F MAJOR Rousseau, Jean. Méthode claire. 1691. Devotional pieces or church songs. Charpentier, Marc-Antoine. “Régles de composition.” c. 1692. Furious and quick-tempered. Masson, Charles. Nouveau traité. 1697. Gaiety mixed with gravity. Mattheson, Johann. Das neu-erdffnete Orchestre. 1713. Capable of expressing the most beautiful sentiments in the world, whether these be generosity, steadfastness, love, or whatever else stands high on the list of virtues; all this it does in such a natural way and with such incomparable facility that nothing has to be forced. Indeed, the politeness and cleverness of this key cannot be better described than by comparing it to a handsome person who, in everything he does be it ever s0 little, behaves perfectly, and who has, as the French say, bonne grace. Rameau, Jean-Philippe. Traité de l'harmonie. 1722. Tempests and furies. Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. Dissertation sur la musique moderne. 1743. Majestic. Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. Encyclopédie. c. 1749. Dictionnaire. 1768. Majesty or gravity (F and the flat major keys). Kirnberger, Johann Philipp. Vermischte Musikalien. 1769. Hunting piece.Vogler, Georg Joseph. Betrachtungen der Mannheimer Tonschule, 1778. Silent, lonely. Vogler, Georg Joseph. Deutsche Encyclopédie. 1779. Dead calm. Schubart, C. F. D. Ideen zu einer Asthetik der Tonkunst. c. 1784. Complaisance and calm. Kellner, G. C. Cramer’s Magazin der Musik. 1787. All the greatness [of Bb major] is gone; gentle dignity and lovely smiles are unmistakably prominent. Knecht, Justin Heinrich. Gemeinniitzliches Elementarwerk. 1792. Gentle and calm. Heinse, Johann Jakob. Hildegard von Hohenthal. 1795. A degree more sober than C major. Joyful certainty and confidence. Galeazzi, Francesco. Elementi teorico-pratici de musica. 1796. Majestic, but less so than Eb and C majors; it is also shrill but not piercing. Grétry, André-Ermest-Modeste. Mémoires, ou Essais sur la musique. 1797. Mixed. Vogler, Georg Joseph. “Vergleichsplan der Neumiinsterorgel.” 1812. Calm. In Gluck’s Orpheus and Vogler’s Castor und Pollux this key appeared to agree especially with a quiet joy in the happy shades of Elysium. Hoffmann, E. T. A. “Kreislers musikalisch-poetischer Klub.” c. 1814. “Ah, how your heart rises with desire and love when I embrace you with melodies filled with glowing enchantment. You can flee from me no longer, for those secret desires which have oppressed your soul are fulfilled. Like a consoling oracle, tones pour out of my soul and speak to you.” Gardiner, William. Stendhal’s Life of Haydn. 1817. Rich, mild, sober, and contemplative. [Bacon, R. M.?] To the Editor, Quarterly Musical Magazine & Review. 1821. Adapted to the lightest touches of feeling, in particular to expressions of sadness.Castil-Blaze, F.-H.-J. Dictionnaire de musique moderne, 1821, Majesty or gravity (F and the flat major keys). Wagner, Johann Jacob. “Ideen iiber Musik,” AMZ. 1823. A game of forfeits in a joking mood Often fetters the heart in earnest, Taking penalty, giving penalty, Weaves a sweet fluctuation in life, And when Amor wishes to deceive, He hides in children’s games. Tender trifling. Pagageno’s aria “Ein Madchen oder Weibchen” from Mozart’s Die Zauberfléte. Lichtenthal, Pietro. Dizionario. 1826. Serious and religious matters. Schrader, J. A. Kleines Taschenworterbuch der Musik. 1827. Sounds gentle, lovely and calm; it expresses love, joy, hope and trust. (Himmel, songs from Urania: “An die Hoffnung,” Don Giovanni, Rondo: “Ueber alles bleibst du theuer,” and the chorale: “Nun danket alle Gott.”) Weikert, Henri. Kunstworterbuch. 1827. Gentle, complaisant, and calm. Anon. “That Keys Influence Musical Thinking,” The Spectator. 1828. Priests. Seidel, Carl Ludwig. Charinomos. 1828. Resounding in F major and breathing of calmness and comforting peace is the closing song in Beethoven’s Fidelio. Ebhardt, G. F. Die héhern Lehrzweige der Tonsetzkunst. 