Scarlatti, Domenico : Sonata B-Dur K.440 L.97
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Genre:sonata
Total Playing Time:1 min 50 sec
Copyright:Public Domain
Commentary (1)
Author : Hayashikawa, Takashi
Last Updated: May 2, 2020
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Author : Hayashikawa, Takashi
A sonata written in the style of a minuet, as indicated by its tempo marking. Like most of Scarlatti's sonatas, it is written in binary form, which can be considered the prototype of sonata form (in this piece, a short coda is appended).
Although it sounds like a simple piece at first listen, only the first theme is presented in the first half, while the second half adopts a twisted structure of second theme (dominant key) – first theme (tonic key) – second theme (tonic key). Consequently, if the repeats are observed as written, the second theme (dominant key) will be played again immediately after the second theme (tonic key). Furthermore, although the exposition of the second theme is in the dominant key of F major, it begins with a IV chord (identical to the tonic chord of B-flat major), and the melody contains E-flat, which prevents an immediate sense of modulation, making the piece sound smoothly connected.
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