F minor is a

minor scale In music theory, the minor scale is three scale patterns – the natural minor scale (or Aeolian mode), the harmonic minor scale, and the melodic minor scale (ascending or descending) – rather than just two as with the major scale, which also ...

based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its

key signature In Western musical notation, a key signature is a set of sharp (), flat (), or rarely, natural () symbols placed on the staff at the beginning of a section of music. The initial key signature in a piece is placed immediately after the clef at ...

consists of four

flats Flat or flats may refer to: Architecture * Flat (housing), an apartment in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and other Commonwealth countries Arts and entertainment * Flat (music), a symbol () which denotes a lower pitch * Flat (soldier), ...

. Its

relative major In music, relative keys are the major and minor scales that have the same key signatures (enharmonically equivalent), meaning that they share all the same notes but are arranged in a different order of whole steps and half steps. A pair of major an ...

A-flat major A-flat major (or the key of A-flat) is a major scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has four flats. The A-flat major scale is: : Its relative minor is F minor. Its parallel minor, A-flat minor, ...

and its parallel major is

F major F major (or the key of F) is a major scale based on F, with the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has one flat. Its relative minor is D minor and its parallel minor is F minor F minor is a minor scale based on F, consis ...

. Its enharmonic equivalent,

E-sharp minor F minor is a minor scale based on F (musical note), F, consisting of the pitches F, G (musical note), G, A♭ (musical note), A, B♭ (musical note), B, C (musical note), C, D♭ (musical note), D, and E♭ (musical note), E. Its key signature con ...

, has eight sharps, including the

double sharp In music, sharp, dièse (from French), or diesis (from Greek) means, "higher in pitch". More specifically, in musical notation, sharp means "higher in pitch by one semitone (half step)". Sharp is the opposite of flat, which is a lowering of pi ...

F, which makes it impractical to use. The F

natural minor scale In music theory, the minor scale is three scale patterns – the natural minor scale (or Aeolian mode), the harmonic minor scale, and the melodic minor scale (ascending or descending) – rather than just two as with the major scale, which also ...

is : Changes needed for the melodic and harmonic versions of the scale are written in with accidentals as necessary. The F

harmonic minor In music theory, the minor scale is three scale patterns – the natural minor scale (or Aeolian mode), the harmonic minor scale, and the melodic minor scale (ascending or descending) – rather than just two as with the major scale, which also ...

and melodic minor scales are : :

Music in F minor

Famous pieces in the key of F minor include

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

's ''

Appassionata Sonata Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57 (colloquially known as the ''Appassionata'', meaning "passionate" in Italian) is among the three famous piano sonatas of his middle period (the others being the ''Waldstein'', Op. 53 ...

'', Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 2, Ballade No. 4,

Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions to musical form have led ...

's Symphony No. 49, ''La Passione'' and

Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...

’s Symphony No. 4.

Glenn Gould Glenn Herbert Gould (; né Gold; September 25, 1932October 4, 1982) was a Canadian classical pianist. He was one of the most famous and celebrated pianists of the 20th century, and was renowned as an interpreter of the keyboard works of Johann ...

once said if he could be any key, he would be F minor, because "it's rather dour, halfway between complex and stable, between upright and lascivious, between gray and highly tinted... There is a certain obliqueness."

Hermann von Helmholtz Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand von Helmholtz (31 August 1821 – 8 September 1894) was a German physicist and physician who made significant contributions in several scientific fields, particularly hydrodynamic stability. The Helmholtz Association, ...

once described F minor as harrowing and melancholy.

Christian Schubart Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart (24 March 1739 – 10 October 1791), was a German poet, organist, composer, and journalist. He was repeatedly punished for his social-critical writing and spent ten years in severe conditions in jail. Life Bor ...

described this key as "Deep depression, funereal lament, groans of misery and longing for the grave".

Notable compositions

Antonio Vivaldi Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist and impresario of Baroque music. Regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, Vivaldi's influence during his lifetime was widespread a ...

**"Winter" from '' The Four Seasons'', RV 297 *

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

** Harpsichord Concerto No. 5 **"

Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ Gottfried Vopelius (28 January 1645 – 3 February 1715), was a German Lutheran academic and hymn-writer, mainly active in Leipzig. He was born in Herwigsdorf, now a district of Rosenbach, Oberlausitz, and died in Leipzig at the age of 70.Robert ...

", BWV 639 *

Joseph Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...

** Symphony No. 49 ("La Passione") **

Variations in F minor The Andante with variations in F minor (Hoboken 17/6), also known as Un piccolo divertimento, was composed for piano by Joseph Haydn in 1793, and is among his most popular piano works. (The late British composer and pianist John McCabe, in his book ...

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

** Aria "L'ho perduta, me meschina" from ''The Marriage of Figaro'', act 4 ** Adagio and Allegro in F minor for a mechanical organ, K. 594 *

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

** Egmont Op. 84: Overture in F Minor ** Piano Sonata No. 1, Op. 2/1 ** Piano Sonata No. 23 (Appassionata), Op. 57 ** String Quartet No. 11 "Serioso", Op. 95 *

Felix Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include sy ...

** String Quartet No. 6 *

Carl Maria von Weber Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber (18 or 19 November 17865 June 1826) was a German composer, conductor, virtuoso pianist, guitarist, and critic who was one of the first significant composers of the Romantic era. Best known for his opera ...

** Clarinet Concerto No. 1 *

Frédéric Chopin Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period, who wrote primarily for solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown as a leadin ...

