# Examples of interesting modulations



## janxharris (May 24, 2010)

I always think that these moments where the key shifts can create the ineffable in music and remind me of the words of Albert Einstein:

_"The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science. Whoever does not know it and can no longer wonder, no longer marvel, is as good as dead, and his eyes are dimmed."_ (From his essay 'The World As I See It' - 1931).

I would begin by citing this moment near the beginning of Sibelius' 7th Symphony - the horns with woodwinds (following the string dominated passage). It notable that this is recapitulated near the end of the piece. I find this kind of shift very mysterious.

Here's another: Sibelius' Tapiola - very eerie indeed.

Those in the second movement of Beethoven's 7th Symphony are notable too.


----------



## janxharris (May 24, 2010)

Erik Satie - Gnossiennes 1 - he introduces that weird B natural whilst playing an F minor chord.


----------



## Tchaikov6 (Mar 30, 2016)

Schubert loves to toss in unexpected chord and key shifts. Some of my favorite examples of this are from the Piano Sonata No. 16, particularly the first movement.


----------



## mikeh375 (Sep 7, 2017)

One I always look forward to is in Mahler 8 first mvt. A powerful modulation/key change from Aflat major to E major. On this clip it occurs at 20'22" but play from about 20' in to get the effect.


----------



## janxharris (May 24, 2010)

Tchaikov6 said:


> Schubert loves to toss in unexpected chord and key shifts. Some of my favorite examples of this are from the Piano Sonata No. 16, particularly the first movement.


Thanks - I'll have a listen. His D.960 sonata has a lovely one right near the beginning...


----------



## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

How strange the change from major to minor.


----------



## mikeh375 (Sep 7, 2017)

Mandryka said:


> How strange the change from major to minor.


Yes, Ella Fitzgerald's version is lovely on her Porter Songbook. Kern is always good for a nice key change too...the middle 8 in All the Things you are for example.


----------



## Vasks (Dec 9, 2013)

Check out Chabrier. He really throws some shockers in his pieces. So much so that you sometimes can sense the orchestra is having a time playing in tune when the new, unrelated key pops in.


----------



## Tchaikov6 (Mar 30, 2016)

Vasks said:


> Check out Chabrier. He really throws some shockers in his pieces. So much so that you sometimes can sense the orchestra is having a time playing in tune when the new, unrelated key pops in.


Very true, Espana comes to mind.






I love the modulation at 2:15!


----------



## 1996D (Dec 18, 2018)

Liszt is excellent at modulating and does so experimentally--he had a real mastery of tone--while never making it hurt your head like Debussy, Ravel, and Scriabin. Modulation is a tool that must be used with restraint, it can really ruin a piece.

Mahler is another master of it; Das Lied von der Erde is filled with creative modulation that isn't narcissistic; that makes sense to what the piece is trying to say.


----------



## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

The modulation in the middle section of the middle movement of Ravel's PC in G, where the mood changes from dark to light - sublime. 

So tasteful and refined, unlike some.


----------



## janxharris (May 24, 2010)

tdc said:


> The modulation in the middle section of the middle movement of Ravel's PC in G, where the mood changes from dark to light - sublime.
> 
> So tasteful and refined, unlike some.


Always loved that movement. The shift just after here is always startling, but I don't think you meant that one.

Ravel:
"That flowing phrase! How I worked over it bar by bar! It nearly killed me!"


----------



## mikeh375 (Sep 7, 2017)

Not a modulation, but the end cadence of the chorale in Britten's War Requiem is very striking, ending as it does on a surprising Fmajor from a tritone dominated environment a semitone above. A hopeful gesture perhaps. The chorale starts at 1 hour 20'.


----------



## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

janxharris said:


> Always loved that movement. The shift just after here is always startling, but I don't think you meant that one.
> 
> Ravel:
> "That flowing phrase! How I worked over it bar by bar! It nearly killed me!"


Yes you're right that is nice. The shift I was referring to starts at about 15 minutes, culminating in the passage starting at 17:14. A little closer to the end of the movement than I remembered.


----------



## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

The one in Dvorak's cello concerto near the end of the first movement always stood out to me. Usually changing from minor to major is a progression to triumphant, but this is the other way around.


----------

