| Relative key | C-sharp minor |
|---|---|
| Parallel key | E minor |
| Dominant key | B major |
| Subdominant | A major |
| Component pitches | |
| E, F♯, G♯, A, B, C♯, D♯ | |
E major is amajor scale based onE, consisting of the pitches E,F♯,G♯,A,B,C♯, andD♯. Itskey signature has foursharps. Itsrelative minor isC-sharp minor and itsparallel minor isE minor. Its enharmonic equivalent,F-flat major, has six flats and thedouble-flat B
, which makes that key less convenient to use.
The E major scale is:
Changes needed for the melodic and harmonic versions of the scale are written in with accidentals as necessary. The Eharmonic major andmelodic major scales are:
Thescale degree chords of E major are:
Antonio Vivaldi used this key for the "Spring" concerto fromThe Four Seasons.
Johann Sebastian Bach used E major for aviolin concerto, as well as for histhird partita for solo violin; the key is especially appropriate for the latter piece because itstonic (E) andsubdominant (A) correspond toopen strings on theviolin, enhancing the tone colour (and ease of playing) of thebariolage in the first movement.
Only two ofJoseph Haydn's 106 symphonies are in E major:No. 12 andNo. 29. Furthermore, four string quartets (Op. 2/2 andOp. 3/1), Op. 17/1 and Op. 54/3), two piano trios (No. 11 andNo. 44) and three piano sonatas (No. 13, 22 and 31) are in E major.
Luigi Boccherini'sString Quintet, Op. 11, No. 5 is in E major.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart completed only two compositions in E major: theAdagio for Violin and Orchestra KV 261 and thePiano Trio No. 4 KV 542. A noteworthy fragment among Mozart's works forhorn and orchestra, K. 494a, is likewise in E major.
Antonio Rosetti wrote several concertos for one and two horns.
Marianna Martines wrote a keyboard concerto and a keyboard sonata in E major.
Joseph Martin Kraus wrote a keyboard sonata in E major (VB 196).
Nikolaus von Krufft wrote a sonata for horn and piano in E major.
Josef Mysliveček wrote a violin concerto in E major, and so didJohann Wenzel Kalliwoda with his concertino for violin Op. 15.
Ludwig van Beethoven used E major for two of his piano sonatas,Op. 14/1 andOp. 109, and for the ouverture to his operaFidelio.
Starting with Beethoven'sPiano Concerto No. 3, several works in the key ofC minor began to have slow movements in E major, three examples of which areJohannes Brahms'First Symphony andPiano Quartet No. 3, andSergei Rachmaninoff'sPiano Concerto No. 2.
Johann Nepomuk Hummel composed aTrumpet Concerto in E major.
Carl Loewe composed a piano sonata in this key:Grande Sonate in E major, Op. 16, and so didIgnaz Moscheles in his Op. 41.
Václav Jindřich Veit wrote a string quartet in E major, Op. 5, and Karl Schuberth wrote his string octet Op. 23 in this key..
The second movement ofSchubert'sSymphony No. 8 is in E major, as well as the piano sonatas D.157,157 and459, the rondo from566 (506),String Quartet D. 353, the middle movement of theArpeggione Sonata. Several Schubert works end with numbers in E major, such asDie schöne Müllerin, 6 Grandes Marches D. 819 and the 6 Polonaises D. 824.
The andante which serves as an introduction to the Rondo Capriccioso Op. 14 byFelix Mendelssohn is in E major, as well as theConcerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra in E major.
Frédéric Chopin'sFirst Piano Concerto starts inE minor, but the last two movements are in E major. HisÉtude Op. 10, No. 3, one of his best known works, is in E major. His lastNocturne, Op. 62 No. 2, and his finalScherzo No. 4, are also in E major. A lesser-known work in the key is the Moderato in E major, WN 56.
Moritz Moszkowski wrote his Piano Concerto Op. 59 in E major.
Antonín Dvořák wrote hisSerenade for Strings Op. 22 in the key of E major.
Charles-Valentin Alkan wroteCello Sonata in E major, and so didFranz Xaver Wolfgang Mozart in his Op. 19.
Adolphe Blanc's Septet for clarinet, bassoon, horn, violin, viola, cello and double bass Op. 40 is in E major.
In the 19th century, symphonies in this key were rare, withAnton Bruckner'sSymphony No. 7 being one of very few examples (seelist of symphonies in E major). For Bruckner, "the key of E major is frequently associated with music ofcontemplation".[1]
Alexander Scriabin composed hisFirst Symphony in E.
Two symphonies that begin inD minor and end in E major areHavergal Brian'sSymphony No. 1 (Gothic) andCarl Nielsen'sSymphony No. 4.
More typically, however, some symphonies that begin inE minor switch to E major for the finale, such asSergei Rachmaninoff'sSymphony No. 2,Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky'sSymphony No. 5 andDmitri Shostakovich'sSymphony No. 10.
InGioachino Rossini'sWilliam Tell Overture, the first movement and the finale are in E major.Richard Wagner'sTannhäuser overture is also in E major. Another notable composition by the latter in E major isSiegfried Idyll.
The first of Claude Debussy'sTwo Arabesques,L. 66, is in E major.
The vast majority ofFranz Liszt'sConsolations are in E major, as are Nos. 4 and 5 fromGrandes études de Paganini.
Edvard Grieg'sMorning Mood, part ofPeer Gynt Suite No. 1, Op. 46, is in E major.
Media related toE major at Wikimedia Commons
