D-flat minor

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D-flat minor is a theoretical key based on the musical note D. Its key signature has eight flats.[1]

Because it has so many flats, D minor is usually written as its enharmonic equivalent of C minor. For example, Mahler's thematic motif "der kleine Appell" ("call to order") from his Fourth and Fifth Symphonies is written in D minor in Symphony No.4, but in his Symphony No. 5 it is in C minor. In the Adagio of his Symphony No. 9 a solo bassoon theme appears first in D minor, but comes back two more times notated in C minor. The Adagio of Bruckner's Symphony No. 8, also has phrases that are tonally in D minor but written as C minor.[2][3][4][5]

References

  1. Thomas Busby. A dictionary of three thousand musical terms (1840). London: D'Almaine and Co.. p. 55.
  2. Ernst Levy. A Theory of Harmony (1985)SUNY Press. p. 62. ISBN 0873959930.
  3. James L. Zychowicz. Mahler's Fourth Symphony (2005)Oxford University Press. p. 28. ISBN 0198162065.
  4. Eero Tarasti. Musical Semiotics in Growth (1996)Indiana University Press. p. 14–15. ISBN 0253329493.
  5. Theodor W. Adorno. Mahler: A Musical Physiognomy (1992)University of Chicago Press. p. 165–166. ISBN 0226007693.

Scales and keys