Music in G-flat Major

G-flat major is unusual, like C-sharp, but also a bit murky. It has a lighter quality than D-flat Major but doesn’t bring the austerity and weight of A-flat Major. Its color is brownish orange.

It is a key with G-Flat as root and consists of the pitches G♭, A♭, B♭, C♭, D♭, E♭, and F. Its key signature has six flats. Its relative minor is E-flat minor (or enharmonically D-sharp minor), and its parallel minor is G-flat minor, which is usually replaced by F-sharp minor, since G-flat minor's two double-flats make it impractical to use. Its direct enharmonic equivalent, F-sharp major, contains the same number of sharps as the G-flat major key does flats.

Here we reach a watershed in the Circle of Fifths where the flat and sharp keys overlap.

Like F-sharp major, G-flat major is rarely chosen as the main key for orchestral works. Some movements of larger works are, however, in G-flat: String Quintet in F major, III (Adagio) and Symphony No. 4, III (Trio) by Bruckner; or the Piano Quartet in E-flat major, op. 87, II and IV by Dvorak.

Chamber music works in G-flat Major are the Humoresque No. 7 by Dvorak which has a middle section in the parallel key (F-sharp minor), and Maurice Ravel's Introduction and Allegro for harp, flute, clarinet and string quartet.

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-flat pentatonic scale. Schubert chose this key for his third impromptu from his first collection of impromptus (1827). Frédéric Chopin wrote two études in the key of G-flat major: Étude Op. 10, No. 5 "Black Key" and Étude Op. 25, No. 9 "Butterfly". Debussy used this key for one of his most popular compositions, La fille aux cheveux de lin, the eighth prélude from his Préludes Book I (1909–1910).

When writing works in all 24 major and minor keys, Alkan, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, and others used G-flat major over F-sharp major. Muzio Clementi chose F-sharp in his set of preludes, but G-flat for the final "Grande Exercice" which modulates through all the keys.

Here is a list of more instrumental works in G-flat Major.

Characteristic Music in G-flat Major

Franz Schubert, Impromptu No 3 in G-flat Major, from Four Impromptus D. 899

This serenade is a classic example of Schubert's outstanding lyrical facility, as well as his penchant for long melodic lines. There is little interruption in the fluttering harp-like broken triad accompaniment, creating a tense contrast with the spacious and languid melody—an anticipation of Felix Mendelssohn's Songs Without Words. With no repeats, the melody develops into a shadowy and frequently modulating middle section before returning to its relaxed flow.

Khatia Buniatishvili

Frédéric Chopin, Étude Op. 10 No. 5 "Black Key"

Étude Op. 10, No. 5 in G-flat major was first published in 1833 as the fifth piece of Chopin's Études Op. 10. This work is characterized by a rapid triplet figuration played by the right hand almost exclusively on black keys. This melodic figuration is accompanied by the left hand in staccato chords and octaves.

The so-called "Black Key Étude" is one of the composer's most popular. It has been a repertoire piece of pianists since Chopin's time and has inspired numerous exercises, arrangements and paraphrases. The piece is marked Vivace and written in 2/4 meter. Like all of Chopin's other études, this work is in ternary form ABA.

Yasuko Furumi

Étude Op. 25, No. 9 "Butterfly"

Étude Op. 25, No. 9 in G-flat major, known as the Butterfly étude, is a study of staccato – marcato alternations. The piece is marked Allegro assai and is written in 2/4 meter. It is the shortest of Chopin's études - it lasts under a minute. The melody is created by playing a detached octave, then two non-detached octaves. This makes a four-note group, the structure of which is used during the whole piece to convey the melody. This structure of rapid octaves can pose a challenge to the less technically experienced. Another difficulty is in the constant switching of solid octaves to detached octaves.

Szymon Nehring

Claude Debussy, "La fille aux cheveux de lin" in G-flat Major (from Préludes, Book I). 

"La fille aux cheveux de lin" is the eighth piece in Debussy's first book of Préludes, written between late 1909 and early 1910. The French title translates to "The Girl with the Flaxen Hair" and is named after a poem by Leconte de Lisle. The piece is known for its musical simplicity, a divergence from Debussy's style at the time. The prelude's central idea takes after its title – a girl with golden hair in a pastoral setting in Scotland. Thus, it is one of many examples of Debussy's Impressionist music, since it conjures up images of a foreign place. His utilization of pentatonic scales throughout the piece achieves this, and by blending this in with harmonizing diatonic chords and modal cadences, he creates a folk-like tune.

Played by Lang Lang,

Antonín Dvořák, Humoresque No. 7 in G-flat major

Humoresques Op. 101 is a piano cycle by the Czech composer Antonín Dvořák, written during the summer of 1894. These delightful miniatures show Dvorak's ever-fresh inspiration at its best. The seventh Humoresque in G Flat Major has become one of the most popular classical pieces in existence, and the publisher Simrock made vast amounts of money on it by publishing it separately in arrangements for all possible and impossible instruments and ensembles. Here it is played on the violin in an arrangement by Kreisler.

Augustin Hadelich and Charles Owen.

Maurice Ravel, Introduction and Allegro for harp, flute, clarinet
and string quartet

A short chamber piece by Ravel, which was commissioned in 1905 by the Érard harp manufacturers to showcase their instruments. It has been described as a miniature harp concerto. The premiere was in Paris on 22 February 1907.

The work is in G-flat major. The opening is marked Très lent and expressif. The 26-bar introduction presents three themes – the first two for woodwinds and the third for cello – which reappear in the allegro. The piece opens with a pianissimo duet for the flute and clarinet. The strings enter in the third bar, pianissimo, and the harp enters in the fourth with a wide-ranging arpeggio. The cello introduces a broad melody against the shimmering pianissimo of the violins, flute, and clarinet. After ten bars the time changes to 3/4 and the marking to "moins lent." The movement becomes faster and louder, and subsides to pianissimo again, bringing the introduction to its conclusion.

The allegro, in sonata form, follows without a break. It opens with a harp solo. The flute takes up the melody, to the accompaniment of the violins pizzicato and the other strings arco. The melody is passed from one instrument to another; the music gradually grows louder until a fortissimo climax is reached. The themes are further developed or compressed, with a cadenza for the harp, which precedes the recapitulation. The harp returns to the first theme of the allegro section, with the accompaniment of trills by strings and woodwinds. The melody passes from instrument to instrument, the music becoming louder and softer again, with short interludes for the harp solo. The principal melody is given in variation form in the harp, accompanied by pizzicato strings, leading to an animated and fortissimo conclusion.

Musicians from the Oslo Philharmonic, Harp: Birgitte Volan Håvik

[Incorporates parts of the relevant articles in the Japanese, German and English Wikipedia]