The fifteenth Venice volume, of 1749, contained 44 sonatas by Scarlatti, K. 94 through K. 147. This C minor effort is certainly among the longer and darker sonatas contained in that book. Another notable aspect about the work is its lack of tempo marking, a possibly deliberate omission by Scarlatti since there are about 25 other of his 555 keyboard sonatas with no tempo indicated in the score. Thus, timings of this Sonata in C minor may vary widely, but performers generally give it a broad pacing to keep it in character with its serious and often ponderous manner.

The Sonata opens gently, imparting a sense of hesitancy as it seems reticent to go forward, trills abounding and the music stopping and starting several times. Once it gains some momentum its mood turns decidedly melancholy. The work more than vaguely augurs Chopin's sadder, bleaker music in its sense of loss or of unfulfilled longings. Textures are quite barren throughout, even when the tempo at times develops a greater sense of animation. The music's trajectory is often on the descent and often wallows in its dark character. While its seven- or eight-minute length may strike many listeners as brief for a keyboard sonata, it is relatively gargantuan for Scarlatti, who typically produced three- and four-minute sonatas.

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