D minor is a minor scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B♭, and C. In the harmonic minor, the C is raised to C♯. Its key signature has one flat (see below: Scales and keys).

Its relative major is F major, and its parallel major is D major. D minor is one of the two flat-signature keys whose melodic and harmonic scale variations require the addition of a written sharp; the other is G minor.

Of Domenico Scarlatti's 555 keyboard sonatas, 151 are in minor keys, and with 32 sonatas, D minor is the most often chosen minor key. Nigel Tufnel, one of the members of the musical spoof megagroup Spinal Tap speaks of "a musical trilogy I'm working on in D minor which is the saddest of all keys, I find. People weep instantly when they hear it, and I don't know why."

J. S. Bach's entire The Art of Fugue is in D minor. According to Alfred Einstein, the history of tuning has led D minor to be associated with counterpoint and chromaticism (for example, the chromatic fourth), and cites Mozart's chromatic fugue in D minor. Mozart's Requiem is also written primarily in D minor, as is the aria "Der Hölle Rache". Of the two piano concertos that Mozart wrote in a minor key, one of them is in D minor, No. 20, K. 466. Sibelius's Violin Concerto is in D minor, as is Schumann's. The tonality of D minor held special significance for Helene and Alban Berg.

C-sharp minor or C♯ minor is a minor scale based on C♯, with the pitches C♯, D♯, E, F♯, G♯, A, and B. For the C-sharp harmonic minor, the B is raised to B♯ (which is equivalent to C). Its key signature consists of four sharps.

Its relative major is E major, and its parallel major is C-sharp major, usually replaced by D-flat major.

Changes needed for the melodic and harmonic versions of the scale are written in with accidentals as necessary.

Classical music in this key

There are only two known symphonies in the 18th century written in this key. One of them is by Joseph Martin Kraus, but he appears to have found the key difficult since he later rewrote it in C minor. Even in the following two centuries, C-sharp minor symphonies remained rare. Two notable examples are the first movement of Mahler's Symphony No. 5) and Prokofiev's Symphony No. 7.

This key occurs more often in piano literature from the 18th century onwards. Domenico Scarlatti wrote just two keyboard sonatas in C-sharp minor, K. 246 and K. 247. But after Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 14 (Moonlight Sonata), the key became more frequent in the piano repertoire. Beethoven himself used this key again in the outer movements of his String Quartet No. 14 (Op. 131, 1826). Even so, Johannes Brahms still felt the need to rewrite his C-sharp minor Piano Quartet in C minor, which was published as Piano Quartet No. 3 in C minor, Op. 60.

D-sharp minor or D♯ minor is a minor scale based on D-sharp, consisting of the pitches D♯, E♯, F♯, G♯, A♯, B, and C♯. For the harmonic minor, the C♯ is raised to C. Its key signature has six sharps.

E-flat minor is its enharmonic equivalent. Its relative major is F-sharp major, and its parallel major is D-sharp major, usually replaced by E-flat major, since D-sharp major, which would contain five sharps and two double sharps, is not normally used.

Changes needed for the melodic and harmonic versions of the scale are written in with accidentals as necessary.

D-sharp minor is infrequently used as the principal key center of pieces in the Classical era. More common is notation in E-flat minor, which is a relatively manageable key for many brass instruments and woodwinds.

Compositions in D-sharp minor

The most famous work in this key is Scriabin's famous Etude Op. 8, No. 12. The Russian composer Lyapunov wrote the second étude of his Op. 11 set in the key, and also fifteen years later his Variations on a Russian Theme, Op. 49. In addition, his early Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 4 was in the enharmonic key of E-flat minor. The second movement from Charles-Valentin Alkan's Grande sonate 'Les quatre âges', subtitled Quasi-Faust, is also in D-sharp minor (but ends in F-sharp major), and modulates into even sharper keys along the way, some even being theoretical keys, such as G-sharp major and A-sharp major. The hymn "O Sacrum Convivium" by Olivier Messiaen (1937) is in D-sharp minor.

Sela may refer to:

People

Places

Other uses

See also

Sela (Arabic: سلع‎) is a mountain in Medina in modern Saudi Arabia.

Mount selae in the "District of the Seven Mosques" in city of Medina Municipality in Saudi Arabia. Sela' means "sliced", because the mountain looks as if it is sliced several times.

"The Prophet Muhammad in the "Battle of the Trench" prayed to God for victory on Mount Sela'. Mount Sela was mentioned by several Hadith of the stories of the Prophet such as The Prayer for Rain, The forgiveness of Ka'b b. malik.

Sela is mentioned by Al-Hamdani in his book Geography of Arabian Peninsula as part of Medina city in his time 150 years after Muhammad. His name and his companions Umar and Ali are inscribed on a stone on top of the mountain.

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Sela (Arabic: السلع‎, Hebrew: סֶּלַע‎, transliteration Sela‛, meaning rock; Arabic: as-Sala‛; Greek: πέτρα; Latin: petra) was the capital of Edom, situated in the great valley extending from the Dead Sea to the Red Sea (2 Kings 14:7). It was near Mount Hor, close by the desert of Zin. It is called "the rock" (Judges 1:36). When Amaziah of Judah took it he called it Joktheel (also spelled Jokteel (JPS) and Jectehel (DRB)) (q.v.) (Hebrew: יָקְהַתְאֵל‎, Jiqhat-’Ēl, "the blessedness of God" or "subdued by God";Latin: Jectehel) or Kathoel (Greek: Καθοηλ) in the Septuagint. It is mentioned by the prophets (Isaiah 15:1; 16:1; Obadiah 1:3) as doomed to destruction.

Sela is identified with the ruins of Sela, east of Tafileh in Jordan (identified as biblical Tophel) and near Bozrah, all Edomite cities in the mountains of Edom.

Sela appears in later history and in the Vulgate under the name of Petra. "The caravan of all ages, from the interior of Arabia and from the Persian Gulf, from Hadhramaut on the ocean, and even from Sabea (Sheba) or Yemen, appear to have pointed to Petra as a common centre; and from Petra the tide seems again to have branched out in every direction, to Egypt, Palestine, and Syria, through Arsinoe, Gaza, Tyre, Jerusalem, and Damascus, and by other routes, terminating at the Mediterranean Sea." (See Edom [2].)

An academic minor is a college or university student's declared secondary academic discipline during their undergraduate studies. As with an academic major, the college or university in question lays out a framework of required classes or class types a student must complete to earn the minor—although the latitude the student is given changes from college to college. Academic minors and majors differ in that the former is subordinate to the latter. To obtain an academic minor, a total of two years of study at a university in a selected subject is the usual requirement.

Some students will prepare for their intended career with their major, while pursuing personal interests with a minor. For example, some students may major in civil engineering and minor in a foreign language.

Other students may pursue a minor to provide specific specialization and thus make themselves more attractive to employers. It is not infrequent for a physics major to minor in computer science or an economics major to minor in mathematics. Engineering students frequently take a minor in mathematics, as they already have most course credits needed for the purpose.