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List of major/minor compositions

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"Major/minor" redirects here. For the 2011 album by the American rock band Thrice, see Major/Minor (album). For information on major/minor tonality, see Major and minor. For music written in all major and/or minor keys, see Music written in all major and/or minor keys.

Major/minor compositions are musical compositions that begin in a major key and end in a minor key (generally the parallel minor), specifying the keynote (as C major/minor). This is a very unusual form in tonal music,[1] although examples became more common in the nineteenth century.[2] There are far fewer major/minor compositions than minor/major ones[3] (the latter category of which includes, but is not limited to, all minor-key works that end with a Picardy third, as well as many Classical- and Romantic-period symphonies, concertos, sonatas and chamber works, and individual movements thereof.)

The major/minor compositions in the following lists do not necessarily end with a minor chord; a final passage in minor ending with a sonority that fails to re-establish the major mode (for example, an open octave or fifth) is sufficient.

Works falling into the following categories are excluded:

  • Compositions that would be major/minor but for a final Picardy third stipulated by the composer, such as Bach's Cantata BWV 40 or Poulenc's Vinea mea electa from Quatre motets pour un temps de pénitence (FP 97)
  • Compositions in which the beginning only hints at a possible reading of a major key without really establishing it, such as the Brahms Clarinet Quintet
  • Compositions in which the opening major chord merely serves a function (e.g. dominant or Neapolitan) in the ensuing minor key, without being tonicized in its own right, such as Saint-Saëns' Danse macabre or Chopin's first Ballade
  • Compositions that are only incidentally major/minor due to being unfinished, without any indication that the composer intended them to be major/minor, such as Schubert's Piano Sonata in C, D. 840
  • Frequently performed portions of a larger work consisting of what is technically two separate movements, if the first of these finishes with a full close (and thus doesn't require continuation), such as the opening pair of movements in Beethoven's Piano Sonata Op. 109

Major/minor compositions retaining the keynote

Single works and miniatures

  • Alkan – Chant d'amour - chant de mort, Op. 35 No. 10 (G♭-f♯)[4]
  • Alkan – Esquisse Op. 63 No. 7 "Le frisson" (F♯)[5]
  • Alkan – Prière Op. 64 No. 10 (B♭)
  • Bax – The Devil that Tempted St. Anthony (F)
  • Brahms – Jägerlied Op. 66/4 (C)
  • Brahms – Rhapsody Op. 119 No. 4 in E♭[6]
  • Busoni – Sonatina No. 6 in A, BV 284
  • Cavallini - Caprice for clarinet Op. 4 No. 4 (E)
  • Chopin – Nocturne Op. 32 No. 1 in B[7][8] (final chord sometimes changed to major)
  • Coste – Le Départ, Op. 31 (E)
