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<DIV>We've been reading here that composers write music in specific keys for the
"effect" of that key. The implication is that this is the only reason they
chose a particular key. However, there are many practical reasons for a
particular key for a piece:</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>* The vocal range. The "Star Spangled Banner" has a wide melodic
range. It can be sung in A-flat, A, or sometimes B-flat, but beyond
that it becomes unsingable at one end of the range or another. (Actually
it's a stretch in any key.) </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>* Range for a particular part. Tenors peak on A# - B-flat. Much
operatic music is written to have the song's climax on that note. La Dona
e Mobile is in B because the piece climaxes in the 7th (A#). Some tenors
can indeed consistently reach a B (or more) but not that many. However,
if a tenor can't nail B-flat day in and day out, they're
unemployed.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>* In instrumental writing much music is written in a key to make it doable
on a particular instrument. It's one thing to write music that is
difficult to play. It's quite another to write something that is simply
awkward for awkward's sake. The traditional "Lord's Prayer" is published
in A-flat, B-flat, C, D-flat and E-flat. Why those keys? Because the
arpeggios in that piece are easiest to play in flat keys. (I once played
it for a tenor who was having a bad day, in D. Not nearly as easy as it
should have been!)</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>* In instrumental and vocal music there is the matter of the melodic
range. Transpose the first 8 measures of Clair 'd Lune (D-flat) up
to G-flat and it sounds silly. Incidentally in this piece the
modulation from D-flat to E is not a "far" modulation. The E part is more
intense but in a nearer key (4 sharps rather than 5 flats). The
relationship between the keys is a sub-medient relationship - a very common and
musically satisfying change.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>There are lots of reasons why a particular key is chosen, not just for the
"magic" of a key sound. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>dave</DIV></BODY></HTML>
<PRE>
_____________________________
David M. Porritt
dporritt@mail.smu.edu
Meadows School of the Arts
Southern Methodist University
Dallas, TX 75275
_____________________________</PRE>