Volume number 8 of the complete recording of all 555 sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti performed by Christoph Ullrich.
Scarlatti's sonatas, most of which are single movement works, have survived only in manuscript copies made by a third party. Most of the works are preserved in two collections, each comprising 15 volumes.
"Yes, Domenico's organ sonatas. Every Scarlatti connoisseur knows that they exist but generally doesn't know them as they are seldom played.
When they are, it's more often than not on the piano, where their real effect is lacking.I myself only studied them in more detail for the first time whilst I was preparing to record this volume and now I would advise any pianist or harpsichordist who wants to engage with Scarlatti to take a closer look at these small pieces! Only and exclusively here did Scarlatti in the whole of his sonata cosmos give a precise indication as to how he envisageddealing with dynamics. Like the Italian Concerto by Johann Sebastian Bach (whose manuscript is unique amongst Bach's keyboard works for includingindications of piano and forte in other words, changes of manual), Scarlatti's organ sonatas are written for a two-manual instrument. The lower manual (the Great Organ) sounds stronger, the upper manual (the Choir or similar) is softer, notwithstanding the fact that contrasting timbral mixtures of the stops were and are common. In the original Venetian copy, there are precise indications of the change between the manuals, represented in the musical text by almost modern-looking hands, which point respectively upwards or downwards with the index finger..."
Ullrich's search for a vital and unconventional confrontation with the public has led him to the development of new forms of programmes. These include the very thematically rich musicalliterary programmes with the Ensemble Bona-Nox, the concepts for children's concerts within the framework of the Ohrwurm-Projekt (Catchy Tune Project) with their proximity to music theatre, and his concert idea "Alchemy of Sound." Born in Gottingen, Ullrich studied with Leon ard Hokanson in Frankfurt, Claude Frank in the USA and Rudolf Buchbinder in Basel. He has a multi-facetted repertoire comprising all epochs and styles since Bach. Concert tours as a soloist, chamber musician and vocal accompanist have taken him to many European countries, South and North America, Asia and many international Festivals. Alongside concert recordings for radio and television, Ullrich has participated in several TV productions as a pianist, e. g. in the film "Klavier/komplex" and the documentation about the American composer Louis Moreau Gottschalk "Death in Rio." His CD recordings include piano works of W.A. Mozart and Franz Schubert, the musicalliterary programmes ("Water","Fire", "Air", "Night", "Head of Janus" and "Dream Fever"), the complete works for violoncello and piano of Friedrich Kiel with the cellist Hans Zentgraf and the Winterreise of Franz Schubert with Matthias Horn on the Spektral label. Christoph Ullrich is the Artistic Director of the "Taschen-Oper-Companie" (Pocket Opera Company) and co-founder of the "OhrwurmProjekt" that combines concerts for children at elementary schools with teaching concepts for concert preparation.
