Three Bs

"The Three Bs" is an English-language phrase derived from an expression coined by Peter Cornelius in 1854, which added Hector Berlioz as the third B to occupy the heights already occupied by Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven. Later in the century, the famous conductor Hans von Bülow would substitute Johannes Brahms for Berlioz. The phrase is generally used in discussions of classical music to refer to the supposed primacy of Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms in the field.

Origins

In an article in the Berliner Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung, Cornelius introduces Berlioz as the third B, concluding his article with the cheer,

Bach, Beethoven, Berlioz!

Decades later, Bülow composed the following pun to a friend.

Mein musikalisches Glaubensbekenntniss steht in Es dur, mit drei B-en in der Vorzeichnung: Bach, Beethoven, und Brahms!

"B", in German, stands for the key of B-flat; because the flat symbol resembles a lower-case "b", it may also refer to any flat. Consequently, the remark may be translated, roughly, as

My musical creed is in the key of E-flat major, and contains three flats in its key signature: Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms!

Bülow had been attracted to the idea of a sort of Holy Trinity of classical music for a number of years, writing in the 1880s,

I believe in Bach, the Father, Beethoven, the Son, and Brahms, the Holy Ghost of music.

He further linked Beethoven and Brahms by referring to the latter's First Symphony as Beethoven's Tenth. Curiously enough, Nicolò Paganini had even earlier (1838) identified Berlioz as the worthy successor of Beethoven. Indeed, Hans von Bülow, two years before Cornelius' article, had himself called Berlioz "the immediate and most energetic successor of Beethoven".

Richard Wagner once proposed an alternate candidate for the third of the three Bs; this was Anton Bruckner, a devoted Wagnerian. That appellation never took, and few remember that Berlioz was the original third B.

Usage

Although the phrase "the three Bs" is generally associated with classical music, it may be found in the vocabulary of other disciplines as well. There are, for instance, three Bs of bass fishing, the three Bs of the Hattrick federation "The Alliance", and three Bs of learning. Generally speaking, however, the three Bs of music are the most frequently cited.

In popular culture

• In a Peanuts strip (published February 22, 1952), when Schroeder begins playing the piano, Charlie Brown says "You've heard of Bach, Brahms, and Beethoven, right? Well from now on it's going to be Schubert, Schumann, and Schroeder."
• WSMC, the public Classical radio station in the Tennessee Valley, airs a program at 11 am on weekdays called The Three B's. It is hosted by student announcer Robby Raney IV. The program deals with the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Johannes Brahms, with occasional appearances of the music of Hector Berlioz and other composers.
• There are now a few more common usages of "The Three B's": 1) a reference to the Houston Astros base baseball team's top players - Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio, and Lance Berkman. 2) a reference to common components of a night out in the French Quarter of New Orleans, LA - Beads, Balconies, and (mechanical) Bull-riding.

Notes and references

• Jacques Barzun, Hector Berlioz and the Romantic Century, Vol. II, New York: Columbia University Press, 1969.
• Nicolas Slonimsky, Slonimsky's Book of Musical Anecdotes. New York; Schirmer Books, 1998.
• Alessandra Comini, The Changing Image of Beethoven, Santa Fe: Sunstone Press, 2008.