D minor

D minor is a minor scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B-flat, C-sharp, and D (harmonic minor scale). Its key signature consists of one flat.

Related Topics:
Minor scale - Key signature

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Its relative key is F major, and its parallel major is D major.

Related Topics:
Relative key - F major - Parallel major - D major

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Changes needed for the melodic and harmonic versions of the scale are written in with accidentals as necessary.

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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 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's chromatic fugue in D minor. Mozart's Requiem is also written primarily in D minor.

Related Topics:
Chromatic fourth - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

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

Related Topics:
Beethoven - Symphony No. 9 in D minor - Anton Bruckner - Ninth Symphony

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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 especially ending in much sharper keys. Two symphonies that begin in D minor and end in E major are Havergal Brian's Gothic Symphony and Carl Nielsen's Symphony No. 4 (The Inextinguishable). Bruckner's Ninth Symphony, as it is often performed without Finale, is another example of a symphony beginning in D minor and ending in E major. Franz Liszt's Dante Symphony, opens in D minor and ends in B major.

Related Topics:
Classical music era - Picardy third - E major - Havergal Brian - Gothic Symphony - Carl Nielsen - Symphony No. 4 - Franz Liszt - Dante Symphony - B major

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Some consider D minor the flattest key that is practical for a guitar to play.

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The Spinal Tap song "Lick My Love Pump" was written in D minor. According to Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest), it is the saddest of all keys. Franz Schubert's famous "Der Tod und das Mädchen" String Quartet is in D minor.

Related Topics:
Spinal Tap - Christopher Guest - Franz Schubert

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Of Domenico Scarlatti's 555 keyboard sonatas, 151 are in minor keys, and D minor is the most often chosen minor key, with 32 sonatas. Johann Sebastian Bach's entire The Art of Fugue is in D minor, and jokingly, so is P.D.Q. Bach's Musical Offering.

Related Topics:
Domenico Scarlatti - Johann Sebastian Bach - The Art of Fugue - P.D.Q. Bach

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