Major/minor (tonal structure)

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For information on major/minor tonality, see Tonality or Major and minor

1 Explanation
2 List of Works
3 Descriptions of Works
4 See Also

[edit] Explanation

This term is used to refer to a musical composition that begins in a major key and ends in its tonic minor, specifying the keynote (as C major/minor). This is a very unusual form in tonal music, but its opposite (minor/major) is a musical platitude, Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 being perhaps the most famous example. This probably stems from the use of the tierce de picardie used in Medieval and Elizabethan music.

Following is a list of major/minor works (not always called as such):

[edit] List of Works

[edit] Miniatures

A. Scarlatti - Se Florindo e Fidele
Schubert - Impromptu Op. 90 No. 1 in E flat
Schubert - Moment Musical No. 6 in A flat
Brahms - Rhapsody in E flat

[edit] Movements from Larger Works

Beethoven - Piano Sonata Op. 109, i
Beethoven - Violin Sonata No. 9, "Kreutzer", i
Mendelssohn - String Quartet Op. 13 in A, i

[edit] Single Works

Mendelssohn - Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso in E major, Op. 14
Mendelssohn - Capriccio in E major/minor, Op. 118 (1837)
Mendelssohn - Andante Cantabile e Presto Agitato in B

[edit] Multi-Movement Works

Mendelssohn - Symphony No. 4 in A major, "Italian"
Brahms - Piano Trio No. 1 in B major, Op. 8 (two versions; 1854 and 1891)

[edit] Descriptions of Works

The Andante Cantabile and Presto Agitato in B for solo piano was composed by Mendelssohn in 1838, composed for the Musikalisches Album of 1839. The work is divided into two sections: a peaceful, lyrical, flowing introduction in B major, which plunges into an agitated sonata-form allegro in B minor. Two other piano works of Mendelssohn use this form: the the Capriccio in E major/minor of 1837, and the famous Rondo Capriccioso in E Op. 14 (which has a very similar lyrical theme for the introduction). Both sections display the way in which Mendelssohn could use piano textures to create moods and atmospheres.