Description

Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757) wrote 555 sonatas for harpsichord. Following the custom of the period, these sonatas may be played on various keyboard instruments. Scarlatti was not only a virtuoso harpsichordist but also an exceptional organist. Some sonatas, by virtue of their nature or of how they are written, are particularly well suited to the organ. Examples include certain preludes and fugues from Bach’s The Well-Tempered Clavier, which dates from the same period.Vincent Boucher has chosen 18 sonatas which not only can be played on the organ, but on which he feels the organ sheds “a new and favorable light by virtue of its colorful registrations, the notes held and heard for their full duration, the doubling of low notes by the pedal, etc.”

Vincent Boucher played these sonatas on the splendid Italian organ, made by Karl Wilhelm, of the Très-Saint-Rédempteur church in Montreal.