(Ger. C moll). The key of concentration and solemnity, a key of introspection, quite different from its major relative, c MAJOR. But the two keys are intimately related, not through the traditional cycle of scales, but by the virtue of the PICARDY THIRD, in which the minor third of a minor triad is replaced by a major third. Thus, no matter how dark or ominous an opening C minor can be, there is always a promise of C major in the FINALE.
Well-known pieces in C minor include:
Ludwig van Beethoven's Fifth Symphony (its finale is in C major). Also, Beethoven's Pathétique Sonata.
FRANZ SCHUBERT'S Fourth Symphony, which bears the designation Tragic.
Anton Bruckner's First, Second, and Eighth Symphonies.
Gustav Mahler's tragic Second Symphony, which concludes with a choral finale that proclaims the dubious promise, "You must die to live."
Alexander Scriabin's Second and Third Symphonies, both ending in redeeming C major.
The most frequently performed of Camille Saint-Saëns's symphonies, his Third, with organ. It also has a C-major finale, with the organ literally pulling out all the stops.
The most popular piano concerto of modern times, the Second by Sergei Rachmaninoff, with its overwhelming C-major finale.
Tod und Verklärung by Richard Strauss. C minor represents here the corruption of death, but the work concludes in triumphant C major, depicting the triumph of the soul over death.
