I played for him Bach's prelude in c# minor for WTC1. This idea resulted from a very interesting lesson with a HIGHLY respected teacher. I suppose how strongly you feel this depends on whether you have absolute pitch (I do). When I hear a piece in c minor, it immediately brings to mind Beethoven 5th symphony, for instance, with its tragic opening motif. I have a theory to explain this, which can be debated at will. There are countless more examples from the 20th century alone. Shostakovich's most "dramatic" symphony, his 5th, is in the "dramatic" key of d minor, whereas his tragic 8th string quartet is in the traditional "tragic" key, c minor. Mozart and Beethoven are obvious examples, but even into the 20th century, long after even temperament, great composers have subscribed to the "unwise" belief in key associations. I also have excellent musical sources who agree with me. xvimbi and others tell me there is no emotional context to specific keys, so.what is it I'm reacting to? If I feel a certain key has an emotional context for ME, then doesn't it? There is nothing more frustrating than saying "I'm hungry," and then having someone snap at you, "How can you be hungry, you just ate an hour ago." That's kind of what I'm feeling here. Recommend some of you get aboard the train that is headed into the present. My piano teacher and I agreed last week that the nominal key of a Satie piece I'm playing may be "C major," but - rarely, if ever - is the piece being played in C.Įven what key the piece is being played in is uncertain, since key changes occur practically phrase by phrase. Terms like "intimate" or "stormy" to describe particular keys are mainly in the imagination of the beholder.Īnother point to be made involves the "nominal key" in the signature and what key the piece is actually written in.Įrik Satie is just one example of a modern composer who uses a signature of "C" but scatters very abundant accidentals, to include double sharps and double flats. Today, they represent a half tone up or down in pitch, but the character is not that different. Kudos to xvimbi and ted- you are the only ones with any wisdom here -īefore equal tempering came in, perhaps in about the late 1700's, there were genuine differences in character between different keys.
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