List of major/minor compositions

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,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 although examples became more common in the nineteenth century.Cone, Edward T. and Robert P. Morgan. "Beyond Analysis". Music. A View from Delft. Selected Essays (University of Chicago Press: Chicago 1989), p. 74. There are far fewer major/minor compositions than minor/major onesTrio Solisti – Program Notes 2014 by Miriam Villchur Berg (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 Darzu ist erschienen der Sohn Gottes, BWV 40, Francis Poulenc's Vinea mea electa from Quatre motets pour un temps de pénitence (FP 97), or Felix Mendelssohn's Piano Sextet, Op. 110; Compositions that would be major/minor, but end inconclusively on the major dominant of the final minor key, e.g. Nos. 2 and 9 of Robert Schumann's Kerner cycle, Op. 35, or Schumann's Die Nonne, Op. 49 No. 3; 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, Haydn's two string quartets, Op. 33 No. 1 and Op. 64 No. 2, C. P. E. Bach's Piano Sonata, Wq. 55/3, or the first movement of Alkan's Grande sonate 'Les quatre âges' (all of which are in B minor, but start with the possibility of D major); 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 or Haydn's String Quartet in D minor, Op. 103; Frequently performed portions of a larger work consisting of what is technically two separate movements, if the first of these finishes clearly on the tonic (and thus doesn't require continuation), such as the opening pair of movements in Beethoven's Piano Sonata Op. 109 (connected by an attacca); Entire extended works as song cycles, ballets, operas and oratorios that finish in a different tonic than the starting one, unless the two keys carry clear extramusical or programmatic connotions within the work (an explanation of which must accompany any such listings below).

Major/minor compositions retaining the keynote

Single works and miniatures Alkan – Chant d'amour - chant de mort, Op. 35 No. 10 (G-f)The Alkan Society, Bulletin 32: April 1987 Alkan – Esquisse, Op. 63 No. 7 "Le frisson" (F) Alkan – Prière Op. 64 No. 10 (B) Allen – Girl of the Orient (F) Bax – The Devil that Tempted St. Anthony (F) Beethoven – Klage, WoO 113 (E) Brahms – Jägerlied, Op. 66/4 (C) Brahms – Rhapsody Op. 119 No. 4 in EHindson, Maurice. Brahms – The Shorter Piano Works. Alfred Music Publishing Co. (1992), p. 10. Busoni – Sonatina No. 6 in A, BV 284 (A) Campra – Cari Zephiri volate (A) Campra – Quis ego Domine (A) Catoire – Prelude Op. 17 No. 4 (B) Cavallini – Caprice for clarinet Op. 4 No. 4 (E) Chopin – Nocturne Op. 32 No. 1 in BHuneker, James. Chopin: The Man and His Music, Courier Corporation (1960), p. 146. (final chord sometimes changed to major) Coste – Le Départ, Op. 31 (E) Couperin - Le Dodo, ou l'amour au Berçeau, from Pieces de Clavecin (A) http://cnks.imslp.org/files/imglnks/usimg/4/46/IMSLP99159-PMLP200270-Couperin_-_Pieces_de_clavecin_Bk3.pdf de Curtis – Torna a Surriento (E) (only if the chorus is used as an instrumental introduction, as done in the widely-performed arrangement by Giancarlo Chiaramello) Duparc – La Vie antérieure, melody (E flat) Duparc – Lénore, symphonic poem (G) 