Scarlatti Sonatas Played at Bach’s Tempos
Join Cory as he traverses through his favorite Scarlatti sonatas played at Bach’s tempos! This is an exciting project that the public can follow, as the videos embedded on this page are viewable by everyone! (However, access to Scarlatti tutorials is only for WRP Members.)
All piano students should include Scarlatti in their musical practices. It is wonderful and idiomatic piano music, and generally is more “fun” and “light” compared to Bach. Cory’s main point of this project is to prove to the world that virtuosos and pianists who can play extremely fast do not own Scarlatti’s sonatas and that they are better played slower. If slowed down to Bachian tempos, that is, truly authentic Baroque tempos, the true character of the music is allowed to speak. This is impossible at 21st-century “show-off” or “competition standard” tempos, which are about 30-40% faster than the tempos Bach would have played.
In 2025, Cory published TEMPO & DURATION IN THE MUSIC OF BACH, which shows that Bach’s system consisted of a dozen standard tempos from slow to fast. The 1700s was a time of conventions and rules. Bach would have never played 132 bpm for an Allegro since this was an invention of the 19th-century. If Bach’s three fastest tempos were only 84-96-108 (Allegro-Vivace-Presto), then how can tempos like 132 bpm or faster be historically justified for music by a composer born in the same year as Bach? The inconvenient truth learned from this is that Scarlatti’s music is played MUCH TOO FAST by the mainstream, which is usually far from the tempos Bach would have played.
👍 Get Cory’s book, TEMPO & DURATION IN THE MUSIC OF BACH: Uncovering J.S. Bach’s science of tempo, symbolism, and proportion
👍 Get Cory’s #1 sight-reading book, SIGHT-READING & HARMONY: The Ultimate System of Sight-Reading
👍 Check out stigekalder’s YouTube channel that has playlists of virtually all the Scarlatti sonatas (professional recordings with scores)
👍 Check out the Scarlatti homepage at IMSLP (FREE sheet music)
Cory’s Scarlatti Tempo Project
Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757) composed a total of around 550 sonatas! Cory has a long history of playing Scarlatti as a pianist and recording Scarlatti sonatas on YouTube; however, for this new Scarlatti tempo project, he has re-recorded many of his previous sonatas with new and improved interpretations using a consistent right-side, close-up view. Also, more thought has been given to the tempo Bach would have played for each sonata based on Scarlatti’s tempo word and stylistic traits. Cory believes his interpretations are at the tempos Bach would have played for Scarlatti’s sonatas. Then, Cory’s other musical decisions, such as articulation and general expression, are crafted based on the meter, tempo, and style.
🎹 Sonata in E Major (K. 20)
This sonata, in 2/4 and marked Presto, is one of Scarlatti’s more popular and more difficult sonatas due to rhythmic intricacies and fast tempo. The word “Presto” means “as fast as possible” to most musicians today and this is how the 19th-century virtuoso school interprets this indication; however, “Presto” to Bach was not as fast as possible, but merely a little faster than “Vivace”. Bach’s standard Presto was 108 bpm, which is the tempo Bach planned for the third movement of the Italian Concerto. Hence, if Bach were to play this Scarlatti sonata, he would most likely play around 108 bpm.
🎹 Sonata in C Minor (K. 22)
This sonata is in 2/4 and is marked Allegro. Bach would have had two choices for tempo here, either his most common Allegro of 84 bpm or his slightly faster Vivace of 96 bpm. Cory chooses 84 bpm to emphasize the majesty and grandeur of the music. The usual tempo of around 132 bpm or faster for this sonata is an invention of the 19th-century virtuoso tradition and would have been entirely foreign to Bach.
🎹 Sonata in D Minor (K. 34)
This sonata is in 3/4 with the fastest notes being eighth notes. It is marked Larghetto, which to Bach would have probably been 84 bpm which is like a slow minuet tempo. Many performers play this as fast or faster than a minuet, but the Larghetto clearly indicates a tempo slower than a minuet. This allows for great expression without it being too slow (or too fast). This also hsppens to be one of the least difficult technically of all Scarlatti’s sonatas, however the music is too beautiful for an “easy” piece!
🎹 Sonata in C Minor (K. 73)
This sonata is in 3/4 and consists of three sections. The first section could have been the entire sonata itself, but following this Scarlatti adds two rather short, cute, and instructive minuets. The first minuet in C major, probably Scarlatti’s least difficult piece of music, is often students’ first Scarlatti piece. Bach would have had really only one choice here, which is 96 bpm, which was Bach’s faster of his two Allegros (84 and 96) as well as the standard tempo for minuets.
🎹 Sonata in D Minor (K. 141)
This sonata is in 3/8 and is marked Allegro. Traditionally, this sonata is played as fast as humanly possible; however, nothing was ever played as fast as possible in Bach’s day. Playing as fast as possible was an invention of the 19th-century virtuoso school. Bach would have had two choices here, either his standard “3/8 Allegro” of 56 bpm or his slightly faster 64 bpm. Cory chooses 56 bpm here.
