Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757) lived the first half of his life in Naples, Italy and moved to the Iberian Peninsula in 1720, where he remained until his death. His first appointment was at the Royal court in Lisbon, Portugal. A decade later he moved to Madrid and took a position at the Royal Spanish court and it was here that the majority of his 550 harpsichord sonatas were written and where his artistic personality began to flourish. Using his imagination, he tested the limits and possibilities of the harpsichord resulting in compositions that surpassed his contemporaries in their originality and experimentation. His expansion of keyboard technique and virtuosity have more in common with keyboard music written a century after his death. Chronologically, he is classified as a Baroque composer, although his music was influential in the development of the Classical style.

Scarlatti's encounter with the Spanish culture had a profound effect on his compositions. The influence of folk music, the use of modes and other tonal inflections were more or less alien to European art music of the era. Many of his chord patterns and dissonances are suggestive of the guitar. The eminent harpsichordist and musicologist Ralph Kirkpatrick said, "As far as we know, Scarlatti never played the guitar, but surely no composer ever fell more deeply under its spell."

1. Sonata K435 in D Major allegro (Domenico Scarlatti)
2. Sonata K328 in G Major andante comodo (Domenico Scarlatti)
3. Sonata K32 in A Minor (orig D Minor) aria (Domenico Scarlatti)
4. Sonata K115 in D Minor (orig C Minor) allegro (Domenico Scarlatti)
5. Sonata K481 in A Minor (orig F Minor) andante cantabile (Domenico Scarlatti)
6. Sonata K159 in G Major (orig C Major) allegro (Domenico Scarlatti)
7. Sonata K234 in G Minor andante (Domenico Scarlatti)
8. Sonata K33 in D Major allegro (Domenico Scarlatti)
9. Sonata K27 in E Minor (orig B Minor) allegro (Domenico Scarlatti)
10. Sonata K466 in A Minor (orig F Minor) andante (Domenico Scarlatti)
11. Sonata K214 in D Major allegro vivo (Domenico Scarlatti)
12. Sonata K9 in D Minor (pastorale) allegro (Domenico Scarlatti)
13. Sonata K54 in A Minor allegro (Domenico Scarlatti)

Listen to: the entire album.

Release date: 5/3/2011
Daniel Estrem lives in Minnesota USA

Tagged as: Classical, Baroque, Classical Period, Instrumental, Composer: Domenico Scarlatti, Classical Guitar, Ukulele

1. Cifras Selectas de Guitarra, Santiago de Murcia 1722 by Eduardo Figueroa and Oscar Ohlsen: Chilean baroque guitar duo
2. 'Twas in the Moon of Wintertime by Steve Eulberg: smile-inducing, toe-tapping folkgrass
3. Two Romantic Piano Trios by Women Composers by Streicher Trio: classical chamber music on period instruments
4. Among the Lasses, songs of Robert Burns (1759-1796) by Susan Rode Morris: early music delivered with a voluptuous voice and intensely focused delivery
5. Oasis by Ensemble Al Asdeka: spicy and hypnotic melding of Arabic and Jazz
6. Himlens Polska by Erik Ask Upmark: Scandinavian music on the Celtic harp
7. LA BUCHE vol 1 by Francois Couture: Canadian composer, musician, orchestrator, arranger and sound designer
8. Forget Me Not by Gerard Satamian: Exquisite original melodic pieces
9. The Glass Desert by Harlan Williams: beautiful dark and airy guitar compositions
10. Dreaming and Dancing by Tom Bolton: contemporary folk
11. Medieval and Traditional Carols, Chansons and Festive Dances by In Nova Cantica: carols and chansons from the 13th - 17th Centuries for dancing, festivities and mayhem
12. Contemplations by Ireen Thomas: Lute sonatas from Mozart's time
13. Blue Ribbon - The Best of William Brooks by William Brooks: Entrancing and Ruggedly Individualistic, Earthy and Ethereal Songs
14. Social Creatures by William Brooks: Entrancing and Ruggedly Individualistic, Earthy and Ethereal Songs
15. The Garden by Toni Iniguez: classical guitar and Nature
16. A Christmas with Magnatune by Magnatune Compilation: the best music from Magnatune
17. Chinese Bicycle Stories by Jeremy Moyer: Erhu music bridging Eastern, Western, Contemporary and Folk traditions
18. La Faille by Justin St-Pierre: Acoustic percusive guitar
19. Ancient Mosaic with Guitar by La Reverie: Recreating traditional music from a modern perspective
20. Angelorum - The Harps in the Trees by Cheryl Ann Fulton: World-class performer and teacher of Medieval, Baroque, Welsh triple, Celtic and Concert harps.

• MP3: High quality MP3 variable-bit-rate files. Most people download these: they are audiophile files that play everywhere.
• ALAC: Perfect quality Apple Lossless format files. If you use iTunes or an iPod, get these. They're an exact audio copy of the original CD, and include the CD artwork and artist info. This is the same format as High Definition audio provided by the iTunes store.
• AAC: High quality Apple Audio Codec files. If you use iTunes or an iPod, these files sound great and include CD art and artist info. This is the standard format provided by the iTunes music store.
• WAV: Perfect quality WAV files. This format works everywhere, and is an exact audio copy of the original CD. It sounds fantastic. Album art and artist info is unfortunately not possible with this format.
• FLAC Perfect quality open source FLAC files. This is an open source audio format. It is an exact copy of the original CD, and includes CD artwork and artist info. Works great on Linux, VLC and many audio players based on open source.
• OGG: High quality open source OGG files. This is an open source audio format. It is a compressed (smaller file size) version of the original CD, and includes CD artwork and artist info. Works great on Linux, VLC and many audio players based on open source.
• 128k: Medium quality 128K MP3 files. These are medium audio quality MP3 files that will work on every device. The audio quality is good enough for most uses. These files are intended for cases where you want to conserve disk space.