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) Franck – Le Chasseur maudit, symphonic poem (G) Fuchs – Andante grazio and Capriccio Op. 63 (A) Graener – Theodor-Storm-Musik Op.93 (A) Harris – Symphony No. 3 (G) Heidrich – Variations on "Happy Birthday" (C) Heinrich – The President's Funeral March (E) Karłowicz – Stanisław i Anna Oświecimowie, Op. 12 (B) Kuhlau – Introduction and Variations for flute and piano Op. 99 (A) Lalo – Fantaisie norvégienne in A Lecuona – La 32, No. 6 of Siete Danzas Cubanas Tipicas (G-f) Levy – Tango Brasileiro (A) (reverse Picardy third) MacDowell – Witch, Op. 38 No. 4 (F) Mendelssohn – Andante Cantabile e Presto Agitato in B Mendelssohn – Capriccio brillante for piano and orchestra in B, Op. 22 Mendelssohn – Capriccio in E, Op. 118 (1837) Mendelssohn – Capriccio, MWV U 43 (E) Mendelssohn – Characteristic Piece Op. 7 No. 7 in E (reverse Picardy third)Todd, R. Larry. "Piano Music Reformed: Mendelssohn". Nineteenth-Century Piano Music, ed. Todd, R. Larry, Routledge (2004), p. 191. Mendelssohn – Rondo capriccioso in E, Op. 14 de Momigny – La Nouvelle Valentine (A) Moniuszko – Magda Karczmarka, No. 20 from Śpiewnik domowy Vol. 2 (B) Moniuszko – Do Niemna, No. 4 from Śpiewnik domowy Vol. 6 (E) Mozart – Violin Sonata in A, K. 402/385e (completed by Maximilian Stadler; the work has only one movement) Poulenc – Nocturne, FP 56 No. 6 (G) Poulenc – Amoureuses, FP 77 No. 5 (F) Praeger – Rhapsody No. 2 in F Purcell – Awake, ye dead, Z. 182 (C) Purcell – The earth trembled, Z. 197 (A)Purcell, Harmonia Sacra, Rosemary Joshua – eClassical Purcell – Love arms himself in Celia's eyes, Z. 392 (C) 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)International Piano Quarterly Volumes 5–6, Gramophone Publications (2001), p. 44. Reicha – Fugue, Op. 36 No. 32 (E) Rheinberger – Toccata Op. 12 (G) Satie – Gymnopédie No. 1 (D) 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 FScarlatti: Complete Keyboard Sonatas – Warner Classics , p. 7.Kirkpatrick, Ralph. "Anatomy of the Scarlatti Sonata". Domenico Scarlatti: Revised Edition (Princeton University Press, 1983), p. 274. D. Scarlatti – Keyboard Sonata K. 140 (L. 107) in DMarshall, Robert. "Domenico Scarlatti". Eighteenth-Century Keyboard Music, Routledge (2004). (ends on an open octave in a D minor context) D. Scarlatti – Keyboard Sonata K. 182 (L. 139) in A D. Scarlatti – Keyboard Sonata K. 206 (L. 257) in ESutcliffe, W. Dean. The Keyboard Sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti and Eighteenth-Century Musical Style, Cambridge University Press (2008), p. 355. D. Scarlatti – Keyboard Sonata K. 297 (L.S. 19) in F Scriabin – Mazurka in F (1889) Schubert – Impromptu Op. 90 No. 2 in E Schubert – Moment Musical No. 6 in A (ends on an open octave in an A minor context)Franz Peter Schubert – Moments Musicaux, D. 780 Schubert – Am Bach im Frühling, D. 361 (D-c) Schubert – An den Mond, D. 468 (A) Schubert – Tränenregen (No. 10 of Die Schöne Müllerin) (A)Wollenberg, Susan. Schubert's Fingerprints: Studies in the Instrumental Works, Ashgate Publishing Ltd (2011), p. 24. Schubert – Die böse Farbe (No. 17 of Die Schöne Müllerin) (B)Damschroder, David. Harmony in Schubert, Cambridge University Press (2010), p. 104. Schubert – Lied eines Kriegers, D. 