Estimated from our difficulty score, not taken from an exam syllabus. Checked against 333 works on the ABRSM syllabus: the exact grade is right 7 times out of 10, and within one grade 99 times out of 100.
Difficulty estimate by MusicCoach on a scale of 1 to 100.
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.
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This D major sonata feels bright and poised, alternating lively, articulated passages with brief lyrical responses that call for crisp articulation and clear voicing rather than broad rubato. Technically, Connaissance des formes (3.6/5) is important: you must shape the binary sections and handle repeats and internal modulations so phrases remain coherent; Ornements baroque (3.1/5) requires precise execution of short ornaments (trills, mordents) using careful fingering and small wrist adjustments to keep the line clean. It belongs to the Baroque period and is representative of Scarlatti’s keyboard sonatas, which often concentrate coloristic and virtuosic effects into compact movements. I do not give a reference performance here, as I am not fully certain of a specific definitive recording for this sonata.