quite young when he wrote it, perhaps he scrawled a few different versions of it... that didn't come to light until much later? I'm not sure. And I've also never heard a recording with F# and can't bring myself to play it like that 😅
@@ijdoti Thanks again. It's certainly possible that Scarlatti changed his mind. All I'm saying is that I can't find any evidence that he did. If there are other versions that have since come to light I haven't seen them. Either way, what's striking is the complete unanimity among performers, every single one of whom (at least every one that I've ever heard) plays A rather than F#. The discrepancy is intriguing. The score says one thing, the performers say another. I can't think of another example where there's such a stark divergence between what appears in the printed score and what we hear in performance.
@@beechrad1965 yes his version is quite poetic and dynamically varied to seem' other worldly ' Another player of similar greatness ,but in classical guitar world ,is Andre Segovia
Exquisitely played! I have this music, yet, much trouble playing it because it has no marked fingering. I believe this piece needs that, much like playing Bach.
Great interpretation, thank you for sharing this! One of my favourite Scarlatti pieces, love to play it. Where does the variation in measure 6 come from, where you play a second a (after the g sharp) where in the score there is only the f sharp still sounding? I think I have heard this also from other pianists and have now taken up to do it as well ...
Why did you press A instead of F# on the 3rd beat of the 6th measure. Horowitz did the same too, and so did I. I just realized about this after I saw the score.
It’s interesting, I actually do think the A sounds better. Perhaps it’s explained by the fact that Baroque compositions were considered less “strict” in terms of following the score 100%. Glenn Gould frequently added trills and accidentals to Bach pieces that didn’t appear in the score. Perhaps Horowitz took the same liberty and Paul, preferring Horowitz’s version, decided to use it as well.
There are various editions of the 555 Scarlatti Sonatas. (Too bad Kirkpatrick could do only 60 of them!) I have an edition from "CD Sheet Music," published by Theodore Presser, that has the A, but the F# is consistent with the central figure of the piece. In measure 2, we have B A# B C# A# B. In measure 12, it starts on an E. In measure 22, it starts on a B (but doesn't quite finish). In measure 37, it starts (in the alto!) on F#. In m. 59, the opening part of the figure, F# G F# B, starts in the alto. So in m. 6, the pattern is F# E# F# G# E# F#. Having that first note be an A, in light of these patterns, seems wrong. There are several other differences between printed versions, and I haven't found two recordings that play all the same notes.
I recently posted a message about the fact that everyone, including Horowitz, plays A instead of F sharp on beat 3 of bar 9 - apparently the IMLSP edition reads A - what you describe may be for a similar reason
Amazing version. Can you explain if you ever used the pedal on this piece? It sounds as if you did although obviously Scarlatti could not have made that choice
Lovely performance of a lovely sonata! Scarlatti what a genius and great playing Paul!. And here is a link to the sheet music. The link provided didn't work. (at least for me) imslp.org/wiki/Keyboard_Sonata_in_B_minor,_K.87_(Scarlatti,_Domenico)
Hi Paul, What a tremendous site you have provided for us music lovers. I am trying to learn this sonata as a beginning intermediate (I am guessing), and would appreciate a score that shows the fingering you have chosen. If so, much appreciated! Dr. K
I'm afraid I don't work out fingering but play instinctively so I never write fingering on scores (with the exception of Bach's Goldberg Variations when I made my new edition) The main reason I make overhead keyboard videos is they can be slowed down if necessary in 'settings' should a viewer need fingering suggestions in a particular bar/s. I'm sorry I can't be more helpful.
No problem. There are a few bars where I don't have any good ideas for the "puzzle" of fingerings. I will just look carefully at the video to see what solution you've found. Thanks so much for all your posts!!!
Back in June my friend Doug Gould in the UK made a transcription of Dinu Lipatti's 1947 Abbey Road recording of Scarlatti's Pastorale Sonata K.9 notating 50 or so changes Lipatti made to the original score in his historic recording. Doug kindly sent me his transcription to record th-cam.com/video/52Yf6VUl5ig/w-d-xo.html Doug's transcription got me in the mood to play more Scarlatti and I'm enjoying his music so much I decided to have a go at making enough recordings to fill a CD.
