Domenico Scarlatti: Sonata in E Major, K.380 - Analysis

Harpsichord in a sunlit room with receding doorways, evoking Scarlatti’s Sonata K.380
Like a procession approaching from afar, Scarlatti’s music unfolds with quiet ceremony. In Sonata K.380, musical calls pass from one voice to another, while beneath the measured tread, the grace of the melody reveals an unexpected tenderness.

Domenico Scarlatti’s Sonata in E major, K.380 is a short keyboard work distinguished by its measured, almost ceremonial tread. Its opening phrase is answered in a lower register, as though one voice were calling to another. Beneath this poised exterior, however, the writing is remarkably flexible: voices exchange roles, melodies unfold over steady chords, and carefully prepared cadences sustain the listener’s interest throughout.

The sonata belongs to the musical world Scarlatti inhabited during his years at the Portuguese and Spanish courts. At the centre of that world was Maria Bárbara of Portugal, his pupil and patron, who later became Queen of Spain. We have no documented occasion for K.380, nor a secure account of its first performance. What we do know is its place in the manuscript sources: it is the twenty-third sonata in the eighth Venice volume, dated 1754, and is also found in the tenth Parma volume.

The date 1754 belongs to the manuscript volume; it is not a proven year of composition. The principal surviving manuscripts are copies rather than scores written in Scarlatti’s own hand, and modern editors examine them in comparison. The sonata’s two familiar catalogue numbers reflect different systems: K.380 refers to Ralph Kirkpatrick’s catalogue, while L.23 comes from the earlier catalogue of Alessandro Longo.

The marking Andante commodo calls for an unhurried, comfortable pace. The 3/4 metre gives the music a steady tread without losing its gentle sway. Listeners have often likened the piece to a procession, an association also reflected in the later nickname Cortège. That image describes how the music may sound; it is neither a title documented by Scarlatti nor evidence of a particular royal ceremony. What makes K.380 remarkable is how a single keyboard can suggest several distinct musical voices within only 78 written bars.

Movements / Structure

K.380 is a single movement in binary form, with each of its two halves repeated. The first moves from E major to B major, the dominant key. The second begins from that new point of reference, broadens the harmonic journey and restores E major. The regions below are listening landmarks within a continuous movement, rather than separate movements.

The two halves are nearly equal in length: 40 and 38 bars. Their balance becomes especially apparent near the end, when music that previously established B major returns transposed into E major. The opening phrase itself does not reappear intact to signal a recapitulation in the later Classical sense. Here, the form is held together by related closing passages and the different tonal purposes they serve.

Musical Analysis

The opening call and its answer: bars 1–8

The first eight bars unfold as an exchange of short phrases. In the odd-numbered bars, a descending figure begins with a dotted rhythm before easing into eighth notes. The even-numbered bars answer with three steady quarter notes, decorated by ornaments in the upper voice. This alternation between movement and stability establishes a dialogue before any continuous accompaniment has emerged.

The left hand rests throughout bars 1–4, although the right hand also plays paired notes, giving the opening more substance than a single unaccompanied melody. In bars 5–8, the same material moves into a lower register, mainly in the left hand, with brief interjections from the right. Scarlatti has introduced no new theme: a change of register and the redistribution of voices are enough to suggest a different group answering the first. That is the musical basis for the often-heard resemblance to answering wind instruments.

Listen particularly to the difference between the two statements. On the piano, dynamics can make it more pronounced. On the harpsichord, the change of register, articulation and spacing between phrases do much of the expressive work. Either way, the dialogue is already present in the score; it does not depend on exaggerated contrasts of volume.

Scarlatti K.380, bars 1–8: the opening idea passes from right hand to left hand
Example 1 — Andante commodo, bars 1–8: the opening call and its transfer to a lower register. Both keyboard staves are reproduced. Source: Pierre Gouin (ed.), Les Éditions Outremontaises, Montréal, 2013, p. 1. Faithful crop from the IMSLP #133292; CC BY-SA 4.0.

From short statements to sustained motion: bars 9–18

At bar 9, the short exchanges give way to a quick descending run of sixteenth notes. The left hand immediately continues with a related passage, preserving the sense that the two hands are answering one another. This time, however, the phrases no longer stand apart. The running notes link them and carry the music into a more extended melodic span.

