D minor

D minor

Relative key	F major
Parallel key	D major
Component pitches
D, E, F, G, A, B♭, C, D

Also see: D major, or D-flat minor.

D minor is a minor scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B♭, and C. In the harmonic minor, the C is raised to C♯. Its key signature has one flat (see below: Scales and keys).

Its relative major is F major, and its parallel major is D major. D minor is one of the two flat-signature keys whose melodic and harmonic scale variations require the addition of a written sharp; the other is G minor.

Some^[who?] consider it the flattest key that is practical for a guitar to play. Of Domenico Scarlatti's 555 keyboard sonatas, which often borrow mannerisms from guitar music of the period, 151 are in minor keys, and D minor is the most often chosen minor key, with 32 sonatas.

J. S. Bach's entire The Art of Fugue is in D minor and, jokingly, so is P. D. Q. Bach's Musical Sacrifice. According to Alfred Einstein, the history of tuning has led D minor to be associated with counterpoint and chromaticism (for example, the chromatic fourth), and cites Mozart's chromatic Fugue in D minor.^[1] Mozart's Requiem is also written primarily in D minor. Of the two piano concertos that Mozart wrote in a minor key, one of them is in D minor, No. 20, K. 466. Sibelius's Violin Concerto is in D minor as is Schumann's, although many of the best-known violin concertos are written in D major.

Michael Haydn wrote only one symphony in a minor key, in D minor, Perger 20, MH 393.

Since D minor is the key of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, Bruckner felt apprehensive about writing his own Ninth Symphony in the same key.^[2]

Works in the classical music era and later beginning in minor typically end in major, or at least on a major chord (as picardy third), but there are a few notable examples of works in D minor ending in much sharper keys. Two symphonies that begin in D minor and end in E major are Havergal Brian's Gothic Symphony and Nielsen's Symphony No. 4 (The Inextinguishable). Bruckner's Ninth Symphony, which is often performed without the finale, is another example of a symphony beginning in D minor and ending in E major. Liszt's Dante Symphony opens in D minor and ends in B major.

Similar to a D minor symphony ending in D major, a D major symphony can have for its allegro first movement a slow introduction in D minor. "Tonic minor Adagio introductions, especially in the key of D minor, were very popular with English composers of the year 1794," and Joseph Haydn copied this procedure for the D major symphonies he wrote in London.^[3]

The first choice of clarinet for orchestral music in D minor is the clarinet in B♭, and the clarinet part is then written with an E minor key signature. This choice, however, becomes problematic for multi-movement works that begin in D minor and end in D major. The B-flat clarinet parts would be written with an E major key signature, indicating an increased reliance on side keys and thus uncomfortable fingerings. A clarinet in A playing in D major would be written with an F major key signature, but in D minor would be written in F minor. One solution is to write the first movement for clarinet in B♭ and the last movement for clarinet in A (this is, for example, what Robert Volkmann does in his Symphony No. 1 in D minor). However, this burdens the player with having to warm up the A instrument in time for the switch. Ralph Vaughan Williams in his Symphony No. 8 in D minor and Dmitri Shostakovich in his Symphony No. 12 simply keep on using clarinets in B♭ even after switching to D major (written in E major). Mily Balakirev, in his Symphony No. 2 in D minor, opts to have three clarinets, two in B♭, one in A, playing throughout the whole piece.

Well-known classical compositions in this key

• Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565 - Johann Sebastian Bach
• Partita in D minor for solo violin, BWV 1004 - J. S. Bach
• Suite for solo cello No. 2 - J. S. Bach
• Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue in D minor, BWV 903 - J. S. Bach
• The Art of Fugue-BWV 1080
• Requiem Mass in D minor, K. 626 - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Missa in Angustiis or "Lord Nelson Mass" - Joseph Haydn
• Pelleas und Melisande - Arnold Schoenberg
• Piano Concerto No. 3 in D Minor, Op. 30 - Sergei Rachmaninoff
• Piano Concerto No. 20 in D Minor, K. 466 - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125 - Ludwig van Beethoven
• Piano Sonata No. 17 in D Minor, Op. 31, No. 2 (Tempest) - Ludwig van Beethoven
• Piano Concerto No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 15 - Johannes Brahms
• Violin Concerto in D minor - Jean Sibelius
• String Quartet No.14 in D minor "Death and the Maiden", D 810 - Franz Schubert
• Symphony No. 5 (Shostakovich)
• Mr. Crowley By Randy Rhoads
• Lick My Love Pump By Nigel Tufnel

See also: List of symphonies in D minor.

Notes

1. ^ Alfred Einstein, Mozart, His Character, His Work, Chapter 10, "Mozart's Choice Of Keys" New York: Oxford University Press (1945)
2. ^ Hans-Hubert Schönzeler, Bruckner London: Calder & Boyars Ltd (1978): 106 - 107. According to Göllerich, he [Bruckner] made the remark: "It really annoys me that the theme of my new symphony is in D minor, because everybody will say now: 'Of course, Bruckner's Ninth must be in the same key as Beethoven's!'"
3. ^ H. C. Robbins Landon, Supplement to The Symphonies of Joseph Haydn London: Barrie & Rockliff (1961): 47

v • d • e Diatonic Scales and Keys
	Flats Sharps Major minor Major minor 0 C, a 1 F d G e 2 B♭ g D b 3 E♭ c A f♯ 4 A♭ f E c♯ 5 D♭ b♭ B g♯ 6 G♭ e♭ F♯ d♯ 7 C♭ a♭ C♯ a♯ 8 F♭ d♭ G♯ e♯
The table indicates the number of sharps or flats in each scale. Minor scales are written in lower case.

References

• Sherman, Charles H. Johann Michael Haydn (1737-1806), a chronological thematic catalogue of his works New York: Pendragon Press, 1993.