F-flat major

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

F♭ major (or the key of F♭) is a theoretical key based on F♭, consisting of the pitches F♭, G♭, A♭, B, C♭, D♭, and E♭ Its key signature has six flats and one double flat.^[1]

The F♭ major scale is:

${ \override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f \relative c' { \clef treble \key fes \major \time 7/4 fes4 ges aes beses ces des ees fes ees des ces beses aes ges fes2 } }$

Its relative minor is D♭ minor, usually replaced by C♯ minor (see reason below) and its parallel minor is F♭ minor, usually replaced by E minor, since F♭ minor's four double-flats make it generally impractical to use. Because of that, it is usually enharmonic to E major with 4 sharps.

Music in F♭ major

Although F♭ major is usually notated as its enharmonic equivalent of E major, because E major has four sharps only as opposed to F♭ major's eight flats (including the B), part of Richard Strauss' Metamorphosen uses F♭ major, which one commentator has called "a bitter enharmonic parody" of the earlier manifestations of E major in the piece.^[2]

Beethoven also used F♭ major in his Piano Sonata No. 31, Op. 110. In the first movement's exposition, the transitional passage between the first and second subjects consists of arpeggiated figuration beginning in A♭ major and modulating to the dominant key of E♭ major. In the recapitulation, the key for this passage is changed to bring the second subject back in A♭ major: the transitional passage appears in a key that would theoretically be F♭ major, but which is notated in E major, presumably because Beethoven judged this easier to read – this key being a major third below the key of the earlier appearance of this passage.

Another example of F♭ major being notated as E major can be found in the Adagio of Haydn's Trio No. 27 in A♭ major. The Finale of Bruckner's Symphony No. 4 employs enharmonic E for F♭, but its coda employs F♭ directly, with a phrygian cadence through F♭ onto the tonic.^[3]^[4]^[5]

An example of F♭ major being used directly is in Victor Ewald's Quintet No. 4 in A♭ major (Op. 8), where the entirety of the third movement is notated in this key.^[6]

The climax that occurs in the middle of Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings resolves to F♭ major.

References

↑ Nicolas Slonimsky (1960). The Road to Music. New York: Dodd, Mead, & Co. p. 16.
↑ Bryan Randolph Gilliam (1998). Richard Strauss: New Perspectives on the Composer and His Work. Duke University Press. p. 237. ISBN 0-8223-2114-9.
↑ Donald Betts (2005). "Beethoven's Piano Sonata Opus 110". The Inner Voice.
↑ James Arnold Hepokoski and Warren Darcy (2006). Elements of Sonata Theory: Norms, Types, and Deformations in the Late-Eighteenth-Century Sonata. Oxford University Press. p. 326. ISBN 0-19-514640-9.
↑ Julian Horton (2004). Bruckner's Symphonies: Analysis, Reception and Cultural Politics. Cambridge University Press. p. 127. ISBN 0-521-82354-4.
↑ "Ewald: Quintet No 4 in Ab, op 8". Ensemble Publications. Ensemble Publications. Retrieved 1 June 2016.

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[1] Nicolas Slonimsky (1960). The Road to Music. New York: Dodd, Mead, & Co. p. 16.

[2] Bryan Randolph Gilliam (1998). Richard Strauss: New Perspectives on the Composer and His Work. Duke University Press. p. 237. ISBN 0-8223-2114-9.

[3] Donald Betts (2005). "Beethoven's Piano Sonata Opus 110". The Inner Voice.

[4] James Arnold Hepokoski and Warren Darcy (2006). Elements of Sonata Theory: Norms, Types, and Deformations in the Late-Eighteenth-Century Sonata. Oxford University Press. p. 326. ISBN 0-19-514640-9.

[5] Julian Horton (2004). Bruckner's Symphonies: Analysis, Reception and Cultural Politics. Cambridge University Press. p. 127. ISBN 0-521-82354-4.

[6] "Ewald: Quintet No 4 in Ab, op 8". Ensemble Publications. Ensemble Publications. Retrieved 1 June 2016.

Component pitches

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