I absolutely love the key of B minor. To me, it has heroic and epic feelings. And a lot of my favourite themes I've later found out to be in this key. So what are six of your favourite works in B minor (they don't necessarily have to be listed as "...in B minor", if you know by ear that they are predominantly in that key).
Mine are all orchestral, but yours don't have to be.
- Tchaikovsky's Manfred Symphony
- Gliere Symphony No. 3 ("Ilya Muromets")
- Paderewski's Symphony ("Polonia")
- Bantock's Thalaba the Destroyer
- Elgar's Violin Concerto
- Dvorak's Cello Concerto
Pretty conventional taste for my part, at least where I´ve noticed the key mentioned:
Elgar V Cto
Liszt Piano Sonata
Bach Mass
Tchaikovsky 6th Symphony
Dvorak Cello Cto
Tchaikovsky Manfred
Wiki has a list of some symphonies in that key
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_symphonies_in_B_minor
EDIT: Wiklund Piano Cto no. 2 is also very good.
Quote from: Maestro267 on December 03, 2016, 11:27:43 AM
I absolutely love the key of B minor. To me, it has heroic and epic feelings. And a lot of my favourite themes I've later found out to be in this key. So what are six of your favourite works in B minor (they don't necessarily have to be listed as "...in B minor", if you know by ear that they are predominantly in that key).
Wait...I didn't create this thread? Really? There's someone other than myself obsessed with the key of B minor?
...
Bach - Mass in B minor
Berg - Piano Sonata Op. 1
Chopin - Scherzo No. 1 in B minor
Mozart - Adagio in B minor
Schubert - Unfinished Symphony
Sibelius - Tapiola
(And yes, I'm perfectly aware that none of Mahler's Symphonies or even any of their movements are in B minor. Two of them
begin in B minor through!)
Handel: Concerto op.6,12
Bach: French Suite #3, P&F from WTC I
Haydn: Quartet op.64,2
Beethoven: Bagatelle op.126,4 Presto
Dvorak: Cello concerto
Shostakovich Symphony No.6
Vivaldi Cello Concerto RV 424
Strauss Piano Sonata op.5
Tubin Symphony No.5 (1946)
Atterberg Symphony No.1
Miaskovsky Symphony No.7 op.24
Brahms Clarinet Quintet Op 115 B minor
Liszt B minor sonata
Schubert unfinished symphony no 8 B minor
Mozart adagio for piano K540
Brahms rapsody Op 79 B minor
E lucevan le stelle, 3rd act of Tosca sung by Mario Cavaradossi
This last one fits best the "epic" feeling mentioned in the initial post. I am not a fan of Luciano Pavarotti, but I dont think I have heard anybody sing this aria more convincingly.
https://www.youtube.com/v/4mX7ugJ5NM8
I amend my last post for stupidly forgetting the Brahms Clarinet Quintet. I'll replace the Schubert Symphony, fine work though it certainly is.
yeah, the Brahms quintet should have topped my list. I don't know how I could forget it. I actually thought about some piano piece by Brahms and that there must be more important chamber music in that key but missed the clarinet quintet...
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6
Rachmaninov: Prelude (Op. 32, No. 10)
Turina: Piano Trio No. 2
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 6
Barber: String Quartet, Op. 11
Mendelssohn: The Hebrides
Mozart's Adagio in B minor for solo piano, K540. My favorite piece of all time.
Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet
Brahms' Clarinet quintet
Dvorák's Cello concerto
Saint-Saëns's 3rd Violin concerto
Glière's 3rd Symphony
Mendelssohn's The Hebrides, op. 26
Elgar VC
Bach mass
Berg sonata
Lizst sonata
Fuck the rest -difficult!!!!!!
Why these!!! Fed up! don't make these favourte top ajfjlkfjakfhahf!!!"#####
May be worth pointing out that Schumann's Davidsbündlertänze is pretty indisputably (according to most accounts anyway) in B minor, despite beginning in G major (with Clara's motto) and ending in C major (with Eusebius's "superfluous" addition)—there are more pieces in B minor than in any other key, and No. 17 "Wie aus der Ferne" musically completes the cycle with a very strong cadence in B minor, the final piece being genuinely unnecessary for closure and seeming to take place after the work is strictly over.