  • Fibich – Malířské Studie (Studies on Painters), No. 2, Spor Masopustu s Postem (The Fight Between Carnival and Lent) in C
  • Franck – Fantaisie in A, from Trois Pièces for organ (1878) (A)
  • Fuchs – Andante grazio and Capriccio Op. 63 (A)
  • Heidrich – Variations on "Happy Birthday" (C)
  • Heinrich – The President's Funeral March (E)
  • Lalo – Fantaisie norvégienne in A
  • Lecuona – La 32, No. 6 of Siete Danzas Cubanas Tipicas (G♭-f♯)
  • Mendelssohn – Andante Cantabile e Presto Agitato in B[9]
  • Mendelssohn – Capriccio brillante for piano and orchestra in B, Op. 22 [10]
  • Mendelssohn – Capriccio in E, Op. 118 (1837) [9]
  • Mendelssohn – Characteristic Piece Op. 7 No. 7 in E (a "reverse Picardy third")[11]
  • Mendelssohn – Rondo Capriccioso in E, Op. 14[9][12]
  • de Momigny – La Nouvelle Valentine (A)
  • Mozart – Violin Sonata in A, K. 402/385e (completed by Maximilian Stadler; the work has only one movement)
  • Poulenc – Amoureuses, FP 77 No. 5 (F)
  • Purcell – Awake, ye dead, Z. 182 (C)
  • Purcell – The earth trembled, Z. 197 (A)[13]
  • Purcell – Love arms himself in Celia's eyes, Z. 392 (C)[14]
  • Purcell – Oh! fair Cedaria, Z. 402 (C) (some performances add a Picardy third)
  • Purcell – This poet sings the Trojan wars (Anacreon's defeat), Z. 423 (C)
  • Rachmaninoff – K Djétjam (To the Children), Op. 26 No. 7, from "Fifteen Romances" of Op.26 (F)
  • Reicha – L'Art de Varier, Op. 57 (F)[15]
  • Reicha – Fugue, Op. 36 No. 32 (E♭)
  • Rheinberger – Toccata Op. 12 (G)
  • Satie – Gymnopédie No. 1 (D)[16]
  • A. Scarlatti – Se Florindo e fedele (A♭) (ends on an open octave in an A♭ minor context)
  • D. Scarlatti – Keyboard Sonata K. 63 (L. 84) in G ("Capriccio") (ending sometimes changed to major)
  • D. Scarlatti – Keyboard Sonata K. 107 (L. 474) in F[17]
  • D. Scarlatti – Keyboard Sonata K. 140 (L. 107) in D[18]: 165 
  • D. Scarlatti – Keyboard Sonata K. 182 (L. 139) in A
  • D. Scarlatti – Keyboard Sonata K. 206 (L. 257) in E
  • D. Scarlatti – Keyboard Sonata K. 297 (L.S. 19) in F[18]: 166 
  • Scriabin – Mazurka in F (1889)
  • Schubert – Impromptu Op. 90 No. 2 in E♭[19]
  • Schubert – Moment Musical No. 6 in A♭ (ends on an open octave in an A♭ minor context)[20]
  • Schubert – Am Bach in Frühling, D. 361 (D♭-c♯)
  • Schubert – An den Mond, D. 468 (A)
  • Schubert – Tränenregen (No. 10 of Die Schöne Müllerin) (A)[21]
  • Schubert – Die böse Farbe (No. 17 of Die Schöne Müllerin) (B)[22]
  • Schubert – Frühlingstraum (No. 11 of Winterreise) (A)[23]
  • C. Schumann – Romance, op. 5 no. 3 (B)[24]
  • C. Schumann or Friedrich Wieck – Der Wanderer in der Sägemühle (C)
  • R. Schumann – No. 17 of Davidsbündlertänze, Opus 6 (B)[25]
  • R. Schumann – Der Handschuh, Op. 87 (D)
  • Sibelius – Impromptu, Opus 5 No. 6 in E
  • Sibelius – Valse triste, op. 44 no. 1 (G)
  • Soler – Keyboard Sonata R. 6 in F
  • Strauss – Don Juan, Op. 20 (E)[26]
  • Tchaikovsky – To Forget So Soon, TH 94 (F)[27]
  • Tchaikovsky – Valse-Scherzo Op. 7 in A
  • Voříšek – Fantasia for piano, Op. 12 (C)

