First appearing in the 15th Venice volume of Scarlatti works, dating to 1749, this C minor effort was paired with the Sonata in C major, K. 100, as if the two form one work: at the end of the Sonata in C minor Scarlatti instructs the performer to turn the page immediately and begin playing the K. 100. Certainly the pair offer brilliant contrast: the C minor is dark and brooding, while its sibling is lighter, livelier, and brims with Spanish flavors in its joy. Probably because of their differences, however, the two sonatas are rarely paired on recordings, though they may occasionally appear together consecutively in concert.

The Sonata in C minor opens with a gentle, pensive theme that sounds much slower in performance than its Allegro marking would normally suggest. The second subject is livelier but darker in its sense of angst and accruing tensions, as well as in the bass-oriented harmonies that appear in the latter part of the expository sections. In the second half of the Sonata, Scarlatti's development of the thematic material is subtle and fairly complex, but does not break from the uneasy tranquility or dark mood of the piece. This masterful effort is one of the composer's longer sonatas, typically having a duration of six or seven minutes.

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