G minor

Infobox Scale


scale_name=G minor
relative=B^b major
parallel=G major
first_pitch=G
second_pitch=A
third_pitch=B^b
fourth_pitch=C
fifth_pitch=D
sixth_pitch=E^b
seventh_pitch=F: "Also see: G major, or G-sharp minor." G minor is a minor scale based on G, consisting of the pitches G, A, Bmusic|flat, C, D, Emusic|flat, and F. For the harmonic minor scale, the F is raised to Fmusic|sharp. 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 requires a sharp for the leading tone (the other is D minor).

In the Baroque era, G minor was considered the "key of tragic consummation."Dubious|date=September 2008

Well-known works in G minor

* Ballade No. 1 in G minor - Frederic Chopin

Mozart's use of G Minor

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart considered G minor the key most suitable for expressing sadness and tragedy, [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 an tragedy.")(] 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. [H. C. Robbins Landon, "Mozart and Vienna". New York: Schirmer Books (1991): 48. "Writing for four horns was a regular part ofthe "Sturm und Drang" G minor equipment." Robbins Landon also notes that Mozart's No. 40 was first intended to have four horns.] When Francesco Maria Veracini wrote six Overtures for the Prince of Dresden, the only one he wrote in a minor key was No. 5 in G minor.

See also: List of symphonies in G minor.

References