The 5 Best Key Changes in Classical Music

Rounding off my mini-series on Harmony, this video is about those sudden key changes, that often form points of revelation or increased intensity...This list is entirely personal!
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Beethoven: • Gustavo Dudamel Sympho...
The original version belongs to nikitaventures music, who have copyright claimed my whole video.
Mozart: • Video
Schubert: • Schubert Piano Sonata ...
Sibelius: • Sibelius - Symphony No...
Wagner: • Tristan und Isolde - E... AND • Tristan Prelude & Lieb...

[@pseudotonal]

Number 4 wasn't a key change, just a progression. And it wasn't an A flat 7, it was a an augmented sixth (German 6/5) chord which is a device in the parallel C minor. Mozart prepares us for it by giving us an F minor chord, the subdominant in C minor, then a D flat major chord which is a submedient in F minor. The A flat is in both C minor and F minor, so we accept it. It properly resolves to the tonic 6/4 and then has the V-I to satisfy us.

[@Cherodar]

The really neat thing about that moment is how the first movement does practically the same thing in its recap, and both the first and fourth movements have similarly different things (involving just a minor iv, no Neapolitan) in their expositions! An unusual bit of inter-movement harmonic-choice linkage.

[@Dylonely42]

Wow you are too good in music

[@arthurfleiss]

Show off.

[@enelabe]

Same with number 4

[@HankySwankles]

@@arthurfleisshe’s right though. For it to actually be a key change, we’d have to sit in whatever key we’re moving to for a least a little while to make it feel like “home.” Just because there is a brief intonation of a certain chord doesn’t mean we’ve changed keys to that chord.

[@Nobilangelo]

That blazing, heaven-storming transition from the 3rd to the 4th movements in Beethoven's 5th Symphony is one of the greatest moments in all music.

[@planetproofreading2234]

There are plenty of great bursts of flight in music, but yeah, that's sure one of them. At 30, I was a latecomer to classical, but the 5th was my baptism.

[@mrbryansanguinitoorchestra]

Had there ever been a time before in any symphony where there wasn't a pause in between movements? Just another Beethoven innovation!

[@MSalt69]

Agreed! And then a few bars later in the horn chorus Beethoven sticks in an heroic motif that is pure uplifting Hollywood and could have come out of any of the Star Wars themes. Beethoven inventing film music before there were films!

[@Berliozboy]

Schubert's D960 is unbelievable. Easily in my top handful of favorite works, and maybe my single favorite Piano Sonata. Although some think it too slow, the Richter recording never fails to floor me.

[@BRNRDNCK]

Why is it so good? How do you understand it?

[@Berliozboy]

@@BRNRDNCK I've never done an analysis of the piece so I don't think I'd be able to explain "why" it's so good. It's just a piece I return to again and again and it ALWAYS moves me, especially the first movement. I'm sitting here trying to come up with reasons and all that's coming to my mind is descriptions that are impossible to quantify, "serene", "contemplative," "intimate." It's a piece that strikes me like miracle, one that I experience more on an emotional/spiritual level than a mental/musical one. As you can see I'm flailing here :) Your question has inspired me dig into it on an analytical level, thanks!

[@BRNRDNCK]

@@Berliozboy Thanks for the reply! I think very long pieces of music need to be cohesive, with some type of overarching structure, so that we can really call it _one_ piece. I've only listened a few times and don't quite have my head around it- I don't see how the movements relate, etc., and I think that would make it even more beautiful (it already is as you described!)

[@Berliozboy]

@@BRNRDNCK Well said. An example of a long piece with cohesive movements for me is Schumann's Fantasie Op 17. I do see what you're saying about the Schubert D960, as the first movement really does tower above the other 3, and that movement is the main reason I love the piece.

[@BRNRDNCK]

@@Berliozboy I will have to check out the Schumann, thanks!

[@m44p25]

There is a moment in the third movement of Sergei Bortkiewicz's second piano sonata in which he transitions from D-flat Major into a 4 part chorale in E-major. It is one of the most peaceful and beautiful moments there is to me. Very underrated work!

[@dmitrysychyow1868]

Those famous eight bars of E Major at the end of Bolero shouldn't be omitted too.

[@josephciolino2865]

I do not hear a "Key" change at all in the Wagner excerpt. I hear what some would call a "deceptive" progression or cadence, a simple long sustained dominant 7tn chord resolving to the sub-dominant chord.

[@keithparker1346]

People caring about whether it's a chord progression or key change ...should really get out more to be frank. Just enjoy the music FFS don't dissect it too much

[@josephciolino2865]

@@keithparker1346 It can make a difference.

[@keithparker1346]

@@josephciolino2865 how so?

[@danielh3668]

Beethoven's 8th, Finale. After a couple of times hitting the ff d flat he changes on the last time to c#, and instead of going back to the home key he stays with c# = V and starts a short passage almost tutti in f# minor (!!!). I say almost tutti because for obvious reasons the timpani and brass remain silent for a few measures until they decide to jump back in and put an end to that f# minor nonsense pounding their f naturals to bring the whole orchestra back. It's just a caprice, there's no modulatory process, just a block of measures in one key and suddenly another block in another key, basically via that switch of the instrumentation.

[@jaakkomantyjarvi7515]

Beethoven's 8th finale, seconded. This is for me one of the most jarring harmonic shifts for its time, and even in the context of Beethoven's harmonic language. He has numerous unprepared shifts by a third, but going directly from F# minor to F major is just something else. This kind of minor to major shift with the third as the shared pitch became commonplace in 20th-century free-tonal harmony, though; Vaughan Williams comes to mind, and I've used the device a fair bit myself.

