Different keys

[soderlund]

I was inspired to make a thread about this, after what dnephi said in the topic Liszt's best compositions.

I am curious what different composers thought about the keys. Like dnephi said, Liszt considered D minor the key of death and damnation, Ab major the key of love, for example. Did other composers have "plans" for the keys as well?

I am fascinated by the subject, that F major that sounds so playful and innocent has the dark minor equivalent D minor, for example. I am by no means good at music theory and composing, I just go by the feeling I get from pieces in F major or F minor, etc. But I don't have perfect pitch either. It's obvious that the different keys have different qualities though, but I wonder if some composers had so specific views as Liszt on Ab major, defining it as the key of love.

As I wrote in the other thread, I have a feeling that Chopin used different keys with different meanings too. What about Beethoven, Bach, Mozart, and others?

[thalberg]

Yeah Mozart used D minor as the key of doom all the time in his operas.  Mozart also had peasants sing in G major and nobility would sing in Eb major. 

[soderlund]

Interesting. His famous D minor fantasy as well.