Why avoid minor keys?
Ah, yes— minor keys and the relative major. In order to avoid an overload of theory in these articles, I’ve made a valiant effort until now— an effort I now regret— to avoid dealing with pieces in minor keys, pieces like the Mozart 40th Symphony and the first movement of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, Schubert’s “Unfinished” Symphony … the list of famous masterpieces in minor keys goes on and on. I don’t know what I was thinking. Having come this far, though, I think it would be best to put off a thorough discussion of the behavior of minor keys until we discuss recapitulations and find out why the Manual is so touchy on this subject. For now, here’s a reminder of what major and minor sound like. First, an example of three-part harmony from my previous article; second, the same passage in the minor mode. (Since both passages have the same tonic, they differ in mode, not in key.) Sonata-form expositions in minor keys behave just like those in major keys in that they start in the tonic and
