C minor
C minor is a minor scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E♭, F, G, A♭, and B♭. Its key signature consists of three flats. Its relative major is E♭ major and its parallel major is C major.
| Relative key | E♭ major |
|---|---|
| Parallel key | C major |
| Dominant key | G minor |
| Subdominant | F minor |
| Component pitches | |
| C, D, E♭, F, G, A♭, B♭ | |
The C natural minor scale is:
Changes needed for the melodic and harmonic versions of the scale are written in with accidentals as necessary. The C harmonic minor and melodic minor scales are:
Characteristics
In the Baroque period, music in C minor was usually written with a two-flat key signature, and some modern editions of that repertoire retain that convention.
Joseph Haydn wrote the Piano Sonata Hob. XVI/20 in C minor. Of the two piano concertos that Mozart wrote in a minor key, one of them (No. 24, K. 491) is in C minor.
Beethoven wrote some of his most characteristic works in the key of C minor, including Symphony No. 5 and three of his piano sonatas. (See Beethoven and C minor.)
Johannes Brahms' Symphony No. 1 and String Quartet were composed in C minor.
Three of Anton Bruckner's ten numbered symphonies are in C minor, as are two of Dmitri Shostakovich's symphonies.
Notable compositions
- Charles-Valentin Alkan
- Johannes Sebastian Bach
- Ludwig van Beethoven
- Johannes Brahms
- Anton Bruckner
- Frédéric Chopin
- Gabriel Fauré
- Élégie, Op. 24
- Franz Liszt
- Gustav Mahler
- Felix Mendelssohn
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
- Great Mass in C minor, KV 427/417a
- Piano Concerto No. 24, KV 491
- Maurerische Trauermusik KV 477
- Sergei Prokofiev
- Sergei Rachmaninoff
- Camille Saint-Saëns
- Dmitri Shostakovich
- Franz Schubert
- Symphony No. 4, D. 417
- Piano Sonata No. 19, D. 958
- Impromptu No. 1, D. 899
External links
Media related to C minor at Wikimedia Commons
