The headnote gives the rather nebulous time of composition for this sonata as "before 1831." Details concerning the date of Mateo Albéniz's birth (ca. 1755) fares better, but is hardly definitive, because biographical information in general on the composer's life is sketchy, unlike that for the widely known other composer with the same surname, Isaac Albéniz. The Sonata here probably dates to the late-eighteenth or early nineteenth century, since it divulges the influence of two composers Mateo admired—Haydn and Mozart. But also noticeable here is the voice of Domenico Scarlatti, an Italian composer who spent many years in Albéniz's native Spain.

Albéniz's Sonata is in one movement and opens with a lively theme group whose fleet, chipper character suggests the lighter music of the three iconic figures mentioned above, but with, as is often the case with Scarlatti, a healthy dose of Spanish sunshine and spice. The structure is fairly complex, with the main theme yielding several subsidiary ideas and much developmental material, the latter appearing mostly in the second half of the Sonata, much in the manner of Scarlatti. There is even a repeat of the main thematic material before the development is launched, and there is no reprise—again, traits of Scarlatti. Most keyboard music enthusiasts should find this three-minute Sonata highly rewarding.

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