title: List of symphonies by key
text: This list of symphonies by key is a list of symphonies sorted by key. For the least often used keys in orchestral music, the symphony listed might be famous only for being in that key.
  
  C major
  
  In the Classical period, C major was the key most often chosen for symphonies with trumpets and timpani. Even in the Romantic period, with its greater use of minor keys and the ability to use trumpets and timpani in any key, C major remained a very popular choice of key for a symphony. The following list includes only the most famous examples.
  Ludwig van Beethoven
  Symphony No. 1, Op. 21 (1800)
  Georges Bizet
  Symphony in C (1855)
  Paul Dukas
  Symphony in C (1896)
  Joseph Haydn
  Symphony No. 7, “Le Midi” (1761)
  Symphony No. 48, “Maria Theresia” (1769)
  Symphony No. 82, “The Bear” (1786)
  Symphony No. 97 (1792)
  Michael Haydn
   Symphony No. 39, MH 478, Perger 31 (1788)
  Franz Liszt
  Faust Symphony, S 108 (1857)
  Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
  Symphony No. 9, KV 73 (1769)
  Symphony No. 16, KV 128 (1772)
  Symphony No. 22, KV 162 (1773)
  Symphony No. 28, KV 200 (1774)
  Symphony No. 34, KV 338 (1780)
  Symphony No. 36, "Linz", KV 425 (1783)
  Symphony No. 41, "Jupiter", KV 551 (1788)
  Sergei Prokofiev
  Symphony No. 4 (original version), Op. 47, 1930
  Symphony No. 4 (revised version), Op. 112, 1947
  Franz Schubert
  Symphony No. 6, D. 589
  Symphony No. 9, "The Great", D. 944 (1828)
  Robert Schumann
  Symphony No. 2, Op. 61 (1846)
  Dmitri Shostakovich
  Symphony No. 7, "Leningrad", Op. 60 (1942)
  Jean Sibelius
  Symphony No. 3, Op. 52 (1907)
  Symphony No. 7, Op. 105 (1924)
  Igor Stravinsky
  Symphony in C (1940)
  Richard Wagner
  Symphony in C major, WWV 29 (1832)
  
  C minor 
  
  The key of C minor was, like most other minor keys, associated with the literary Sturm und Drang movement during the Classical period. But ever since Ludwig van Beethoven's famous Symphony No. 5, Op. 67, of 1808, C minor imparts a symphony in the key a character of heroic struggle. Early classical symphonies in the key typically ended in C minor but with a picardy third for the very final chord. Following Beethoven's precedent, most C minor symphonies of the Romantic period end in C major. Another option is to end in E-flat major (the relative key), as Mahler does in his Second Symphony.
  
  Ludwig van Beethoven
  Symphony No. 5, op. 67 (1808)
  Felix Mendelssohn
  Symphony No. 1, Op. 11 (1824)
  Johannes Brahms
  Symphony No. 1, Op. 68 (1876)
  Anton Bruckner
  Symphony No. 1 (1868)
  Symphony No. 2 (1872)
  Symphony No. 8 (1887)
  Antonín Dvořák
  Symphony No. 1 (1865)
  Joseph Haydn
  Symphony No. 52
  Symphony No. 95
  Gustav Mahler
  Symphony No. 2 "Resurrection" (1894)
  Camille Saint-Saëns
  Symphony No. 3 "Organ", Op. 78  (1886)
  Franz Schubert
   Symphony No. 4 "Tragic", D 417
  Alexander Scriabin
  Symphony No. 2, Op. 29 (1901)
  Symphony No. 3 "Le Divin Poème", Op. 43 (1904)
  Dmitri Shostakovich
  Symphony No. 4, Op. 43 (1936)
  Symphony No. 8, Op. 65 (1943)
  Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
  Symphony No. 2 "Little Russian", Op. 17 (1872)
  Alexander Glazunov
  Symphony No. 6, Op. 58
  
  C-sharp minor 
  
  Even by Mahler's time, symphonies in C-sharp minor were rare. Some of the works listed below might have no claim to fame besides being in this key.
  
