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 minor sonata is brisk and incisive, alternating quick exchanges with darker resonances that require crisp articulation and sustained rhythmic drive. You will specifically face the skill « Ornements baroque (3.1/5) »: here you must deliver short, precise ornaments (mordents, appoggiaturas) in the right hand without blurring the melodic line, and « Lecture clé de fa (3.1/5) » which demands fluent reading of the lower stave to coordinate the bass with rapid upper-voice responses. It belongs to the Baroque keyboard sonatas of Scarlatti, representative of his catalogue of virtuosic dialogue between registers. I do not list a reference interpretation for caution, as I cannot be fully certain of a single definitive recording for this particular sonata.