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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:

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 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

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

References

Notes

1. Tusa 1993, pp. 2–3, n. 5.
2. Galeazzi 1817, p. .
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

• Media related to B minor at Wikimedia Commons

v t e Diatonic scales and keys
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.

• Musical keys
• Minor scales
• Compositions in B minor