Did You Know There Is a Symphony Composed in the Strange Key of A-flat Minor (Seven Flats!)?

By Robert Markow | From the September/October 2025 issue of Strings

That’s Dimitrie Cuclin’s Symphony No. 11, composed in 1950. The Romanian Cuclin (1885–1978) also turned out what is possibly the longest symphony ever written, No. 12, which lasts six hours.

Moving on to six flats, just two well-known composers have written a symphony in E-flat minor: Prokofiev (his sixth), and, believe it or not, Schoenberg (his second chamber symphony—begun in 1906, completed in 1939, and resolutely retaining a key signature from beginning to end). The original version of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Symphony No. 1 is also in E-flat minor, but the composer later sensibly changed it to E minor to make it easier to play. (Who wants to keep track of six flats?) If you consider Nikolai Myaskovsky a “well-known” composer (many would not), his Symphony No. 6 would also make this slim list.

F-sharp major (six sharps) again has just two well-known composers using it for a symphony: Korngold (his only symphony) and Mahler (his tenth).

The key signature of “only” five sharps (B major and its relative, G-sharp minor) has likewise seen few takers. Only Haydn (No. 46) and Shostakovich (No. 2) among the well-knowns have used it. G-sharp minor has never been used by a famous composer for a symphony, though Myaskovsky also made an effort here, and his Symphony No. 17 would qualify.

For D-flat major (five flats), once again it’s a struggle to think of a symphony in this key, and once again, Myaskovsky comes to the rescue, with his No. 25. The relative minor of D-flat major is B-flat minor, and several well-known composers have written a symphony in this key, including Shostakovich (No. 13), Walton (No. 1), Kabalevsky (No. 3), and Respighi (Sinfonia drammatica). And leave it to our now-well-known Myaskovsky to have written two in this key (Nos. 11 and 13)!