Sonata in D major, K.119, L.415
Baroque Sonata Piano solo ~5 min
In brief

This D major sonata unfolds with a lively, buoyant character and dancing figurations that require keeping a crisp articulation and forward rhythmic drive rather than slow expressiveness. Concerning technical challenges, focus on Ornaments baroque (3.1/5) — here you must execute short mordents and grace notes with economical finger motion and slight anticipation so the ornament sits naturally in the phrase — and on Reading bass clef (Lecture clé de fa) (3.1/5), as the left hand requires fluent reading of bass-line patterns and secure placement of low-interval shapes that sustain the contrapuntal flow. The piece is part of Scarlatti’s keyboard sonatas from the Baroque period, characteristic of his pared-down single-movement sonata style with Iberian-influenced gestures.

MusicCoach difficulty
71/100
Advanced
Likely range : 59–82/100
Confidence : 64% · fair confidence
BeginnerIntermediateAdvancedVirtuoso
Exam grade
On the syllabus: Grade 8 ABRSM

Official level, taken from the exam syllabus.

Difficulty estimate by MusicCoach on a scale of 1 to 100.

Where this work sits
050100

Most works cluster between 45 and 65: a small score gap often marks a real step. The highlighted bar shows this work among those for the same instrument.

The MusicCoach difficulty measures a work's overall demands (technique, reading, stamina) on a shared 0-100 scale, consolidated from editorial and pedagogical reference points (Henle, exam syllabuses, curation) and our own analyses. It measures neither musical value nor the practice time YOU will need: two musicians of the same level can experience the same work very differently depending on their strengths (hands used to octaves, quick sight-reading…). The confidence reflects how many reference points sit behind the score and how well they agree — a lightly documented score is flagged “to validate”. For a truly personal bearing, the diagnostic and your space compare each work to YOUR estimated level, which the score alone cannot do.

Does this rating look right to you?

This rating is computed automatically from heterogeneous sources. It gets things wrong, sometimes badly. If you know this work, your answer is worth more than our computation: it tells us which ratings to review.

Add a note (optional)

Your note is not published on the site: it is read in review.

Difficulty sources
Henle Verlag
7
74/100 normalised
Combined exam syllabi
Grade 8
76/100 normalised
Relative difficulty
89%
Among Domenico Scarlatti
86%
Era Baroque
79%
Genre
Estimated skills
Theory
Harmonic analysis
1
Theory
Knowledge of forms
1
Reading
Bass clef reading
1
Ornaments
Baroque ornaments
1
Style
Baroque style
1
Technique
Hand independence
1
Technique
Legato
1
Interpretation
Dynamics
1
What to play next?

Each suggestion combines difficulty gap, risk, confidence and skill overlap. The first two cards in each column are the most useful pedagogically.

See the whole progression