B minor
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| Relative key | D major |
|---|---|
| Parallel key | B major enharmonic: C♭ major |
| Component pitches | |
| B, C♯, D, E, F♯, G, A, B | |
| Qualities | |
B minor is a minor scale based on B, consisting of the pitches B, C♯, D, E, F♯, G, and A. The harmonic minor raises the A to A♯. Its key signature has two sharps (see below: Scales and keys).
Its relative major is D major, and its parallel major is B major.
Changes needed for the melodic and harmonic versions of the scale are written in with accidentals as necessary.
In Baroque times, B minor was regarded as the key of utter despair.[citation needed] The theorist Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart (1739–1791) regarded B minor as a key expressing a quiet acceptance of fate and very gentle complaint, something commentators find to be in line with Bach's use of the key in the St John Passion.[1] By Beethoven's time, however, the perception of B minor had changed considerably: Francesco Galeazzi wrote that B minor was not suitable for music in good taste, and Beethoven labelled a B minor melodic idea in one of his sketchbooks as a "black key".[2]
It is a common key used in rock, folk, country and other guitarist-based styles because the standard tuning of a guitar causes all the open strings to be scale degrees of B minor.
Well-known classical pieces in B minor [edit]
- J. S. Bach – Mass in B minor
- Bartók – Violin Concerto No. 2
- Brahms – Clarinet Quintet
- Borodin – Symphony No.2
- Bottesini – Double Bass Concerto, No. 2 in B minor
- Chopin – Scherzo No. 1, Op. 20
- Chopin – Étude in B minor, Op. 25, No. 10
- Chopin – Piano Sonata No. 3, Op. 58
- Chopin – Waltz in B minor, Op. 69, No. 2
- Dvořák – Cello Concerto in B minor
- Grieg – In the Hall of the Mountain King
- Hummel – Piano Concerto No. 3, Op. 89
- Liszt – Piano Sonata in B minor
- Felix Mendelssohn – The Hebrides (Fingal's Cave) Overture
- Mozart – Adagio from Flute Quartet No. 1, K. 285
- Mozart – Adagio in B minor, K. 540
- Paganini – Violin Concerto No. 2 (La Campanella)
- Puccini – "E lucevan le stelle" from Tosca
- Saint-Saëns – Violin Concerto No. 3
- Schubert – Symphony No. 8 (Unfinished), D. 759
- Tchaikovsky – Symphony No. 6 (Pathetique), Op. 74
- Vivaldi – Concerto for 4 Violins and Cello, RV 580 (Concerto No. 10 from L'estro Armonico)
- Tchaikovsky – Scene from Swan Lake
References [edit]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: B minor |
- ^ Michael C. Tusa, "Beethoven's 'C-Minor Mood': Some Thoughts on the Structural Implications of Key Choice" in Beethoven Forum 2, Christoph Reynolds, ed. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press (1993): 2–3, n. 5
- ^ Michael C. Tusa, "Beethoven's "C-Minor Mood": Some Thoughts on the Structural Implications of Key Choice" in Beethoven Forum 2, Christoph Reynolds, ed. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press (1993): 2, n. 3
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| The table indicates the number of sharps or flats in each scale. Minor scales are written in lower case. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
