F-flat major F-flat major F major (or the key of F) is a theoretical key based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E Its key signature has six flats and one double flat. The F major scale is: \override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f \relative c' { </score> Its relative minor is D minor, usually replaced by C minor (see reason below) and its parallel minor is F minor, usually replaced by E minor, since F minor's four double-flats make it generally impractical to use. Because of that, it is usually enharmonic to E major with
E-flat major Beethoven's (hypothetical) 10th symphony is in the key of E-flat major. But even before Beethoven, Francesco Galeazzi identified E-flat major as "a heroic key, extremely majestic, grave and serious: in all these features it is superior to that of C." Three of Mozart's completed horn concertos and Joseph Haydn's famous Trumpet Concerto are in E-flat major and so is Anton Bruckner's Fourth Symphony with its prominent horn theme in the first movement. Another famous heroic piece in the key of E-flat major is Richard Strauss's "A Hero's Life". The heroic theme from the Jupiter movement of Holst's "The Planets" is