B-flat minor

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.

B-flat minor

Relative key	D-flat major
Parallel key	B-flat major
Dominant key	F minor
Subdominant	E-flat minor
Enharmonic	A-sharp minor
Component pitches
B♭, C, D♭, E♭, F, G♭, A♭

The B-flat natural minor scale is:

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:

Scale degree chords

The scale degree chords of B-flat minor are:

• Tonic – B-flat minor
• Supertonic – C diminished
• Mediant – D-flat major
• Subdominant – E-flat minor
• Dominant – F minor
• Submediant – G-flat major
• Subtonic – A-flat major

Characteristics

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

The old valveless 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

See also: List of symphonies in B-flat minor

• 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
  • Piano Sonata No. 2 "Funeral March"^[3]
  • Nocturne Op. 9 No. 1^[4]
  • Scherzo No. 2^[5]
  • Prelude Op. 28, No. 16 "Hades"^[6]
  • Mazurka Op. 24, No. 4
• Franz Liszt
  • Transcendental Étude No. 12 (Chasse-neige) from Transcendental Études
• Sergei Rachmaninoff
  • Piano Sonata No. 2, Op. 36
• 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

1. Wilfrid Mellers, "Round and About in Górecki's Symphony No. 3" Tempo 168 3 (1989): 23
2. J. Murray Barbour, Trumpets, Horns, and Music (1964), p. 163
3. Piano Sonata No. 2, Op. 35 (Chopin): Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
4. Nocturnes, Op. 9 (Chopin): Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
5. Scherzo No. 2, Op. 31 (Chopin): Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
6. Preludes, Op.28 (Chopin): Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
7. 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