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:
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.Wilfrid Mellers, "Round and About in Górecki's Symphony No. 3" Tempo 168 3 (1989): 23
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.J. Murray Barbour, Trumpets, Horns, and Music (1964), p. 163, Michigan State University Press
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" Nocturne Op. 9 No. 1 Scherzo No. 2 Prelude Op. 28, No. 16 "Hades" Mazurka Op. 24, No. 4 Franz Liszt Transcendental Étude No. 12 (Chasse-neige) from Transcendental Études Sergei Rachmaninoff Piano Sonata No. 2, Op. 36 Domenico Scarlatti
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 Marche slave William Walton Symphony No. 1
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