  Arnold Bax
  Symphony No. 5
  Ernest Bloch
  Symphony in C-sharp minor (1902)
  Joseph Martin Kraus
  Symphony in C-sharp minor, VB 140. Identified by musicologist Bertil H. van Boer in program notes for the Naxos recording as one of only two C-sharp minor symphonies written in the 18th century.
  Gustav Mahler
  Symphony No. 5 (1902) - Mahler objected to this key assignment, preferring none at all
  Nikolai Myaskovsky
  Symphony No. 2 (1910–11) 
  Sergei Prokofiev
  Symphony No. 7, Op. 131 (1952)
  Ture Rangström
  Symphony No. 1 August Strindberg in Memoriam (1914)
  Vissarion Shebalin
  Symphony No. 2 (1929 )
  
  C-sharp major 
  
  Symphonies in C-sharp are much rarer than those in D-flat major and one has to look beyond the standard core repertoire to find them.
  
  Erwin Dressel
  Symphony in D-flat major (1928)
   Anastazy Wilhelm Dreszer (1843 - 1907)
   Symphony No. 1, Op. 3 (1865)
  Nikolai Myaskovsky
  Symphony No. 25, Op. 69 (1945-6)
  Ture Rangström
  Symphony No. 3, "Song under the Stars" (1929)
  
  D major 
  
  Baroque and Classical symphonies in D major typically used horns in D (reading a seventh down) and when they used trumpets, trumpets in D reading a step up. The following list includes only the most famous of the Classical and Romantic periods.
  
  Ludwig van Beethoven
  Symphony No. 2, Op. 36 (1802)
  Johannes Brahms
  Symphony No. 2, Op. 73 (1877)
  Joseph Haydn
  Symphony No. 6 "Le Matin" (1761)
  Symphony No. 13 (1763)
  Symphony No. 70 (1779)
  Symphony No. 86 (1786)
  Symphony No. 93 (1791)
  Symphony No. 96 "Miracle" (1791)
  Symphony No. 101 "Clock" (1794)
  Symphony No. 104 "London" (1795)
  Antonín Dvořák
  Symphony No. 6, Op. 60, B. 112 (1880)
  Gustav Mahler
  Symphony No. 1 (1888)
  Symphony No. 9 (1909)
  Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
  Symphony No. 4, KV 19 (1765)
  Symphony No. 7, KV 45 (1768)
  Symphony No. 8, KV 48 (1768)
  Symphony No. 11, KV 84 (1770)
  Symphony No. 20, KV 133 (1772)
  Symphony No. 23, KV 181 (1773)
  Symphony No. 30, KV 202 (1774)
  Symphony No. 31 "Paris", KV 297 (1778)
  Symphony No. 35 "Haffner", KV 385 (1782)
  Symphony No. 38 "Prague", KV 504 (1786)
  Franz Schubert
  Symphony No. 1, D 82
  Symphony No. 3, D 200
  Symphony No. 10, D 936A (unfinished)
  Jean Sibelius
  Symphony No. 2, Op. 43 (1902)
  Sergei Prokofiev
  Symphony No. 1 "Classical", Op. 25  (1917)
  Johann Stamitz
  Symphony in D major, Op. 3, No. 2
  Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
  Symphony No. 3 "Polish", Op. 29 (1875)
  Ralph Vaughan Williams
  Symphony No. 5 - nominally in the key
  Alexander Glazunov
  Symphony No. 3, Op. 33
  
  D minor 
  
  Baroque and Classical symphonies in D minor usually used 2 horns in F (whereas for most other minor keys 2 or 4 horns were used, half in the tonic and half in the relative major). Michael Haydn's Symphony No. 29 in D minor is notable for using two trumpets in D (the horns are in F but change to D for the coda of the finale). In the Romantic era, D minor symphonies, like symphonies in almost any other key, used horns in F and trumpets in B-flat.
  