** Ballade No. 4, Op. 52 ** Fantaisie in F minor, Op. 49 ** Étude Op. 10, No. 9 ** Étude Op. 25, No. 2 "Bees" ** Prelude Op. 28, No. 18 "Suicide" ** Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 21 ** Nocturne in F minor, Op. 55 No. 1 ** Mazurka Op. 63 No. 2 ** Mazurka Op. 68 No. 4 (Posthumous) *

Charles-Valentin Alkan Charles-Valentin Alkan (; 30 November 1813 – 29 March 1888) was a French Jewish composer and virtuoso pianist. At the height of his fame in the 1830s and 1840s he was, alongside his friends and colleagues Frédéric Chopin and Franz Lisz ...

** Prelude Op. 31, No. 2 (Assez lentement) ** Symphony for Solo Piano, 2nd movement: Marche funèbre *

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

Funérailles ''Funérailles'' is the 7th and one of the most famous pieces in ''Harmonies poétiques et religieuses'' (''Poetic and Religious Harmonies''), a collection of piano pieces by Franz Liszt. It was an elegy written in October 1849 in response to the ...

** Transcendental Étude No. 10 "Appassionata" ** Trois études de concert, No. 2 "La leggierezza" *

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...

** Fantasia in F minor ** Impromptu No. 1, Op. 142 ** Impromptu No. 4, Op. 142 *

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid- Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped wit ...

Piano Quintet In classical music, a piano quintet is a work of chamber music written for piano and four other instruments, most commonly a string quartet (i.e., two violins, viola, and cello). The term also refers to the group of musicians that plays a pian ...

Op. 34 ** Piano Sonata No. 3 Op. 5 *

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...

** Symphony No. 4 ** The Tempest *

Anton Bruckner Josef Anton Bruckner (; 4 September 182411 October 1896) was an Austrian composer, organist, and music theorist best known for his symphonies, masses, Te Deum and motets. The first are considered emblematic of the final stage of Austro-Germ ...

** Mass No. 3 *

Alexander Borodin Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin ( rus, link=no, Александр Порфирьевич Бородин, Aleksandr Porfir’yevich Borodin , p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr pɐrˈfʲi rʲjɪvʲɪtɕ bərɐˈdʲin, a=RU-Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin.ogg, ...

String Quintet A string quintet is a musical composition for five string players. As an extension to the string quartet (two violins, a viola, and a cello), a string quintet includes a fifth string instrument, usually a second viola (a so-called "viola quintet" ...

Paul Dukas Paul Abraham Dukas ( or ; 1 October 1865 – 17 May 1935) was a French composer, critic, scholar and teacher. A studious man of retiring personality, he was intensely self-critical, having abandoned and destroyed many of his compositions. His b ...

**''

L'apprenti sorcier ''The Sorcerer's Apprentice'' (french: L'Apprenti sorcier) is a symphonic poem by the French composer Paul Dukas, completed in 1897. Subtitled "Scherzo after a ballad by Goethe", the piece was based on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's 1797 The Sorcer ...

'' *

Ralph Vaughan Williams Ralph Vaughan Williams, (; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over ...

English Folk Songs The folk music of England is a tradition-based music which has existed since the later medieval period. It is often contrasted with courtly, classical and later commercial music. Folk music traditionally was preserved and passed on orally wit ...

** Symphony No. 4 ** Tuba Concerto in F minor *

Dmitri Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, , group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his Symphony No. 1 (Shostakovich), First Symphony in 1926 and was regarded throug ...

** Symphony No. 1 ** String Quartet No. 11 Op. 122

E-sharp minor

E-sharp minor is a

theoretical key In music theory, a theoretical key is a key whose key signature would have at least one double-flat () or double-sharp (). Double-flats and double-sharps are often used as accidentals, but placing them in the key signature (in music that use ...

based on the

musical note In music, a note is the representation of a musical sound. Notes can represent the Pitch (music), pitch and Duration (music), duration of a sound in musical notation. A note can also represent a pitch class. Notes are the building blocks of much ...

E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C and D. Its key signature has six sharps and one

, (or eight sharps). Its relative major is

G-sharp major G-sharp major is a theoretical key based on the musical note G, consisting of the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature has six sharps and one double sharp. Its relative minor is E-sharp minor, which is usually replaced by ...

, which is usually replaced by

. Its parallel major, E-sharp major, is usually replaced by

, as E-sharp major’s four

double-sharp In music, sharp, dièse (from French), or diesis (from Greek) means, "higher in pitch". More specifically, in musical notation, sharp means "higher in pitch by one semitone (half step)". Sharp is the opposite of flat, which is a lowering of pit ...

s make it impractical to use. The E-sharp

is: : Changes needed for the melodic and harmonic versions of the scale are written in with accidentals as necessary. The E-sharp

and melodic minor scales are: : : Although E-sharp minor is usually notated as F minor, it could be used on a local level, such as bars 17 to 22 in

's ''

The Well-Tempered Clavier ''The Well-Tempered Clavier'', BWV 846–893, consists of two sets of preludes and fugues in all 24 major and minor keys for keyboard by Johann Sebastian Bach. In the composer's time, ''clavier'', meaning keyboard, referred to a variety of in ...

'', Book 1, Prelude and Fugue No. 3 in

C-sharp major C-sharp major (or the key of C-sharp) is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. It is enharmonically equivalent to D-flat major. Its key signature has seven sharps. The C-sharp major scale is: : It ...

. (E-sharp minor is the

mediant In music, the mediant (''Latin'': to be in the middle) is the third scale degree () of a diatonic scale, being the note halfway between the tonic and the dominant.Benward & Saker (2003), p.32. In the movable do solfège system, the mediant note i ...

minor key of C-sharp major.)

Notes

External links

* {{Circle of fifths Musical keys Minor scales

Music in F minor

Notable compositions

E-sharp minor

See also

Notes

External links