Scarlatti, born the same year than J.S. Bach and Handel, devoted himself almost exclusively to harpsichord. As a result he composed a monumental work comprising 555 sonatas, of which he only had the first 30 published. They are numbered in 3 catalogues : Kirkpatrick (more recent, it follows as far as possible the chronological order), Longo and Testelli adopting a more fanciful order.