  Ludwig van Beethoven
  Symphony No. 9 "Choral", Op. 125  (1824)
  Havergal Brian
  Symphony No. 1 "Gothic" (1927)
  Robert Schumann
  Symphony No. 4, Op. 120 (1841)
  Anton Bruckner
  Symphony No. 0 (1869)
  Symphony No. 3 (1873, 1877, 1891)
  Symphony No. 9 (1896, unfinished)
  Antonín Dvořák
  Symphony No. 4, Op. 13, B. 41 (1874)
  Symphony No. 7, Op. 70, B. 141 (1885)
  César Franck
  Symphony in D minor
  Alexander Glazunov
  Symphony No. 9 (1910, unfinished)
  Joseph Haydn
  Symphony No. 26 "Lamentatione" (1768)
  Symphony No. 80 (1784)
  Michael Haydn
  Symphony No. 29 (1784)
  Gustav Mahler   
  Symphony No. 3 (1896) 
  Sergei Rachmaninoff
  Symphony No. 1, Op. 13 (1895)
  Felix Mendelssohn
  Symphony No. 5 "Reformation", Op. 107 (1830)
  Martin Scherber
  Symphony No. 1 (1938)
  Dmitri Shostakovich
  Symphony No. 5, Op. 47 (1937)
  Symphony No. 12, Op. 112 (1961)
   Richard Strauss
   Symphony No. 1 (1880)
  Ralph Vaughan Williams
  Symphony No. 8 (1955)
  
  E-flat major 
  
  Elfrida Andrée
  Symphony No. 2
  Ludwig van Beethoven
  Symphony No. 3 "Eroica", Op. 55  (1804)
  Alexander Borodin
  Symphony No. 1 (before 1869)
  Anton Bruckner
  Symphony No. 4 "Romantic" (1874)
  Antonín Dvořák
  Symphony No. 3 (1873)
  Edward Elgar
  Symphony No. 2, Op. 63 (1911)
  Alexander Glazunov
  Symphony No. 4, Op. 48
   Symphony No. 8, Op. 83
  Karl Goldmark
  Rustic Wedding Symphony, Op. 26 (1875)
  Joseph Haydn
  Symphony No. 22 "The Philosopher" (1764)
  Symphony No. 99 (1793)
  Symphony No. 103 "Drumroll" (1795)
  Robert Schumann
  Symphony No. 3 "Rhenish", Op. 97 (1850)
  Jean Sibelius
  Symphony No. 5, Op. 82 (1915)
  Gustav Mahler
  Symphony No. 8 "Symphony of a Thousand" (1907)
  Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
  Symphony No. 1, KV 16 (1764)
  Symphony No. 3, KV 18 (1765)
  Symphony No. 19, KV 132 (1772)
  Symphony No. 39, KV 543 (1788)
  Dmitri Shostakovich
  Symphony No. 3 "The First of May", Op. 20  (1931)
  Symphony No. 9, Op. 70 (1945)
  Johann Stamitz
  Symphony in E-flat major, Op. 11, No. 3
  
  E-flat minor 
  
  The two examples of symphonies in E-flat minor that come up most readily are both Sixth Symphonies by Soviet composers.
  
  Nikolai Myaskovsky
  Symphony No. 6, Op. 23 (1921-3)
  Sergei Prokofiev
  Symphony No. 6, Op. 111 (1947)
  
  E major 
  
  In the classical period, symphonies in E major used horns in E but no trumpets. 
  Joseph Haydn
  Symphony No. 12 (1763)
  Symphony No. 29 (1765)
  Max Bruch
  Symphony No. 3
  Joachim Raff
  Symphony No. 5 "Lenore", Op.177 (1872)
  Anton Bruckner
  Symphony No. 7 (1883)
  Alexander Scriabin
  Symphony No. 1, Op. 26 (1900)
  Franz Schubert
  Symphony No. 7, D 729
  Alexander Glazunov
  Symphony No. 1, Op. 5
  
