<div dir="ltr"><br><div>Donna's message about keyboard layout and the emails about Irving Berlin reminded me of another possible source of F#M/GbM pieces: the stride piano repertoire. In particular, Luckey and The Lion, featuring Luckey Roberts and Willie "The Lion" Smith, is a recording I've treasured for years. Of the six Roberts selections, at least Inner Space and Outer Space begin and end in F#M/GbM, while the second and concluding part of Nothin' is in F#M/GbM - the first part is in C#M/DbM - the key of two other numbers. The other selection, the astonishing Spanish Fandango, is in Bb minor (or A# minor if you prefer...), with strains in Db and Gb Major. </div>
<div><br></div><div>(Roberts claimed to be Gershwin's teacher; whether or not there were actual lessons, Gershwin was certainly aware of his playing and other contemporary stride pianists - I'm not sure if this connects to Jonathan Santore's observations about the Gershwin Preludes, but it's suggestive anyway.)</div>
<div><br></div><div>I have a transcription of Outer Space in a volume by Riccardo Scivales which I cannot find at the moment, but I dimly recall he chooses to transcribe it in Gb Major; his transcription of the first part of Nothin' (which turned up on Google Books...) is in Db Major, so I assume he would assign the other section to Gb Major. I don't know if he had a rationale for selecting the flat-side version. </div>
<div><br></div><div>Perhaps Eric Lai's theory professor could have told us...</div><div><br></div><div>Anton Vishio</div><div><a href="mailto:ajvishio@gmail.com" target="_blank">ajvishio@gmail.com</a></div>
</div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, May 19, 2014 at 8:11 AM, Donna Doyle <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:donnadoyle@att.net" target="_blank">donnadoyle@att.net</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="auto"><div><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255,255,255,0)">Dear Steve,</span></div><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255,255,255,0)"><br>
</span></div><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255,255,255,0)">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). </span></div>
<div><span style="background-color:rgba(255,255,255,0)"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255,255,255,0)">Best regards,<br>Donna Doyle</span></div><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255,255,255,0)"><br>
</span><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255,255,255,0)">Adjunct Assistant Professor</span></div><div><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255,255,255,0)">Aaron Copland School of Music</span></div><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255,255,255,0)">Queens College</span></div>
<div><span style="background-color:rgba(255,255,255,0)">Flushing, New York 11367</span></div></div></div><div><br></div></div><div><div class="h5"><div>On May 18, 2014, at 10:38 PM, Stephen Jablonsky <<a href="mailto:jablonsky@optimum.net" target="_blank">jablonsky@optimum.net</a>> wrote:<br>
<br></div><blockquote type="cite"><div>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.<div>
<br></div><div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Beethoven Sonata
No. 24, op.78<u></u><u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal">Chopin Nocturne
op. 15, No. 2; Barcarole, op. 60; Impromptu, op. 36<u></u><u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal">Dvorak Humoresque,
B. 138 (op. 32)<u></u><u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal">Huré Sonata for Cello and
Piano No. 3<u></u><u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal">Korngold Symphony,
op. 40<u></u><u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:1.5in">Liszt “Benediction de Dieu
dans la solitude” from <i>Harmonies poetique
et religieuses, III<u></u><u></u></i></p><p class="MsoNormal">Mahler Symphony
No. 10<u></u><u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal">Scarlatti Sonatas,
K. 318 and 319<u></u><u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal">Schumann Romance,
op. 28, No. 2<u></u><u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal">Scriabin Sonata
No. 4, op. 30; Poeme, op. 32. No. 1<u></u><u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal">Soler Sonata,
Rubio 90<u></u><u></u></p>
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