D-sharp minor

D-sharp minor or D♯ minor is a minor scale based on D-sharp, consisting of the pitches D♯, E♯, F♯, G♯, A♯, B, and C♯. For the harmonic minor, the C♯ is raised to C. Its key signature has six sharps (see below: Scales and keys).

E-flat minor is its direct enharmonic equivalent. Its relative major is F-sharp major, and its parallel major is D-sharp major, usually replaced by E-flat major, since D-sharp major, which would contain nine sharps, is not normally used.

Changes needed for the melodic and harmonic versions of the scale are written in with accidentals as necessary.

Since D-sharp minor and its enharmonic equivalent both have key signatures of six accidentals, other considerations dictate the choice of key. For example, using the ascending and descending melodic minor versions of D-sharp minor on the harp is not practical. The B-pedal can be set to the sharp position easily enough, but there is no double-sharp position to which to set the C-pedal. In Book I of The Well-Tempered Clavier, Bach chose to write the eighth prelude in E-flat minor but the accompanying fugue in D-sharp minor. (In Book II, Bach wrote both the eighth Prelude and Fugue in D-sharp minor.)

Music written in this key is considered exceedingly difficult to read, leading to infrequent use of D-sharp minor as the principal key center of pieces in the Classical era. More common is notation in E-flat minor, which is a relatively manageable key for many brass instruments and woodwinds.

In addition to the Bach mentioned above, the most famous work in this key is Scriabin's famous Etude Op. 8, No. 12. Contemporary Russian composer Lyapunov must also have liked the key because he wrote the second etude of his Op. 11 set in the key, and also fifteen years later his Variations on a Russian Theme, Op. 49. In addition his early Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 4 was in the enharmonic key of E-flat minor.

In a few scores, 6-sharp key signatures in the bass clef are written with the sharp for the A on the top line.

Despite the key rarely being used in orchestral music other than to modulate, it is not entirely uncommon in keyboard music. For orchestration of piano music, some theorists recommend transposing the music to D minor or E minor. If D-sharp minor must absolutely be used, one should take care that B-flat wind instruments be notated in F minor, rather than E-sharp minor.

Scales and keys