B-Flat Minor

(Ger. B moll). The key of B♭ minor is favored by pianists because it is the parallel key of B♭ major, both scales having five flats in the key signature. PIOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY'S famous Piano Concerto No. 1 is nominally in the key of B♭ minor, but after a few measures in the principal key, it explodes into action with the famous optimistic D♭ major theme. FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN wrote a scherzo (op.31) and a piano sonata (op.35) in this key; the sonatas slow movement is the well-known Marche funèbre.

It is difficult to find any symphonic works unambiguously set in B♭ minor. A good example is the ALPINE SYMPHONY by RICHARD STRAUSS, in which the ascent and the descent to and from the summit are illustrated by the correspondingly ascending and descending scales of B♭ minor. The Russian composer Nikolai Miaskovsky assigned the key of B♭ minor to his Symphony No. 11, but then he wrote symphonies in virtually every key.