1830. Gentleness and calm. Graffer, Anton. Ueber Tonkunst, Sprache, Schrift und Bild. 1830. Complaisant peace; viola d’amore; apple-green. Miiller, W. C. Versuch einer Asthetik der Tonkunst. 1830. Pleasant cheerfulness. Gathy, August. Musikalisches Conversations-Lexicon. 1835. Fitness, manly vigour; calm, serenity.Embrace her heavenly body: She is his wife! I was born only to feel her And her heaven is lost to me. Woe is me! Woe is me! Life without life Has been fate’s mocking gift to me, And I sink into the shadows!— Made for weeping and lamenting, and could be illustrated by a weeping willow planted at the grave of one’s beloved, or by the sorrows of young Werther. Lichtenthal, Pietro. Dizionario. 1826. Grievous and lugubrious feelings. Schrader, J. A. Kleines Taschenwérterbuch der Musik. 1827. Depicts extremely grievous feelings and emotional shocks; depression, dirge and gloomy melancholy is the impression of this key. (Romberg, Die Kindesmérderin: “Ach vielleicht umflattert,” and Zumsteeg’s ballade Des Pfarrers Tochter von Taubenhain, with the text “Im Garten des Pfarrers von Taubenhain.” Weikert, Henri. Kunstwérterbuch. 1827. Extreme grief, deep depression, funereal lament, misery, and the grave. Gloggl, Franz. Kirchenmusik-Ordnung. 1828. Funereal lament, deep depression. For services of mourning. Seidel, Carl Ludwig. Charinomos. 1828. In the introduction to Florestan’s aria in the dungeon, this key clearly depicts for us—even without words—the cold horror of the site and the prisoner’s longing for the grave. Fidelio. Act II. In f minor, with its purest dominant C major, there lies more clearly than in any other key a presentiment of unspeakable dénouement beyond the grave. Ebhardt, G. F. Die héhern Lehrzweige der Tonsetzkunst. 1830. Extreme grief. Graffer, Anton. Ueber Tonkunst, Sprache, Schrifi und Bild. 1830. Depressed, lamenting longing; accordion; gray. Gathy, August. Musikalisches Conversations-Lexicon. 1835. Deep depression, longing for the grave. Schilling, Gustav. Universal-Lexicon der Tonkunst. 1835-36. J. J. Wagner describes the psychical character of this key in the verses:Schilling, Gustav, Universal-Lexicon der Tonkunst, 1835-36. Concerning the psychical character of this key, Wagner praises it thus in his “Ideen tiber Musik’: A game of forfeits in a joking mood But, he would only have ha all Mozart’s “Ein Madchen oder Weibchen” from Die Zauberfléte or the merry little song “Keine Ruh’ bei Tag und Nacht” from Don Giovanni and he certainly would have characterized the expression of this key more suitably still. However, the sound of this key does not merely express “light joking,” joyful living in child-like innocence, good-natured farce, etc.; it expresses, still more clearly and movingly, complaisance and calm, inner holy peace, com- forting solace, joy at the works of nature, contented good living, spiritual case, and similar things. Resounding in F major, for example, are the closing song in Beethoven’s Fidelio, which breathes of calm and comforting peace, the splendid final chorus “Friede sey ihr Erstgelaute” from Romberg’s Glocke, and, from the same work, the first chorus “Zum Werke, das wir ernst bereiten.” Also, the third movement of Beethoven’s famous Pastoral Symphony begins and closes very characteristically in the tonic F major. Spohr composed the duet “Folg’ dem Freunde mit Verlangen” no less beautifully and truly in F in his Faust, where the key appears chosen with a similar meaning and also not unsuitably for the first and last section of the inserted aria “Liebe ist die zarte Bliithe’—and we could cite many more convincing examples. Hand, Ferdinand. Asthetik der Tonkunst. 