Years ago there was a harpsichordist that recorded the COMPLETE Scarlatti Sonatas. They were truly incredible on the harpsichord. I forget the artists name at the moment, I just remember he died at a young age shortly after completing the entire project of Aids. Very sad, as he was an extremely gifted artist!
quite strange and awful pedaling throughout.....with lot of disturbing noises, much too much use of reverberation..... quite a strange understanding of interpretation of the rhetorical essence of this masterpiece. Listen to Yuja Wang...or Pletnev...or Bogdanova...or Queffélec
![How to Play Scarlatti | Sonata in B minor K.27 [Tutorial]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/zt7W9vqrsO8/mqdefault.jpg)
I remember hearing once that this was Horowitz's favorite Scarlatti piece. No matter how many times I hear this piece it never loses its beauty.
Jordan Stephens
Paul’s version is beautiful... but VH’s is simply beyond compare.
@@beechrad1965 Nobody made the piano sing like Horowitz - that’s what makes the difference
@@beechrad1965 Horowitz a Little too fast. His clear cut tone on the piano is incredible. This Sonata is one of the most mediative of all of his sonatas. Very few composers can meet the superb sentiment he can express. Scarlatti is not second to no one...thank you.
@@beechrad1965 he listened to horowitz version. I can hear he been influenced here in many passages
Scarlatti es un compositor extraordinario. Ayer me quedé muy sorprendido de que al menos tiene registradas 555 sonatas. Todas son espectaculares. Solo es cuestión de escucharlas varias veces. Por supuesto que el intérprete hace mucho. Este amigo Barton toca esta sonata impecable y con mucho sentimiento. Felicitaciones.
Music is ethereal... the sounds... I can’t describe the effect they produce on me, it’s like flowing along with water.
I've met this piece on your channel, and practiced for 6 month.
Finally i played at my teacher' s concert! Thanks paul!
No annotations for crescendo, ritardando, pedal, etc. The music is its own dynamic and tempo in the hands of the player.
How can a human being feel this much emotionally while composing? And Mr. Barton plays it awesome like he does always.
scarlatti loves repeating stuffs 3 times, it is so scarlatti, it's like broken record i love it
The hardest thing for me about the piece is making the upper voice sing while not losing the inner voices.....it's a sad lament...farewell to a loved one.
Poplife123 I speculate this sonata may be written soon after his wife, Maria Catalina, died in 1739
Domenico Scarlatti is just so magnificent...
This is definitely Scarlatti's best sonata. So much different from the others I've heard. The melancholy of the minor seconds is just beautiful. In all honesty it kind of reminds me of Satie.
@etru6 cool, I'll check it out.
That's funny I thought of Satie too, actually it's like Bach meet Satie, incredible abstract piece, way ahead of its time!
Ah! the Great Longo 33. I will always know it by that number. Beautiful contemplative piece, and your performance is tender, lovely.
This looks easy, actually, it is not, a very finger twisting piece. But I really love this piece.
Selmer Reference54
This piece is not easy...not just the fingering but the voicing...but it is so beautiful.
Robert Beecham Yes, the voicing is hard too.
True. Surprisingly difficult because of the long notes that have to be 'kept' while the other voices go on. Give me a Chopin waltz any day. With pedal!
Henri Pelissier I used this several times for amateur piano competitions. For me, Chopin waltzes are more difficult than this K87.
@@rothschildianumIt depends on which waltz of course. Like the Waltz in C sharp minor, Opus 64 No. 2: way easier to play than this beautiful K87 sonata, which is finger-wrecking if you meticulously respect the length of each note.
Simply beautiful Paul, almost hypnotic. You make it look effortless. This one is in the ABRSM Easier Scarlatti Sonatas. I may attempt it one day!
I read DS composed this at the age of 17.
Huh, a comment I saw was about losing his first wife
Lovely performance! Such a beautiful piece 🎉🎉
This sonata looks and sounds like a choral piece. If it were transposed down a little, say to G minor or F minor, it actually could be sung by a choir. I don't think Scarlatti could have played it so legato on the harpsichord without the sustaining pedal, which you use quite liberally.
What a beautiful piece. Very nice playing too
watching Paul's fingers dancing on the keyboard you have the illusion everything is so simple. But then I go to the keyboard trying to play it myself....and it's a completely different story
Soooooo beautiful!!!! Amazing Paul!!!! Happy weekend!
Thank god for the double thumb g to f# at 0:35. Probably the best fingering option and reassuring to see. Written as finger 2 on the the g and then 1 on the f# with a held upper f# - impossible without massive hands!
Blessed be the harpsichord
Beautiful performance. I love the slow tempo. I can't understand why everyone doesn't play it that way. The faster versions (95pc of recorded performances) ruin it. This brings out the magic. I have two questions though. One: what piano are you using? (And what recording equipment - both seem excellent). Two (and I know others have asked this but I haven't yet seen the answer), in bar six there's an F sharp that you (and everyone else it seems) plays as an A. I think both sound good but the A seems to be more common. Is it a mistake in the score? Anyway, great work either way.
