"Major to minor" works/pieces

[Lento]

Have just listened to the Brahms Piano Trio in B, in which the first movement is in B major, but the finale is in a definite B minor. It suddenly occurred to me this this can't be all that usual, ie in that "direction" and in the parallel key. Are there any obvious examples that come readily to mind? I expect there may be pieces that change within the movement as well, but seem to have a mental blank! I know little about Nielson, so maybe.... Oh, Mendelssohn's Italian Symphony, how embarrassing!

I guess programmatic pieces may offer more examples: Struass' Don Juan, Also Sprach (sort of, I think)...

Tchaik Piano No 1 would be cheating, I suppose: the 1st mvt starting and ending in the major, the finale starting in the minor, but emphatically not ending in it, as we all know.

[Lento]

Barber Violin Concerto!

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

This is indeed rare. It goes against the concept of the Tierce de Picardy, something I've never particularly liked, as it can destroy the mood created over a long movement in an instant.

Mozart toyed with it in his A major Piano Sonata K331, with a predominantly A minor/F sharp minor finale, but with short major key interludes and coda.

And it's never quite certain which way Clementi will go in his Sonata in D Minor ane Major Op. 40 no.3, that too ends in the major.

Occasionally, individual movements change from major to minor at the end, "All we like sheep" from Handel's Messiah being a well-known example.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Copland Violin Concerto!

???

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Oh, Mendelssohn's Italian Symphony, how embarrassing!

This, and the Brahms Trio, are the only two works that I can think of that follow this (Tierce de Tipperary?) pattern.

I don't know the Copland Violin Concerto - does the arrangement differ from the Sonata original?

[amateur51]

Wiki gives examples ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picardy_third

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

... are the only two works that I can think of that follow this (Tierce de Tipperary?) pattern.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Wiki gives examples ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picardy_third

Aren't these all Picardy Thirds, ami (a piece in the minor ending with a tonic major triad)? Any examples of t'other way round?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Wiki gives examples ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picardy_third

But as far as I can see, this article refers only to minor-to-major.

[Serial_Apologist]

I thought this thread would be about works which have fallen in status!

[ahinton]

Tchaik Piano No 1 would be cheating, I suppose: the 1st mvt starting and ending in the major, the finale starting in the minor, but emphatically not ending in it, as we all know.

Sorry, but that wonderful trio's first movement begins and ends in A minor and its second begins in E major and ends with an allegro section that opens in A major and ends in A minor - so it would be "cheating" only to the extent that it's just the finale that begins in the major and ends in the minor!

[kea]

Schubert Impromptu Op 90/2
Brahms Rhapsody Op 119/4
Chopin Ballade No. 2 (F major -> A minor)
Shostakovich String Quartet No. 2
Roy Harris Symphony No. 3
several songs from Die schöne Müllerin

Vorisek violin sonata, Fuchs piano sonata etc

lots more

two that leave the mode ambiguous: Schubert Moment Musical No. 6 (final note just an unharmonised A-flat), Shostakovich Symphony No. 11 (resonance blending together B-flats and B-naturals from the bell solo, making it unclear whether the key is G minor or G major)

It is reasonably common for the finale to be in the parallel minor (there are many well-known examples in Haydn, Brahms etc) but it usually switches to major at the end as a minor chord was viewed as dissonant in the classical era.

edit: Hey, Wiki has a list. Some dubious examples there but it's a good start.

[Sir Velo]

Alkan's Grande Sonate: Les quatre ages

[Lento]

???

Sorree! I meant Barber, prompted by this afternoon's broadcast. At least the nationality was right!

[amateur51]

Aren't these all Picardy Thirds, ami (a piece in the minor ending with a tonic major triad)? Any examples of t'other way round?

Curses!