It’s been called “the brightest and most powerful key” that expresses “joy, magnificence, splendor, and the highest brilliancy.” E Major can sound shimmering, as violins can play their highest string without putting a finger on the fingerboard – but Beethoven never wrote a symphony in the key, and some of the pieces with great E major melodies were middle and last movements of pieces in other keys.
Bright and Powerful E Major
Can you name these works? Click and drag over the white space below to highlight the answers:
- Ponchielli: ‘Dance of the Hours’ from La Gioconda
- Rossini: William Tell Overture
- Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto, mvt. 3
- Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto no. 2, mvt 2
- Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5, finale
- Wagner: Tannhauser Overture
- Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue
- Grieg: ‘Morning Mood’ from Peer Gynt
- Chopin: Etude, Op. 10, no. 3 ‘Tristesse’
- Vivaldi: ‘Spring’ from the Four Seasons
- Rossini: William Tell Overture
