Re: Musical synaesthesia

>From: Padraic Brown <pbrown@...>
>There are a lot in Bb and Eb, too (especially in the Methodist
>Hymnal), which makes them real easy to play.
That's interesting.  Baptist hymns are quite often in Eb, Ab and Db (always
major; you never find minor old school hymns).  Compound meters like 6/8,
9/8 and 12/8 are common as well.

Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran and Presbyterian hymns seem most partial to
sharp keys like D, or good ol' C major.  And minor-key tunes are a lot more
common.  (Unless you're talking about old Latin chants which of course are
each one of six modes.)

D major is a "religious key" to me because of my two favorite hymns: St.
Francis' "All Creatures" and Martin Luther's "A Mightly Fortress" (Bach's
arrangement) are both in D.  (I sure miss that organ at my old parish, St.
Mary's Cathedral in Austin, Texas...)

> >Eb major: patriotic (the key of many national anthems)
> >C minor: anger
> >Ab major: love
> >F minor: fear
>
>Notice also, that the ones you list as joy, reverence, military
>and patriotic; I've listed as sounding especially good on most
>instruments. May be a connection.
Yeah, band pieces are heavy on flats.  One time we had a composition in G
major (I think it was the ubiquitous "Jesu" of the ubiquitous J.S. Bach),
and that threw everybody off but the flute and double-reed players!  (Then
again, a key like D-flat would drive the flutists crazy, and the alto and
baritone sax players grin real big...)

A band arrangement of the "Russian Dance" from the Nutcracker Suite was
transposed up one chromatic to Ab major, from G major.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

About national anthems:

I have composed three national anthems, one each for Techia, Callisto and
Antarctica.  The last of the three is on my webpage and is based around that
"neutral dorian" microtonal mode; very short and melodic-linear with almost
no harmonization.

The Tech anthem is based on another composition of mine: the solemn third
movement of my Second Symphony (incidentally in B minor, and even more
unfinished than Schubert's last symphony).  The MIDI file on my website (the
MSN Community which I always give the link for at the end of my posts) is in
that key.  But a more rousing anthem-like key would be C minor, so I'm going
to rearrange it as such.

The Callistic anthem is in Eb major and 3/4 time; it's more of a pastoral
theme and sounds something like a cross between the American, Canadian,
British and German anthems.

And on a final note: in my conculture, Texas and California are independent
nations (though California would become North California and South
California for a while).  I already composed the Texan anthem, which is in
Ab major and mostly inspired by the American and Russian anthems, while the
Californian anthem, in F major, is inspired by the anthems of Argentina and
other Latin American nations, and the Vatican City.  (Yes, the Pope has his
own anthem; it was composed by Charles Gounod, who also turned a Bach
prelude into an Ave Maria.  I must've played that a million times...)

Incidentally, one of my future projects is to be a Theme and Variations for
piano and orchestra on the Greek national anthem -- all 158 verses of it...

Daniel A. Wier  ¶¦¬þ
Lufkin, Texas USA
http://communities.msn.com/DannysDoubleWideontheWeb
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