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D minor

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D minor
Relative keyF major
Parallel keyD major
Component pitches
D, E, F, G, A, B♭, C

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

Its relative key is F major, and its parallel major is D major. D minor is one of two flat key signatures that requires a sharp for the leading tone (the other is G minor).

Some consider D minor 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 Offering. 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. 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.

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.

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 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.

The first choice of clarinet for orchestral music in D minor is naturally 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 clarinets 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 A♭ major. 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.

According to Nigel Tufnel, a character in This is Spinal Tap, it is the saddest of all keys. Jack White of the White Stripes commented on his Dolly Parton cover "Jolene" by stating that the D minor chord has such an evil, sad undertone. These comments are considered ridiculous by some, because every minor key is the same under equal temperament. One possible reason for these comments is that when a minor song uses the tonic D, it sometimes is employs the Dorian mode, which is the same as a normal minor but with a sharped sixth. This scale could be said to seem sadder or more emotional than a regular natural minor.

Well known classical pieces in this key

Well known songs in this key

References

  • Alfred Einstein, Mozart, His Character, His Work, Chapter 10, "Mozart's Choice Of Keys"
  • Sherman, Charles H. Johann Michael Haydn (1737-1806), a chronological thematic catalogue of his works New York: Pendragon Press, 1993
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