WITHOUT DISTANCES: A PERFORMATIVE PROPOSAL REGARDING SCARLATTI SONATAS TRANSCRIBED BY GRANADOS

Enrique Granados, in his role as a transcriber, published 24 transcriptions of Domenico Scarlatti’s sonatas in 1905. However, Granados wasn’t the only one to do this. From 1785 to 1942, at least 42 pianists published their own editions and transcriptions. Its comparative study highlights the various degrees of intervention in these publications, on occasion under the same name, as in the case of Granados. On the other hand, the diversity of this publication in particular represents an opportunity for the actual performer to construct their own performance based on a reconfiguration of the recital format and the concept of the cycle. 

This is what I consider in this research, which includes a concert proposal where my performance of these Granados transcriptions on the piano interact with the first bars of the corresponding Scarlatti sonatas recorded on diverse historical keyboard instruments by other performers. The use of technology and the collaboration with other instrumentalists allows my performance to be influenced by practices from various traditions, by the timbre of the keyboards of different eras and by the interaction with the recordings. On the other hand, the characteristics of the digital reproduction of the music acts as a bridge between the experimental processes of creation and the new paradigms of the so-called digital listening, that thus burst onto the scene.

​

Link to the complete doctoral thesis