It is no exaggeration to say that the genre of sonatas for solo keyboard instrument (hereinafter, solo sonatas) was at the core of Clementi's creative output. Over the 40 years from the publication of Sonata Op. 2 in 1781 to the publication of Sonata Op. 50 in 1821, he published a total of 70 solo sonatas (including sonatinas).

Opus 10 was published in 1783, after Clementi signed a contract with a local publisher during his stay in Vienna. As this period predated the widespread popularization of the piano, the title page of the score states, "for harpsichord or pianoforte." This is likely one of the publisher's sales strategies rather than a specific instrument designation by the composer Clementi.

First Movement

A major, 2/2 time. Binary form. The light melody in the right hand at the beginning serves as the main motif, appearing throughout the work. In the latter half of the first section, a second theme based on the opening subject appears in E major. In the second section, it temporarily shifts to the dominant minor, E minor, but then the opening subject quickly returns in C major (m. 47). In the latter half of the second section (m. 65 onwards), the second theme returns in the tonic key.

The parallel thirds in the right hand seen in measures 29 and 71 are one of the passages Clementi often used in his early sonatas, as Mozart derided in a letter to his father after their competition before Emperor Joseph II in Vienna in 1781.

The contrast between the lovely melodies, primarily consisting of single notes and double stops, and the rich sound of chords played by both hands is exquisite. This suggests that the piece might have been conceived with performance on the harpsichord (cembalo) in mind, an instrument where nuances of dynamics were more challenging to achieve compared to the piano.