Re: Fwd: GG -the quality of ecstasy

[Thayer A <A.Thayer@RHBNC.AC.UK>]

> ----------
> From:         Elmer Elevator[SMTP:bobmer@JAVANET.COM]
> Reply To:     Elmer Elevator
> Sent:         15 May 2000 21:06
> To:   F_MINOR@EMAIL.RUTGERS.EDU
> Subject:      Re: Fwd: GG -the quality of ecstasy
>
> Was it on this list recently that I read that the association of the minor
> key with sadness is a very recent, 19th-century historical development?
>
I'm not too sure if that's true. I've just been doing a really boring music
history course at university. Early vocal music, including Italian madrigals
tends to makes use of minor keys to display specific emotions in the text.
Often a piece in a major key will briefly depart to the minor if the mood of
the text becomes optimistic. I'm no expert on this becuase I find such old
music unbelievably boring and take no interest in it, but still that's what
they told us, anyway.

There are numerous Chopin mazurkas in minor keys which are essentially
optimistic and the etude in C sharp minor op. 10, to name a couple of
examples.

Andrew