Home / Music / Beethoven's Symphony No. 1 opens in the 'wrong' keyMusic linernotes album music johannes-brahmsBeethoven's Symphony No. 1 opens in the 'wrong' keyThe introduction builds from chord sequences in the ‘wrong’ key before gradually revealing C major — Donald Tovey called it “a comedy of manners.” Search Amazon As an Amazon Associate, Work Notes may earn.Related NotesBrahms sealed his Third Symphony with a personal motto in three notesBrahms's Symphony No. 3 premiered in Vienna in 1883Brahms's Third Symphony ends quietly — the only one that doesTchaikovsky revised his Piano Concerto No. 1 twice — in 1879 and again in 1888Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 has three movements — and that iconic opening theme never comes back.ExploreBelonging pairs Jarrett's piano with Garbarek's Nordic saxophoneOfficium sets Garbarek's sax against medieval vocal musicSunday at the Village Vanguard is routinely ranked among the best live jazz albumsEvans's Peace Piece is a two-chord meditation with Debussy's fingerprintsRoedelius's Fluxus is minimal electronics with a Farfisa organ at its corePrevious Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 set the template that Brahms, Wagner, and Mahler all followedNext Beethoven's String Quartet No. 16 wasn't performed until after his death