G minor
 | |
| Relative key | B♭ major |
|---|---|
| Parallel key | G major |
| Dominant key | D major / D minor |
| Subdominant | C minor |
| Component pitches | |
| G, A, B♭, C, D, E♭, F | |
G minor is a minor scale based on G, consisting of the pitches G, A, B♭, C, D, E♭, and F. For the harmonic minor scale, the F is raised to F♯. Its relative major is B-flat major, and its parallel major is G major.
Changes needed for the melodic and harmonic versions of the scale are written in with accidentals as necessary. G minor is one of two flat key signatures that require a sharp for the leading-tone (the other is D minor).
Mozart's use of G minor
G minor has been considered the key through which Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart best expressed sadness and tragedy,[1] and many of his minor key works are in G minor, such as the Piano Quartet No. 1 and the String Quintet in G minor. Though Mozart touched on various minor keys in his symphonies, G minor is the only minor key he used as a main key for his numbered symphonies (No. 25, and the famous No. 40). In the Classical period, symphonies in G minor almost always used four horns, two in G and two in B-flat alto.[2] Another convention of G minor symphonies observed in Mozart's No. 25 was the choice of E-flat major for the slow movement, with other examples including Haydn's No. 39 and Johann Baptist Wanhal's G minor symphony from before 1771 (Bryan Gm1).[3]
Notable works in G minor
- Dido's Lament (When I am laid in earth), aria from the opera, Dido and Aeneas – Purcell
- Sonata No. 1 in G minor, BWV 1001 – Johann Sebastian Bach
- Fantasia and Fugue in G minor "The Great", BWV 542 – Johann Sebastian Bach
- Symphony No. 83 "The Hen" – Joseph Haydn
- Symphony No. 40 – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
- Ballade No. 1 in G minor – Frédéric Chopin
- Polonaise in G minor – Frédéric Chopin
- Piano Concerto No. 1 – Felix Mendelssohn
- Piano Concerto No. 2 – Camille Saint-Saëns
- Slavonic Dance No. 8 in G minor – Antonín Dvořák
- Sicilienne, Op. 78 – Gabriel Fauré
- Prelude in G Minor – Sergei Rachmaninoff
- Sonata for Cello and Piano in G minor – Sergei Rachmaninoff
- Much of Giuseppe Verdi's Requiem, specifically the Dies Irae, is in G minor.
- Much of Oxygène (parts I, II, IV and VI) by Jean Michel Jarre is in G minor.
- Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 8, RV 315, "Summer" from The Four Seasons – Antonio Vivaldi
- Adagio in G minor – "Albinoni's Adagio", now attributed to Remo Giazotto
- Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 26 – Max Bruch
- Christmas Concerto – Arcangelo Corelli
- Carol of the Bells – Mykola Leontovych
- Hungarian Dance No. 5 – Johannes Brahms
- Cataluña – Isaac Albéniz
Notable songs
- Shine On You Crazy Diamond by Pink Floyd[4]
- Roxanne by The Police[5]
- Still Loving You by Scorpions[6]
- What Is Love by Haddaway[7]
- DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love by Usher[8]
- You Make Me Feel... by Cobra Starship[9]
- Scream by Usher[10]
- September by Daughtry[11]
- I'm Blue (Da Ba Dee) by Eiffel 65[12]
References
- ^ Hellmut Federhofer, foreword to the Bärenreiter Urtext of Mozart's Piano Quartet in G minor. "G-Moll war für Mozart zeitlebens die Schicksaltonart, die ihm für den Ausdruck des Schmerzes und der Tragik am geeignetsten erschien." ("G minor was, for Mozart, the most suitable fate-key throughout his life for the expression of pain and tragedy.")(
- ^ H. C. Robbins Landon, Mozart and Vienna. New York: Schirmer Books (1991): 48. "Writing for four horns was a regular part of the Sturm und Drang G minor equipment." Robbins Landon also notes that Mozart's No. 40 was first intended to have four horns.
- ^ James Hepokoski og Warren Darcy, Elements of Sonata Theory (Oxford University Press: 2006) p. 328
- ^ http://www.musicnotes.com/sheetmusic/mtdFPE.asp?ppn=MN0044731&
- ^ http://www.musicnotes.com/sheetmusic/mtdFPE.asp?ppn=MN0063910&
- ^ http://www.musicnotes.com/sheetmusic/mtdFPE.asp?ppn=MN0074865&
- ^ http://www.musicnotes.com/sheetmusic/mtdFPE.asp?ppn=MN0068868
- ^ http://www.musicnotes.com/sheetmusic/mtdFPE.asp?ppn=MN0086876&
- ^ http://www.musicnotes.com/sheetmusic/mtdFPE.asp?ppn=MN0097741&
- ^ http://www.musicnotes.com/sheetmusic/mtdFPE.asp?ppn=MN0108348&ref=google
- ^ http://www.musicnotes.com/sheetmusic/mtdFPE.asp?ppn=MN0082053
- ^ http://www.musicnotes.com/sheetmusic/mtdFPE.asp?ppn=MN0034964
External links
Media related to G minor at Wikimedia Commons
