B minor

B minor

Relative key	D major
Parallel key	B major
Dominant key	F♯ minor
Subdominant	E minor
Component pitches
B, C♯, D, E, F♯, G, A, B

B natural minor scale ascending and descending. <phonos file="B natural minor scale ascending and descending.mid">Play</phonos>

B harmonic minor scale ascending and descending. <phonos file="B harmonic minor scale ascending and descending.mid">Play</phonos>

B melodic minor scale ascending and descending. <phonos file="B melodic minor scale ascending and descending.mid">Play</phonos>

B minor is a minor scale consisting of the pitches B, C♯, D, E, F♯, G, and A. Its key signature consists of two sharps. The harmonic minor raises the note A to A♯. Changes needed for the melodic and harmonic versions of the scale are written with accidentals as necessary.

Its relative major is D major, and its parallel major is B major.

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 his St John Passion. By the end of the Baroque era, however, conventional academic views of B minor had shifted: Composer-theorist Francesco Galeazzi (1758–1819) opined that B minor was not suitable for music in good taste. Beethoven labelled a B minor melodic idea in one of his sketchbooks as a "black key". Brahms, Dvořák, Schubert, Liszt, Chopin, Borodin, and Tchaikovsky all wrote significant works in B minor.

Notable compositions in B minor

• J. S. Bach – Mass in B minor
• J. S. Bach - Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B Minor, BWV 1067
• J. S. Bach – French Suite No. 3 in B minor, BWV 814
• 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
• Alexander Scriabin – Fantaisie in B minor, Op. 28
• Tchaikovsky – Symphony No. 6 (Pathetique), Op. 74
• Vivaldi – Concerto for 4 Violins and Cello, RV 580 (Concerto No. 10 from L'estro Armonico)
• Wagner – Ride of the Valkyries from Die Walküre

See also: List of symphonies in B minor

References

Notes

Sources

• Ascoli: 1817. See also Francesco Galeazzi, The Theoretical-Practical Elements of Music, Parts III and IV; English translation, with introduction and commentary, by Deborah Burton and Gregory W. Harwood (Champaign, Illinois: University of Illinois Press, 2012); ISBN 978-0-252-03708-5.

External links

• Media related to at Wikimedia Commons