When music lovers discuss virtuosic keyboard compositions, the works of Liszt, Rachmaninov, Prokofiev, Chopin, and others enter the conversation. But Scarlatti wrote his share of very challenging music, too, and if its difficulties are often of a different, less showy kind, they are nevertheless thorny hurdles for the performer. This Sonata in F major is an example of Scarlatti's virtuosic side, featuring quite challenging octave and hand-crossing passages, as well as an array of difficult thirds and sixths. This work, in fact, is not just virtuosic by Baroque or early Classical standards, but even by modern ones. Marked Allegro, the sonata begins with a modest-sounding, chipper theme that features relatively simple writing in the upper register for the right hand and rather barren harmonies in the left. But the music soon takes on a robust manner, rhythms turning rollicking, the mood exhibiting a festive celebratory character. The material is repeated and then Scarlatti develops it, the more modest main theme transforming into a less dainty, somewhat deeper, creation, the stomping festive music retreating to a more modest expressive manner while maintaining its lively jollity. This sonata typically has a duration of five minutes.

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