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The B♭ (B-flat) major scale consists of the pitches B♭, C, D, E♭, F, G, and A. Its key signature has two flats, B/E (see below: Scales and keys).
Its relative minor is G minor, and its parallel minor is B♭ minor.
Many transposing instruments are pitched in B-flat major, including the clarinet, trumpet, tenor saxophone, and soprano saxophone.
A few famous works in B flat major:
- Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 (Bach)
- Piano Concerto No. 15 (Mozart)
- Piano Concerto No. 27 (Mozart)
- Piano Sonata No. 11 (Beethoven)
- Piano Concerto No. 2 (Beethoven)
- Symphony No. 4 (Beethoven)
- String Quartet No. 6 (Beethoven)
- String Quartet No. 13 (Beethoven)
- Große Fuge (Beethoven)
- Piano Sonata No. 29 (Beethoven)
- Piano Sonata No. 21 (Schubert)
- Symphony No. 2 (Mendelssohn)
- Piano Concerto No. 2 (Brahms)
- Symphony No. 5 (Bruckner)
- Symphony No. 5 (Prokofiev)
- Piano Concerto No. 4 (Prokofiev)
- String Sextet No. 1 (Brahms)
- Prelude in B-flat major (Rachmaninoff)
- String Quartet No. 5 (Shostakovich)
- Mass No. 3 (Schubert)
A big thanks to the CBC and Paolo Pietropaolo for hosting the Signature Series.
G-sharp minor is a minor scale based on G♯, consisting of the pitches G♯, A♯, B, C♯, D♯, E, and F♯.
Few symphonies are written in G♯ minor; among them are Nikolai Myaskovsky’s 17th Symphony, Christopher Schlegel’s 5th Symphony, and an abandoned work of juvenilia by Marc Blitzstein.
Despite the key rarely being used in orchestral music other than to modulate, it is not entirely uncommon in keyboard music, as in the sonatas of Scriabin. For orchestration of piano music, some theorists recommend transposing the music to G minor or A minor. If G-sharp minor must absolutely be used, one should take care that B-flat wind instruments be notated in B-flat minor, rather than A-sharp minor.
A big thanks to the CBC and Paolo Pietropaolo for hosting the Signature Series.
A second musical interlude on one Friday? This one not from Arb? Something special and wonderful must be happening!
If you’re thinking something along these lines, you’ve never been more right in your life. Welcome friends to my very first musical interlude post. Why now? Because it’s the holiday season and you deserve a little extra love. Why me? Because I have a knack for finding those extra special somethings you just don’t see everyday and I’ve found an absolute gem for you today.
Leonard Solomon is a musical genius and craftsman extraordinaire. He has invented some marvellous instruments and arranged numerous pieces to fit his wondrous creations. Here for you now, Johannes Brahms’ Hungarian Dance #5 on the Majestic Bellowphone.
Tim Minchin’s take on the whole xmas affair resonates with me. The song is about what is important during the holidays and life. The song also takes to rubbing some well deserved soot into the eye of organized delusional behaviour – aka – christianity.
Have a safe and wonderful holiday season my dear faithful readers. :)
Singing is not about the notes. Singing is about putting words and sound together into a formless, yet structured package that allows you to express a feeling or sentiment. One aspect of making a performance “come to life” is correctly using the text of the song to express the feeling of the composer. This video is all about *not* doing that. :)
The three movements are:
- Nuages (“Clouds”) Modéré – Un peu animé – Tempo I – Plus lent – Encore plus lent.
- Fêtes (“Festivals”) Animé et très rythmé – Un peu plus animé – Modéré (mais toujours très rythmé) – Tempo I – De plus en plus sonore et en serrant le mouvement – Même Mouvement.
- Sirènes (“Sirens”) Modérément animé – Un peu plus lent – En animant, surtout dans l’expression – Revenir progressivement au Tempo I – En augmentant peu à peu – Tempo I – Plus lent et en retenant jusqu’à la fin.
The three movements were inspired by a series of impressionist paintings, also entitled “Nocturnes” by James Abbott McNeill Whistler.[1]
Debussy wrote an “introductory note” to Nocturnes as follows:
- “The title Nocturnes is to be interpreted here in a general and, more particularly, in a decorative sense. Therefore, it is not meant to designate the usual form of the Nocturne, but rather all the various impressions and the special effects of light that the word suggests. ‘Nuages’ renders the immutable aspect of the sky and the slow, solemn motion of the clouds, fading away in grey tones lightly tinged with white. ‘Fêtes’ gives us the vibrating, dancing rhythm of the atmosphere with sudden flashes of light. There is also the episode of the procession (a dazzling fantastic vision), which passes through the festive scene and becomes merged in it. But the background remains resistantly the same: the festival with its blending of music and luminous dust participating in the cosmic rhythm. ‘Sirènes’ depicts the sea and its countless rhythms and presently, amongst the waves silvered by the moonlight, is heard the mysterious song of the Sirens as they laugh and pass on.”[2]
Nuages and Fêtes were premiered by Camille Chevillard with the Lamoureux Orchestra on 9 December 1900 in Paris. The complete suite was first heard under the same forces on 27 October 1901. The initial performances met with a cool response from critics and the public, but today these are considered some of Debussy’s most accessible and popular works, admired for their beauty.[1] The music lasts for about 25 minutes.[1]
In music theory, B major is a major scale based on B. The pitches B, C♯, D♯, E, F♯, G♯, and A♯ are all part of the B major scale. Its key signature has five sharps.
Although B major is usually thought of as a remote key (due to its distance from C major in the circle of fifths and its fairly large number of sharps), Frédéric Chopin regarded its scale as the easiest of all to play, as its black notes fit the natural positions of the fingers well; as a consequence he often assigned it first to beginning piano students, leaving the scale of C major till last because he considered it the hardest of all scales to play completely evenly (because of its complete lack of black notes).
A big thanks to the CBC and Paolo Pietropaolo for hosting the Signature Series.
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