If G minor were a person, who would he be?
Here's how the Signature Series works:
1. Select a musical key.
2. Gather together the most famous melodies composed in that key over the centuries.
3. Mash up.
4. Meet the person behind the key.
To get to know G minor, click on the orange play button.
Follow along with the pop-up comments to find out what composition is playing.
G minor: The Contrarian
Also known as:
The Moody Teenager.
The Complicated Man.
G minors you might know:
Captain Ahab from Moby Dick.
Holden Caulfield from The Catcher in the Rye.
Pete Campbell from Mad Men.
The notes: G - A - B♭ - C - D - E♭ - F♯ - G.
Number of flats: two.
Relative major: B-flat major.
What they said about G minor in the 18th century:
"Discontent, uneasiness, worry about a failed scheme; bad-tempered gnashing of teeth; in a word: resentment and dislike." - Christian Schubart, 1784
"It is suited to frenzy, despair, agitation." - Francesco Galeazzi, 1796
More G minor listening:
Dido's Lament from Dido and Aeneas by Henry Purcell.
Der Erlkönig by Franz Schubert.
The Canadian connection:
"Your Rocky Spine" by Great Lake Swimmers. PLAY
Editor's note: Historical quotes and translations from A History of Key Characteristics in the 18th and Early 19th Centuries, by Rita Steblin, UMI Research Press (1983).
Related:
The Signature Series
Jan Lisiecki discovers the hidden character in Glenn Gould's favourite piano
Kyrie, Mass in G Minor, by Ralph Vaughan Williams
posted by
Paolo Pietropaolo
on Jun 21, 2012