From bar 12, the steady quarter notes in the accompaniment establish a clearly felt pulse. The right hand develops the upper melody while longer notes sound within the chordal texture. The familiar dotted figure recalls the opening, but the harmonic direction is changing. In bars 12–14, an inner voice climbs from G sharp to A sharp and then B. This small movement within the chords helps draw the music towards B major.

At bar 18, the phrase comes to a halt with an ornamented cadence and a fermata over the rest. The dominant of B major has prepared the next change. That moment of silence separates two contrasting kinds of writing: the extended melodic phrase just heard and the compact rhythmic idea about to enter at bar 19. If the pause is hurried, the new entrance loses some of its impact.

The rhythmic idea and the establishment of B major: bars 19–40

Bar 19 brings more compact writing. Two right-hand voices move through repeated notes and the characteristic eighth-note–two-sixteenths figure, while the left hand marks the three beats steadily. The next bar transfers the activity downwards, and the two-bar exchange is heard again. Its festive character grows from rhythmic insistence, paired notes and a clearly defined foundation. No actual percussion need be imagined for the keyboard writing to suggest its energy.

At bar 22, the texture becomes lighter again. Running sixteenths rise into a higher register before leading to an ornamented cadence. Meanwhile, E in the accompaniment becomes E sharp, the leading note to F sharp. This alteration strengthens the pull towards the dominant of B major. The ascent is therefore more than a flourish: it gives the approaching harmonic arrival a clear sense of direction.

Bar 25 begins a closing region that is especially important to the sonata’s coherence. Ralph Kirkpatrick used the term crux for characteristic points in Scarlatti’s binary sonatas where the movement towards the closing key becomes firmer and the relationship between the two halves easier to recognise. In their study of K.380, Nancy Lee Harper and Tomás Henriques place the corresponding points at bars 25 and 63. The connection is audible without the terminology: remember the phrase that follows the ascent and listen for its return later in the piece.

Scarlatti K.380, bars 21–28: ascending motion and a cadence in B major
Example 2 — Andante commodo, bars 21–28: the ascending preparation and the point of stabilisation at bar 25, within the B-major closing region. Both keyboard staves are reproduced. Source: Pierre Gouin (ed.), Les Éditions Outremontaises, Montréal, 2013, p. 2. Faithful crop from the IMSLP #133292; CC BY-SA 4.0.

The arrival at bar 25 does not end the first half. The rhythmic idea returns, the ascending figure is repeated, and the cadential phrases grow more expansive. Fast passages alternate with ornamented endings until bar 40 firmly confirms B major. When the first half is repeated, the destination is already familiar. We can now hear more clearly how the opening calls and their answers lead towards it.

A different beginning for the second half: bars 41–56

After the double bar, the opening call does not return. Instead, at bar 41, Scarlatti begins with a more continuous melodic line over a repeated accompaniment. B major remains the point of departure, but this is not a fresh beginning in the sense of a full restatement. The second half takes familiar material through a different harmonic course before leading it back to E major.

Some rhythmic figures and exchanges between the hands are still familiar, but the harmonic language grows more unsettled. In bars 52–56 especially, chromatic alterations change the intervals between the melody and the inner voices. Natural notes appear against a four-sharp key signature; the upper line rises while the remaining voices move in close proximity. These tightly spaced parts create moments of increased harmonic tension.

The character here feels more hesitant than at the opening. This is not merely a change of mood: the chromatic shifts and the delay of a clear tonal cadence account for the effect. When the familiar rhythmic figure reappears at bar 57, its stability is all the more apparent because of the harmonically unsettled passage that precedes it.

The closing music returns in E major: bars 57–78

At bar 57, the rhythmic idea first heard at bar 19 returns in E major. From this point to the end, bars 57–78 correspond, with the necessary transposition, to bars 19–40. The home key is restored through recognisable later material rather than a literal reprise of the opening phrase. This relationship is central to the particular binary design of K.380.

The ascent in bars 60–61 prepares an ornamented phrase and the corresponding point of stabilisation at bar 63. Comparing it with bars 22–25 reveals how Scarlatti uses repeated material. The first version led towards B major; the second confirms E major. The musical relationships are recognisable, but their function has changed. What helped establish the departure now shapes the return.

