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Which key often replaces the dominant key in the exposition of a sonata-form movement in a minor key?
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In a sonata-form movement that begins in a minor key, the relative major key often replaces the dominant key during the exposition.1
While a movement in a major key typically moves to the dominant key to establish tonal contrast, a minor-key movement shifts to its relative majorāthe key whose keynote is three semitones above the tonicāto create the necessary opposition of tonalities.1