B minor is a minor scale based on B, consisting of the pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A. Its key signature has two sharps. Its relative major is D major and its parallel major is B major.
The B natural minor scale is:
Changes needed for the melodic and harmonic versions of the scale are written in with accidentals as necessary. The B harmonic minor and melodic minor scales are:
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".
Scale degree chords The scale degree chords of B minor are: Tonic – B minor Supertonic – C-sharp diminished Mediant – D major Subdominant – E minor Dominant – F-sharp minor Submediant – G major Subtonic – A major
Notable compositions in B minor
Johann Sebastian Bach Mass in B minor Orchestral Suite No. 2, BWV 1067 Prelude and Fugue in B minor, BWV 544 French Suite No. 3, BWV 814 Partita for Violin No. 1, BWV 1002 Flute Sonata in B minor, BWV 1030 Ludwig van Beethoven Bagatelle Op. 126/4 Alban Berg Piano Sonata, Op. 1 Johannes Brahms Ballade (Intermezzo) Op. 10/3 Rhapsody Op. 79/1 Clarinet Quintet, Op. 115 Intermezzo Op. 119/1 Alexander Borodin Symphony No. 2 Frédéric Chopin Scherzo No. 1, Op. 20 Étude, Op. 25, No. 10 Prelude in B minor "Tolling Bells", Op. 28, No. 6 Piano Sonata No. 3, Op. 58 Mazurka Op. 30/2 Mazurka, Op. 33/4 Waltz, Op. 69, No. 2 Antonín Dvořák Cello Concerto, Op. 104 Edward Elgar Violin Concerto César Franck Prélude, Choral et Fugue, FWV 21 Wilhelm Furtwängler Symphonic Concerto Edvard Grieg In the Hall of the Mountain King Joseph Haydn String Quartet, Op. 33/1 String Quartet, Op. 64/2 Johann Nepomuk Hummel Piano Concerto No. 3, Op. 89 Franz Liszt Piano Sonata, S. 178 Ballade No. 2, S. 171 Felix Mendelssohn String Symphony No. 10 in B minor, MWV N 10 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Adagio, K. 540 Flute Quartet, K. 285: II. Adagio Niccolò Paganini Violin Concerto No. 2, Op. 7 Sergei Rachmaninoff Moments musicaux No. 3, Op. 16 Prelude in B minor, Op. 32, No. 10 Études-Tableaux No. 4 in B minor, Op. 39 Camille Saint-Saëns Violin Concerto No. 3, Op. 61 Domenico Scarlatti 12 of his 555 piano sonatas: K 27, 87, 173, 197, 227, 293, 376, 377, 408, 409, 497, 498 Franz Schubert Symphony No. 8 (Unfinished), D. 759 Rondo in B minor for violin and piano, D. 895 Alexander Scriabin Fantaisie in B minor, Op. 28 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pezzo capriccioso Manfred Symphony Symphony No. 6 (Pathetique), Op. 74 Georg Philipp Telemann 12 Fantasias for Solo Flute: Nos. 3 and 9 Sonata for two flutes or violins No. 5 Antonio Vivaldi Trio Sonata Op. 1/11 Violin Sonata, Op. 2/5 Concerto for violin Op. 3/10 Violin Sonata, Op. 5/4 Violin Concerto for four violins Op. 9/12
See also Key (music) Major and minor Chord (music) Chord notation
References Notes
Sources 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); .
External links