E flat major
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| Relative key | C minor | |
|---|---|---|
| Parallel key | E♭ minor | |
| Component pitches | ||
| E♭, F, G, A♭, B♭, C, D, E♭ | ||
E flat major is a major scale based on E flat, consisting of the pitches E flat, F, G, A flat, B flat, C, D, and E flat. Its key signature consists of three flats.
Its relative minor is C minor, and its parallel minor is E flat minor.
E flat major is associated with bold, heroic music, in part because of Beethoven's usage. His Eroica Symphony is in this key.
Another reason is that it is a very good key for brass instruments (valveless [19th-century] brass instruments specifically constructed to sound in this key were found to produce the most satisfying tone color). Thus, three of Mozart's completed horn concerti and Joseph Haydn's famous Trumpet Concerto are in E flat major, and so is Anton Bruckner's Fourth Symphony with its prominent horn theme in the first movement. Another famous heroic piece in the key of E flat major is Richard Strauss's Ein Heldenleben (A Hero's Life).
E flat major is also a very common key for gospel music.
It is also frequently used to express serenity, such as in Stephen Sondheim's Send in the Clowns and Frédéric Chopin's Nocturne in E flat, Op. 9 No. 2.
[edit] Other well known classical pieces in this key
- Prelude and Fugue ("St Anne") for organ from Clavier-Übung part III, BWV 552 - Johann Sebastian Bach
- Eroica variations for piano, (15 variations with fugue, Op.35) - Ludwig van Beethoven
- Piano Concerto No. 5, Op. 73 "Emperor" - Ludwig van Beethoven
- Piano Trio Op. 70 no. 2 - Ludwig van Beethoven
- String Quartet No. 12, Op. 127 - Ludwig van Beethoven
- Clarinet Sonata, Op. 120 No. 2 - Johannes Brahms
- Trio for Violin, Horn and Piano, Op. 40 - Johannes Brahms
- Nocturne in E Flat Op. 9 No. 2 - Frédéric Chopin
- Concertino for Trombone and Orchestra - Ferdinand David
- Second Symphony - Edward Elgar
- Symphony No. 103, "Drumroll" - Joseph Haydn
- Symphony No. 8, "Symphony of a Thousand" - Gustav Mahler
- Octet- Felix Mendelssohn
- Great Gate of Kiev (the last movement from Pictures at an Exhibition) - Modest Moussorgsky (Orchestral version of which was arranged and orchestrated by Maurice Ravel)
- Overture to Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The three flats (♭) in the key signature represent three trowels, one of the symbols of Freemasonry - the opera itself contains several references to Masonic ideals and rituals
- Ninth Piano Concerto, K. 271 - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
- Thirty-Ninth Symphony, K. 543 - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
- Third Symphony, the "Rhenish" - Robert Schumann
- Ninth String Quartet, Op. 117 - Dmitri Shostakovich
- Ninth Symphony - Dmitri Shostakovich
- Prelude to Das Rheingold - Richard Wagner
[edit] Well-known pieces in this key
- Back in the U.S.A. - Chuck Berry
- Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon and Garfunkel
- Bad Day - Daniel Powter
- Kiss Me - Sixpence None the Richer
- Babylon - David Gray
- Mama, I'm Coming Home - Ozzy Osbourne
- Basie's Blues - Count Basie
- One More Night - Phil Collins
- Hands Down - Dashboard Confessional
- Today - The Smashing Pumpkins
- The Long and Winding Road - The Beatles
- Basket Case - Green Day
- Sexual Healing - Marvin Gaye
- Say It Ain't So - Weezer
- Pretty Ballerina - The Left Banke
- Only Time - Enya
- Into The Mystic - Van Morrison
- Hill Street Blues theme - Mike Post
- You'll Be in My Heart - Phil Collins (also in F major)
- You're Beautiful - James Blunt
- California Sun - The Rivieras
- The Jones Boy - The Mills Brothers
- Fix You - Coldplay
| Diatonic Scales and Keys | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| lower case letters are minor the table indicates the number of sharps or flats in each scale | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
es:Mi bemol mayor he:מי במול מז'ור ja:変ホ長調 pl:Es-dur ru:Ми-бемоль мажор vi:Mi giáng trưởng
[edit] External links
- E Flat Major - Free E Flat Major Scale Print Out with Arpeggios and Broken Chords for Piano with Fingering
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