🎹 Sonata in A Major (K. 208)
This sonata is in 4/4 and is marked Adagio e cantabile. There seems to be no problem with the traditional tempo here, as most performers at least have the common sense to play this one very slowly with a singing tone, just as Scarlatti indicated. (Why can’t they ever get the tempo right in the faster sonatas though?) Bach’s tempo here would have been 48 bpm, which was his most common “4/4 Adagio” speed. Cory plays 48 bpm “right on the button” here, which allows for great expression.
🎹 Sonata in A Major (K. 209)
This sonata is in 6/8 and is marked Allegro. Bach would have had two choices, either the more common “6/8 Allegro” of 84 bpm or the slightly faster 96 bpm. The style of this sonata suggests the livelier 96 bpm, which Bach would have considered more Vivace than Allegro. (Bach’s Vivaces were a little faster than his Allegros.)
🎹 Sonata in D Minor (K. 213)
This sonata is in 4/4 and is marked Andante. As usual for Scarlatti’s slower indications, most pianists play an appropriate tempo for this sonata, which ranges from the 30s to 40s bpm. There is no problem here. Bach’s tempo most likely would have been his most common Allemande tempo, 48 bpm, which could rightfully be described as “Andante”.
🎹 Sonata in F Minor (K. 239)
This sonata is in 3/4 and is marked Allegro. It is a “Fandango”, which is lively Spanish dance with a special rhythmic flavor. How “lively” this fandango, however, is the qualifier. Most pianists play this sonata very fast and even as fast as possible; however, Bach most likely would have played his fastest Allegro of 96 bpm., which allows for special articulation and gravity.
🎹 Sonata in E Major (K. 380)
This sonata is in 3/4 and is marked Andante commodo (“a comfortable Andante”). It is arguably Scarlatti’s most beautiful sonata, and for good reasons, the most popular. Bach would have had two choices here, either his more common Andante of 63 bpm or the slightly faster 72 bpm, which is more like an Andante con moto. Cory plays the slower 63 bpm here to emphasize the “comfortable”. Once the tempo starts getting into the 80s and 90s bpm, this sonata ceases to be Andante, but it is Allegro.
🎹 Sonata in D Major (K. 435)
This sonata is in 4/4, marked Allegro, with 16ths as the fastest note values. Bach would have had two choices here, either his standard Allegro of 84 bpm or the slightly faster 96 bpm, which often was used interchangeably with Vivace. I believe Bach would have chosen the standard Allegro of 84 bpm here, which allows for great clarity and precision in articulation. Otherwise, played as fast as possible as most pianists do, the result is simply a wash of sound with no rhythmic distinction that is “fast and muddy”.
🎹 Sonata in G Major (K. 455)
This sonata is in 2/2 (cut-time), and is marked Allegro, with eighth notes as the fastest non-ornamental note value. Bach’s Allegro here was probably his standard 84 bpm. This is much slower than all pianists play this today, but much better, since it allows for clearer articulation and a predominant staccato touch throughout. Also, the penultimate measure in each half provides the key to tempo, in that one should only play as fast as one can play this measure cleanly; however, listen to your standard “cookie-cutter” interpretation of this sonata and these measures are always faked because it is humanly impossible to play the sixteenths in tempo at such fast speeds. Also, extremely fast 19th-century tempos are the cause of unclear, muddied articulation which is so common among the “speedsters” of today.
🎹 Sonata in G Major (K. 477)
This sonata is in 6/8 and is marked Allegrissimo, which was a word Bach never used but means basically a little faster than a normal Allegro, which Bach would have considered Vivace. Scarlatti’s Allegrissimo suggests two choices for Bach, either his more common “6/8 Vivace” of 96 bpm or more of a “6/8 Presto” of 112 bpm. Cory plays 96 bpm here, which allows for crisp staccato articulation, making the music seem faster than it really is.
🎹 Sonata in E Major (K. 531)
This sonata is in 6/8 and is marked Allegro. Bach would have had two choices here, either his most common “6/8 Allegro” of 84 bpm or a slightly faster 96 bpm, which is more like a “6/8 Vivace”. The more lyrical character of this sonata suggests 84 bpm, allowing the true character of the music to be revealed.
🎹 Sonata in A Major (K. 533)
This sonata is in 2/2 (cut-time), and is marked Allegro assai, with eighth notes as the fastest non-ornamental note value. Bach’s Allegro here was probably his standard 84 bpm. At the fastest, it would have been 96 bpm, but this seems too fast considering that the longer trills should all be measured as eight sixteenth notes per beat. These longer trills are the key to tempo, in that one should only play as fast as one can play the trills cleanly with eight sixteenth notes in each group. The average “cookie cutter” performance or this sonata is so fast that these trills are always omitted or faked.
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