Well Known Instrumental Music in This Key
In Book 1 of The Well-Tempered Clavier by Johann Sebastian Bach, Prelude No. 8 is written in E-flat minor while the following Fugue is written in D-sharp minor. In Book 2, both movements are in D-sharp minor.
One of the few symphonies written in this key is Prokofiev's Symphony No. 6. A few other less well-known Soviet composers also wrote symphonies in this key, such as Andrei Eshpai, Janis Ivanovs (fourth symphony Atlantis, 1941), Ovchinnikov and Nikolai Myaskovsky. Aram Khachaturian wrote his Toccata in E-flat minor while studying under Myaskovsky.
It is also the key in which Dmitri Shostakovich composed his final string quartet.
The first piece in Isaac Albéniz's suite Iberia, Invocation, is in E flat minor.
Alexander Scriabin's Prelude No. 14 from his 24 Preludes, Op. 11, is in E Flat Minor.
Sergei Rachmaninoff's Elegie, Op. 3, No. 1, is in E-flat minor, as is his Étude-Tableau, Op. 39, No. 5. These pieces are noted for being dark and mysterious (a characteristic of this key), as shown even in the later jazz compositions "'Round Midnight" and "Take Five", which are also in the key.
Oskar Bohme's Trumpet Sextet, Op. 30 is written in E-flat minor.
The extended orchestral introduction to Part II Gustav Mahler's Eighth Symphony is in E-flat minor, as is the dark orchestral introduction to Beethoven's only oratorio, Christ on the Mount of Olives.
Stevie Wonder's Superstition (song) is in E-flat minor.
Jazz composer Thelonious Monk's most famous composition, 'Round Midnight is in E-flat minor.
Guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen has composed a number of pieces in E-flat minor, including the Concerto Suite for Electric Guitar and Orchestra.
The Beatles' I'm Only Sleeping is in E-flat minor. It was recorded in E minor and slowed down by a semitone.
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