d-flat minor

{{Short description|Minor key based on D-flat}}

{{Infobox musical scale

| name=D-flat minor
{ \magnifyStaff #3/2 \omit Score.TimeSignature \key des \minor s16 \clef F \key des \minor s^"" }
{{nobold|Alternative notation}}{ \magnifyStaff #3/2 \omit Score.TimeSignature \set Staff.keyAlterations = #`((6 . ,FLAT)(2 . ,FLAT)(5 . ,FLAT)(1 . ,FLAT)(4 . ,FLAT)(0 . ,FLAT)(3 . ,FLAT)(6 . ,DOUBLE-FLAT)) s^"" }

| relative=F-flat major (theoretical)
→enharmonic: E major

| parallel=D-flat major

| dominant=A-flat minor

| subdominant=G-flat minor (theoretical)
→enharmonic: F-sharp minor

| enharmonic=C-sharp minor

| first_pitch=D{{music|flat}}

| second_pitch=E{{music|flat}}

| third_pitch=F{{music|flat}}

| fourth_pitch=G{{music|flat}}

| fifth_pitch=A{{music|flat}}

| sixth_pitch=B{{music|doubleflat}}

| seventh_pitch=C{{music|flat}}

}}

D-flat minor is a musical key based on D♭ (musical note), consisting of the pitches D{{music|flat}}, E♭ (musical note), F♭ (musical note), G♭ (musical note), A♭ (musical note), B{{music|doubleflat}}, and C♭ (musical note). Because its key signature has eight flats, requiring one double flat and six single flats, the enharmonically equivalent key of C-sharp minor is normally used instead. Its relative major is F-flat major, which is usually replaced by E major. Its parallel major is D-flat major.

The D-flat natural minor scale is:

{{block indent|

\header { tagline = ##f }

scale = \relative b { \key des \minor \omit Score.TimeSignature

des^"D♭ natural minor scale" es fes ges as beses ces des ces beses as ges fes es des2 \clef F \key des \minor }

\score { { << \cadenzaOn \scale \context NoteNames \scale >> } \layout { } \midi { } }

}}

Changes needed for the melodic and harmonic versions of the scale are written in with accidentals as necessary. The D-flat harmonic minor and melodic minor scales are:

{{block indent|

\header { tagline = ##f }

scale = \relative b { \key des \minor \omit Score.TimeSignature

des^"D♭ harmonic minor scale" es fes ges as beses c des c! beses as ges fes es des2 }

\score { { << \cadenzaOn \scale \context NoteNames \scale >> } \layout { } \midi { } }

}}

{{block indent|

\header { tagline = ##f }

scale = \relative b {\accidentalStyle modern \key des \minor \omit Score.TimeSignature

des^"D♭ melodic minor scale" es fes ges as bes c des ces? beses? as ges fes es des2 }

\score { { << \cadenzaOn \scale \context NoteNames \scale >> } \layout { } \midi { } }

}}

D-flat minor is usually notated as the enharmonic key of C-sharp minor, as in the second and third measures of Amy Beach's Canticle of the Sun.{{cite book|title=The Canticle of the Sun|author=Amy Beach|author2=Betty Buchanan|name-list-style=amp|date=2006|publisher=A-R Editions, Inc.|isbn=0-89579-583-3|page=xiii}} However, unusually, two of Verdi's most well-known operas, La traviata and Rigoletto, both end in D-flat minor (although written with the five-flat key signature of the parallel major). Mahler's thematic motif "der kleine Appell" ("call to order") from his Fourth and Fifth Symphonies uses both notations: in his Symphony No. 4 (first movement) it is in D-flat minor, but in his Symphony No. 5 it is in C-sharp minor. In the Adagio of his Symphony No. 9, a solo bassoon interpolation following the main theme appears first in D-flat minor, returning twice more notated in C-sharp minor. Likewise, in the Adagio of Bruckner's Symphony No. 8, phrases that are tonally in D-flat minor are notated as C-sharp minor.{{cite book|title=A Theory of Harmony|author=Ernst Levy|date=1985|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=0-87395-993-0|page=62}}{{cite book|chapter=Structural Considerations|title=Mahler's Fourth Symphony|author=James L. Zychowicz|date=2005|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=0-19-816206-5|page=28}}{{cite book|title=Musical Semiotics in Growth|editor=Eero Tarasti|editor2=Paul Forsell|editor3=Richard Littlefield|pages=14–15|chapter=Music history revisited|author=Eero Tarasti|author-link=Eero Tarasti|date=1996|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=0-253-32949-3}}{{cite book|title=Mahler: A Musical Physiognomy|url=https://archive.org/details/mahlermusicalphy0000ador|url-access=registration|author=Theodor W. Adorno|author-link=Theodor W. Adorno|translator=Edmund Jephcott|pages=[https://archive.org/details/mahlermusicalphy0000ador/page/165 165]–166|date=1992|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=0-226-00769-3}}

D-flat minor is shown in Max Reger's theory text On the Theory of Modulation.{{cite book |author=Max Reger |title=Supplement to the Theory of Modulation |publisher=C. F. Kahnt Nachfolger |year=1904 |location=Leipzig |pages=[https://archive.org/details/supplementtotheo00rege/page/42/mode/2up 42–45] |translator=John Bernhoff}}