Janá&ek: Sonata for violin and piano
Liszt: Paganini Study ‘La Campanella’ (earlier version)
G sharp minor (A flat minor)
The key signature of G sharp minor has five sharps. Its enharmonic equivalent is A flat
minor which has seven flats. Its relative major is B major. Its tonic major is G sharp
major which is usually replaced by A flat major (because G sharp major, which would
have eight sharps, is not normally used). The natural scale of G sharp minor consists of
the following notes: G sharp, A sharp, B, C sharp, D sharp, E, F sharp and G sharp. The
key of G sharp minor is rarely used in orchestral music but is not uncommon in keyboard
music starting with Bach’s ‘Well-tempered Clavier’.
Some piano pieces in G sharp minor
Chopin: Etude opus 25 no. 6 (‘Thirds’)
Liszt: Paganini Study ‘La Campanella’ (final version)
Scriabin: Sonata no. 2 opus 19
A major
The key signature of A major has three sharps. Its relative minor is F sharp minor. Its
tonic minor is A minor. The scale of A major consists of the notes A, B, C sharp, D, E, F
sharp, G sharp, and A. Symphonies in the key of A major are rarer than those in D major.
Beethoven (no. 7), Mendelssohn (no.4) and Bruckner (no. 4) are about the only ones of
the romantic era. Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto and Clarinet Quintet are in A major.
Rimsky-Korsakov’ “Capriccio Espagnol’, Tchaikovsky’s ‘Capriccio Italien’ and Waltz
from ‘Swan Lake’, and Wagner’s Prelude to Act I of ‘Lohengrin’ are all in the key of A
major.
Some piano pieces in A major:
Mozart: Piano concertos K 414 and K 488
Mozart: Sonata K 331
Beethoven: Sonatas opus 23 no.1 and opus 101
Chopin: Polonaise opus 40 no. 2 ‘Military’
Brahms: Intermezzo opus 118 no. 2
Franck: Sonata for violin and piano