B♭ minor · Paulipedia

B-flat minor
${ \magnifyStaff #3/2 \omit Score.TimeSignature \key bes \minor s16 \clef F \key bes \minor s^"" }$
Component pitches
Relative key	D-flat major
Parallel key	B-flat major
Dominant key	F minor
Subdominant key	E-flat minor
Enharmonic key	A-sharp minor
B♭, C, D♭, E♭, F, G♭, A♭

B-flat minor is a minor scale based on B♭, consisting of the pitches B♭, C, D♭, E♭, F, G♭, and A♭. Its key signature has five flats. Its relative major is D-flat major and its parallel major is B-flat major. Its enharmonic equivalent, A-sharp minor, which would contain seven sharps, is not normally used.

The B-flat natural minor scale is:

$\header { tagline = ##f } scale = \relative b { \key bes \minor \omit Score.TimeSignature bes^"B♭ natural minor scale" c des es f ges as bes as ges f es des c bes2 \clef F \key bes \minor } \score { { << \cadenzaOn \scale \context NoteNames \scale >> } \layout { } \midi { } }$

Audio playback is not supported in your browser. You can download the audio file.

Changes needed for the melodic and harmonic versions of the scale are written in with accidentals as necessary. The B-flat harmonic minor and melodic minor scales are:

$\header { tagline = ##f } scale = \relative b { \key bes \minor \omit Score.TimeSignature bes^"B♭ harmonic minor scale" c des es f ges a bes a! ges f es des c bes2 } \score { { << \cadenzaOn \scale \context NoteNames \scale >> } \layout { } \midi { } }$

Audio playback is not supported in your browser. You can download the audio file.

$\header { tagline = ##f } scale = \relative b { \key bes \minor \omit Score.TimeSignature bes^"B♭ melodic minor scale (ascending and descending)" c des es f g a bes as? ges? f es des c bes2 } \score { { << \cadenzaOn \scale \context NoteNames \scale >> } \layout { } \midi { } }$

Audio playback is not supported in your browser. You can download the audio file.

Scale degree chords

The scale degree chords of B-flat minor are:

Characteristics

B-flat minor is traditionally a 'dark' key.^[1]

The old natural horn was barely capable of playing in B-flat minor: the only example found in 18th-century music is a modulation that occurs in the first minuet of Franz Krommer's Concertino in D major, Op. 80.^[2]

Notable classical compositions

Charles-Valentin Alkan
- Prelude Op. 31, No. 12 (Le temps qui n'est plus)
- Symphony for Solo Piano, 3rd movement: Menuet
Samuel Barber
- Adagio for Strings
Frédéric Chopin
Franz Liszt
- Transcendental Étude No. 12 (Chasse-neige) from Transcendental Études
Sergei Rachmaninoff
- Piano Sonata No. 2, Op. 36
Domenico Scarlatti
- Keyboard Sonata in B-flat minor, K. 128
- Keyboard Sonata in B-flat minor, K. 131
Dmitri Shostakovich
- Symphony No. 13, Op. 113 ("Babi Yar")
- String Quartet No. 13, Op. 138
Richard Strauss
- An Alpine Symphony begins and ends in B-flat minor.
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
- Piano Concerto No. 1^[7]
- Marche slave
William Walton
- Symphony No. 1

References

Wilfrid Mellers, "Round and About in Górecki's Symphony No. 3" Tempo 168 3 (1989): 23
J. Murray Barbour, Trumpets, Horns, and Music (1964), p. 163, Michigan State University Press LCCN 63-18488 OCLC 564041
Piano Sonata No. 2, Op. 35 (Chopin): Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
Nocturnes, Op. 9 (Chopin): Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
Scherzo No. 2, Op. 31 (Chopin): Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
Preludes, Op. 28 (Chopin): Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 23 (Tchaikovsky): Scores at the International Music Score Library Project

External links

Media related to B-flat minor at Wikimedia Commons