Nielsen's 2nd and Martinů's 1st symphonies both begin in B minor but end in other keys (A major and B-flat major respectively).
There aren't a lot of significant string quartets in B minor: two by Haydn, one by Bloch (No. 1) and one by Barber and I'm not aware of any others off the top of my head. Obviously, B minor isn't a great key for string instruments since the tonic note falls a semitone below the lowest strings of the viola and cello.
Also favourites, counting DBT:
Mozart Adagio
Bartók Violin Concerto No. 2
Chopin Piano Sonata No. 3
Medtner Violin Sonata No. 1
Brahms Clarinet Quintet
Shostakovich Piano Sonata No. 2
Bach Partita BWV 1002
I am arbitrarily disqualifying the Bach Mass because most of it is actually in D major >_>
Quote from: Sergeant Rock on December 03, 2016, 12:44:33 PM
Shostakovich Symphony No.6
Vivaldi Cello Concerto RV 424
Strauss Piano Sonata op.5
Tubin Symphony No.5 (1946)
Atterberg Symphony No.1
Miaskovsky Symphony No.7 op.24
Better than the
Concerto in b minor for four violins and violoncello, RV580, Sarge? 8)
the one in b minor is maybe my favorite from Bach's violin/harpsichord sonatas. Whereas I am not too fond of the respective solo partita but/because it is probably the one I know least well.
Apparently it was a favored key for the baroque traverse flute.
Yes, I also discounted that mass because while the first Kyrie is certainly a most impressive piece very little in what follows is in b minor...
When I was a beginner I read about Beethoven calling b minor "black key" in the context of op.106 and while I am far too tone deaf to recognize keys of pieces I can't shake that prejudice against pieces in this key. Which is odd because while there are exceptions (like the highly chromatic last fugue from WTK I) a lot of b minor pieces (at least in the baroque) are rather playful and not all that dark.
Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on December 14, 2016, 05:57:14 AM
Better than the Concerto in b minor for four violins and violoncello, RV580, Sarge? 8)
RV580 is a good one too but I prefer RV424's deep and mournfully singing Largo. RV580's Largo is more like shallow 18th century minimalism.
Sarge
Quote from: Sergeant Rock on December 14, 2016, 06:26:03 AM
RV580's Largo is more like shallow 18th century minimalism.
Sarge
Oh, you are harsh, I think. That movement makes more sense to the ear with the spatial dimension of the four players, I perceive.
Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on December 14, 2016, 06:32:27 AM
Oh, you are harsh, I think.
I agree...well, maybe I'd call my judgment shallow rather than harsh ;D
Sarge
So...no Borodin fans here?
Liszt, Piano sonata
Schubert, Unfinished symphony
Bach, Mass
Scarlatti, Keyboard sonata K87
Dvorak, Cello concerto
Kodaly, Sonata for solo cello
I wonder why there is no somewhat well known piano concerto in that key (I think there is one by Hummel).
Quote from: Jo498 on December 14, 2016, 06:04:50 AMYes, I also discounted that mass because while the first Kyrie is certainly a most impressive piece very little in what follows is in b minor...
The Qui sedes, one of my favorite arias from anything by Bach, is also in B minor, as is one part of the Credo.
Quote from: amw on December 14, 2016, 05:27:45 AMThere aren't a lot of significant string quartets in B minor: two by Haydn, one by Bloch (No. 1) and one by Barber and I'm not aware of any others off the top of my head. Obviously, B minor isn't a great key for string instruments since the tonic note falls a semitone below the lowest strings of the viola and cello.
Prokofiev's First as well.
Quote from: Brian on December 14, 2016, 07:11:14 AM
So...no Borodin fans here?
Way too much good stuff tbh. Was on my shortlist
Quote from: Jo498 on December 14, 2016, 07:17:22 AM
I wonder why there is no somewhat well known piano concerto in that key (I think there is one by Hummel).
There's also one by Eugen d'Albert, and Martinů's Concerto for Double String Orchestra, Piano and Timpani (not strictly a piano concerto), but yeah, weird that there are no well-known concertos. It's such a good key for the piano. Seems to be overshadowed by B-flat minor I guess, which, to be fair, is an even better key for the piano.
