Which keys sound dark?

I was reading this book and on the "Circle of Fifths" chapter, it claims that keys with sharp key signatures (C, G, D, ...) are "often thought by musicians" to be "bright" sounding, whereas those with flat key signatures (F, Bb, Eb, ...) sound "darker".

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It's been my observation that the "mood" in music can indeed be conveyed by whether it is in a flat or sharp key. Remember, this is a very subjective matter, and others' perceptions may differ. That being said...

It's in print somewhere

I remember reading in a music encyclopedia/dictionary about 25 years ago (a thick but single-volume book, certainly not the New Grove!) in which it also claimed that

flat keys generally sound "dark"

and

sharp keys generally sound "bright"

(I also remember the same book stating that major keys are generally "happy" and minor keys "sad"--an opinion certainly corroborated by André Previn.)

Traversing the circle of fifths

I would also suggest that the "dark" (or "bright") mood implied by the author is intensified by adding more flats (or sharps). But only to a certain point. For example,

C major: Neutral or ordinary mood

F major ➔ B♭ ➔ E♭ ➔ A♭: Increasing solemness or "darkness" in mood

G major ➔ D ➔ A ➔ E: Increasing "brightness" in mood

These moods seem to "max out" at 4♭ or 4♯ - my personal opinion is that A♭ major sounds preponderantly solemn or dark whereas E major is about as bright and cheery one can get in music. A lot of Phil Collins' songs are in flat keys (especially A♭ major), and Sheryl Crow seems to have an affinity for sharp keys (especially E major). The mood conveyed by 5♭/7♯, 6♭/6♯, or 7♭/5♯ is sort of a "no-man's land" - the mood is neither "dark" or "bright" but perhaps mysterious, dreamy, or blissful. I might also suggest that since this region on the circle of fifths is antipodal to C major, then it naturally goes that these keys are anything but "ordinary". As an example, Gustav Mahler exploited the "mysteriousness" of G♭ major for the choral entry in his "Resurrection" Symphony:

Putting the cart before the horse

I often wonder if the causal effect is reversed; i.e. an abundance of "bright"-sounding or "dark"-sounding songs have been written before the tonality of the song was decided. It's more as if the mood was established in the lyrics and melody before the composer put them to music. Just an alternate "devil's advocate" theory...

Disclosure

I have perfect pitch, so often I find myself hearing a song for the first time and already knowing what key in which it's played. This also has the side effect of me trying to determine the mood the composer was in when he/she wrote the song--i.e. "this is a 'happy' song so I'll write it in D major" or "this is a really sad song so it'll be in F minor", etc.

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