Continuing my survey of music along the circle of fifths, looking for music by composers neglected for reasons other than the musical merit of their compositions.
It seems B major is actually used more frequently than G-sharp minor. With it at least being a major key, it is easier to avoid double sharps, like the ones for F that plague G-sharp minor.
There is one thing about B major I find neat: how the five sharps of its key signature correspond to the black keys of the piano. The same can be said for the five flats of the D-flat major key signature.
I can find two pieces in B major by Cécile Chaminade, but I could find a YouTube video of only one of them.
Erich Korngold, well known for his Symphony in F-sharp major, also used B major quite a bit more than most other composers.
Korngold also wrote a Sinfonietta in B major which is somehow way longer in duration than lots of other pieces titled “symphony.”
Researching the open thread about G-sharp minor in the library, I came across the score of Arthur Foote’s Four Characteristic Pieces After the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám and decided to check it out, but I didn’t actually look in it until after I posted the G-sharp minor thread.
I was quite surprised to find that the first piece actually begins in B major. But it’s the second piece, in B minor, that has really captured my imagination. Here’s a score video for all four pieces.
Joseph Haydn actually wrote a Symphony in B major, it’s easier to find by its number in the Hoboken catalog, No. 46. German musicians, for some reason, refer to B-flat as “B” and B-natural as “H,” which makes Google searching somewhat confusing.
I wanted to embed a video of Giovanni Antonino conducting il Giardino Armonico, but YouTube wouldn’t allow it, so instead I’m linking it.
The open thread question: what is your favorite music in B major?