Movements from larger works

Multi-movement works

Major/minor works changing the keynote

  • Albéniz – Córdoba, No. 4 of Cantos de España, Opus 232 (F-d)
  • Alkan – Grande Sonate, op. 33 (D-g♯)
  • Alkan – Prière, Op. 66 No. 7 (C-a)
  • Beethoven – Cello Sonata No. 4 in C, Op. 102 No. 1, i (C-a)[50]
  • Beethoven – String Quartet in e, Op. 59 No. 2 (Rasoumovsky Quartet No. 2), iv (C-e)[51]
  • Bernstein – Chichester Psalms (B♭-g)
  • Berlioz – Requiem (Grande Messe des Morts), Op. 5, viii, Hostias (G-b♭)
  • Bizet – Symphony in C major, ii (F-a)
  • Brahms – Du mein einzig Licht, WoO 33 No. 37 (A-f♯)
  • Brahms – Vom Strande, Op. 69 No. 6 (F-a)
  • Chausson – Poème de l'amour et de la mer (G-d)
  • Chausson – Poème de l'amour et de la mer, ii (actually the third movement, counting an unnumbered interlude) (E-d)
  • Chopin – Ballade No. 2 (F-a)
  • Couperin – Ordre 25ème de clavecin (E♭-c)
  • Debussy – Suite bergamasque (F-f♯)
  • Dvořák – The Noon Witch (C-a)
  • Enescu – Cantabile e Presto for flute and piano, 1904 (E♭-g)
  • Enescu – Nocturne e Saltarello for cello and piano, 1897 (F-a)
  • Fuchs – Serenade in D Op. 9, ii (B♭-g)
  • Handel – Belshazzar, Chorus of Babylonians: "Ye tutelar gods of our empire, look down" (G-e)
  • Handel – Concerto Grosso Op. 3 No. 1 (B♭-g)
  • Handel – Suite for Harpsichord No. 2 in F, HWV 427, i (F-a)
  • Miriam Hyde – "Marsh Birds" for Flute and Piano (D-b)
  • Lalo – Rapsodie norvégienne (A-d)
  • Massenet – Piano Concerto (E♭-c)
  • Mozart – Die Entführung aus dem Serail (The Abduction from the Seraglio), Aria, "Solche Hergelauf'ne Laffen" (F-a)
  • Mozart (completed by Süssmayr) – Requiem, VII. Communio (B♭-d) (ends on an open fifth in a D minor context)
  • Mozart – Preludes K. 284a/395, iii (B♭-c)
  • Mozart – Preludes and Fugues K. 404, v (E♭-c)
  • Mozart – Modulating Prelude, K. deest (F-e)
  • Mussorgsky (completed by Stravinsky) – Khovanshchina (E-g♯)
  • Poulenc – Piano Sextet, ii (D♭-a♭)
  • Poulenc – Suite Francaise FP 80, ii (F-d)
  • Poulenc – Trio pour piano hautbois et basson, ii (B♭-f)
  • Poulenc – Gloria FP 177, i (G-b)
  • Poulenc – Oboe Sonata FP 185 (G-a♭)
  • Rheinberger – Piano Sonata Op. 47 (C-a)
  • Satie – Gnossiennes Nos. 5 (G-e) and 6 (F-c)
  • Schoenberg – Chamber Symphony No. 2, Op. 38, ii (G-e♭)
  • Schubert – Die Nonne, D. 212 (A♭-f)
  • Schubert – Grablied, D. 218 (A♭-f)
  • Schubert – Erster Verlust, D. 226 (A♭-f)
  • Schubert – Deutscher Tanz, D. 365 No. 22 (Op. 9 No. 22) (B-g♯)
  • Schubert – Ritter Toggenburg, D. 397 (F-b♭)
  • Schubert – Der Herbstabend, D. 405 (A♭-f)
  • Schubert – Klage an den Mond, D. 436 (F-d)[52]
  • Schubert – Edone, D. 445 (E♭-c)
  • Schubert – Liedesend, D. 473 (E♭-e, both versions)
  • Schubert – Didone Abbandonata, D. 510 (E♭-f)
  • Schubert – Auf der Donau, D. 553 (Op. 21 No. 1) (E♭-f♯)[53]
  • Schubert – Der Pilgrim, D. 794 (Op. 37 No. 1) (D-b, originally E-c♯)
  • Schumann – Réplique, No. 8 of Carnaval (B♭-g)[54]
  • Schumann – No. 16 of Davidsbündlertänze (G-b)
  • Schumann – Kreisleriana, No. 4 (B♭-d) (first edition only)
  • Smetana – The Bartered Bride, Aria, "Kdybych se co takového" (B♭-g)
  • Tchaikovsky – The Sleeping Beauty – Finale and Apotheosis (D-g)
  • Tchaikovsky – Six Pieces Op. 21, No. 1 "Prelude" (B-g♯)
  • Vaughan Williams – Three Shakespeare Songs, "The Cloud Capp'd Towers" (reverse Picardy) (D-f)

