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Musicology:
This E major work was preserved in the 1757 13th Venice volume of Scarlatti's keyboard sonatas. Often the composer's sonatas are assigned an indefinite time of composition (i.e., "before 1752,") because the date refers to the year appearing on a manuscript containing many sonatas, possibly from different periods and later hand-copied. Those coming near the very end of his life, however, like this E major effort, may well have been written in the year specified on the manuscript because the composer, it is known, had produced a spate of keyboard works in his last years.
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Sonata in E, K.531, L.430Key: E
Year: 1756-57
Genre: Sonata
Pr. Instrument: Harpsichord
Marked Allegro, this Sonata is paced quickly, but exhibits a less hurried, expressive manner and a more flowing, gracious demeanor than most of Scarlatti's earlier efforts bearing that tempo indication. The main theme exudes brightness and joy, and covers, especially in its second subject, a large span of the keyboard. This E major work, like so many of the composer's later sonatas, makes effective use of pauses at the end of phrases, the musical flow halting but not breaking down, a wait-and-see suspense resulting. Scarlatti was surely one of the first Baroque composers to effectively employ this feature.
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