C minor

C minor is a minor scale based on C. Its pitches are C, D, E♭, F, G, A♭, B♭, and C. Its key signature has three flats. Its harmonic minor raises the B♭ to B♮. When written in jazz notation, its short form is Cm.

C minor

Relative key	E♭ major
Parallel key	C major
Dominant key
Subdominant
Notes in this scale
C, D, E♭, F, G, A♭, B♭, C

Its relative major is E-flat major, and its parallel major is C major.

Use in classical music

In the Baroque period, music in C minor was usually written with a two-flat key signature. When this music is printed today, sometimes it is still printed in the same way.

C minor has had the meaning of heroic struggle from Beethoven's time and the composer wrote many of his most emotional, dramatic works in this key. This has also been done by many others, following Beethoven's style.

These are just a few of the well-known works to be written in C minor:

• Cello Suite No. 5 BWV 1011: VI. Gigue - Johann Sebastian Bach
• Great Mass in C minor (Mozart) - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Piano Concerto No. 24 - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Piano Concerto No. 3 - Ludwig van Beethoven
• Symphony No. 5 (Beethoven), op. 67 (1804-8)
• “Choral Fantasy” in C minor, op. 80 (1808), Beethoven
• Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor (Pathétique) - Ludwig van Beethoven
• Piano Sonata No. 32 (Beethoven) - Ludwig van Beethoven
• Symphony No. 2 (Tchaikovsky) “Little Russian” in C minor, op. 17 (1872)
• Symphony No. 8 - Anton Bruckner
• Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor - Sergei Rachmaninov
• Étude Op. 10, No. 12 - Fryderyk Chopin
• Prélude No. 20, Op. 28 - Fryderyk Chopin
• Nocturne in C minor Op. 48, No.1 - Fryderyk Chopin
• Symphony No. 4 - Dmitri Shostakovich
• Symphony No. 8 - Dmitri Shostakovich
• Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor - Bach
• Symphony No. 2 - Gustav Mahler

Related pages

• List of symphonies in C minor