Scarlatti K.380, bars 60–67: the corresponding closing phrase in E major
Example 3 — Andante commodo, bars 60–67: the corresponding approach to bar 63 and continuation in E major. Both keyboard staves are reproduced. Source: Pierre Gouin (ed.), Les Éditions Outremontaises, Montréal, 2013, p. 4. Faithful crop from the IMSLP #133292; CC BY-SA 4.0.

The final bars revisit the steady rhythmic patterns, rising runs and ornamented cadences heard earlier. A low E at the close gives the home key a firm foundation. There is no separate coda or new thematic idea: the sense of completion comes from familiar music arriving, at last, in the key in which the sonata began.

Repeating both halves is an essential part of the listening experience. It does not change the number of written bars, but it affects performance length and gives us a second chance to hear the accompaniment, inner voices and preparation of cadences. Subtle changes in articulation or emphasis can bring these details forward without disturbing the measured character of the Andante commodo.

Paul Barton’s performance, presented with the score, offers a useful way to follow the exchanges between the hands and the corresponding closing regions across the complete sonata.

Harpsichord and piano: how the dialogue changes

K.380 belongs historically to the world of the harpsichord, yet it has also become a familiar work on the modern piano. Calling it a “keyboard sonata” acknowledges both traditions without assuming that the modern piano was its original destination. Early pianos were present in Maria Bárbara’s musical environment, but that fact does not establish that this particular sonata was intended exclusively for one of them.

On the harpsichord, strings are plucked, so pressing a key more forcefully does not create the kind of dynamic gradation available to a pianist. Articulation, note length, the distribution of the texture and the instrument’s sets of strings become especially important. At the beginning of K.380, the move from the right hand to the lower register of the left already changes the colour and weight of the phrase. There is no need to reduce that difference to a simple contrast between loud and soft.

On the modern piano, dynamic shading makes finer distinctions between the voices possible. That freedom also demands balance: chords must sustain the pulse, the upper melody must retain its continuity, and quick passages must remain clear. Pedal can enrich and prolong the sound, but too much resonance blurs the short answers and chromatic changes. The degree of legato should follow each phrase rather than a fixed interpretative formula.

The edition a performer uses also matters. In his historical edition, Alessandro Longo supplied fingerings, dynamics, pedal markings and extensive phrasing. These reflect a later pianistic tradition and should not automatically be treated as Scarlatti’s instructions. Comparison with Gouin’s score and Johnsson’s critical-edition preface helps distinguish the musical text from later editorial and performance suggestions.

🪶 A Chapter in the Life of the Work

K.380 on Horowitz’s return to Moscow

In 1925, Vladimir Horowitz left the Soviet Union for a European tour. He went on to establish an international career as a pianist, but did not return to his homeland for decades. That return finally came in April 1986, after 61 years. In Moscow, he encountered an audience many of whose members had known his playing chiefly through recordings. Among the works he chose for this long-awaited appearance was Scarlatti’s Sonata K.380.

Two days before the official recital, on 18 April 1986, an open rehearsal was held at the Moscow Conservatory. Horowitz himself had asked that music students be given the opportunity to attend, but demand far exceeded the available seats. A UPI report filed that day described students clashing with security staff and some making their way to the balcony, where they greeted the pianist with cheers. Others remained outside, still trying to find tickets. Even before the public concert, the crowds made clear how exceptional this return had become.

The public recital took place on Sunday, 20 April. Horowitz opened with three Scarlatti sonatas, K.87, K.380 and K.135, in that order, before moving on to Mozart and Romantic repertory. Even on the day of the recital, hundreds waited outside the Conservatory in the rain, hoping for a spare ticket, as a UPI report recorded the following day. K.380 thus stood between the more austere polyphonic writing of K.87 and the livelier character of K.135. The sequence formed part of a varied programme through which the pianist presented contrasting facets of his playing on a return of unusual historical significance.

