Aalice.452
net.music
utzoo!decvax!duke!chico!harpo!mhtsa!alice!rhm
Thu Jan 28 22:44:35 1982
Re: discussion time
I did make a valiant attempt to assign that music to a tonic key in a
theory course some years ago, and lost.  There is really no plausible way
to assign a key to the music or even to refer to it as tonal music.
There is no difficulty in analyzing it as modal music.
Brahms clearly intended the opening to be heard and interpreted as
a theme in C-major, but you soon learn that the real tonal center is E.
Received opinion (Piston's Harmony, e.g.) calls it E Phrygian.