(Ger. E moll). The TONALITY of contemplative calm, if we are to judge by the works written in this key. It is not frequently used by the great composers of the CLASSIC period. WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART neglected it, as did FRANZ JOSEPH HAYDN and LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN. The Romantics loved it, however.
Noteworthy works in E minor include:
FEUX MENDELSSOHN'S Violin Concerto.
The Fourth Symphony of JOHANNES BRAHMS, with its spacious narrative development.
PIOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY'S Fifth Symphony; however, the finale, as tradition demanded, is set in the relative major.
GUSTAV MAHLER'S most serene symphony, his Seventh. Even though there are lapses into the night's darkness, the finale, in unambiguous C major, reasserts the music's optimism, so unusual in Mahler's works.
The River Moldau (Vltava) in BEDŘICH SMETANA'S symphonic cycle MA VLAST flows poetically in E minor. ANTONIN DVOŘÁK'S Ninth Symphony (From The New World) is in E minor. The nostalgic quality of this work—written during his visit to the U.S.—fits the key.
NIKOLAI RIMSKY-KORSAKOV'S symphonic suite SCHEHERAZADE.