  E minor 
  
  Amy Beach
  Gaelic Symphony, Op. 32 (1894)
  Johannes Brahms
  Symphony No. 4, Op. 98 (1885)
  Antonín Dvořák
  Symphony No. 9 "From the New World", Op. 95, B. 178 (1893)
  Joseph Haydn
  Symphony No. 44 "Trauer" (1770)
  Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
  Symphony No. 5, Op. 64 (1888)
  Jean Sibelius
  Symphony No. 1, Op. 39 (1898)
  Gustav Mahler
  Symphony No. 7 (1906)
  Sergei Rachmaninoff
  Symphony No. 2, Op. 27 (1907)
  Dmitri Shostakovich
  Symphony No. 10, Op. 93 (1948)
  Ralph Vaughan Williams
  Symphony No. 6 (1948)
  Symphony No. 9 (1957)
  
  F major 
  
  Joseph Haydn
  Symphony No. 79 (1784)
  Symphony No. 89 (1787)
  Ludwig van Beethoven
  Symphony No. 6 "Pastoral", Op. 68 (1808)
  Symphony No. 8, Op. 93 (1812)
  Alexander Glazunov
  Symphony No. 7 "Pastoral", Op. 77
  Joachim Raff
  Symphony No. 3 "Im Walde", Op. 153 (1870)
  Antonín Dvořák
  Symphony No. 5, Op. 76, B. 54 (1875)
  Johannes Brahms
  Symphony No. 3, Op. 90 (1883)
  Zdeněk Fibich
  Symphony No. 1, Op. 17 (1883)
  Nikolai Myaskovsky
  Symphony No. 16 "Aviation", Op. 39 (1935-1936)
  
  F minor 
  
  Even in the Sturm und Drang era, F minor was not a frequent choice for a minor key symphony, though Haydn did contribute one.
  
  Anton Bruckner
  Study Symphony in F minor
  Joseph Haydn
  Symphony No. 49 "La Passione" (1768)
  Richard Strauss
  Symphony No. 2, Op. 12 (1884)
  Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
  Symphony No. 4, Op. 36 (1878)
  Sir Charles Villiers Stanford
  Symphony No. 3 "The Irish", Op. 28 (1887)
  Dmitri Shostakovich
  Symphony No. 1, Op. 10 (1925)
  Richard Strauss
  Symphony No. 2, Op. 12 (1885)
  Ralph Vaughan Williams
  Symphony No. 4 (1934)
  Martin Scherber
  Symphony No. 2 (1951–52)
  
  F-sharp major 
  
  The only notable (completed) symphony written explicitly in F-sharp major is Erich Wolfgang Korngold's Symphony in F-sharp major, Op. 40 of 1950.
  
  Gustav Mahler's unfinished Tenth Symphony is in this key. So is Olivier Messiaen's Turangalîla-Symphonie, as several of its movements including the finale are in that key, although it could be excluded on the grounds that it is very far from traditionally tonal.
  
  F-sharp minor 
  
  Though it has just three sharps and its relative major was used somewhat frequently, F-sharp minor was an unusual choice of key in the Classical era.
  
  George Frederick Bristow
  Symphony in F-sharp minor, Op. 26
  Alexander Glazunov
  Symphony No. 2, Op. 16
  Joseph Haydn
  Symphony No. 45 "Farewell" (1772)
  Nikolai Myaskovsky
  Symphony No. 21, Op. 51 (1940)
  Dora Pejačević
  Symphony (1917)
  
  G major 
  
  In the Baroque and Classical periods, G major was one of the most often used keys. Classical symphonies in G major typically had horns in G, but no trumpets. In the Romantic era, the key was less often used. The following list only includes the most famous works.
  
