Scarlet Letters was composed in 1984 on commission of the pianist and harpsichordist Franzpeter Goebels (1920–1988) on the occasion of the 300th birth day of Domenico Scarlatti. The original working title ”Lettere scarlattine” is a concealed homage to the Italian composer. The compositional material is limited to the tones D, E, C, Es (= S, spoken ”Es“ = E flat in German notation) and A, derived from the musical letters of Domenico Scarlatti’s name, and the tones B (= B flat in German nota tion)...