It's not a mistake in the score. I suspect there are several different editions and it's unclear which one Scarlatti intended
@@ijdoti Thanks. One or other version has to be mistaken though because, although we might not know whether or not Scarlatti intended A, he can't simultaneously both have intended it and not intended it. The urtext definitely seems to have F#. The A seems to be a later interpretation, unsupported by any contemporary sources that I can find. And yet all performances seem to have it, literally every single one. I'm not sure I've ever heard anyone play F#. It's particularly odd that this performer plays A while simultaneously displaying a score that shows F#. Assuming the score he has put up is the score he's working from he must be playing the A from memory (ie from his recollection of performances that he has heard) rather than playing what's written. I'm not complaining - I too think A sounds better. I just can't find any evidence that it's what Scarlatti wanted, and certainly can't understand why virtually every version of the score is at odds with virtually every performance.
Yes great points. I'm very sure the player was not playing off this score though (perhaps they could clarify?). What makes you think Scarlatti didn't change his mind though? He was quite young when he wrote it, perhaps he scrawled a few different versions of it... that didn't come to light until much later? I'm not sure. And I've also never heard a recording with F# and can't bring myself to play it like that 😅
@@ijdoti Thanks again. It's certainly possible that Scarlatti changed his mind. All I'm saying is that I can't find any evidence that he did. If there are other versions that have since come to light I haven't seen them. Either way, what's striking is the complete unanimity among performers, every single one of whom (at least every one that I've ever heard) plays A rather than F#. The discrepancy is intriguing. The score says one thing, the performers say another. I can't think of another example where there's such a stark divergence between what appears in the printed score and what we hear in performance.
@@haroldsdodge I completely agree!
It is the best performance I've ever heard! Bravo!!!
Dimitris Pantelios
Horowitz has a version that is unrivaled, recorded in Moscow. It’s on TH-cam.
@@beechrad1965 yes his version is quite poetic and dynamically varied to seem' other worldly ' Another player of similar greatness ,but in classical guitar world ,is Andre Segovia
Back in the 60s, I believe that this was the basis for a light jazz piece. Does anyone out there recall this?
Exquisite rendition!
Except he plays a wrong note on the 3rd beat of the 6th measure!
K87 is ssssso beautiful (bravo Scarlatti!)
Thanks sir Paul Barton
love this,it,s so melacholy
Exquisitely played! I have this music, yet, much trouble playing it because it has no marked fingering. I believe this piece needs that, much like playing Bach.
Bravo, so beautiful !
This sonata is utter beauty, surpassing even Bach in its polyphonic harmonies. As to Paul Barton: what can I say? This is perfection.
Sonata meravigliosa. Grazie!!!
Overall, I enjoyed the entire set. I closed my eyes and it was pretty good.
Charles Williams
Magical.
THIS IS LIKE A PRAYER
I love this pieces.
I hope I can play like you romantic and beautifully
I'm teaching myself this at the moment. Is this about grade 6? beautiful playing, as always! :)
Thanks for this
Very sad and beautiful
Great interpretation, thank you for sharing this!
One of my favourite Scarlatti pieces, love to play it.
Where does the variation in measure 6 come from, where you play a second a (after the g sharp) where in the score there is only the f sharp still sounding? I think I have heard this also from other pianists and have now taken up to do it as well ...
I have heard one playing the printed fsharp in measure 6.which I personally prefer to play .I am not sure why this is usually changed to an A
love this piece...thx
Something lovely for 3am listenings....
One of my favourite sonatas. Beautifully played. May I ask why the first bar is played as though it were 4/4? Is that an artistic choice you made?
Why did you press A instead of F# on the 3rd beat of the 6th measure. Horowitz did the same too, and so did I. I just realized about this after I saw the score.
Yes, it's really annoying! Someone explain why people do it!
Chris Martin The composer made a mistake? . . . aaahhhh!
It’s interesting, I actually do think the A sounds better. Perhaps it’s explained by the fact that Baroque compositions were considered less “strict” in terms of following the score 100%. Glenn Gould frequently added trills and accidentals to Bach pieces that didn’t appear in the score. Perhaps Horowitz took the same liberty and Paul, preferring Horowitz’s version, decided to use it as well.
