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. 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."

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."

Ascending and descending A major scale <phonos file="A-natural major.mid">Play in just intonation</phonos>.

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.

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

Further reading

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

External links

• Media related to at Wikimedia Commons