The concert was recorded and filmed, allowing a much wider audience to experience the evening. The audiovisual release Horowitz in Moscow preserved all three opening sonatas. The Deutsche Grammophon audio album, by contrast, begins with K.380. This distinction is easily missed: the recording does not reproduce the complete recital in concert order. For someone discovering the performance on that album, Horowitz’s return to Moscow begins musically with the familiar calls of Scarlatti’s E-major sonata.

Yet K.380 was not chosen solely for the occasion in Moscow. On 26 October 1986, only a few months later, the printed programme of a Horowitz recital in Chicago opened with two Scarlatti sonatas: L.23 and L.224, the works also known as K.380 and K.135. Even the change in catalogue numbers offers a small reminder of the music’s passage through different editions and performance traditions. The sonata remained in Horowitz’s concert repertory after his historic return, while the Moscow recording preserved one of its best-known interpretations on the modern piano.

The following video presents Horowitz performing K.380 at his Moscow recital on 20 April 1986.

🎧 Listening Guide

Hear the opening call twice. Remember the phrase in bars 1–4, then recognise it in a lower register in bars 5–8. The change of hand and register alters its character even if the performer makes only a small dynamic contrast.

Turn your attention to the accompaniment. After the quick runs in bars 9–11, follow the left hand’s steady quarter notes. They make the three beats of each bar easy to hear while the upper melody continues to move above them.

Do not rush past the silence. The fermata at bar 18 creates a brief wait. Notice how clearly the new rhythmic figure at bar 19 registers when that pause is allowed its full weight.

Compare two related phrases. Follow the ascent in bars 22–25 and recognise it when it returns in bars 60–63. The melodic relationship is clear, but the first passage leads into B major and the second confirms E major.

On a second hearing, follow the bass. In bars 41–56, listen to its movement beneath the changing upper line. The return of the steady rhythmic idea at bar 57 will stand out more clearly after this chromatic passage. Bar numbers refer to the written score; the repeats are not counted again.

🎶 Further Listening

Comparing instruments and modes of presentation helps distinguish what is already present in the writing from the choices that belong to a performance.

  • Scott Ross — harpsichord, Erato, complete sonata cycle. A starting point for hearing the exchanges between the hands and the denser chords within the harpsichord’s sound world. Compare the difference between the two opening statements with the contrast a pianist creates through dynamics.
  • Vladimir Horowitz — piano, Horowitz in Moscow, Deutsche Grammophon. An important encounter with the work’s later pianistic life. Focus on the balance of voices and the relationship between the steady tread and the freedom of the cadences.
  • Paul Barton — piano, performance with score. The embedded video connects the sound with the corresponding staves. It is particularly useful for following the opening idea into the left hand and comparing the two large closing regions.

📚 Further Reading

A deeper understanding of K.380 brings together close reading of the score, knowledge of its manuscript sources and sustained attention to form.

  • Bengt Johnsson, editor — Piano Sonata in E major K.380, L.23, Henle HN 574. The critical edition and its available preface explain the relationship between the principal manuscript collections and address ornamentation.
  • Nancy Lee Harper and Tomás Henriques — Performing Musical Structure: crux-phi perceptions in Domenico Scarlatti’s sonata K.380 (2008). A study devoted to this sonata and the treatment of structural points in different performances. Its golden-section connection is an analytical proposal, rather than evidence of deliberate numerical planning by Scarlatti.
  • W. Dean Sutcliffe — The Keyboard Sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti and Eighteenth-Century Musical Style (Cambridge University Press, 2003). A substantial next step on form, musical syntax and Scarlatti’s eighteenth-century position. It is recommended as broader reading beyond the specific documents used for this article.

🔗 Related Works

These choices extend the listening towards binary form, dance rhythm and the keyboard’s capacity to suggest several distinct musical roles.

  • Domenico Scarlatti — Sonata in E major, K.381. It follows K.380 in the principal collections and, marked Allegro, offers a direct comparison of contrasting characters in the same key. Their adjacency supports hearing them as a pair while allowing each its independence.
  • Johann Sebastian Bach — Italian Concerto in F major, BWV 971. A solo harpsichord suggests the roles of soloist and ensemble. The comparison illuminates the difference between an extended concerto design and K.380’s compact exchange of calls.
  • Jean-Philippe Rameau — Tambourin, from the Pièces de clavecin of 1724. Rhythmic insistence and the suggestion of a percussion instrument offer a clear parallel for the transfer of dance energy to the keyboard.
  • François Couperin — Les Barricades mystérieuses. Overlapping voices create continuity. It makes a revealing neighbour to Scarlatti’s sonata, where the dialogue often separates phrases and lets the answers move into another register.

