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B-flat major is a
major scale The major scale (or Ionian mode) is one of the most commonly used musical scales, especially in Western music. It is one of the diatonic scales. Like many musical scales, it is made up of seven notes: the eighth duplicates the first at double ...
based on B, with pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A. Its
key signature In Western musical notation, a key signature is a set of sharp (), flat (), or rarely, natural () symbols placed on the staff at the beginning of a section of music. The initial key signature in a piece is placed immediately after the clef a ...
has two flats. Its
relative minor In music, relative keys are the major and minor scales that have the same key signatures (enharmonically equivalent), meaning that they share all the same notes but are arranged in a different order of whole steps and half steps. A pair of major an ...
is
G minor G minor is a minor scale based on G, consisting of the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature has two flats. Its relative major is B-flat major and its parallel major is G major. According to Paolo Pietropaolo, it is the con ...
and its
parallel minor In music theory, a major scale and a minor scale that have the same tonic note are called parallel keys and are said to be in a parallel relationship. Forte, Allen (1979). ''Tonal Harmony'', p.9. 3rd edition. Holt, Rinehart, and Wilson. . "When ...
is B-flat minor. The B-flat major scale is: : Many transposing instruments are pitched in B-flat major, including the clarinet,
trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...
,
tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while ...
, and soprano saxophone. As a result, B-flat major is one of the most popular keys for concert band compositions.


History

Joseph Haydn's Symphony No. 98 is often credited as the first symphony written in that key, including
trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...
and
timpani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally ...
parts. However, his brother Michael Haydn wrote one such symphony earlier, No. 36. Nonetheless, Joseph Haydn still gets credit for writing the timpani part at actual pitch with an
F major F major (or the key of F) is a major scale based on F, with the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has one flat. Its relative minor is D minor and its parallel minor is F minor. The F major scale is: : F major is the ...
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. H. C. Robbins Landon, ''Haydn Symphonies'', London: British Broadcasting Corporation (1966): 57 Many editions of the work use no key signature and specify the instrument as "Timpani in B–F".


Notable classical compositions

* François Couperin ** '' Les Barricades Mystérieuses'' *
Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wo ...
** Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 *
Luigi Boccherini Ridolfo Luigi Boccherini (, also , ; 19 February 1743 – 28 May 1805) was an Italian composer and cellist of the Classical era whose music retained a courtly and ''galante'' style even while he matured somewhat apart from the major Europea ...
** 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 ** 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 The ''Grosse Fuge'' (German spelling: ''Große'' ''Fuge'', also known in English as the ''Great Fugue'' or ''Grand Fugue''), Op. 133, is a single-movement composition for string quartet by Ludwig van Beethoven. An immense double fugue, it was ...
'' ** Piano Sonata No. 11 ** Piano Sonata No. 29 (''Hammerklavier'') ** Piano Trio No. 7 (''Archduke'') *
Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wo ...
** Impromptu No. 3, Op. 142 ** Mass No. 3 ** Piano Sonata No. 21, D. 960 ** 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, Op. 38, (''Frühling'') ** The second, fourth and sixth movement of
Kreisleriana ''Kreisleriana'', Op. 16, is a composition in eight movements by Robert Schumann for solo piano, subtitled ''.'' Schumann claimed to have written it in only four days in April 1838 and a revised version appeared in 1850. The work was dedicated to ...
, 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 The ''Variations on a Theme by Joseph Haydn'' (german: Variationen über ein Thema von Jos. Haydn), now also called the ''Saint Anthony Variations'', is a work in the form of a theme and variations, composed by Johannes Brahms in the summer of 18 ...
* 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 ''Pines of Rome'' ( it, Pini di Roma, link=no), P 141, is a tone poem in four movements for orchestra completed in 1924 by the Italian composer Ottorino Respighi. It is the second of his three tone poems about Rome, following ''Fontane di Roma'' ...
''


References


External links

* {{Circle of fifths Musical keys Major scales