(Ger. C dur). This is the key of exultant joy, triumphant jubilation, and communal celebration.
Famous works in C major:
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN'S First Symphony and his First Piano Concerto, as well as the finale of his Fifth Symphony.
The most Olympian of all of WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART'S symphonies, No. 41 (Jupiter)
The prelude to RICHARD WAGNER'S only comic opera, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.
The opening of Also sprach Zarathustra by RICHARD STRAUSS.
ALEXANDER SCRIABIN'S Poem of Ecstasy, which ends with 53 measures of C major.
SERGEI PROKOFIEV'S most popular piano concerto, No. 3, goes on for pages on white keys before modulating; in his fairy tale Peter and the Wolf, Peter's opening theme is in C major; and the coda of the march from his opera Love for 3 Oranges ends on a loud C-major triad.
It is natural that pianists should be addicted to C major, because it is the first scale they practice when they begin lessons, being free from the bothersome black keys. And naturally, pianists who become composers often make full use of their familiar white keys.
