# What are your favorite examples of a major piece suddenly going minor?



## level82rat (Jun 20, 2019)

If you'd like, you can post the reverse where it goes minor to major.


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## SearsPoncho (Sep 23, 2020)

I haven't heard it in a while, but doesn't Mendelssohn's "Italian" Symphony do that. Last Movement is minor?


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

*... a major piece suddenly going minor?*

Does Richard Strauss's_ Also Sprach Zarathustra_ qualify?

The tone poem has always seemed to me a brief minute-or-so major blast of music followed by a half-hour-or-so more of minor musical (and philosophical) musings.

Or am I on the wrong mountain-side here?

Don't get me wrong. _Zarathustra_ remains one of my (few) favorite pieces by Richard Strauss, a composer I count as a major artist but in whom I've only ever had a minor interest.


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

SearsPoncho said:


> I haven't heard it in a while, but doesn't Mendelssohn's "Italian" Symphony do that. Last Movement is minor?


I don't think that's what the OP is talking about. He's probably talking about stuff like

3:48





5:39
7:30





2:37


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

level82rat said:


> If you'd like, you can post the reverse where it goes minor to major.


The Elegy from Britten's Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings.


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## level82rat (Jun 20, 2019)

hammeredklavier said:


> I don't think that's what the OP is talking about. He's probably talking about stuff like
> 
> 3:48
> 
> ...


Bingo. I also appreciate that you are keeping MH's legacy alive.


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## Open Book (Aug 14, 2018)

"Trockne Blumen" at 50:10. "Der Mueller und der Bach" at 53:24.


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## janxharris (May 24, 2010)

SONNET CLV said:


> *... a major piece suddenly going minor?*
> 
> Does Richard Strauss's_ Also Sprach Zarathustra_ qualify?
> 
> ...


The first chord (after the trumpets/contrabasses) is C major to C minor and then C min to C maj - and he does use such movement after the sunrise section iirc.


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## mikeh375 (Sep 7, 2017)

I always look forward to the 2nd mvt of the Brahm's Second piano Concerto. A crescendo in D minor leads to a glorious 'horn 5ths' release in D major. Listen from 4'43" to perhaps 5'20".


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## janxharris (May 24, 2010)

mikeh375 said:


> I always look forward to the 2nd mvt of the Brahm's Second piano Concerto. A crescendo in D minor leads to a glorious 'horn 5ths' release in D major. Listen from 4'43" to perhaps 5'20".


Indeed - always loved this too - and 'release' is an appropriate description.


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

level82rat said:


> Bingo. I also appreciate that you are keeping MH's legacy alive.


some more examples:

2:09





2:43





11:41


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## janxharris (May 24, 2010)

The transition of scherzo to finale of Beethoven's fifth symphony - spectral C minor to triumphant C major.


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

janxharris said:


> The transition of scherzo to finale of Beethoven's fifth symphony - spectral C minor to triumphant C major.


I thought of that one too, but it doesn't feel very "sudden" or "spontaneous", it feels rather "prepared" in its gradual buildup.


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## Luchesi (Mar 15, 2013)

A musician friend told me that Mick Jagger said in an interview that since the note of the minor third is the 19th note of the harmonic series — that's why they called their song 19th Nervous Breakdown. 
I'd like to find that interview but it was very early so it probably wasn't recorded.


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## Azol (Jan 25, 2015)

Bruckner definitely qualifies:
- the transition from main climax of the B7 Adagio to funeral chorale in the Wagner tubas (



)
- the reverse minor-to-major transition from the slow coda buildup to the glorious finale of the B8 (



)


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## Olias (Nov 18, 2010)

After you turn 40, "Happy Birthday" goes from Major to Minor.......


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## Sequentia (Nov 23, 2011)

The "big climax" in Strauss's _Metamorphosen_ (starting around 14:40 in 



) is followed by a fairly abrupt return to the dark material of the opening.

The transition between the second and third sections of Bach's "Chaconne" from the BWV 1004 Partita also comes to mind.


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

This video on polyrhythms by David Bruce reminded me of

3:36





Btw, I like this little gem by the 18-year old Mozart - contains many memorable chromatic passages:

8:38


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## Gordontrek (Jun 22, 2012)

I'll go the other way- second movement of Beethoven 9, which abruptly goes from D minor to D major in the middle section.

4:30


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

Gordontrek said:


> I'll go the other way- second movement of Beethoven 9, which abruptly goes from D minor to D major in the middle section.
> 4:30


The video is "unavailable", but I suspect you're talking about this section:


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## Dirge (Apr 10, 2012)

When done just so, as in the Grumiaux recording below, the almost-pause/almost-silence at the crux of the D-minor to D-major changeover in Bach's Chaconne (from the Partita in D minor for violin solo), which occurs midway through the Chaconne, is perhaps my favorite minor-major changeover-at least of those that I'm consciously aware of. The dynamic profile of Grumiaux's fade-out of the D minor and fade-in to the D major forms a perfect parabola that just barely touches (or does it?) the line of silence (at about the 6'49" mark in the video) …


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## WhateverDude (Jun 21, 2019)

Does Arthur Scargill's biography count


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)




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## bluto32 (Apr 25, 2015)

The first movement of John Field's 2nd piano concerto is predominantly in a major key, but transitions in and out of a minor key frequently. A lovely example is at 7:07 in the clip below:


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

The chaconne from Bach's BWV1004 partita has been mentioned twice in this thread, but that work is a set of variations. Almost every 18th century set of variations contains one or two variations in the parallel minor (if the piece is in a major key) or major (if it is in a minor key) about 2/3 of the way through. 
Do the Goldberg variations (3 variations in the parallel minor) qualify as a valid example for this thread, as well? Although this sort of examples don't really strike me as "spontaenous" or "sudden", I'm just wondering what kind of examples the OP really wants.


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## level82rat (Jun 20, 2019)

hammeredklavier said:


> The chaconne from Bach's BWV1004 partita has been mentioned twice in this thread, but that work is a set of variations. Almost every 18th century set of variations contains one or two variations in the parallel minor (if the piece is in a major key) or major (if it is in a minor key) about 2/3 of the way through.
> Do the Goldberg variations (3 variations in the parallel minor) qualify as a valid example for this thread, as well? Although this sort of examples don't really strike me as spontaenous or unexpected, I'm just wondering what kind of examples the OP really wants.


Youre right that theme and variation wouldn't really be in the spirit of this thread but I've never thought the the chaconne as having that form. I liken it to the kind of development you might see in sonata form


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