Choice And Motivations Of A Certain Key?

From a "theoretical" point of view, all keys are the same, at least in the equal temperament tuning system.

From an organological point of view, every instrument has "preferred" keys, both for reasons of intonation (wind instruments always have some slightly out-of-tune notes), and for reasons of range and, above all I would say, for reasons of technique.

From a historical point of view, many composers have given different meanings to different keys. And it really changes from composer to composer, so it is difficult to speak about it in general terms.

GianBurrasca wrote:

so what are the reasons for choosing a musician?

There are works that touch them all cyclically... perhaps so as not to create disparity

In general, also to provide variety; in short, take Mozart, imagine if he had written all the symphonies in sol-

Anyway, I think there is also a matter of registers; not all melodies sing the same way at all pitches, and excessive transposition can cause damage and distort a structure/melody.

Oracolo wrote:

In general, also to provide variety

One thing is certain: changing key creates variety, and in fact, if you play different pieces all in the same key, it becomes tiresome after a while...

it always sounds like the same piece.

In fact, a good rule of thumb when preparing a concert program is to avoid playing too many pieces in a row in the same key.

GianBurrasca wrote:

I searched for the subject in question, but I found few answers and all of them were very vague.

What is the "meaning" of the various keys and therefore the reasons for a musician's choice?

I discovered that there is a book by Alan Walker (in English) that deals with the subject, referring to Liszt, but there is no Italian translation. Can anyone help me?

Topic treated by Rita Steblin in "A History of Key Characteristics in the Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries" (University of Rochester Press). The first edition dates back to 1983, while the second is from 2002.

http://books.google....AAJ&redir_esc=y

Appendix A is a very long list of citations (about seventy pages in total) taken from 18th and 19th-century treatises: they describe the characteristics that were associated with the various keys at that time. However, the rest of the book is also extremely interesting. It can be easily found on Amazon.

If I write for one or more singers, I usually choose the key based on their vocal range; with instruments, I usually choose a key with flats if I want a warmer sound... I reserve sharps for when I want a more "joyful" sound. However, with voices, I usually prefer to use flats anyway.

thallo wrote:

From a "theoretical" point of view, all keys are equal, at least in the equal temperament tuning system.

From an organological point of view, every instrument has "preferred" keys, both for issues of intonation (wind instruments always have some notes that are slightly out of tune), and for issues of range and, above all I would say, issues of technique.

I agree, and it pairs well with what dilettante chooses; in fact, if we go back in time, in non-tempered systems the keys were actually different in sonority from one to another. Baroque trumpets were cut only in D or C, and therefore D major and C major became, even just by psychological effect, more solemn and festive than other keys.

The piano keyboard with tempered tuning is deceptive: on the piano, all keys are indeed equal, but on other instruments they are not. D major on the violin allows for frequent use of open strings, and even if they are not used, they resonate slightly by sympathy; an effect that does not exist in E-flat major, and this key consequently sounds more dull on string instruments. Aside from the fact that the violinist, when possible, tends anyway not to play with tempered intonation, so we return to the previous case.

A trumpet cut in B-flat sounds more lively when playing in B-flat - with many notes without the use of valves - rather than in G major, where one often has to use the valve with the longer loop, a larger air circuit, intonation often needs to be corrected, etc. Any clarinetist can play in any key on the B-flat clarinet, but clearly keys with flats are easier than those with sharps (the opposite on the A clarinet). And easier fingering often becomes a more relaxed performance - it is no coincidence that the old Neapolitan band musicians, to say that music (or generally any matter) was getting complicated, used to say "qui andiamo nelle chiavette" (the keys for the altered notes).