Anxious key in D minor

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Fugue in D minor, composed by Johann Sebastian Bach at the beginning of the eighteenth century, entered the treasury of world classical music as one of the most popular and famous compositions. It is performed most often together with a toccata, sustained in the same key. For professional musicians and amateurs who are familiar with the basics of musical notation, the name is clear. All other music lovers need an explanation of what “D minor” means, and in which opuses of the great master (as well as other composers) it occurs.

Is Bach the author?

For a long time - more than two and a half centuries - no one doubted that this fugue was written by Bach. Then, in the eighties of the last century, two books appeared in which, based on a detailed analysis of the style and the most frequently used musical techniques by the composer, doubts are expressed about the authenticity of the officially recognized authorship. The presence of parallel octaves, a subdominant response and some other moments characteristic of the work either do not occur in other works by Bach, or are extremely rare.

These features are understood only by specialists,having deep knowledge of the theory, so there is no point in going into details. It remains only to believe Christoph Wolff (a supporter of the fact that Bach nevertheless wrote a toccata and fugue) or Peter Williams (an opponent of Bach's authorship). In addition, brilliant composers often created something that surprised themselves, such is their nature that they do not obey given algorithms. “Fuga in D minor” is an extraordinary work, unlike anything else. Paradoxically, in a sense, this speaks in favor of its authenticity. The tone in which it is written provides rich opportunities for expressing emotions that overwhelm a talented soul.

A little about solfeggio and scales

It is necessary to delve into the theory quite a bit, it is impossible to do without it. First, you need to remember that any harmonious sound is a combination of frequencies, among which the main one that determines the position of the note stands out. For example, "la 1" corresponds to air vibrations of 440 Hz.

The human ear distinguishes seven tones and five semitones in each scale, then everything starts again, already in another octave. You can visually appreciate this by looking at the piano keyboard: white keys are tones, and black keys are semitones. It is clear that raising (major or “moll”) one tone by half of it is the same as lowering the next. In other words, D minor is identical to the term "d-moll".

A simple (although not always) exercise for elementary school students of music schools is such an important element of education as learning scales. It gives the mainremembering where the desired key is on the keyboard, or which string of the harp (violin, cello, domra, etc.) creates the required sound. The same applies to wind instruments. The ascending scale on the guitar is sometimes written for ease of reading in Latin (H - semitone, Half) or Russian letters (T and P), for example, W-W-H-W-W-W-H (T-T-P-T-T-T-P), which reads like this: tone, tone, semitone, tone, tone, tone, semitone). This method of memorization makes it possible to master the most popular instrument for those who do not have the time or desire to study professionally at the conservatory, but want to play. The D minor scale sounds in the following sequence: re, mi, fa, sol, la, b-flat, do, re.

Works in this key

Music affects the human mind more than any other art form. The minor key, unlike the major one, creates a sad, thoughtful and even sometimes aggressive mood. This psychological feature of perception was often used by composers of past centuries, and modern works are very often sustained in it. The blues is based on "downward" harmony, like many examples of rock. Of the classical music, sustained in the key of "D minor", in addition to Bach's Fugue, the most famous works were his "Concerto No. 1 for clavier and orchestra" (BWV 1052), Mozart's "Requiem", Beethoven's Ninth Symphony (widely known for "Ode joy" in the fourth part). The twentieth century gave us Dvorak's Seventh Symphony, Rachmaninov's First, his own Fugue, Third Concerto and Etude-picture, written in the samekeys, the second Piano Sonata by Prokofiev, the Piano Sonata by Shostakovich and many other wonderful works.

In modern processing

Each composer has the right to choose what key he likes. In addition, the harmony of consonance corresponds to the emotional fullness of the work, its meaning and the most important task. Music can be optimistic-major, gloomy-minor or has all possible shades in between. The richness of the legacy of past centuries encourages many jazz and rock performers to create original arrangements of works by classical composers of past centuries. For example, the famous band Megadeth started the song “Loved to Deth” with a quote performed on the piano, in which every enlightened music lover can easily guess Bach’s “Fugue in D Minor”. There are other examples of how sonatas, fugues and concertos in this key, used by today's musicians, are becoming especially in tune with our troubled times.