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.  Play 

B harmonic minor scale ascending and descending.  Play 

B melodic minor scale ascending and descending.  Play 

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.^[1] By the end of the Baroque era, however, conventional academic views of B minor had shifted: Composer-theorist Francesco Galeazzi (1758–1819)^[2] 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".^[3] 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
• Berg - Piano Sonata, Op. 1
• 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

References

Notes

1. Tusa, pp. 2–3, n. 5
2. Galeazzi, Elementi di Musica
3. Tusa, p. 2, n. 3

Sources

• Galeazzi, Francesco. Elementi teorico-pratici di musica con un saggio sopra l'arte di suonare il violino analizzata, ed a dimostrabili principi ridotta. 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.
• Tusa, Michael C. (1993). "Beethoven's 'C-Minor Mood': Some Thoughts on the Structural Implications of Key Choice". In Christoph Reynolds. Beethoven Forum. 2. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-0803239098.

See also

• Key (music)
• Major and minor
• Chord (music)
• Chord names and symbols (popular music)

External links

• Media related to B minor at Wikimedia Commons