G minor

G minor is a minor scale based on G.

Its relative major is B-flat major.
G minor is one of two flat key signatures that needs a sharp for the seventh note (the other is D minor).

During the Baroque period, music in G minor was usually written with a one-flat key signature.

Mozart's use of G Minor

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart thought that G minor was the most suitable key for showing sadness and tragedy,Hellmut Federhofer, foreword to the Bärenreiter Urtext of Mozart's Piano Quartet in G minor. "G-Moll war für Mozart zeitlebens die Schicksaltonart, die ihm für den Ausdruck des Schmerzes und der Tragik am geeignetsten erschien." ("G minor was, for Mozart, the most suitable fate-key throughout his life for the expression of pain and tragedy.")( and many of his minor key works are in G minor, such as the Piano Quartet No. 1 and the String Quintet in G minor. G minor is the only minor key he used as a main key for his numbered symphonies (No. 25, and the famous No. 40). In the Classical period, symphonies in G minor almost always used four horns, two in G and two in B-flat alto.H. C. Robbins Landon, Mozart and Vienna. New York: Schirmer Books (1991): 48. "Writing for four horns was a regular part of the Sturm und Drang G minor equipment." Robbins Landon also notes that Mozart's No. 40 was first intended to have four horns. G minor symphonies like Mozart's No. 25 often used E flat major for the slow movement, including Haydn's No. 39 and Vanhal's G minor symphony from before 1771 (Bryan Gm1).James Hepokoski og Warren Darcy, Elements of Sonata Theory (Oxford University Press: 2006) p. 328

Famous classical music in G minor
 Fantasia and Fugue in G minor "The Great", BWV 542- Bach
 Symphony No. 83 "The Hen" - Haydn
 Symphony No. 40 - Mozart
 Ballade No. 1 in G minor - Chopin 
 Polonaise in G minor - Chopin 
 Piano Concerto No. 2 - Saint-Saëns
 Slavonic Dance No. 8 in G minor - Dvořák
 Sicilliene, Op. 78 - Fauré
 Prelude in G Minor - Rachmaninoff
 Sonata for Cello and Piano in G minor - Rachmaninoff
 Most of Verdi's Requiem (the Dies Irae), is in G minor.
 Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 8, RV 315, "Summer" from The Four Seasons - Antonio Vivaldi
 Adagio in G minor - "Albinoni's Adagio", now said to be written by Remo Giazotto
 Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 26 - Max Bruch
 Christmas Concerto - Arcangelo Corelli
 Ya Lil (Al Anisa Farah) - Ramage

See also: List of symphonies in G minor.

 Variations 
There are many variations of G minor.
 Variation  DescriptionG minor 7th  a g minor chord containing G, Bb/A#, D, and FG minor major 7th  a G minor chord with a Major 7th.G minor major  a combination of G minor and G major.G minor 6th  a G minor chord with a Major 6th.G minor 9th  G minor 7th containing A.G minor 2nd  a G minor with Ab or G#.G augmented minor  the augmented version of G minor.G diminished  has C#/Db instead of D.G minor 7th-5  G diminished with minor 7th.G diminished 7th  a G diminished with a major 6th.

 References 

Category:Musical keys
Category:Minor scales