C-sharp minor

Moonlight Sonata's key

C-sharp minor is a musical key based on the note C-sharp, using a minor scale that gives it a dark, melancholy quality.

It has four sharps in its key signature.

The key appears in celebrated works like Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" and Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2.

Musicians and composers sometimes describe it as having a particularly intense or passionate character.

musical

sonata

Multi-movement instrumental composition

  • nocturneContemplative keyboard piece
  • etudeInstrumental practice composition
  • symphonyExtended composition for orchestra

concerto · prelude · fugue · scherzo · mazurka · ballade · piano · violin · orchestra · harmony

compositions

Moonlight Sonata

Celebrated nocturnal piano work

  • BeethovenGerman classical music giant
  • ChopinPolish Romantic pianist-composer
  • LisztHungarian Romantic-era pianist-composer

Rachmaninoff · Shostakovich · Brahms · Mahler · opus · movement · adagio · allegro · presto

emotional

melancholy

Subdued, lasting sadness

plaintive · somber · brooding · desolate · forlorn · heartache · tragic · poignant · mournful · bittersweet

character

dramatic

Strikingly expressive or sudden

turbulent · stormy · dark · serious · profound · expressive · tension · gravitas · depth · weight

Opposites
relative major key

C-sharp minorE major

Tonality with four sharps

E

enharmonic opposite

C-sharp minorG major

Key with single sharp

C major · D major · G minor · A major · F major

Family

sharp, sharpen, sharpened, sharpening, sharpener, sharply, sharpness, sharper, sharpest

Familiarity
Top 500,000
Profile
Used worldwide · Timeless · Rated G