As his admirers are aware, Scarlatti had a sense of humor. He was quite subtle in his compositions in most aspects of keyboard writing, and could deftly wreak mischief on the listener's sense of expectation. This Sonata in E major is an example of his sometimes prankish personality: in the latter half of the work, the composer uses thirds in such a way as to throw the harmonic and rhythmic sense of the piece off kilter. Yet this sonata cannot be regarded as merely a joke or anything less than a serious, well-crafted composition. It opens with a vivacious motif that leads to the lively, playful main theme. Most of the writing is in the upper register and a sense of effervescence and child-like joy permeates the piece. Midway through, as was typical of Scarlatti, he steers the sonata onto a somewhat different course, the music taking on a less dainty playfulness with greater activity in the middle and lower registers and a sense of surprise in his aforementioned rhythmic and harmonic trickery. This delightful sonata typically has a duration of three minutes.

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