B-flat major

In music theory, B-flat major is a major scale based on B♭, with pitches B♭, C, D, E♭, F, G, and A. Its key signature has two flats. Its relative minor is G minor and its parallel minor is B-flat minor.

B-flat major

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

The B-flat major scale is:

Many transposing instruments are pitched in B-flat major, including the clarinet, trumpet, tenor saxophone, and soprano saxophone. As a result, B-flat major is one of the most popular keys for concert band compositions.

In most Central and Northern European languages (German, Hungarian, Nordic, Baltic, Western and Southern Slavic languages, except Bulgarian), the pitch B is usually called "H" while B♭ is called "B".

History

Joseph Haydn's Symphony No. 98 is credited as the first symphony he (or anyone else) wrote in that key in which he included trumpet and timpani parts. Actually, his brother Michael Haydn had written one such symphony earlier, No. 36, though Joseph Haydn still gets credit for writing the timpani part at actual pitch with an F major key signature (instead of transposing with a C major key signature), a procedure that made sense since he limited that instrument to the tonic and dominant pitches.[1] Many editions of the work, however, use no key signature and specify the instrument as "Timpani in B♭–F".

Five of Mozart's piano concertos are in B-flat major.

Notable classical compositions

See also: List of symphonies in B-flat major

• François Couperin
  • Les Barricades Mystérieuses
• Johann Sebastian Bach
  • Brandenburg Concerto No. 6
• Luigi Boccherini
  • Cello Concerto No. 9, G. 482
• Joseph Haydn
  • Symphony No. 85 (La Reine)
  • Symphony No. 98
  • Symphony No. 102
  • Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Cello, Oboe and Bassoon
  • String Quartet Op. 76 No. 4 (Sunrise)
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
  • The aria Voi che sapete from the opera The Marriage of Figaro
  • Symphony No. 5
  • Symphony No. 24
  • Symphony No. 33
  • Piano Concerto No. 6
  • Piano Concerto No. 15
  • Piano Concerto No. 18
  • Piano Concerto No. 27
  • String Quintet No. 1
  • String Quartet No. 17 (Hunt)
  • Violin Sonata No. 32
  • Piano Sonata No. 3
  • Piano Sonata No. 13 (Linz)
  • Piano Sonata No. 17
• Ludwig van Beethoven
  • Piano Concerto No. 2
  • Symphony No. 4
  • String Quartet No. 6
  • String Quartet No. 13
  • Große Fuge
  • Piano Sonata No. 11
  • Piano Sonata No. 29 (Hammerklavier)
  • Piano Trio No. 7 (Archduke)
• Franz Schubert
  • Impromptu No. 3, Op. 142
  • Mass No. 3
  • Piano Sonata No. 21
  • Piano Trio No. 1, D. 898
  • Symphony No. 2
  • Symphony No. 5
• Felix Mendelssohn
  • Symphony No. 2 "Lobgesang"
  • String Quintet No. 2
• Frédéric Chopin
  • Variations on "Là ci darem la mano" for piano and orchestra, opus 2
  • Mazurka Op. 7, No. 1
  • Prelude Op. 28, No. 21 "Sunday"
  • Polonaise Op. 71, No. 2
• Robert Schumann
  • Symphony No. 1 "Frühling", Op. 38
  • The second, fourth and sixth movement of Kreisleriana, Op. 16
  • Humoreske for piano, Op. 20
  • Faschingsschwank aus Wien for piano, Op. 26
• Anton Bruckner
  • Symphony No. 5
• Johannes Brahms
  • Piano Concerto No. 2
  • String Quartet No. 3
  • String Sextet No. 1
  • Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel
  • Variations on a Theme by Haydn
• Bohuslav Martinů
  • Symphony no. 1
• Sergei Prokofiev
  • Symphony No. 5
  • Piano Concerto No. 4
  • Piano Sonata No. 7
• Dmitri Shostakovich
  • String Quartet No. 5
• Ottorino Respighi
  • Pines of Rome
• Moritz Moszkowski
  • 8 Morceaux caractéristiques Op. 36, no. 6 "Etincelles"
• Stephen Heller
  • Étude Op. 46, No. 21
• Felix Blumenfeld
  • Prelude Op. 17, No. 21
• Ferrucio Busoni
  • Prelude Op. 37, No. 21
• Anton Arensky
  • 24 Morceaux caractéristiques Op. 36, no. 21 "Marche"

References

1. H. C. Robbins Landon, Haydn Symphonies, London: British Broadcasting Corporation (1966): 57

External links

Media related to B-flat major at Wikimedia Commons