[Smt-talk] F SHARP MAJOR

[Lai, Eric C.]

It happened one day during my undergraduate years.  I was practicing Liszt's "Les jeux d'eaux à la Villa d'Este" when the door was suddenly flung open and in came one of my theory professors.  He asked, "Is that piece you're playing in F# or Gb?"  I answered, "F-sharp major."  He then looked up to the ceiling, contemplated for a few seconds, and left the room without saying a word.  I am still amused (and puzzled) every time I recall this anecdote.

BTW, he has one of the most interesting personalities I have ever encountered.  He would always lie down on the pedestrian walkway in front of the school building with his radio next to him because, according to him, that spot had the best reception in the area!


Eric Lai
Baylor University

On May 18, 2014, at 9:38 PM, Stephen Jablonsky <jablonsky at optimum.net<mailto:jablonsky at optimum.net>> wrote:

I know that many of our members in academe are preparing for the end of the school year and have little time for a dalliance with a particular key and the rest of you have busy lives as well. I, on the other hand, being a lifteime composer, have a mild case of OCD and could not let go of this inquiry into the frequency of usage of F sharp major. A cursory search of the Internet, and some help from friends, has produced what may be the first definitive list of works in this very rare key. Obviously, the list does not include works that attempt to do things in every key. G flat major is another story for another day.

Beethoven                   Sonata No. 24, op.78
Chopin                        Nocturne op. 15, No. 2; Barcarole, op. 60; Impromptu, op. 36
Dvorak                        Humoresque, B. 138 (op. 32)
Huré                           Sonata for Cello and Piano No. 3
Korngold                     Symphony, op. 40
Liszt                            “Benediction de Dieu dans la solitude” from Harmonies poetique et religieuses, III
Mahler                        Symphony No. 10
Scarlatti                      Sonatas, K. 318 and 319
Schumann                  Romance, op. 28, No. 2
Scriabin                      Sonata No. 4, op. 30; Poeme, op. 32. No. 1
Soler                           Sonata, Rubio 90


Dr. Stephen Jablonsky, Ph.D.
Music Department Chair
The City College of New York
Shepard Hall Room 72
New York NY 10031
(212) 650-7663
music at ccny.cuny.edu<mailto:music at ccny.cuny.edu>

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