(Ger. Des dur). To judge by the music written in D♭ major, this key is descriptive of wide open spaces, capable of a great variety of expressions. The SCALE of D♭ major is marvelously pianistic, covering all five black keys, making room for two white keys at strategic positions. But this key is difficult to handle in orchestral writing, particularly in string instruments. Only one composer, NIKOLAI MIASKOVSKY, has ever written a symphony in the key of D♭ major, his 25th.
Some famous works in D♭ major:
FRANZ LISZT'S Étude in D♭ major, in which the left hand goes over the right to maintain the requisite fullness of harmony.
CLAUDE DEBUSSY'S CLAIR DE LUNE, delicate and subtle in its evocation of a moonlit landscape.
The celebrated principal theme of the first movement of PIOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY'S Piano Concerto, nominally in the key of B♭ minor, states theme unambiguously in D♭ major.
The 18th variation of SERGEI RACHMANINOFF'S Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, in which he ingeniously inverts the principal A-minor theme.