  Antonín Dvořák
  Symphony No. 8, Op. 88, B. 163 (1889)
  George Dyson
  Symphony in G major (1937)
  Joseph Haydn
  Symphony No. 8 "Le Soir" (1761)
  Symphony No. 88 (late 1780s)
  Symphony No. 92 "Oxford" (1791)
  Symphony No. 94 "Surprise" (1791)
  Symphony No. 100 "Military" (1794)
  Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
  Symphony No. 10, KV 74 (1770)
  Symphony No. 12, KV 110 (1771)
  Symphony No. 15, KV 124 (1772)
  Symphony No. 17, KV 129 (1772)
  Symphony No. 27, KV 199 (1773)
  Symphony No. 32, KV 318 (1779)
  Gustav Mahler
  Symphony No. 4 (1901)
  Johann Stamitz
  Symphony in G major "Mannheim No. 1"
  Ralph Vaughan Williams
  Symphony No. 2 "A London Symphony" (1914)
  
  G minor 
  
  G minor was a frequent choice for minor key symphonies. In the Classical period, symphonies in G minor almost always used four horns, two in G and two in B-flat alto.
  
  Joseph Haydn
  Symphony No. 39 (1767)
  Symphony No. 83, The Hen (1785)
  Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
  Symphony No. 25, KV 183 (1773)
  Symphony No. 40, KV 550 (1788)
  Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
  Symphony No. 1 "Winter Daydreams" (1866)
  Carl Nielsen
  Symphony No. 1 (1891)
  Dmitri Shostakovich
  Symphony No. 11 "The Year 1905", Op. 103 (1957)
  
  A-flat major 
  
  Although A-flat major was chosen often enough for inner movements of symphonies in other keys (most notably slow movements of C minor symphonies), there are very few symphonies with A-flat major as their main key.
  
  Edward Elgar
  Symphony No. 1, Op. 55 (1908)
  Jef van Hoof
  Symphony No. 2 (1941)
  Johann Baptist Wanhal
  Symphony in A-flat major, Bryan Ab1
  
  A-flat minor
  
  Nikolai Myaskovsky
   Symphony No. 17
  Elliot Goldenthal
   Symphony in A-flat minor
  
  A major 
  
  The following list only includes the most famous A major symphonies.
  
  Ludwig van Beethoven
  Symphony No. 7, Op. 92 (1812)
  Anton Bruckner
  Symphony No. 6 (1881)
  Joseph Haydn
  Symphony No. 59, "Fire" (before 1769)
  Symphony No. 64, "Tempora mutantur" (1778)
  Symphony No. 87 (1785/6)
  Felix Mendelssohn
  Symphony No. 4 "Italian", Op. 90 (1833)
  Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
  Symphony No. 14, KV 114 (1771)
  Symphony No. 21, KV 134 (1772)
  Symphony No. 29, KV 201 (1774)
  Dmitri Shostakovich
  Symphony No. 15, Op. 141 (1971)
  Johann Stamitz
  Symphony in A major "Mannheim No. 2"
  Richard Wetz
  Symphony No. 2, Op. 47 (1921)
  
  A minor 
  
  Alexander Borodin
  Symphony No. 3 (1886–1887, unfinished)
  Felix Mendelssohn
  Symphony No. 3 "Scottish", Op. 56 (1842)
  Gustav Mahler
  Symphony No. 6 "Tragic" (1904)
  Jean Sibelius
  Symphony No. 4, Op. 63 (1911)
  Sergei Rachmaninoff
  Symphony No. 3, Op. 44 (1936)
  Stephen Brown
  Symphony, The Northern Journey (1986–89, revision 1992)
  
  B-flat major 
  
  Haydn's Symphony No. 98 is credited as the first symphony written in B-flat major in which trumpet and timpani parts are included. Actually, his brother Michael Haydn had written one such symphony earlier, No. 36. However, Joseph still gets credit for writing the timpani part at actual pitch with an F major key signature (instead of transposing with a C major key signature), a procedure that made sense since he limited that instrument to the tonic and dominant pitches. Many editions of the work, however, use no key signature and specify the instrument as "Timpani in B-flat - F." (Note that in German, the pitch B-flat is called "B", and B natural is "H", thus the specification for timpani in a B-flat work could be written "Pauken in B. - F.")
  
