A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/F
F. The 4th note of the natural scale, with B♭ for its signature. In French and in solfaing, Fa. D is its relative minor.
The F clef is the bass clef, the sign of which is a corruption of that letter.
F minor has a signature of 4 flats, and A♭ is its relative major.
F is the tonic of the Aeolian [App. p.631 "Lydian"] church mode, with C for its dominant.
F♯ is in German Fis, in French Fa diése.
Beethoven has very much favoured these keys, having left 2 Symphonies (Pastoral and No. 8), 3 String Quartets (the 1st and last, and Rassomoffsky, No. 1), 2 P.F. Sonatas, etc., in F major, Overture to Egmont, Sonata appassionata, Quartet, op. 95, in F minor. Haydn, on the other hand, very seldom composed for the orchestra in this key, major or minor.
[App. p.631 "one of Beethoven's notes to Steiner is signed
F♯ is more rarely used; but we may mention Haydn's Farewell Symphony; a P.F. Sonata (op. 78) by Beethoven, for which he had a peculiar affection; and a charming Romance of Schumann's (op. 28).
f, for., or forte, is the well-known sign for loudness.
The holes in the belly of the violin are called the f holes from their shape.