Sonata in C major, Kk460 [before 1757]

Sonata in F major, Kk17 [before 1738]

One of the attractions of the Scarlatti sonatas is that with so many single-movement constructions to choose from - no fewer than 555 according to the Kirkpatrick catalogue - there is no end to the number of effective groupings that can be made of them. While there is an aesthetically persuasive theory that the composer himself thought of them in terms of pairs of pieces linked by their tonality, there is no documentary evidence to support it. Even if there were, it would be no reason why harpsichordists or pianists should not make their own selections.

In this case a comparatively discursive Allegro in C major is offset by a characteristically concise Presto in F major. Although, like all these works, they are both constructed in binary form, the Allegro is a peculiarly asymmetrical example, the first of the two parts being extended by a surprisingly radical series of modulations and an unusually late change of subject. The Presto - which was one of the few Sonatas published during the composer’s lifetime - is no less spontaneous in its harmonies but is more regular both in that respect and, in spite of some enterprising thematic development in the second part, in its structural proportions. It is also a brilliant example of a keyboard style enriched by the guitar figuration Scarlatti absorbed during the many years he spent in service to the royal courts in Portugal and Spain.