H (pronounced Ha) is the German name for B natural, B flat being called by them B. It was originally 'B quadratum,' or b, a letter which would easily slip by degrees into h or h. [See Accidentals, 19a.] In solfaing it is Si.
H major is a key rarely used Beethoven's principal movement in it is the Adagio of the P.F. concerto in E flat. H minor is the key of Schubert's very fine unfinished Symphony, and of his equally fine Entracte in Rosamunde; of Mendelssohn's Capriccio brilliant; and of Chopin's 1st Scherzo. In a sketch-book of 1815–16, in the margin of a passage intended for the finale of the Cello Sonata op. 102, No. 2, Beethoven has written 'h moll schwarze Tonart.'
[ G. ]