  Ludwig van Beethoven
  Symphony No. 4, Op. 60 (1806)
  Anton Bruckner
  Symphony No. 5 (1876)
  Ernest Chausson
  Symphony in B-flat, Op. 20 (1890)
  Antonín Dvořák
  Symphony No. 2 (1865)
  Alexander Glazunov
  Symphony No. 5, Op. 48
  Joseph Haydn
  Symphony No. 85 "La Reine" (1785/6)
  Symphony No. 98 (1792)
  Symphony No. 102 (1794/5)
  Andrea Luchesi
  Symphony in B-flat major (ca.1770)
  Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
  Symphony No. 24, KV 182 (1773)
  Symphony No. 33, KV 319 (1779)
  Franz Schubert
  Symphony No. 2, D 125 (1815)
  Symphony No. 5, D 485 (1816)
  Robert Schumann
  Symphony No. 1 "Spring", Op. 38 (1841)
  Sergei Prokofiev
  Symphony No. 5, Op. 100 (1944)
  Johann Stamitz
  Symphony in B-flat major "Mannheim No. 3"
  
  B-flat minor 
  
  B-flat minor occurs often enough in the piano repertoire, much less so in the orchestral repertoire. Even allowing little-known works, the list is rather short.
  
  Havergal Brian
  Symphony No. 8 (1949)
  Frederic Hymen Cowen
  Symphony No. 4
  Jānis Ivanovs
  Symphony No. 1 (1933)
  Dmitry Kabalevsky
  Symphony No. 3, Op. 22 (1933)
  Miloslav Kabeláč
  Symphony No. 5 Dramatic, Op. 41 (1960)
  Tikhon Khrennikov
  Symphony No. 1, Op. 4 (1933-5)
  Sergei Lyapunov
  Symphony No. 2, Op. 66
  Albéric Magnard
  Symphony No. 3, Op. 11 (1896)
  Nikolai Myaskovsky
  Symphony No. 11, Op. 34 (1932)
  Symphony No. 13, Op. 36 (1933)
  Harald Sæverud
  Symphony No. 3, Op. 5
  Dmitri Shostakovich
  Symphony No. 13 "Babi Yar", Op. 113 (1962)
  Maximilian Steinberg
  Symphony No. 2, Op. 8 (1909) In Memoriam Rimsky-Korsakov
  Richard Wetz
  Symphony No. 3, Op.48 (1922)
  William Walton
  Symphony No. 1 (1932–35)
  
  B major 
  
  Haydn's use of B major in his Symphony No. 46 was deemed "extraordinary" for a symphony in the 18th century.
  
  Joseph Haydn
  Symphony No. 46 (1772)
  Erich Wolfgang Korngold
   Sinfonietta, Op. 5 (1912)
  Georg Matthias Monn
  Sinfonia (1740s)
  Dmitri Shostakovich
  Symphony No. 2 "To October", Op. 14  (1927)
  
  B minor 
  
  B minor is the key of some famous symphonies in the repertoire, as well as a few lesser known ones.
  
  Alexander Borodin
  Symphony No. 2 (1876)
  Wilhelm Furtwängler
  Symphony No. 1 (1941)
  Ignacy Jan Paderewski
  Symphony in B minor (Polonia), Op. 24 (1908)
  Martin Scherber
  Symphony No. 3 (Die Russische) (1952–55)
  Franz Schubert
  Symphony No. 8 (Unfinished), D. 759 (1822, inc.)
  Dmitri Shostakovich
  Symphony No. 6, Op. 54 (1939)
  Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
  Manfred Symphony, Op. 58 (1885)
  Symphony No. 6 (Pathétique), Op. 74 (1893)
  Reinhold Glière
  Symphony No. 3 "Ilya Muromets", Op. 42 (1911)
  
  References
  
   
  Symphonies