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 | |
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.
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 a popular key for concert band compositions.
In Nordic, Baltic, Western and Southern Slavic (except Bulgarian) languages, Hungarian, German and most Central and Northern European languages, 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
References
- ↑ H. C. Robbins Landon, Haydn Symphonies, London: British Broadcasting Corporation (1966): 57
External links
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| The table indicates the number of sharps or flats in each scale. Minor scales are written in lower case. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||