# Minor to major transitions



## Cirpi (Apr 14, 2013)

There are many examples of passages where a major key (briefly) turns into minor.
This is often a very memorable moment.

I'm interested in passages where it's the other way around: minor (unexpectedly) turns into major.
I'm not talking about a minor dominant resolving into a major tonic, but about a global passage where the minor key becomes the 'same' major.

Four examples from famous pieces are:

- Brahms piano concerto no. 1, second movement (bar 54). It's minor almost throughout. A few bars before, a similar passage remained in minor keys, but this time it opens up from b minor to b major.

In this recording, it happens at 7:17.





- Sibelius, symphony no. 2, finale. The music is in d minor for an unbelievably long time, making the d major a great satisfaction.

In this (fast!) recording, it is at 37:54.





- Verdi, requiem, Libera me. The 'Tremes factus sum ego et timeo' suddenly slows down and ends up in c major at the final syllable (bar 43).

At 2:12.





- Britten, War Requiem, Lacrimosa. b flat minor turns into b flat major.

At 0:50.





Does anybody know other memorable moments in classical repertoire?

Thanks


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

Not exactly what you mean, but I am reminded of those late Renaissance / early baroque pieces in which the composers seem uncomfortable resolving a phrase on a minor chord, so a minor keyed piece might suddenly end a passage on the major tonic. It's always seemed a scintillating effect. There is a specific name for the practice, but I have forgotten it.


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

Weston said:


> Not exactly what you mean, but I am reminded of those late Renaissance / early baroque pieces in which the composers seem uncomfortable resolving a phrase on a minor chord, so a minor keyed piece might suddenly end a passage on the major tonic. It's always seemed a scintillating effect. There is a specific name for the practice, but I have forgotten it.


Picardy third.

Anyway, to answer the question in the OP, this happens not too infrequently in romantic repertoire.

In Mahler's Kindertotenlieder, the first song is in D minor, but cadences in major before finishing in the minor. It never modulates, so it's a very clear example.

Likewise, Mahler's 6th Symphony, first movement, begins in A minor, but the recapitulation opens in a grotesque A major before suddenly flipping back the other way (though the movement eventually closes in A major).

Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries begins in B minor, but moves to B major for the end.

Schoenberg's Friede auf Erden for a capella choir begins in D minor, goes to a tentative D major, back to D minor (modulating frequently), and ends (via some very odd progressions) in D major.

Pretty much every late romantic work that features a large development section will at least touch on the tonic major for some length of time.


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## Mich (Feb 13, 2013)

Would a tierce de picardy be fine? A lot of masses have these.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

Mahlerian said:


> Picardy third.





Mich said:


> tierce de picardy


Some day I will remember this term.


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## GGluek (Dec 11, 2011)

Doesn't the Crucifixus in Bach's b minor Mass resolve on a major chord at the very end?


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## jalex (Aug 21, 2011)

Among the greatest moments in all music: the brief horn/woodwind passage in D major in the coda of the first movement Beethoven #9.

22:06 in this recording.






Never surpassed for tragic irony.


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## Cirpi (Apr 14, 2013)

Thanks for the suggestions. The ones Mahlerian mentioned illustrate what I mean. What I mean is not a resolution like in a cadence but a rather unexpected shift where in principle only the minor third changes into a major and you have the feeling that the music 'opens up'.


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