G minor
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G minor is a minor scale based on G.
Its relative major is B-flat major. G minor is one of two flat key signatures that needs a sharp for the seventh note (the other is D minor).
During the Baroque period, music in G minor was usually written with a one-flat key signature.
Mozart's use of G Minor
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart thought that G minor was the most suitable key for showing 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. 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] G minor symphonies like Mozart's No. 25 often used E flat major for the slow movement, including Haydn's No. 39 and Vanhal's G minor symphony from before 1771 (Bryan Gm1).[3]
Famous classical music in G minor
- Fantasia and Fugue in G minor "The Great", BWV 542- Bach
- Symphony No. 83 "The Hen" - Haydn
- Symphony No. 40 - Mozart
- Ballade No. 1 in G minor - Chopin
- Polonaise in G minor - Chopin
- Piano Concerto No. 2 - Saint-Saëns
- Slavonic Dance No. 8 in G minor - Dvořák
- Sicilliene, Op. 78 - Fauré
- Prelude in G Minor - Rachmaninoff
- Sonata for Cello and Piano in G minor - Rachmaninoff
- Most of Verdi's Requiem (the Dies Irae), 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 said to be written by Remo Giazotto
- Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 26 - Max Bruch
- Christmas Concerto - Arcangelo Corelli
See also: List of symphonies in G minor.
Variations
There are many variations of G minor.
| Variation | Description |
|---|---|
| G minor 7th | a g minor chord containing G, Bb/A#, D, and F |
| G minor major 7th | a G minor chord with a Major 7th. |
| G minor major | a combination of G minor and G major. |
| G minor 6th | a G minor chord with a Major 6th. |
| G minor 9th | G minor 7th containing A. |
| G minor 2nd | a G minor with Ab or G#. |
| G augmented minor | the augmented version of G minor. |
| G diminished | has C#/Db instead of D. |
| G minor 7th-5 | G diminished with minor 7th. |
| G diminished 7th | a G diminished with a major 6th. |
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