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.

This article is about the C minor scale. For the chord C minor, see minor chord.

C minor

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 first piano sonata, No. 20, in C minor (H.XVI No. 20). 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 the Symphony No. 5 and three of his piano sonatas. (See Beethoven and C minor.)

Brahms's first symphony and first string quartet were composed in C minor; these were both genres with which Beethoven was closely associated during Brahms's lifetime.

Three of Anton Bruckner's ten numbered symphonies are in C minor, as are two of Dmitri Shostakovich's symphonies.

Notable compositions

See also: List of symphonies in C minor

• Charles-Valentin Alkan
  • Prelude Op. 31, No. 16 (Assez lentement)
  • Symphony for Solo Piano, 1st movement: Allegro
  • Trois grandes études, Op. 76, No. 3 "Mouvement semblable et perpetuel" (Rondo-Toccata) for the hands reunited
• Johannes Sebastian Bach
  • Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582
  • Cello Suite No. 5, BWV 1011
  • The Musical Offering, BWV 1079
• Ludwig van Beethoven
  • Piano Sonata No. 5
  • Piano Sonata No. 8 (Pathétique)
  • Piano Concerto No. 3
  • Coriolan Overture
  • Symphony No. 5
  • Choral Fantasy
  • Piano Sonata No. 32
• Johannes Brahms
  • Symphony No. 1
  • String Quartet Op. 51/1
  • Piano Trio No. 3
  • Piano Quartet No. 3
• Anton Bruckner
  • Symphony No. 1
  • Symphony No. 2
  • Symphony No. 8
• Frédéric Chopin
  • Rondo Op. 1
  • Piano Sonata No. 1
  • Étude Op. 10, No. 12 (Revolutionary)
  • Étude Op. 25, No. 12 (Ocean)
  • Prélude Op. 28, No. 20 "Funeral March"
  • Nocturne in C minor, Op. 48, No. 1
  • Mazurka Op. 56, No. 3
• Gabriel Fauré
  • Élégie, Op. 24
• Franz Liszt
  • Transcendental Étude No. 8 "Wilde Jagd"
• Gustav Mahler
  • Symphony No. 2 "Auferstehung"
• Felix Mendelssohn
  • Symphony No. 1
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
  • Great Mass in C minor, KV 427/417a
  • Piano Concerto No. 24, KV 491
  • Maurerische Trauermusik KV 477
• Sergei Prokofiev
  • Symphony No. 3, Op. 44
• Sergei Rachmaninoff
  • Piano Concerto No. 2
• Camille Saint-Saëns
  • Symphony No. 3 (Organ Symphony)
• Dmitri Shostakovich
  • String Quartet No. 8
  • Symphony No. 4
  • Symphony No. 8
• Franz Schubert
  • Symphony No. 4, D. 417
• Felix Blumenfeld
  • Prelude Op. 17, No. 20
• Ferrucio Busoni
  • Prelude Op. 37, No. 20
• Stephen Heller
  • Etude Op. 46, No. 5
  • Etude Op. 46, No. 18
  • Etude Op. 46, No. 26
• Anton Arensky
  • Morceaux caractéristique Op. 36, No. 2 "La toupie"
  • Etude Op. 74, No. 2

See also

• Key (music)
• Major and minor
• Chord (music)
• Chord names and symbols (popular music)

External links

Media related to C minor at Wikimedia Commons