Variations on a Theme of Corelli Op.Sibelius grew up during a period of intense economic and cultural changes.2 from 12 études in all the minor keys, Op. Queen of the Night aria from The Magic Flute.String Quartet in D minor, Hob.III:76 'Fifths'.His frequent use of the key has been noticed by reviewers such as Christian Clemmensen of, who has called the trend 'ridiculous stubbornness'. Many of his well-known scores were written in the key notable examples are Gladiator, The Dark Knight, Pirates of the Caribbean and The Da Vinci Code. įilm composer Hans Zimmer is one of the most prominent users of the key of D minor in modern times. Robbins Landon wrote that 'Tonic minor Adagio introductions, especially in the key of D minor, were very popular with English composers of the year 1794', and Joseph Haydn copied this procedure for the D major symphonies he wrote in London. 9, a D major symphony can have for its allegro first movement a slow introduction in D minor. Similar to a D minor symphony ending in D major, as with Beethoven's Symphony No. Franz Liszt's Dante Symphony opens in D minor and ends in B major. Two symphonies that begin in D minor and end in E major are Havergal Brian's Gothic Symphony and Carl Nielsen's Symphony No. Works in the classical music era and later beginning in minor typically end in major, or at least on a major chord (such as a picardy third), but there are a few notable examples of works in D minor ending in much sharper keys. 8, the Corelli Variations, and the symphonic poem Prince Rostislav. ĭ minor is particularly recurrent in the music of Sergei Rachmaninoff, with pieces written in the key occupying close to one eighth of his total compositional output, including the Third Piano Concerto, the Piano Sonata No. The tonality of D minor held special significance for Helene and Alban Berg. Jean Sibelius often reserved the key of D minor for compositions he saw as being of a noble character the Violin Concerto, the Sixth Symphony, and the string quartet Voces intimae are each in the key. 4, the only Symphony written by César Franck, Dvořák's Seventh Symphony and Symphony No. As well as Bruckner's First Mass and Third Symphony, multiple other post-Beethoven symphonies are in D minor, including Robert Schumann's Symphony No.

9, Anton Bruckner felt apprehensive about writing his own Symphony No. Since D minor is the key of Beethoven's Symphony No.

Arnold Schoenberg's Verklärte Nacht is in D minor, as is his String Quartet No. A number of Gabriel Fauré's chamber music works are written in D minor, including the Piano Trio Op. Franz Schubert's Death and the Maiden Quartet is in D minor. 17 and the haunting Largo of the Ghost Trio Op. The only chamber music compositions in D minor by Ludwig van Beethoven are his stormy Piano Sonata No. 15 K421 (one of the high profile Haydn-quartets) are also in D minor. Of the two piano concertos that Mozart wrote in a minor key, one of them is in D minor: Piano Concerto No.

Mozart's Requiem is written primarily in D minor, as are the famous Queen of the Night Aria, ' Der Hölle Rache', the ouverture and the final scene of Don Giovanni. 29, is in D minor.Īccording 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 Bach's Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue in D minor. Michael Haydn's only minor-key symphony, No. The Art of Fugue by Johann Sebastian Bach is in D minor. Of Domenico Scarlatti's 555 keyboard sonatas, 151 are in minor keys, and with 32 sonatas, D minor is the most often chosen minor key. Audio playback is not supported in your browser.

Jean sibelius string quartet in d minor