B minor

Minor scale based on B

B minor

Relative key| D major

|

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

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:

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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:

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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]

## Scale degree chords

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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

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See also: List of symphonies 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 No. 1 in B minor, BWV 1002
* Flute Sonata in B minor, BWV 1030
* Ludwig van Beethoven
* Bagatelle Op. 126/4
* Allegretto WoO 61 for piano
* Charles Auguste de Bériot
* Violin Concerto No. 2 in B Minor, Op. 32
* Alban Berg
* Piano sonata, Op. 1
* Johannes Brahms
* Ballade (Intermezzo) Op. 10/3
* Capriccio Op. 78/2
* Rhapsody Op. 79/1
* Clarinet Quintet, Op. 115
* Intermezzo Op. 119/1
* Alexander Borodin
* Symphony No. 2
* Sonata for cello and piano
* 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
* Gaetano Donizetti
* String Quartet No. 16
* Antonín Dvořák
* Cello Concerto, Op. 104
* Edward Elgar
* Violin Concerto
* César Franck
* Prélude, Choral et Fugue, FWV 21
* Johann Nepomuk Hummel
* Piano Concerto No. 3, Op. 89
* Jan Kalivoda
* Symphony No. 5, Op. 106
* 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
* 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
* Fantasia for flute solo No. 3
* Fantasia for violin solo No. 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

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

## References

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Notes

1. ^ Tusa 1993, pp. 2–3, n. 5.
2. ^ Galeazzi 1817, p. [page needed].
3. ^ Tusa 1993, p. 2, n. 3.

Sources

* Galeazzi, Francesco (1817). Elementi teorico-pratici di musica con un saggio sopra l'arte di suonare il violino analizzata, ed a dimostrabili principi ridotta. Ascoli. 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 (ed.). Beethoven Forum. Vol. 2\. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-0803239098.

## External links

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* Media related to B minor at Wikimedia Commons

* v
* t
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Diatonic scales and keys

| Circle of fifths |  | No. | Flats | Sharps

|
|

Major | minor | Major  | minor
0  | C | a | C | a
1  | F | d | G | e
2  | B♭ | g | D | b
3  | E♭ | c | A | f♯
4  | A♭ | f | E | c♯
5  | D♭ | b♭ | B | g♯
6  | G♭ | e♭ | F♯ | d♯
7  | C♭ | a♭ | C♯ | a♯
8 | F♭ | d♭ | G♯ | e♯
The table indicates the number of sharps or flats in each scale. Minor scales are written in lower case.
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template
*[No.]: Number