See also

References

  1. ^ Merrick, Paul. "The Role of Tonality in the Swiss Book of Annees de Pelerinage". Studia Musicologica Academie Scientierum Hungericae, T. 39, Fasc. 2/4 (1998), p. 371
  2. ^ Cone, Edward T. and Robert P. Morgan. "Beyond Analysis". Music. A View from Delft. Selected Essays (University of Chicago Press: Chicago 1989), p. 74.
  3. ^ Trio Solisti – Program Notes 2014 by Miriam Villchur Berg
  4. ^ The Alkan Society, Bulletin 32: April 1987
  5. ^ Alkan: Esquisses Op 63 – Hyperion Records
  6. ^ Hindson, Maurice. Brahms – The Shorter Piano Works. Alfred Music Publishing Co. (1992), p. 10.
  7. ^ Huneker, James. Chopin: The Man and His Music, Courier Corporation (1960), p. 146.
  8. ^ Frédéric Chopin's Nocturnes, Part I, 2015 – ClassicalConnect.com
  9. ^ a b c Waltons Music: Mendelssohn Rondo Cappricioso in E major, Op. 14 (Piano)
  10. ^ CHAN 2025: An Introduction to Felix Mendelssohn
  11. ^ Todd, R. Larry. "Piano Music Reformed: Mendelssohn". Nineteenth-Century Piano Music, ed. Todd, R. Larry, Routledge (2004), p. 191.
  12. ^ Du Bose, Joseph. Rondo capriccioso, in E Major, Op. 14 Yakov Flier.
  13. ^ Purcell, Harmonia Sacra, Rosemary Joshua – eClassical
  14. ^ Hyperion Records – Love arms himself in Celia's eyes, Z392
  15. ^ International Piano Quarterly Volumes 5–6, Gramophone Publications (2001), p. 44.
  16. ^ Satie – Gymnopedie No. 1 | Classical Piano Pieces
  17. ^ Scarlatti: Complete Keyboard Sonatas – Warner Classics, p. 7.
  18. ^ a b Marshall, Robert. "Domenico Scarlatti". Eighteenth-Century Keyboard Music, Routledge (2004).
  19. ^ BBC Music Magazine: Schubert Moments Musicaux D780
  20. ^ Franz Peter Schubert – Moments Musicaux , D. 780
  21. ^ Wollenberg, Susan. Schubert's Fingerprints: Studies in the Instrumental Works, Ashgate Publishing Ltd (2011), p. 24.
  22. ^ Damschroder, David. Harmony in Schubert, Cambridge University Press (2010), p. 104.
  23. ^ Howell, Cory. Schubert's Winterreise Song Cycle, p. 10.
  24. ^ Cooper, Imogen. Chandos – Imogen Cooper – CHAN 10841
  25. ^ Hatten, Robert. Performing Expressive Closure in Structurally Open Contexts: Chopin’s Prelude in A minor and the Last Two Dances of Schumann’s Davidsbündlertänze
  26. ^ BBC – Proms – Programme note Strauss – Don Juan
  27. ^ Osborne, Charles. The Concert Song Companion: A Guide to the Classical Repertoire, A Da Capo (1985).
  28. ^ Wigmore, Richard. Beethoven: The Complete Music for Piano Trio, The Florestan Trio – Hyperion Records
  29. ^ Spitzer, Michael. Music as Philosophy: Adorno and Beethoven's Late Style, Indiana University Press (2006), p. 136.
  30. ^ a b Kerman, Joseph. "Beethoven's Minority". Write All These Down: Essays on Music, University of California Press (1994), p. 220.
  31. ^ Chausson, E.: Concert for Violin, Piano and String Quartet / Piano Trio (Meadowmount Trio, Wihan String Quartet) – Naxos
  32. ^ Hicks, Anthony. "Late Additions to Handel's Oratorios". Music in Eighteenth-Century England: Essays in Memory of Charles Cudworth, ed. Hogwood, Christopher and Richard Luckett, Cambridge University Press (1983), p. 150.
  33. ^ Kreuger, Stephen. Handel's Messiah Untold
  34. ^ Deruchie, Andrew. The French Symphony at the Fin de Siècle: Style, Culture, and the Symphonic Tradition, Boydell & Brewer (2013), pp. 114–15.
  35. ^ Wilson, Conrad. Notes on Mendelssohn: 20 Crucial Works, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing (2005), p. 30.
  36. ^ Todd, R. Larry. "Wanderlust". Mendelssohn Studies, Cambridge University Press (2006), p. 225.
  37. ^ Redwood Symphony Program Notes: Sibelius, Symphony No. 4
  38. ^ Piano Trio in A minor, Op. 50 (Tchaikovsky) – from CDH55322 – Hyperion Records
  39. ^ Vivaldi: Concertos for Strings – Naxos
  40. ^ a b Classical Net Review – Weinberg – String Quartet #4 & 16
  41. ^ Donat, Misha. Hyperion Records: Trio for piano, violin and cello in B major, op. 8
  42. ^ a b Hepokoski and Darcy. "The Three- and Four-Movement Sonata Cycle". Elements of Sonata Theory (Oxford University Press, 2006). p. 336.
  43. ^ Robertson, David. Sydney Symphony Orchestra – 2015 Season
  44. ^ Fuchs: Piano Sonatas Op. 19 and Op. 88 – Naxos
  45. ^ Amazon.com: George Frideric Handel, Concerto Grossi
  46. ^ Hummel: Piano Trios / Piano Quartet in G major / Cello Sonata – Naxos
  47. ^ Gíslason, Donald G. Vancouver Recital Society: Program Notes – Emanuel Ax
  48. ^ Jones, Evan Allan. Intimate Voices: Shostakovich to the Avant-Garde. Dmitri Shostakovich: The String Quartets (University of Rochester Press: Rochester 2009), p. 8.
  49. ^ Bell, John. Fejes Quartet: Sunday 8 June 2014 at 7:30pm – Music Nairn
  50. ^ Stanley, Glenn. "Goal Directedness in Beethoven's Music". The Cambridge Companion to Beethoven, Cambridge University Press (2000), p. 93.
  51. ^ Steinberg, Michael. "The Middle Quartets", The Beethoven Quartet Companion, Winter, Robert and Robert Martin, ed. University of California Press (1994). p. 188.
  52. ^ Puchi, Richard Navarrete. Performance and Analysis of Lieder.
  53. ^ Platt, Heather. Schubert's Poets and the Making of Lieder. – Free Online Library
  54. ^ Wadsworth, Benjamin K. MTO 18.4: Wadsworth, Directional Tonality in Schumann's Early Works
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