Why is this segment of "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial" in B minor and not D major?
This is taken from the "E.T. The extra-terrestrial" score:
There is an analysis of here:
and this screenshot is from 00:40
I do not understand the annotation:
The first bar is written as "B minor", but is there a reason to say it is B minor and not a D major for example? (the same applies for the other bars).
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Analysis is always an interpretive act, meaning there's not always a definitive answer, but rather an answer that, based on the evidence, is the best fit.
As I hear the piece and watch the analysis, there's one main feature that suggests it begins in B minor and not D major: because B minor returns several times elsewhere in the piece. See 2:20, 3:10 (in B major), 4:08, 6:13, etc. In fact, almost the entire second half is based in B minor.
Throughout much of music history, tonal composers have had a preference for monotonality, which basically means beginning and ending in the same key. Since m. 8 here is the beginning of this section, the analyst is probably choosing B minor instead of D major to show that monotonal relationship. And since B minor is present for over half of the piece, it's pretty clear that B minor is the overall tonality.
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