A major

A major

Relative key	F♯ minor
Parallel key	A minor
Dominant key	E major
Subdominant	D major
Component pitches
A, B, C♯, D, E, F♯, G♯, A

A major (or the key of A) is a major scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C♯, D, E, F♯, and G♯. Its key signature has three sharps.

Its relative minor is F-sharp minor and its parallel minor is A minor. The key of A major is the only key where a Neapolitan sixth chord on $\hat2$ requires both a flat and a natural accidental.

In the treble, alto, and bass clefs, the G♯ in the key signature is placed higher than C♯. However, in the tenor clef, it would require a ledger line and so G♯ is placed lower than C♯.

Although not as rare in the symphonic literature as sharper keys, examples of symphonies in A major are not as numerous as for D major or G major. Beethoven's Symphony No. 7, Bruckner's Symphony No. 6 and Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 4 comprise a nearly complete list of symphonies in this key in the Romantic era. Mozart's Clarinet Concerto and Clarinet Quintet are both in A major, and generally Mozart was more likely to use clarinets in A major than in any other key besides E-flat major.^[1] Moreover, the climax part of Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto (Tchaikovsky) is also A major.

A major is often thought of as the simplest key for violin and other orchestra instruments and beginning violin students' first pieces are usually simple ones in this key.

A major occurs frequently in chamber music. Franz Schubert's Piano Quintet known as the Trout Quintet and Antonín Dvořák's Piano Quintet No. 2 are both in A major. Johannes Brahms, César Franck, and Gabriel Fauré wrote violin sonatas in A major. In connection to Beethoven's Kreutzer Sonata, Peter Cropper said that A major "is the fullest sounding key for the violin."^[2]

According to Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart, A major is a key suitable for "declarations of innocent love, ... hope of seeing one's beloved again when parting; youthful cheerfulness and trust in God."^[3]

Ascending and descending A major scale  Play in just intonation .

For orchestral works in A major, the timpani are typically set to A and E a fifth apart, rather than a fourth apart as for most other keys. Hector Berlioz complained about the custom of his day in which timpani tuned to A and E a fifth apart were notated C and G a fourth apart, a custom which survived as late as the music of Franz Berwald.^[4]

Notable compositions in A major

• Violin Concerto No. 5 in A major, K. 219 – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Symphony No. 29 in A Major, K. 201 – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major, K. 488 – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Clarinet Concerto in A major, K. 622 – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92 – Ludwig van Beethoven
• Piano Sonata No. 2 Op. 2/2 – Ludwig van Beethoven
• Piano Sonata No. 28 Op. 101 – Ludwig van Beethoven
• Violin Sonata No. 6 Op. 30/1 – Ludwig van Beethoven
• Violin Sonata No. 9, Op. 47 – Ludwig van Beethoven
• String quartet No. 5, Op. 18/5 – Ludwig van Beethoven
• Trout Quintet – Franz Schubert
• Piano Sonata in A major, D. 664 – Franz Schubert
• Polonaise, Op. 40/1 "Military" – Frédéric Chopin
• Symphony No. 4 in A major, Op. 90 "Italian" – Felix Mendelssohn
• Piano Concerto No. 2 in A major, S.125 – Franz Liszt
• Serenade No. 2 Op. 16 – Johannes Brahms
• Violin Sonata No. 2 in A major "Thun", Op. 100 – Johannes Brahms
• Piano Quartet No. 2, Op. 26 – Johannes Brahms
• Violin Sonata – César Franck
• Symphony No. 6 in A major – Anton Bruckner
• Piano Sonata No. 6 in A major, Op. 82 – Sergei Prokofiev
• String Quartet No. 2 in A major, Op. 68 – Dmitri Shostakovich
• Symphony No. 15 in A major, Op. 141 – Dmitri Shostakovich

References

1. Mark Anson-Cartwright (2000). "Chromatic Features of E♭-Major Works of the Classical Period". Music Theory Spectrum 22 (2): 178. JSTOR 745959.
2. Peter Cropper "Beethoven's Violin Sonata in A major, Op.47 'Kreutzer': First Movement" The Strad March 2009, p. 64
3. Rita Steblin (1996) A History of Key Characteristics in the Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries, University of Rochester Press, p. 123, ISBN 0835714187.
4. N. D. Mar (1981). Anatomy of the Orchestra University of California Press, p. 349, ISBN 0520045009.

Further reading

• Colin Lawson, Mozart: Clarinet Concerto, A Cambridge Music Handbook, Cambridge University Press, 1996.

External links

• Media related to A major at Wikimedia Commons