I must admit that Haydn and Mozart rank amongst my favourites as far as Classical composers go. Why? I think maybe, that it’s the perfection and beauty of the musical forms they so skilfully employ. Nowhere, is this seen in such clarity and simplicity as the employment of the Minuet musical form.
What is a minuet?
What is a Minuet? A Minuet is a French dance in 3/4 time and also describes the accompanying musical style used by a multitude of composers including Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven – amongst others.
Structure?
Most Minuets employ a ternary or three part structure. The first part (A) is in the tonic key. The middle section (B) or Trio is in a related key: often the relative minor dominant or other key. Therefore, if A is in the key of C, the trio is in G or C minor and most likely lyrical in style.
Minuet in F
What about my piece though? The idea for the theme was conceived when I was around 19. Therefore, its taken a few years to finish this one- and a bit of musical education in the process!
To start with, the piece follows the traditional Minuet pattern. Therefore, the key of the piece is F major and the middle Trio is in the dominant key of C major. My Minuet though, has a bit of twist! When it returns to the A theme, it develops it into the relative minor of D minor and then modulates (changes key) to C Minor eventually arriving back at the home key of F major where we repeat the A section properly.
I hope you like it!
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