This short, light Sonata by Scarlatti brims with Spanish flavors in its dance music and joyous energy. The composer often imitated guitar sonorities in his keyboard sonatas, especially in those with a Spanish character. But in this Sonata he may well be attempting to summon a quite different instrumental sound world: certain Scarlatti admirers hear this D major effort as an attempt to capture the more colorful strains of a small rural orchestra or band, replete with horn calls and trumpet flourishes. While that impression may be too specific for this deliciously effervescent bonbon, it nonetheless effectively conveys the spirit and color of the work.

Marked Allegro, this Sonata opens with an energetic theme, built upon rising repeated chords. The writing is brilliant, especially in its bouncy rhythms and deft harmonies: colorful little swirls and falls abound in the left hand, and a sense takes hold of the music playfully rising and falling, as well as moving from elegance to clownish menace and back again, the whole conveying a feeling of festive celebration. In the second half, following his usual pattern, Scarlatti develops the material that appeared in the expository sections. Often the music takes on a more serious demeanor here, but in this three-minute romp, the mood remains joyous and playful throughout.

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