822 (A) Schubert – Frühlingstraum (No. 11 of Winterreise) (A) C. Schumann – Romance, op. 5 no. 3 (B)Cooper, Imogen. Chandos – Imogen Cooper – CHAN 10841 C. Schumann or Friedrich Wieck – Der Wanderer in der Sägemühle (C) R. Schumann – No. 17 of Davidsbündlertänze, Opus 6 (B) R. Schumann – Der Handschuh, Op. 87 (D) Sibelius – Impromptu, Opus 5 No. 6 in E Sibelius – Flickan kom ifrån sin älsklings möte, melody op. 37 nº5 (D flat-c sharp) Sibelius – Valse triste, op. 44 no. 1 (G) Sibelius – Winter Scene, No. 2 from 5 Esquisses Op. 114 (A) Soler – Keyboard Sonata R. 6 in F Strauss – Don Juan, Op. 20 (E) Tchaikovsky – To Forget So Soon, TH 94 (F)Osborne, Charles. The Concert Song Companion: A Guide to the Classical Repertoire, A Da Capo (1985). Tchaikovsky – Valse-Scherzo Op. 7 in A Voříšek – Fantasia for piano, Op. 12 (C)

Movements from larger works Arriaga – Symphony in D major, i (ends on an open octave in a D minor context) Beethoven – Piano trio No. 6 (Op. 70 No. 2) in E major, ii (C) Beethoven – Violin Sonata No. 9, "Kreutzer", i (A)Spitzer, Michael. Music as Philosophy: Adorno and Beethoven's Late Style, Indiana University Press (2006), p. 136. Beethoven – Piano Quartet No. 1 in E WoO 36, i (and ii) (E)Kerman, Joseph. "Beethoven's Minority". Write All These Down: Essays on Music, University of California Press (1994), p. 220. (although sometimes construed as two separate movements, they are not really separable as the first ends with a half-cadence leading into the second) Lennox Berkeley – Three Pieces for solo clarinet, iii (G) Norbert Burgmüller – Symphony No.2, Op. 11, iii (D) Catalani – La Wally, "Ebben, ne andrò lontana" (E) Chausson – Piano Trio in G minor, iv (G)Chausson, E.: Concert for Violin, Piano and String Quartet / Piano Trio (Meadowmount Trio, Wihan String Quartet) – Naxos Chausson - Piano Quartet in A major opus 30, ii (D flat/ c sharp) Chausson – Poème de l'amour et de la mer, i (G) Couperin – Pieces de clavecin, Troisieme livre, "L'enjouée" (G) Cui – In modo populari: Petite Suite No. 3, Op. 43, vi (Vivace, ma non troppo) (G) (returns to theme of first movement in G minor) Dvořák – Piano Trio ("Dumky") Op. 90 in E minor, v (E) Fitelberg – Violin Sonata Op. 12, i (F) Fuchs – String Trio Op. 61/1, i (E) Graener – Symphony in D Op. 39, iii (D) Grieg – Sigurd Jorsalfar (incidental music), iii ("Ved mannjevningen") (A) Gouvy – Petite Suite Galoise Op. 90, i (G) Handel – Jephtha, "All That Is in Hamor Mine" (G)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. Handel – Messiah, "All We Like Sheep" (F) Handel – Serse, "Per dar fine alla mia pena" (G) Kabalevsky – Piano Sonata No. 2, i (E) Lalo – Concerto Russe, Opus 29, i (G) Lalo – Symphonie espagnole, Opus 21, ii (G) Lalo – Symphony in G Minor, ii (scherzo) (E)Deruchie, Andrew. The French Symphony at the Fin de Siècle: Style, Culture, and the Symphonic Tradition, Boydell & Brewer (2013), pp. 114–15. Lazzari – String Quartet in A minor Op. 17, iv (A) MacDowell – Piano sonata No. 3, Op.57, iii (D) Magnard - Piano Trio Op.18, ii (D flat / c sharp) Marais – Sonata à la Marésienne (La Gamme et Autres Morceaux de Simphonie 1723), iii (C) Marpurg – Cinqième Suite de Pièces de Clavecin, v (G) Mayer – Symphony No. 5, iv (F)