1837. F major portrays peace and joy in many forms: sometimes as light joking and good-natured farce (Mozart’s aria “Keine Ruh bei Tag und Nacht”); sometimes as childlike joyfulness (in children songs by Diabelli or the maidens’ chorus “Knurre, schnurre Radchen” in Haydn’s “Winter”; sometimes in contentment with the world (Mozart’s Lied “Ridente la calma”); or in the peace of a satisfied life (several Rondos by Haydn); or in the sincerity of contented, comforting love (Beethoven's Lied “Kleine Blumen, kleine Blatter”; Spohr’s “Folg’ dem Freunde mit Verlangen” from his Faust; in ideal respect, Ries’s aria “Dir am Busen will ich liegen” from Der Sieg des Glaubens). Romberg’s “Glocke des Friedens” could end only in F major. After the anxiety over a frightful outcome, everything unites at the end of Beethoven’s Fidelio in tender reassurance and consoling peace; like a prayer of thankfulness there appears the hymn “O Gott! o welch’ ein Augenblick.” Compare the appropriate movements from Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony, and the Andante from his first Symphony in C.Yes, she was intended for him! [Wagner] says hereupon: “Owing to these few lines, our poet has undoubtedly imagined himself as the author of the Sorrows of Young Werther, Goethe would surely have been philanthropic enough not to disturb his dream.” However, it is not to be denied that deep depression and funereal lament, even groans of misery and longing for the grave, make up the prevailing expression of the key of f minor. Already in the instrumental introduction to Florestan’s aria in the dungeon (Beetho- ven’s Fidelio), it very clearly depicts the cold horror of the site and the longing for the grave of the half-dead prisoners. And we could cite many such passages as proof, if only space permitted. We will still mention only “Von dem Dome schwer und bang” with its following “Ach, die Gattin ist’s, die Theure” from Romberg’s Glocke, where it is irrefutably demonstrated how the sound of f minor, with its pure dominant key of C major, expresses more clearly than any other key a presentiment of unspeakable dénouement beyond the grave. Hand, Ferdinand. Asthetik der Tonkunst. 1837. F minor is a horrible key which expresses melancholic feelings, sadness, and extreme suffering, and also anxiety (“Von dem Dome schwer und bang” from Romberg’s Glocke), shuddering, and agonizing sorrow. The introduction to the second act of Beethoven’s Fidelio, which portrays the state of mind of the prisoners languishing in the gloomy dungeon so affectively, has been correctly cited as an example. It has also been pointed out how f minor passes over to its pure dominant key of C major, as out of darkness into the brightness of light, which gives a presentiment of the transfiguration of all the grief in life and beyond. In his composition for Egmont, Beethoven perceived Clirchen’s love and fate in a most full and clear way. Egmont, though a hero of liberty, is also a romantic hero, a daydreamer in love. This love—Egmont’s coming from the lofty height of a heroic spirit, and Clarchen’s looking upwards in devotion—is not able to endure on earth and can only find its transfiguration in willingly-accepted death. Depression lies over both souls, and Beethoven understood this in his overture in f minor; the modulations to Ab and Db major illuminate the gloomy darkness with the clarity of a divine rapture. The ending of the overture is directly dependent upon the following number, which opens a very moving scene, and thus is in F major. Ries wrote the introduction to the second part of Der Sieg des Glaubens in £ minor, in order to portray the horrible condition in which man’s native obstinacy and his pride, rooted solely in his own strength, block the way. The song of Simeon in Méhul’s Joseph is a Eumenides song in which the despair of conscience rages.HerloBsohn, Karl. Aligemeines Theater-Lexikon. 1839. Death pangs, quiet misery, despair and deep melancholy speak in f minor. We only have to point to Florestan’s prison aria in Fidelio as evidence for this. Berlioz, Hector. Grand traité d’instrumentation. 1843. Not very sonorous; gloomy; violent.