F-flat major

F♭ major
Relative key D♭ minor
enharmonic: C♯ minor
Parallel key F♭ minor
enharmonic: E minor
Dominant key C♭ major
enharmonic: B major
Subdominant B major
enharmonic: A major
Enharmonic E major
Component pitches
F♭, G♭, A♭, B, C♭, D♭, E♭, F♭
See also: E major

F-flat major is a theoretical key based on F♭, consisting of the pitches F♭, G♭, A♭, B, C♭, D♭, and E♭. Its key signature has six flats and one double flat.[1]

Its relative minor is D♭ minor, usually replaced by C♯ minor (see reason below) and its parallel minor is F♭ minor, usually replaced by E minor, since F♭ minor's four double-flats make it generally impractical to use.

Although F♭ major is usually notated as its enharmonic equivalent of E major, because E major has 4 sharps only as opposed to F-flat major's 8 flats (including the B), part of Richard Strauss' Metamorphosen uses F♭ major, which one commentator has called "a bitter enharmonic parody" of the earlier manifestations of E major in the piece.[2] Beethoven also used F♭ major in his Piano Sonata No. 31, op. 110. In the first movement's exposition, the transitional passage between the first and second subjects consists of arpeggiated figuration beginning in A♭ major and modulating to the dominant key of E♭ major. In the recapitulation, the key for this passage is changed to bring the second subject back in A♭ major: the transitional passage appears in a key that would theoretically be F♭ major, but which is notated in E major, presumably because Beethoven judged this easier to read - this key being a major third below the key of the earlier appearance of this passage.

Another example of F♭ major being notated as E major can be found in the Adagio of Haydn's Trio No. 27 in A-flat major. The Finale of Bruckner's Symphony No. 4 employs enharmonic E for F♭, but its Coda employs F♭ directly, with a phrygian cadence through F♭ onto the tonic.[3][4][5]

An example of F♭ major being used directly is in Victor Ewald's Quintet no. 4 in A flat major (Op. 8), where the entirety of the third movement is notated in this key.[6]

The climax that occurs in the middle of Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings resolves to F♭ major.

References

  1. ↑ Nicolas Slonimsky (1960). The Road to Music. New York: Dodd, Mead, & Co. p. 16.
  2. ↑ Bryan Randolph Gilliam (1998). Richard Strauss: New Perspectives on the Composer and His Work. Duke University Press. p. 237. ISBN 0-8223-2114-9.
  3. ↑ Donald Betts (2005). "Beethoven's Piano Sonata Opus 110". The Inner Voice.
  4. ↑ James Arnold Hepokoski and Warren Darcy (2006). Elements of Sonata Theory: Norms, Types, and Deformations in the Late-Eighteenth-Century Sonata. Oxford University Press. p. 326. ISBN 0-19-514640-9.
  5. ↑ Julian Horton (2004). Bruckner's Symphonies: Analysis, Reception and Cultural Politics. Cambridge University Press. p. 127. ISBN 0-521-82354-4.
  6. ↑ "Ewald: Quintet No 4 in Ab, op 8". Ensemble Publications. Ensemble Publications. Retrieved 1 June 2016.

Scales and keys

Diatonic scales and keys
Flats Sharps
Major minor Major minor
0 C a C a
1 F d G e
2 B♭ g D b
3 E♭ c A f♯
4 A♭ f E c♯
5 D♭ b♭ B g♯
6 G♭ e♭ F♯ d♯
7 C♭ a♭ C♯ a♯
8 F♭ d♭ G♯ e♯
The table indicates the number of sharps or flats in each scale. Minor scales are written in lower case.
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