F-flat major
| Relative key | D-flat minor →enharmonic: C-sharp minor |
|---|---|
| Parallel key | F-flat minor →enharmonic: E minor |
| Dominant key | C-flat major |
| Subdominant key | B-double flat major →enharmonic: A major |
| Enharmonic key | E major |
| Component pitches | |
| F♭, G♭, A♭, Bdouble flat, C♭, D♭, E♭ | |
F-flat major (or the key of F-flat) is a key based on F♭, consisting of the pitches F♭, G♭, A♭, B♭♭, C♭, D♭, and E♭. Its key signature has eight flats. Since a major scale has seven scale tones, this is notated with six single flats and one double flat (Bdouble flat).[1] Because of this it is almost always notated as its enharmonic equivalent of E major, with four sharps.
The F-flat major scale is:
Changes needed for the melodic and harmonic versions of the scale are written in with accidentals as necessary. The F-flat harmonic major and melodic major scales are:
The scale-degree chords of F-flat major are:
- Tonic – F-flat major
- Supertonic – G-flat minor
- Mediant – A-flat minor
- Subdominant – B-double-flat major
- Dominant – C-flat major
- Submediant – D-flat minor
- Leading-tone – E-flat diminished
Music in F-flat major
[edit | edit source]F-flat appears as a secondary key area in several works in flat keys. Part of Richard Strauss' Metamorphosen uses F-flat 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-flat 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-flat major and modulating to the dominant key of E-flat major. In the recapitulation, the key for this passage is changed to bring the second subject back in A-flat major: the transitional passage appears in a key that would theoretically be F-flat 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. Likewise, the second movement (in A-flat major) of Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 8 (Pathétique) contains six measures of what would theoretically be F-flat major, but notated as E major (keeping the 4-flat key signature of the movement, so every note in the passage has an accidental).
Another example of F-flat 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-flat, but its coda employs F-flat directly, with a Phrygian cadence through F-flat onto the tonic.[3][4][5]
An example of F-flat 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-flat major.[citation needed] The final cadence of John Rutter's setting of Robert Herrick's poem "What Sweeter Music" is in F-flat major.[citation needed]
See also
[edit | edit source]References
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