# Piano Sonatas D.Scarlatti vs CPE Bach



## beetzart (Dec 30, 2009)

I know there is a slight time difference between the two but they both wrote some very fine sonatas, but who composed the finest?

Edit: Sorry, should have said Keyboard sonatas!


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

Beezart over Bachlatti


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## beetzart (Dec 30, 2009)

Phil loves classical said:


> Beezart over Bachlatti


Erm? Do you have a preference?


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

Carl Bach by far.


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

Beetzart, who do you prefer? Ie. which one made you cry more?


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## beetzart (Dec 30, 2009)

Phil loves classical said:


> Beetzart, who do you prefer? Ie. which one made you cry more?


At the moment CPE Bach but I don't think I've ever cried over his music though.


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## eugeneonagain (May 14, 2017)

I was listening to Scarlatti this morning (yesterday evening too). I have a CD player in the kitchen and sit and listen in the early morning - with headphones!

I originally heard Scarlatti's sonatas before C.P.E. Bach's so I have a special fondness for them. Bach's look more toward the following era of galant and classical, but I still prefer Scarlatti's if I really had to choose. 

As it is I can love them both.


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

They are different. But to answer your question, Bach's would be a better set. Scarlatti's are so very damn entertaining on a harpsichord.


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## Tchaikov6 (Mar 30, 2016)

Definitely Scarlatti- and I do love the CPE Bach sonatas- but I find that there is always Scarlatti sonata that will fit my mood. So refreshing and beautiful!


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Tchaikov6 said:


> Definitely Scarlatti- and I do love the CPE Bach sonatas- but I find that there is always Scarlatti sonata that will fit my mood. So refreshing and beautiful!


With these wise words, I do add+ 1.


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## beetzart (Dec 30, 2009)

The mood can change so quickly in Scarlatti sonatas. I think that is the beauty and craftsmanship he displays by being able to modulate to distant minor keys in less then a bar. One of my favourites in K.27 in B minor.


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## Myriadi (Mar 6, 2016)

I never liked Scarlatti, so my vote goes to CPE Bach. But is it fair to compare them this way? After all, Scarlatti most frequently wrote little one-movement pieces, whereas Bach's sonatas are almost always in several movements, with much more room for all manner of things.


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## beetzart (Dec 30, 2009)

Myriadi said:


> I never liked Scarlatti, so my vote goes to CPE Bach. But is it fair to compare them this way? After all, Scarlatti most frequently wrote little one-movement pieces, whereas Bach's sonatas are almost always in several movements, with much more room for all manner of things.


Sorry, I just thought it would be an interesting thread as their time lines do overlap by a considerable amount. Also, you can plot the evolution of the piano sonata with these two composers. Next would be Haydn, say, and we know where it eventually ends up!


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## EdwardBast (Nov 25, 2013)

Myriadi said:


> I never liked Scarlatti, so my vote goes to CPE Bach. But is it fair to compare them this way? After all, Scarlatti most frequently wrote little one-movement pieces, whereas Bach's sonatas are almost always in several movements, with much more room for all manner of things.


Yes, I was going to make the same point. Different genres. I prefer Bach as well. Really love the Prussian Sonatas especially.


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## Myriadi (Mar 6, 2016)

beetzart said:


> Sorry, I just thought it would be an interesting thread as their time lines do overlap by a considerable amount. Also, you can plot the evolution of the piano sonata with these two composers. Next would be Haydn, say, and we know where it eventually ends up!


Nothing to apologize for! But I wonder about that last bit - I think it's a bit of a musicological cliché that the progression goes Haydn - Mozart - Beethoven. Mozart was inspired by a lot of non-Haydn piano music (e.g. this guy - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Anton_Steffan) and there were a lot of people doing interesting keyboard works at the time, from Dussek and Kraus to Jadin, Manuel Blasco de Nebra, and a lof ot CPE Bach influenced composers such as this guy - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_Wilhelm_Wolf . By the time Beethoven sat down to compose some of his finest early sonatas, Clementi was doing a tremendous job of his, and later on Clementi was also the first (I think) to include learned counterpoint in his piano sonatas, thereby influencing Beethoven. In other words I think it was more of a melting pot situation than a straight progression from one thing to another.


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## beetzart (Dec 30, 2009)

Yes, Clementi had a huge unsung part in the progression of the piano sonata. First composer I think to add an introduction to some of his sonatas. Beethoven must have been inspired by this with regards to his Pathetique sonatas.


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## Bruckner Anton (Mar 10, 2016)

I don't have a preference.


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## Bettina (Sep 29, 2016)

For piano sonatas, I definitely prefer Scarlatti. But when it comes to fantasias, no one can beat CPE Bach!


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