[Smt-talk] F SHARP MAJOR

[Jonathan Santore]

The B section of Gershwin's Prelude #2 is in F#M -- the surrounding A sections are in c# m, with a concluding Picardy 3rd -- another American songwriter who liked to work in the black keys? (Prelude #3 is in eb m ...) 

Jonathan Santore 
Plymouth State University (NH) 

----- Original Message -----

> Dear Steve,

> Notice that most of your list's pieces are for keyboard. Take a look at your
> hand, place it outstretched on a keyboard and observe where your fingers
> rest. F#M/GbM are the most comfortable keys for pianists--long fingers on
> the black keys, short finger(s) on the white. 19th c pianist-composers
> experienced this. A story goes that when Schubert submitted his GbM Moment
> Musical for publication, the publisher took away the flats to sell more
> copies and ended up with left-over inventory. Also, who was the American
> songwriter who played everything in C#M on a transposing keyboard? Why not
> CM? Lastly, one need only observe a good church organist to know that just
> about anything can be managed on the keyboard by skillful hands (hence the
> WTC).

> Best regards,
> Donna Doyle

> Adjunct Assistant Professor
> Aaron Copland School of Music
> Queens College
> Flushing, New York 11367

> On May 18, 2014, at 10:38 PM, Stephen Jablonsky < 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
> 

> > America's Greatest Chair
> 
> > in the low-priced field
> 

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> 

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