Domenico Scarlatti

Scarlatti wrote 555 keyboard sonatas and very little else that survives. They were composed for harpsichord at the Spanish court, and they transfer to the piano well enough that most players meet them there.

Each is a single movement, most under five minutes, and the range of difficulty across the set is enormous — some are within reach of an early intermediate player, others demand hand-crossing and repeated notes at speed that defeat professionals. Selections graded by difficulty are the sensible purchase; the complete edition runs to eleven volumes.

They are catalogued by K. numbers from Ralph Kirkpatrick, and older editions use L. numbers from Longo instead. The same sonata therefore appears under two numbers, and concordance tables are printed in most modern editions.