Quote from: Mahlerian on December 14, 2016, 07:35:51 AM
The Qui sedes, one of my favorite arias from anything by Bach, is also in B minor, as is one part of the Credo.
You are of course right that each section has about one piece in b minor, the Qui tollis and Qui sedes in the Gloria, the Et incarnatus in the Credo and the Benedictus. Five overall, compared to 10-12 depending how one counts in D major.
I always thought that in orchestral (or any "mixed music", not for piano or strings only) music the minor keys on the "left" would be favored (they very clearly seem to be up to Beethoven, I think) because than the relative major gets fewer flats and this is usually easier to play for the woodwinds. In b minor one will always have lots of accidentals an b major has of course five sharps. Of course, the situation for b flat minor is almost the same but that key used to be very rare before ca. Chopin, actually I cannot think of anything well known except for the respective pieces in the WTC. (There is one late Haydn trio in E flat minor, though.)
Surprised that almost 30 posts contain not one reference to Reger's Variations and Fugue on theme of Bach...
Quote from: Jo498 on December 14, 2016, 08:35:42 AM
You are of course right that each section has about one piece in b minor, the Qui tollis and Qui sedes in the Gloria, the Et incarnatus in the Credo and the Benedictus. Five overall, compared to 10-12 depending how one counts in D major.
Still, pieces are generally designated in the key that they begin in. To this day people regularly (and against the composer's wishes) say that Mahler's Fifth Symphony is in C# minor, despite the fact that D major takes up more time in the work than any other key (and the sonata-allegro movement of the work is in A minor!).
Next thing, it'll be 17 favorite works in E-flat minor . . . .
I'm not sure if there's anything interesting about what is the tonal center of a piece. Though I do have a lot of favorites in E-flat major. As for B minor, Berg's Piano Sonata immediately comes to mind, though I have to confess that when I first heard it I thought it was a 12-tone piece and not in any key :D Absolutely gorgeus piece. Definitely one of my favorite solo piano pieces ever.
Rachmaninov Op 32/10 Prelude
Liszt B minor sonata
Schubert Unfinished
Tchaikovsky 6th Symphony
Hummel Piano concerto Op 89
Grieg: In the Hall of the Mountain King
Quote from: Jo498 on December 14, 2016, 07:17:22 AM
I wonder why there is no somewhat well known piano concerto in that key (I think there is one by Hummel).
Yes, that's one. I know of a few others, but none could be described as well-known: Hamilton Harty, Henri-Charles Litolff, Erno Dohnanyi all wrote piano concerti in B minor. And there's Moritz Moszkowski's recently rediscovered concerto (released a few months ago on Hyperion).
There are some stupendous symphonies in B minor I love unrestrictedly:
Glière: Symphony No. 3 Ilya Muromets
Tubin: Symphony No. 2 The Legendary
Langgaard: Symphony No. 1 Klippepastoraler
Myaskovsky: Symphony No. 22 Symphony-Ballad
Lyatoshinsky: Symphony No. 3
Atterberg: Symphony No. 1
Honorable mentions: Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6 and Casella's Symphony No. 1
Non-symphony works:
Dvorak: Cello Concerto
Sibelius: Tapiola
Liszt: Piano Sonata
Brahms: Clarinet Quintet
Schmitt: Piano Quintet
Saint-Saëns: Violin Concerto No. 3
Paganini - Violin Concerto No. 2 "La campanella"
Schubert - The Unfinished Symphony
Chopin - Scherzo No. 1, Piano Sonata No. 3
Saint-Saens - Violin Concerto No. 3
Tchaikovsky - Pathetique
Liszt Piano Sonata
Shostakovich Sixth Symphony
Haydn Piano Sonata H. XVII/32
Elgar Vn Cto
Barber String Quartet
Some of my choices (in no particular order)
Berg: Piano Sonata
Bartók: Violin Concerto No. 2
Dvořák: Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104
Sibelius: Tapiola, Op. 112
Elgar: Violin Concerto in B minor, Op. 61
Respighi: Violin Sonata in B minor, P 110
Quote from: Brian on December 14, 2016, 07:11:14 AM
So...no Borodin fans here?
Yes, one big one - no.2 is definitely my fave B minor symphony. Roll over, Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich...