B-flat minor

Minor scale based on B-flat

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	E-flat minor
Enharmonic	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:

${ \omit Score.TimeSignature \relative c' { \key bes \minor \time 7/4 bes^"Natural minor scale" c des es f ges aes bes aes ges f es des c bes2 \clef F \key bes \minor } }$

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:

${ \omit Score.TimeSignature \relative c' { \key bes \minor \time 7/4 bes^"Harmonic minor scale" c des es f ges a bes a ges f es des c bes2 } }$

${ \omit Score.TimeSignature \relative c' { \key bes \minor \time 7/4 bes^"Melodic minor scale (ascending and descending)" c des es f g a bes aes! ges! f es des c bes2 } }$

Scale degree chords

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

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
Alexander Scriabin
- Études Op. 8: No. 11 in B-flat minor
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
^ 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