Keyboard Sonata in E Major

The opening musical gesture of this sonata, heard four times in succession, is so distinctive and memorable that we can’t help wondering whether Scarlatti was imitating the sound of something well known to him—possibly a regal or military fanfare. Whatever it is, it sounds like a summoning. After a flurry of scales, he returns to the first few notes of this theme, repeating it literally while the bassline slowly rises one step every bar, intensifying the effect. After a dramatic pause, Scarlatti introduces a new theme, the simplest of fanfares based on repeated notes and open fifths, that sounds like a firm answer to the opening question. It’s this second theme which goes on to dominate the rest of the sonata, tossed between the two hands and infusing the surrounding music. In between its noisy repetitions, busy passages of linking scales blossom with a lyrical flourish, sounding a brief but telling note of pathos.