D minor is a minor scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. Its key signature has one flat. Its relative major is

F major F major (or the key of F) is a major scale based on F, with the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has one flat. Its relative minor is D minor and its parallel minor is F minor. The F major scale is: : F major is ...

and its

parallel major In music theory, a major scale and a minor scale that have the same tonic note are called parallel keys and are said to be in a parallel relationship. Forte, Allen (1979). ''Tonal Harmony'', p.9. 3rd edition. Holt, Rinehart, and Wilson. . "Whe ...

is D major. The D natural minor scale is: Changes needed for the melodic and harmonic versions of the scale are written in with accidentals as necessary. The D harmonic minor and melodic minor scales are:

Music in D minor

Domenico Scarlatti Giuseppe Domenico Scarlatti, also known as Domingo or Doménico Scarlatti (26 October 1685-23 July 1757), was an Italian composer. He is classified primarily as a Baroque composer chronologically, although his music was influential in the devel ...

's 555 keyboard sonatas, 151 are in minor keys, and with 32 sonatas, D minor is the most often chosen minor key. '' The Art of Fugue'' by

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wo ...

is in D minor. Michael Haydn's only minor-key symphony, No. 29, is in D minor. According to

Alfred Einstein Alfred Einstein (December 30, 1880February 13, 1952) was a German-American musicologist and music editor. He was born in Munich and fled Nazi Germany after Hitler's ''Machtergreifung'', arriving in the United States by 1939. He is best known for ...

, the history of tuning has led D minor to be associated with counterpoint and

chromaticism Chromaticism is a compositional technique interspersing the primary diatonic pitches and chords with other pitches of the chromatic scale. In simple terms, within each octave, diatonic music uses only seven different notes, rather than the tw ...

(for example, the

chromatic fourth In music theory, a chromatic fourth, or ''passus duriusculus'',Monelle, Raymond (2000). ''The Sense of Music: Semiotic Essays'', p.73. . is a melody or melodic fragment spanning a perfect fourth with all or almost all chromatic intervals filled ...

), and cites Bach's ''

Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue The ''Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue'' in D minor, , is a work for harpsichord by Johann Sebastian Bach. Bach probably composed it during his time in Köthen from 1717 to 1723. The piece was already regarded as a unique masterpiece during his lif ...

'' in D minor. Mozart's

Requiem A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...

is written primarily in D minor, as are the famous Queen of the Night Aria, " Der Hölle Rache", the ouverture and the final scene of ''

Don Giovanni ''Don Giovanni'' (; Köchel catalogue, K. 527; Vienna (1788) title: , literally ''The rake (stock character), Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni'') is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Pon ...

''. Of the two piano concertos that Mozart wrote in a minor key, one of them is in D minor: Piano Concerto No. 20, K. 466. Furthermore, his string quartet no. 13 K173 and string quartet no. 15 K421 (one of the high profile Haydn-quartets) are also in D minor. The only chamber music compositions in D minor by

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

are his stormy Piano Sonata No. 17 and the haunting Largo of the Ghost Trio Op. 70/1.

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wo ...

's ''

Death and the Maiden Quartet The String Quartet No. 14 in D minor, D 810, known as ''Death and the Maiden'', is a piece by Franz Schubert that has been called "one of the pillars of the chamber music repertoire". It was composed in 1824, after the composer suffered a s ...

'' is in D minor. A number of Gabriel Fauré's chamber music works are written in D minor, including the Piano Trio Op. 120, the First Piano Quintet Op. 89, and the First Cello Sonata Op. 109.

Arnold Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...

's '' Verklärte Nacht'' is in D minor, as is his String Quartet No. 1. Since D minor is the key of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9,

Anton Bruckner Josef Anton Bruckner (; 4 September 182411 October 1896) was an Austrian composer, organist, and music theorist best known for his symphonies, masses, Te Deum and motets. The first are considered emblematic of the final stage of Austro-Ger ...

felt apprehensive about writing his own Symphony No. 9 in the same key. As well as Bruckner's

First Mass The term refers to the first occasion a Eucharistic celebration (a Mass) takes place. There are two natural contexts to its use: *Historical, which would be the first occasion where a Mass is celebrated in a particular place, such as the First Mass ...

, some other post-Beethoven symphonies are in D minor, including Symphony No. 4 by

Robert Schumann Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career a ...

, the only Symphony written by César Franck, and Symphony No. 3 by Gustav Mahler.

Jean Sibelius Jean Sibelius ( ; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic and early-modern periods. He is widely regarded as his country's greatest composer, and his music is often ...

often reserved the key of D minor for compositions he saw as being of a noble character; the Violin Concerto, the Sixth Symphony, and the string quartet '' Voces intimae'' are each in the key. The tonality of D minor held special significance for Helene and Alban Berg. D minor is particularly recurrent in the music of Sergei Rachmaninoff, with pieces written in the key occupying close to one eighth of his total compositional output, including the Third Piano Concerto, the Piano Sonata n°1, the Symphony n°1, the Trio élégiaque n°2, the Études-Tableaux op. 33 n°4 and op. 39 n°8, the Corelli Variations, and the symphonic poem Prince Rostislav. Works in the

classical music era The Classical period was an era of classical music between roughly 1750 and 1820. The Classical period falls between the Baroque and the Romantic periods. Classical music has a lighter, clearer texture than Baroque music, but a more sophistic ...

and later beginning in minor typically end in major, or at least on a major chord (such as a 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 The Symphony No. 1 in D minor (''The Gothic'') is a symphony composed by Havergal Brian between 1919 and 1927. At around 105 minutes it is among the longest symphonies ever composed (others include Gustav Mahler, Mahler's Symphony No. 3 (Mahler), ...

