Some piano pieces in F sharp minor:
Mozart: Piano concerto K 488 - the slow movement
Mendelssohn: Venetian Boat Song (‘Songs without Words’)
Rachmaninoff: Piano concerto no. 1 opus 1
Scriabin: Piano concerto opus 20
G major
The key signature of G major has one sharp. Its relative minor is E minor. Its tonic
minor is G minor. The scale of G major consists of the notes G, A, B, C, D, E, F sharp
and G. In Bach G major is often a key of 6/8 chain rhythms. In the baroque era G major
was regarded as the key of benediction. Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto no. 3 is in G
major. Of Scarlatti’s 555 keyboard sonatas, 69 are in G major. Of Haydn’s 104
symphonies, 12 are in G major, as is the first of his ‘Emperor’ quartets. Mozart’s ‘Eine
Kleine Nachtmusik’, Piano Concerto no. 17, ‘Dalla sua pace’ from ‘Don Giovanni’ and
the first of Mozart’s ‘Haydn’ quartets are in G major. Beethoven rarely used G major as
the main key of a work but his piano concerto no. 4 and his romance for violin and
orchestra no. 2 are exceptions. For orchestral works in G major the timpani (kettledrums)
are usually set to G and D, a fifth apart, rather than a fourth apart as for most keys. G
major is one of the most frequently employed keys in classical music, and light music for
that matter. This is in part because of its relative ease of playing on both keyboard and
string instruments.
Some piano pieces in G major:
Bach: Goldberg Variations BWV 988
Bach/Hess: ‘Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring’
Haydn: Piano trio no. 39 ‘Gypsy rondo’
Mozart: Piano concerto no. 17 K453
Beethoven: Sonatas opus 14 no. 2 and opus 31 no. 1; Rondo a capriccio opus 129 ‘Rage
over a lost penny’
Beethoven: Sonata for violin and piano opus 97
Beethoven: Piano concerto no. 4 opus 58
Chopin: ‘Andante Spianato’ opus 22