F-sharp major: “Triumph over difficulty, free sigh of relief uttered when hurdles are surmounted; echo of a soul which has fiercely struggled and finally conquered lies in all uses of this key”. – Christian Shubart, Ideen zu einer Aesthetik der Tonkunst (1806)

“Brilliant and exceedingly clear” – Ernst Pauer, The Elements of the Beautiful in Music (1876)

One of the “black note” keys for the pianist, the key signature of F-sharp Major has a daunting six sharps and its scale includes only two white notes (B and E-sharp – or F natural).

The ‘enharmonic’ key of F-sharp major is G-flat major (exactly the same notes in the scale, but a different key signature comprising six flats) – the key of Schubert’s Impromptu D 899/3 and Chopin’s Impromptu Op 51 No. 3. Curiously, although the pitches are identical, G-flat Major has a different character to F-sharp Major – it’s somehow softer and richer.

From a technical point of view, F-sharp major can be challenging for the pianist, yet piano music in this key is luminous, colourful, and fun to navigate (the opening movement of Ravel’s Sonatine, for example, or Debussy’s Poissons d’or). It’s also warm, affectionate and nostalgic (Beethoven’s Sonata Op 78 or Schumann’s Romance Op 28, No. 2). And in Messiaen’s hands, it is a key of both meditation and ecstasy.

The following piano music in the key of F-sharp Major demonstrates the range of possibilities – sonic, colouristic and expressive – that this key offers: this is some of the most beautiful and arresting music in the pianist’s repertoire:

Liszt – Les jeux d’eaux à la Villa d’Este (The Fountains of the Villa d’Este)

A beautiful musical evocation of the rilling, plashing, glittering of fountains at the Villa d’Este, situated in Tivoli near Rome, from the third year of Liszt’s Années de pèlerinage. This work inspired Ravel’s Jeux d’eau and many other piano pieces depicting water.

Chopin – Barcarolle, Op 60

Composed in 1845-46, three years before his death, this is one of Chopin’s most arresting and ardently expressive works, scored in a rare key for Chopin. A Barcarolle is a “boat song’, its lilting rhythm inspired by the Venetian gondolier’s stroke; Chopin never visited Venice but he would have been familiar with the genre, which he masterfully captures in this sweepingly romantic, wistful piece.

Schumann – Romance Op 28, No. 2

This is the middle of the triptych of Romances, composed as a Christmas gift to his beloved Clara, who described it as “the most beautiful love duet”. Scored in ternary form, is written on three staves (for ease of reading, nothing more scary!), the thumbs playing a serene inner duet in the tenor register, surrounded by a gently undulating accompaniment. It’s deeply romantic, radiant and infused with affection.

Liszt – Bénédiction de Dieu dans la solitude from ‘Harmonies poétiques et religieuses’

As in Schumann’s Romance, a lyrical melody is heard in the mid-register of the piano, enveloped by a rippling accompaniment in the treble and warm bass line. Luscious harmonies abound in this work of deep expression

Ibert – Le Petit ane blanc (The Little White Donkey) from ‘Histoires’

The second piece from Ibert’s Histoires suite (1922), this charmingly characterful miniature depicts a donkey, complete with clopping hooves, braying and even a few noisy “hee haws”!

Beethoven – Piano Sonata No 24, Op 78

Nicknamed “à Thérèse”, because it was written for Countess Thérèse von Brunswick, this two-movement sonata was composed in 1809 and is one of Beethoven’s most good-natured and sunny works. A cantabile introduction is followed by a long, undulating theme in a first movement which looks forward to Beethoven’s late style, while the second movement is a scampering rondo which capitalises on sudden contrasts in dynamics, major and minor, and textures, and even contains a quote from Arne’s ‘Rule Britannia!’

Messiaen – Regard du Pere and Le baiser de l’enfant Jésus from ‘Vingt Regards sur l’enfant Jésus’

F-sharp major was Olivier Messiaen’s favourite key and he used it repeatedly to express his most transcendent moods. Here, he uses it to create a movement of transcendent meditation, in the first of his Vingt Regards.

Regard XV, Le baiser de l’enfant Jésus, is also scored in F-sharp. Like the first movement, it opens in an atmosphere of quiet contemplation but grows increasingly ecstatic, with flourishes and filigree passagework reminiscent of both Liszt and Liberace.

Debussy – Poissons d’Or from ‘Images’

Inspired by a Japanese lacquer panel illustrating a goldfish and its reflection in the water, this piece is rich in visual imagery as the darting, gilded fish is brought to life in a glittering tour de force of virtuosity and harmonic and melodic inventiveness.

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Other pieces in F-sharp major to explore: Scriabin Piano Sonata No. 4, Chopin Impromptu No. 2, Gottschalk The Banjo, Albeniz ‘Castilla’ from Suite Espagnole…..

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