'' and Carl Nielsen's Symphony No. 4 (''The Inextinguishable'').

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

's '' Dante Symphony'' opens in D minor and ends in B major. Similar to a D minor symphony ending in D major, as with Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, a D major symphony can have for its allegro first movement a slow introduction in D minor. Robbins Landon wrote that "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.

H. C. Robbins Landon Howard Chandler Robbins Landon (March 6, 1926November 20, 2009) was an American musicologist, journalist, historian and broadcaster, best known for his work in rediscovering the huge body of neglected music by Haydn and in correcting misundersta ...

, ''Supplement to The Symphonies of Joseph Haydn'' London: Barrie & Rockliff (1961): 47 Film composer Hans Zimmer is one of the most prominent users of the key of D minor in modern times. Many of his well-known scores were written in the key; notable examples are ''

Gladiator A gladiator ( la, gladiator, "swordsman", from , "sword") was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gla ...

'', '' The Dark Knight'', '' Pirates of the Caribbean'' and '' The Da Vinci Code''. His frequent use of the key has been noticed by reviewers such as Christian Clemmensen of Filmtracks.com, who has called the trend "ridiculous stubbornness".

Notable compositions

Toccata and Fugue in D minor The Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565, is a piece of organ music written, according to its oldest extant sources, by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750). The piece opens with a toccata section, followed by a fugue that ends in a coda. Schola ...

, BWV 565 **

, BWV 903 ** Harpsichord Concerto No. 1, BWV 1052 ** Cello Suite No. 2, BWV 1008 ** Concerto for Two Violins, BWV 1043 **'' The Art of Fugue'', BWV 1080 ** Partita for solo violin No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004 * Joseph Haydn ** Symphony No. 26 "Lamentatione" ** String Quartet in D minor, Hob.III:76 "Fifths" * Michael Haydn ** Symphony No. 29 * Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart ** Kyrie in D minor, K 341 ** Fantasia in D minor, K 397 ** String Quartet No. 15, K 421 ** Piano Concerto No. 20, K 466 **

, K 626 *

** Piano Sonata No. 17, Op. 31 No. 2 "Tempest" ** Symphony No. 9, Op. 125 "Choral" *

** String Quartet No. 14 "Death and the Maiden" * Felix Mendelssohn ** Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 40 ** Piano Trio No. 1, Op. 49 ** Symphony No. 5 "Reformation" * Frédéric Chopin ** Prelude Op. 28, No. 24 "Storm" ** Polonaise, Op. 71 No. 1 * Charles-Valentin Alkan ** " Le chemin de fer", Op. 27 ** " En rythme molossique", No. 2 from 12 études in all the minor keys, Op. 39 *

** Transcendental Étude No. 4 "Mazeppa", from S. 139 **'' Mazeppa'', S. 100, symphonic poem *

** Violin Concerto, WoO 23 ** Symphony No. 4, Op. 120 * César Franck ** Symphony in D minor * Édouard Lalo **

Cello Concerto A cello concerto (sometimes called a violoncello concerto) is a concerto for solo cello with orchestra or, very occasionally, smaller groups of instruments. These pieces have been written since the Baroque era if not earlier. However, unlike instr ...

** Symphony in D minor ** Symphony No. 3 ** March in D minor ** Mass No. 1 ** Symphony No. 9 (unfinished) *

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped wit ...

** Piano Concerto No. 1 Op. 15 ** Tragic Overture ** Violin Sonata No. 3 Op. 108 * Modest Mussorgsky ** Night on Bald Mountain *

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...

** Orchestral Suite No. 1 Op. 43 * Antonín Dvořák ** Symphony No. 4 Op. 13, B. 41 ** Symphony No. 7 Op. 70, B. 141 * Gabriel Fauré ** Requiem (Fauré) Op. 44 * Gustav Mahler ** Symphony No. 3 *

** Violin Concerto Op. 47 ** String Quartet, ''Voces intimae'', Op. 56 ** Symphony No. 6 Op. 104 *

Ralph Vaughan Williams Ralph Vaughan Williams, (; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over ...

** Symphony No. 8 * Sergei Rachmaninoff ** Symphony No. 1 Op. 13 ** Piano Sonata No. 1 Op. 28 ** Piano Concerto No. 3 Op. 30 *

Sergei Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''., group=n (27 April .S. 15 April1891 – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, ...

** Symphony No. 2 Op. 40 ** Piano Sonata No. 2 Op. 14 * Dmitri Shostakovich ** Cello Sonata Op. 40 ** Symphony No. 5 Op. 47

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:D Minor Minor scales Musical keys

Music in D minor

Notable compositions

See also

Notes

External links