F-sharp major (or the key of F) is a

major scale The major scale (or Ionian mode) is one of the most commonly used musical scales, especially in Western music. It is one of the diatonic scales. Like many musical scales, it is made up of seven notes: the eighth duplicates the first at doub ...

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 a ...

has six sharps. The F-sharp major scale is: : Its relative minor is D-sharp minor (or enharmonically E-flat minor) and its parallel minor is

F-sharp minor F-sharp minor is a minor scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has three sharps. Its relative major is A major and its parallel major is F-sharp major (or enharmonically G-flat major). ...

. Its direct

enharmonic In modern musical notation and tuning, an enharmonic equivalent is a note, interval, or key signature that is equivalent to some other note, interval, or key signature but "spelled", or named differently. The enharmonic spelling of a writte ...

, G-flat major, contains the same number of flats in its

Music in F-sharp major

F-sharp major is the key of the minuet in Haydn's "Farewell" Symphony, of Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 24, Op. 78, Verdi's " Va, pensiero" from ''Nabucco'', a part of

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 ...

Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in C-sharp minor, S.244/2, is the second in a set of 19 Hungarian Rhapsodies by composer Franz Liszt, and is by far the most famous of the set. In both the original piano solo form and in the orchestrated version this ...

, Mahler's unfinished Tenth Symphony, Korngold's Symphony Op. 40, and Scriabin's Fourth Piano Sonata. The key was the favorite tonality of

Olivier Messiaen Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen (, ; ; 10 December 1908 – 27 April 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithology, ornithologist who was one of the major composers of the 20th-century classical music, 20th century. His m ...

, who used it repeatedly throughout his work to express his most exciting or transcendent moods, most notably in the '' Turangalîla-Symphonie''. Like G-flat major, F-sharp major is rarely used in orchestral music, other than in passing. It is more common in piano music. Some examples include a Nocturne and the Barcarolle by Chopin, the sonatas of

Alexander Scriabin Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin (; russian: Александр Николаевич Скрябин ; – ) was a Russian composer and virtuoso pianist. Before 1903, Scriabin was greatly influenced by the music of Frédéric Chopin and composed ...

and several pieces from Grieg's '' Lyric Pieces''. Liszt was apparently fond of F-sharp major, having uplifting while meditative pieces like "Les jeux d'eaux à la villa d'este" from Anées de Pèlerinage III, S.163 and "Bénediction de Dieu dans la Solitude" from the set Harmonies Poétiques et Religieuses S.173 in this key. There's also a transition to an energetic passage in the Dante Sonata that is in F-sharp major. Despite the key rarely being used in orchestral music other than to modulate, it is not entirely uncommon in keyboard music. For orchestration of piano music, some theorists recommend transposing the music to

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. The F major scale is: : F major is ...

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

. If F-sharp major must absolutely be used, one should take care that B♭ wind instruments be notated in

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 m ...

, rather than

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 ...

(or E♮/B♮ instruments used instead, giving a transposed key of D major/G major).

References

External links

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List of instrumental music in F-sharp major
stephenjablonsky.net {{Circle of fifths Musical keys Major scales