🎼 Closing Reflection

At the opening of K.380, a short phrase is heard and then repeated lower down. It is almost the same music, yet it leaves a different impression. The change of register alters the distance from which we seem to hear it, as though an answer had come from another part of the same room.

That simple exchange becomes the starting point for the sonata’s entire design. Phrases move, change harmonic direction and return with new roles. Perhaps this is why K.380 retains a sense of intimacy even at its most ceremonial: its music continues to listen and respond to itself.

📖 Bibliography and Sources

Form, bar numbers and musical examples were checked directly against Pierre Gouin’s 2013 edition. Comparison with Longo’s edition was used to distinguish later performance editing. Johnsson’s preface and Marciana’s institutional documentation informed the discussion of dating and manuscript collections. The Horowitz narrative draws on contemporary reporting, a printed programme from 1986 and documentation of the recordings. Books recommended solely for further reading are not represented as sources consulted in full.

Scores and critical editions

Scarlatti, Domenico. Sonata K.380. Ed. Pierre Gouin. Montréal: Les Éditions Outremontaises, 2013, pp. 1–4. 

Scarlatti, Domenico. Opere complete per clavicembalo, vol. 1. Ed. Alessandro Longo. Milan: G. Ricordi & C., 1906, pp. 78–81, plate E.R. 541. IMSLP — L.23 / K.380.

Johnsson, Bengt, ed. Piano Sonata in E major K.380, L.23. Munich: G. Henle Verlag, HN 574. Preface, Århus, autumn 1985.

Primary documents and performance history

Chicago Symphony Orchestra / Rosenthal Archives. Special Concert: Vladimir Horowitz, Piano, 26 October 1986, programme, pp. 27–33. 

United Press International. “Soviet students, police clash at Horowitz concert.” 18 April 1986. UPI Archives.

United Press International. “Horowitz performs first Soviet concert in six decades.” 21 April 1986. UPI Archives.

Horowitz, Vladimir. Horowitz in Moscow. Deutsche Grammophon, 1986; official reissue listing, 2016. 

National Institute of Informatics, CiNii Books. Vladimir Horowitz in Moscow, Sony Classical DVD 88697873529, 2012; filmed 18 & 20 April 1986. 

Musicological and organological sources

Harper, Nancy Lee, and Tomás Henriques. “Performing Musical Structure: crux-phi perceptions in Domenico Scarlatti’s sonata K.380.” Proceedings of the Fourth Conference on Interdisciplinary Musicology (CIM08), Thessaloniki, 3–6 July 2008. 

Prozhoguin, Serguei N. Indizi documentali e organologici sui passaggi di proprietà prima del 1835 dei 17 volumi di composizioni di Domenico Scarlatti della Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana di Venezia. Version 4 October 2017. Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana. Especially the volume inventory on pp. 1–2.

Powers, Wendy. “The Piano: The Pianofortes of Bartolomeo Cristofori (1655–1731).” Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, October 2003. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

University of Oxford, The Bate Collection. “The Harpsichord”.

Digital scores and selected performances

IMSLP / Petrucci Music Library — Keyboard Sonata in E major, K.380. The Gouin and Longo files were used; manuscript descriptions were checked separately rather than adopted uncritically.

Ross, Scott. Scarlatti: Complete Keyboard Works. Erato / Warner Classics. Official catalogue.

Barton, Paul. “Scarlatti Sonata in E major K.380 — Paul Barton, piano”. YouTube.

Horowitz, Vladimir. “Scarlatti: Sonata in E Major, K.380 (L.23). Rec. 1986”. YouTube; uploaded by Mikhail Sayamov; description identifies Moscow, 20 April 1986.

Juilliard — Italian Concerto BWV 971. IMSLP — K.381. The brief Related Works comparisons were checked against IMSLP score records and Juilliard’s documentation of the Italian Concerto. Digital sources accessed 23 October 2026.