1 is written in B-flat minor, but the famous opening theme is in D-flat major. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. The flattened pitches of D-flat major correspond to the black keys of the piano, and there is much significant piano music written in this key. D-flat major was used as the key for the slow movements of Joseph Haydn's Piano Sonata Hob XVI:46 in A-flat major, and Beethoven's Appassionata Sonata.Ī part of the trio of Scott Joplin's Maple Leaf Rag is written in D-flat major. Ludwig van Beethoven, too, used this key extensively in his second piano concerto. Īlthough this key was relatively unexplored during the Baroque and Classical periods and was not often used as the main key for orchestral works of the 18th century, Franz Schubert used it quite frequently in his sets of écossaises, valses and so on, as well as entering it and even flatter keys in his sonatas, impromptus and the like. Ĭharles-Marie Widor considered D-flat major to be the best key for flute music. Despite this, when he came to orchestrate Carl Maria von Weber's piano piece Invitation to the Dance in 1841, he transposed it from D-flat to D major, to give the strings a more manageable key and to produce a brighter sound. Hector Berlioz called the key 'majestic' in his 1856 Grand Traité d'Instrumentation et d'Orchestration modernes, while having a much different opinion of its enharmonic counterpart. In music for the harp, D-flat major would be preferable, not only because harp strings are more resonant in the flat position and the key has fewer accidentals, but also because modulation to the dominant key is easier (by putting the G pedal in the natural position, whereas there is no double-sharp position in which to put the F pedal for G-sharp major). Antonín Dvořák's New World Symphony likewise switches to C-sharp minor for a while for the significant section in the slow movement.ĭ-flat major is enharmonic to C-sharp major. Claude Debussy also switches from D-flat major to C-sharp minor in the significant section in his famous ' Clair de lune'. Ferdinand Ries' third concerto likewise switches to D-flat major for a while for the return of the second theme in the first movement. 3, primarily in C-sharp minor, he switches to D-flat major for the middle section for the opposite reason. 15 in D-flat major ('Raindrop'), Frédéric Chopin switches from D-flat major to C-sharp minor for the middle section in the parallel minor, while in his Fantaisie-Impromptu and Scherzo No. (The same enharmonic situation occurs with the keys of A-flat major and G-sharp minor).įor example, in his Prelude No. Therefore, D-flat major is often used as the parallel major for C-sharp minor. C-sharp major, its enharmonic, with seven sharps, has a similar problem. Its parallel minor, D-flat minor, is usually replaced by C-sharp minor, since D-flat minor features a B in its key signature, making it impractical to use.

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B flat minor in fl studio autotune