| Relative key | E-flat minor |
|---|---|
| Parallel key | G-flat minor (theoretical) →enharmonic:F-sharp minor |
| Dominant key | D-flat major |
| Subdominant | C-flat major |
| Enharmonic | F-sharp major |
| Component pitches | |
| G♭, A♭, B♭, C♭, D♭, E♭, F | |
G-flat major is amajor scale based onG♭, consisting of the pitches G♭,A♭,B♭,C♭,D♭,E♭, andF. Itskey signature has sixflats.
Itsrelative minor isE-flat minor (orenharmonicallyD-sharp minor). Itsparallel minor, G-flat minor, is usually replaced byF-sharp minor, since G-flat minor's twodouble-flats make it generally impractical to use. Its direct enharmonic equivalent,F-sharp major, contains six sharps.
The G-flat major scale is:
Changes needed for the melodic and harmonic versions of the scale are written in with accidentals as necessary. The G-flatharmonic major andmelodic major scales are:
Thescale degree chords of G-flat major are:
Like F-sharp major, G-flat major is rarely chosen as the main key for orchestral works. It is more often used as a main key for piano works, such as the impromptus ofChopin andSchubert. It is the predominant key ofMaurice Ravel'sIntroduction and Allegro for harp, flute, clarinet and string quartet, and is also used in the second movement "Le Gibet" of Ravel's famousGaspard de la nuit.
A striking use of G-flat major can be found in the love duet "Tu l'as dit" that concludes the fourth act ofGiacomo Meyerbeer's operaLes Huguenots.[citation needed]
When writing works inall 24 major and minor keys,Alkan,Rachmaninoff,Scriabin,Shchedrin andWinding used G-flat major over F-sharp major.Muzio Clementi chose F-sharp in his set for the prelude, but G-flat for the final "Grande Exercice" which modulates through all the keys.
Antonín Dvořák composedHumoresque No. 7 in G-flat major, while its middle section is in the parallel key (F-sharp minor,enharmonic equivalent to the theoreticalG-flat minor).
Gustav Mahler was fond of using G-flat major in key passages of his symphonies. Examples include: the choral entry during the finale of hisSecond Symphony,[1] during the first movement of hisThird Symphony,[2] themodulatory section of theAdagietto from hisFifth Symphony,[3] and during the Rondo–Finale of hisSeventh Symphony.[4] Mahler'sTenth Symphony was composed in theenharmonic key of F-sharp major.
This key is more often found in piano music, as the use of all five black keys allows an easier conformity to the player's hands, despite the numerous flats. In particular, the black keys G♭, A♭, B♭, D♭, and E♭ correspond to the 5 notes of the G-flatpentatonic scale. Austrian composerFranz Schubert chose this key for his thirdimpromptu from hisfirst collection of impromptus (1827). Polish composerFrédéric Chopin wrote twoétudes in the key of G-flat major:Étude Op. 10, No. 5 "Black Key" andÉtude Op. 25, No. 9 "Butterfly" as well as a waltz inOp. 70. French composerClaude Debussy used this key for one of his most popular compositions,La fille aux cheveux de lin, the eighth prélude from hisPréludes, Book I (1909–1910). TheFlohwalzer can be played in G-flat major, or F-sharp major, for its easy fingering.
John Rutter has chosen G-flat major for a number of his compositions, including "Mary's Lullaby" and "What sweeter music".[5] In a charity interview[6] he explained several of the reasons that drew him to this key. In many soprano voices there is a break round about E (a tenth above middle C) with the result that it is not their best note, bypassed in the key of G-flat major. It is thus, he claims, a very vocal key. Additionally, writing for strings, there are no open strings in this key, so that vibrato can be used on any note, making it a warm and expressive key. He also cites its facility on a piano keyboard.
