D-flat minor
 | |
| Relative key | F♭ major enharmonic: E major |
|---|---|
| Parallel key | D♭ major |
| Dominant key | A♭ minor enharmonic: G♯ minor |
| Subdominant | G♭ minor enharmonic: F♯ minor |
| Enharmonic | C♯ minor |
| Component pitches | |
D♭, E♭, F♭, G♭, A♭, B , C♭ | |
D-flat minor is a theoretical key based on the musical note D♭, consisting of the pitches D♭, E♭, F♭, G♭, A♭, B, C♭ and D♭. ⓘ Its key signature has six flats and one double flat. The harmonic minor raises C♭ to C♮.[1]
D♭ minor is usually notated as the enharmonic key of C♯ minor, as in the second and third measures of Amy Beach's Canticle of the Sun.[2] However, two of Verdi's most well-known operas, La traviata and Rigoletto, unusually, both end very decisively in D♭ minor (although written with the five-flat key signature of the parallel major). Mahler's thematic motif "der kleine Appell" ("call to order") from his Fourth and Fifth Symphonies uses both notations: in his Symphony No. 4 (first movement) it is in D♭ minor, but in his Symphony No. 5 it is in C♯ minor. In the Adagio of his Symphony No. 9 a solo bassoon interpolation following the main theme appears first in D♭ minor, returning twice more notated in C♯ minor. Likewise, in the Adagio of Bruckner's Symphony No. 8, phrases that are tonally in D♭ minor are notated as C♯ minor.[3][4][5][6]
References
- ^ Thomas Busby (1840). "D Flat Minor". A dictionary of three thousand musical terms. revised by James Alexander Hamilton. London: D'Almaine and Co. p. 55.
- ^ Amy Beach; Betty Buchanan (2006). The Canticle of the Sun. A-R Editions, Inc. p. xiii. ISBN 0-89579-583-3.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|last-author-amp=ignored (|name-list-style=suggested) (help) - ^ Ernst Levy (1985). A Theory of Harmony. SUNY Press. p. 62. ISBN 0-87395-993-0.
- ^ James L. Zychowicz (2005). "Structural Considerations". Mahler's Fourth Symphony. Oxford University Press. p. 28. ISBN 0-19-816206-5.
- ^ Eero Tarasti (1996). "Music history revisited". In Eero Tarasti; Paul Forsell; Richard Littlefield (eds.). Musical Semiotics in Growth. Indiana University Press. pp. 14–15. ISBN 0-253-32949-3.
- ^ Theodor W. Adorno (1992). Mahler: A Musical Physiognomy. Translated by Edmund Jephcott. University of Chicago Press. pp. 165–166. ISBN 0-226-00769-3.
