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Musicology:
This is a late work, having been preserved in the 13th Venice volume of Scarlatti's sonatas, bearing the date 1757. Although it may have been written a year or so earlier, it must still be placed among his last works. Yet it contains musical quotations, more or less, from Scarlatti's earlier keyboard sonatas. These quotations, noticeable particularly in some of the runs, have prompted some scholars to speculate that the composer may have had an assistant to whom he dictated the score. Whatever the case, this three-minute gem bears the distinctive and innovative stylistic fingerprints of this great keyboard master.
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Sonata in A-, K.532, L.223Key: A-
Genre: Sonata
Pr. Instrument: Harpsichord
Marked Allegro, it begins with a rapid descending idea that quickly yields to a rhythmic motif, which in turn spawns several variants and then recalls the opening theme. The music is busy and anxious, conveying an almost manic sense in its seemingly boundless energy. As usual, Scarlatti devotes the second half of the Sonata to thematic development. He begins here with the obsessive rhythmic motif, fashioning music now that is, if anything, even more frantic and driven. In the end, this Sonata will dazzle the ear both with its rhythmic subtleties and virtuosic writing.
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