An interesting bit of trivia about Irving Berlin:
While not known as a
virtuoso, many considered Irving Berlin to be a fine
pianist and he had several performances during his career, both informal and at
Hollywood industry functions.
It was a well-kept secret among his family, friends, and close associates that he could only play in one
key:
F# Major. Everything he
composed was in F# as he wrote at the
keyboard and then had be
transposed in to an appropriate key.
I found this to be quite amusing.