There are various editions of the 555 Scarlatti Sonatas. (Too bad Kirkpatrick could do only 60 of them!) I have an edition from "CD Sheet Music," published by Theodore Presser, that has the A, but the F# is consistent with the central figure of the piece. In measure 2, we have B A# B C# A# B. In measure 12, it starts on an E. In measure 22, it starts on a B (but doesn't quite finish). In measure 37, it starts (in the alto!) on F#. In m. 59, the opening part of the figure, F# G F# B, starts in the alto. So in m. 6, the pattern is F# E# F# G# E# F#. Having that first note be an A, in light of these patterns, seems wrong. There are several other differences between printed versions, and I haven't found two recordings that play all the same notes.
Did you check the Longo version of the sonatas? That's the version Horowitz used to play; perhaps it will explain this.
Beautifully played! My edition has E and G in the right hand at the end of measure 28, not C# and G.
I recently posted a message about the fact that everyone, including Horowitz, plays A instead of F sharp on beat 3 of bar 9 - apparently the IMLSP edition reads A - what you describe may be for a similar reason
I think E makes more sense to keep the pattern of the thirds... FWIW my edition has E and G (and of course that famous A in bar 6)
Very good.
Amazing version. Can you explain if you ever used the pedal on this piece? It sounds as if you did although obviously Scarlatti could not have made that choice
Lovely performance of a lovely sonata! Scarlatti what a genius and great playing Paul!. And here is a link to the sheet music. The link provided didn't work. (at least for me) imslp.org/wiki/Keyboard_Sonata_in_B_minor,_K.87_(Scarlatti,_Domenico)
Hi Paul, What a tremendous site you have provided for us music lovers. I am trying to learn this sonata as a beginning intermediate (I am guessing), and would appreciate a score that shows the fingering you have chosen. If so, much appreciated! Dr. K
Hi Paul? Why didn't you just say, "Hey, Bro"?
Thanks so much
Does anyone know if this has a pair sonata? I know a lot of the scarlatti sonata were written with as pairs in the same key. Maybe K27?
Scarlatti's venture away from the galant style
Why do I hear a Schumann in this piece?
Those G#s in the 6th-last bar sound so odd... I've only ever seen, heard and played them as G naturals
Bravo!
Beautiful. Could you post your fingerings (perhaps on one of the public domain scores)?
I'm afraid I don't work out fingering but play instinctively so I never write fingering on scores (with the exception of Bach's Goldberg Variations when I made my new edition) The main reason I make overhead keyboard videos is they can be slowed down if necessary in 'settings' should a viewer need fingering suggestions in a particular bar/s. I'm sorry I can't be more helpful.
No problem. There are a few bars where I don't have any good ideas for the "puzzle" of fingerings. I will just look carefully at the video to see what solution you've found. Thanks so much for all your posts!!!
Great! and good luck.
good video by the way
How did you decide to go for a scarlatti project?
Back in June my friend Doug Gould in the UK made a transcription of Dinu Lipatti's 1947 Abbey Road recording of Scarlatti's Pastorale Sonata K.9 notating 50 or so changes Lipatti made to the original score in his historic recording.
Doug kindly sent me his transcription to record th-cam.com/video/52Yf6VUl5ig/w-d-xo.html Doug's transcription got me in the mood to play more Scarlatti and I'm enjoying his music so much I decided to have a go at making enough recordings to fill a CD.
+Paul Barton Well, Scarlatti is one of my favourite composers, so I'm glad you do so
Years ago there was a harpsichordist that recorded the COMPLETE Scarlatti Sonatas. They were truly incredible on the harpsichord. I forget the artists name at the moment, I just remember he died at a young age shortly after completing the entire project of Aids. Very sad, as he was an extremely gifted artist!
Scott Ross... he was 38 when he died.
Yes, Scott Ross... :(
Pieter Jan Belder recorded all sonatas too.
Nice.
It is a pretty as a soft rain
*as
Warm please: Hiromi Uehara "The Tom End Jerry Show"
Why does everyone, Horowitz included, play an A on beat 3 of bar 6 instead of F sharp, as written?
Don't know.personally I prefer the fsharp
You seem to be an organist too.
Очень красиво
link is dead...
any way we can find the sheet easily
first at 4 in the morning
4am whaaat??o
first and second bars are wrong, the same mistake at the second time
Waaaay too much pedal! This is baroque, there should be no pedal at all, in fact.
"OH NO! Someone likes emotion in baroque music! How dare they! It's supposed to be bland and boring and stale!"
Its a piano transcription! So, its allowed to use the pedal.
quite strange and awful pedaling throughout.....with lot of disturbing noises, much too much use of reverberation..... quite a strange understanding of interpretation of the rhetorical essence of this masterpiece. Listen to Yuja Wang...or Pletnev...or Bogdanova...or Queffélec