"Different keys are suitable to express different "affects" ( sets of feelings)" - this idea was hotly debated in the baroque period. From two French experts of the time we get the following:
Here are the key or mode descriptions from Charpentier's Regles de Composition ca. 1682
C major:gay and warlike
C minor:obscure and sad
D major:joyous and very warlike
D minor:serious and pious
Eb major:cruel and hard
E major:quarrelsome and boisterous
E minor:effeminate, amorous, plaintive
F major:furious and quick-tempered subjects
F minor:obscure and plaintive
G major:serious and magnificent
G minor:serious and magnificent
A major:joyful and pastoral
A minor:tender and plaintive
B major:harsh and plaintive
B minor:solitary and melancholic
Bb major:magnificent and joyful
Bb minor:obscure and terrible
In his Traité de l’harmonie (Treatise on Harmony, 1722) Rameau "outlines the common affective uses of various keys and presents his professional opinion on the matter. For him the key of either C, D, or A in the major mode is suitable for songsof mirth and joy. Either F or B-flat is appropriate for tempests,furies, and such subjects. Either G or E is right for both tender and happy songs. Grandeur and magnificence can be expressed by the key of either D, A, or E. The minor mode in the key of either d, g, b, or e is apt for sweetness and gentleness. The key of either c or f minor is suitable for gentleness or laments; f or b-flat minor is appropriate for melancholy songs."
You have probably spotted that these descriptions don't match well (try g minor for example). If you want further (varied) opinions, have a look at what the Germans said: Mattheson (1713) even manages to contradict himself, I reckon: "A major is very gripping, although at the same time brilliant, and is more suited to lamenting and sad passions than to divertissements."
The important thing which emerges, as it does with respect to other discussions of the period whether on graces, dynamics, phrasing etc, is that the music expresses something and the performers must bring it out. Sometimes the "something" is obvious - try not to be moved by a JS Bach cantata. Operas of the period were full of passion and arguably more mainstream than purely instrumental music.
Let's leave Quantz with some last words:
"There is no agreement as to whether certain keys.... have particular individual effects" He then proposes a test: take something in one key, transpose it and hear if it has the same effect. (Caution: none of the music involved here was conceived or played using equal temperament and the instruments were not like modern ones which so often have evolved to match the uniform and bland out-of-tuneness of the modern keyboard. Transposing a piece using computer audio transposing software is not what Quantz proposed - use baroque instruments and a baroque tuning system.) He carries on " As for myself..... I will trust to my experience which assures me of the different effects of different keys."
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