As many Scarlatti admirers know, the composer's keyboard sonatas are quite brief, averaging three or four minutes in length. Thus, they usually have a single tempo marking, typically Allegro, although a fair number of sonatas carry slower ones, like Andante. This E major effort is one of the relative few among Scarlatti's 555 sonatas whose tempo shifts back and forth, from the opening Andante pacing to the ensuing Allegro tempo. In the second half, it is the livelier music that dominates, though there is a brief return to the Andante music. But of course, it is not mere shifting of tempi that distinguishes this masterful gem, but the way Scarlatti so deftly presents his thematic material: first in a somber, deliberately paced manner where rhythmic elements are stately but stiff, then in a lively, brighter guise in the Allegro part of the exposition. In the second half of the work, when Scarlatti develops the thematic material, both fast and slow sections are brilliantly elaborated upon, and the work closes with a chipper, joyous ending. This masterful sonata typically has a duration of five minutes.

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