F-sharp major

F-sharp major
Relative key	D-sharp minor; enharmonic: E-flat minor
Parallel key	F-sharp minor
Dominant key	C-sharp major; enharmonic: D-flat major
Subdominant	B major
Enharmonic	G-flat major
Component pitches
	F♯, G♯, A♯, B, C♯, D♯, E♯

F-sharp major (or the key of F♯) is a major scale based on F♯, consisting of the pitches F♯, G♯, A♯, B, C♯, D♯, and E♯. Its key signature has six sharps.^[1]

The F-sharp major scale is:

${ \override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f \relative c' { \clef treble \key fis \major \time 7/4 fis4 gis ais b cis dis eis fis eis dis cis b ais gis fis \clef bass \key fis \major } }$

Its relative minor is D-sharp minor (or enharmonically E-flat minor) and its parallel minor is F-sharp minor. Its direct enharmonic, G-flat major, contains the same number of flats in its key signature.

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, of Verdi's "Va, pensiero" from Nabucco, a part of Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2, of Mahler's unfinished Tenth Symphony, of Korngold's Symphony Op. 40, and of Scriabin's Piano Sonata No. 4. The key was the favorite tonality of Olivier Messiaen, who used it repeatedly throughout his work to express his most exciting or transcendent moods, most notably in the Turangalîla-Symphonie.

In writing music for transposing instruments in B♭ or E♭, it is preferable to use G-flat major rather than the F-sharp key signature. If F-sharp major must absolutely be used, one should take care that B♭ wind instruments be notated in A-flat major, rather than G-sharp major (or E♮/B♮ instruments used instead, giving a transposed key of D major/G major).^{[citation needed]}

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 and several pieces from Grieg's Lyric Pieces.

References[]

^ Frederic Woodman Root (1874). The Song Era: A Book of Instruction and Music for Elementary and Advanced Singing Classes, Choirs, Institutes and Conventions. John Church. p. 9.

External links[]

Media related to F-sharp major at Wikimedia Commons
List of instrumental music in F-sharp major, stephenjablonsky.net

[Root1874-1] Frederic Woodman Root (1874). The Song Era: A Book of Instruction and Music for Elementary and Advanced Singing Classes, Choirs, Institutes and Conventions. John Church. p. 9.

[1]

Component pitches

Relative key	D-sharp minor enharmonic: E-flat minor
Parallel key	F-sharp minor
Dominant key	C-sharp major enharmonic: D-flat major
Subdominant	B major
Enharmonic	G-flat major
F♯, G♯, A♯, B, C♯, D♯, E♯