[@Kumgll]

Great, I've always wondered why a get goose-pimbles when I hear those pieces of music. Listening to the Mozart 41 in Derby Cathedral last year, the audience could not contain itself at that point and burst into applause. I've always loved the change of key in the first movement of Mozart's "Simple" Piano Sonata (when the first theme is played for the third time - I'm no technician). I listen just to get it. Mmmmmm.

[@andycarter9845]

First minute of Metamorphosen? THAT cadence, wow.

[@threethrushes]

This comment section: 90 per cent: Bach-level academic experts in musical theory. 10 per cent: mE LiKe tEh sOuNd

[@Mkrzz44]

4. Ab7 Is an augmented sixth called German augmented sixth

[@Stafford674]

Friendly comment. Make your comment and THEN play the music, instead of talking over the music.

[@Casutama]

I love the finale of Mozart's 41st symphony, it never fails to get my heart rate up

[@Aussiemarco]

Isolde’s Liebestod is absolutely one of the greatest pieces of music ever composed. Indescribably glorious as one’s soul is lifted to Heaven, just as Isolde’s soul joins Tristan’s in Heaven. One of those moments when music caresses our soul.

[@willyj3321]

I love the very beginning of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 when the piano states the main theme in G major and then the orchestra responds with the theme seemingly in B major before transitioning back to G.

[@fob3476]

I was expecting this one in the video

[@enjoyclassicalmusic6006]

Good choice, it's such a pleasant surprise so early, and after the short piano introduction!

[@ezekielbrockmann114]

Sibelius' 5th Symphony, that moment. Dear God, ... Just Sublime! Also, mining the depths of Chopin's Nocturnes, the form of which are predominantly ABA' , just the way the contradictory melodies and rhythms stop their juxtaposition upon returning to the original key are literally breathtaking.

[@masantonio8790]

The second coming of the Andante theme halfway through Liszt’s Piano Sonata is golden. F-Sharp Major to G Minor - G Major and back to F-Sharp is too good.

[@MattWeisherComposer]

ABSOLUTELY. The first time I heard that moment, it found its way coming through my hands every time I would sit at my piano. So beautiful.

[@dgmullin1]

I was hoping for some Liszt. The Sonata, Les Préludes, Harmonies du Soir, Liebestraum #3, the list goes on. Liszt was a master of the dramatic key change

[@VintageCarHistory]

Beethoven, Pastoral Symphony #6. First movement. Oh, that smooth change through the bird calls...

[@ironchancellorottovonbisma8573]

The scream of frustration that is the climax of Mahler 2 3rd movement should have been number 1! The key change hurts you its so powerful!

[@carpenterhillstudios8327]

It makes what us choristers sing later a great context for our first entry. I thank God I'm a bass every time.

[@peterb3181]

At the opening of Act 2 of La Traviata, Alfredo sings of how happy he is that Violetta has given everything up to be with him (Lunge da lei). He then sings, "Qui presso a lei io rinascer mi sento" [Here close to her I feel myself being born again.] The key change in the orchestra always takes my breath away, given the tragedy which later befalls them both.

[@operaforlife6551]

I love that spot too, but the whole second act is magical really, Violetta just gets one unbelievably gorgeous melody after another...

[@OzSteve9801]

I would have included the key change in Beethoven's 5th piano concerto that link the last 2 movements. Simply two sustained notes which give the clarinetists time to change instruments.

[@stephenjackson2479]

Bassoons always happy to oblige clarinets

[@OzSteve9801]

@@stephenjackson2479 Beethoven's favourite combo.

[@jeromus9996]

I always love Schubert's modulations (for that it often brings the music up to an emotional height), but man that modulation in Sibelius' 5th Symphony is just something out of this world so outright stunning and majestic it almost reduces me to tears. Also, just for your correction the modulation in Schubert’s B flat major Sonata is not from D flat major to D major but rather from G flat major to A major and that the modulation in Sibelius’ 5th Symphony is from E flat (by D flat) to C major instead of from D flat to D.

[@aisrmc]

The Schubert is also not the second theme ;) But anyway, great selections.

[@БожидарХристов-о9х]

Of course! Everyone with ears and a proper musical hearing can hear that, but not this man obviously. I was just about to correct him but I saw your comment.

[@ThePrimeMinisterOfTheBlock]

@@БожидарХристов-о9х yeah it's so OBVIOUS whats wrong with this guy doesn't he have proper musical hearing?

[@planetproofreading2234]

I confess to not having listened to Schubert's piano compositions much (I will from now!), but I've always loved him as a chamber music genius and tragically underrated. He was only 31 when he died, only performed once publically, and yet look at his prolific composing including some of the most charming and happiest music ever made. What a shame1

[@balok63a40]

Schubert was certainly the master of the Unexpected Modulation (he especially liked the trick of an augmented sixth in one key being the dominant seventh in the other), but the greatest key change in his music is the transition from E major to F minor in the slow movement of the C major quintet. No arguments will be accepted, as this is objectively true.

[@sephyradance4648]

Thank you for this video!! I'm myself really interested in key changes - although I don't know anything technical about them - and I always think it produces a tremendous effect. I love how you explain them, it makes them even more enjoyable. And yes, definitely, the passage from the 3rd mov to the finale in Beethoven's 5th is my favourite transition of all time. But your putting Wagner as no 1 makes so much sense. Harmonically, the others are really good, but he's a miracle. I'm a Wagner fan, but I think I'm just being objective here!

[@BBB-hi4hc]

That mozart more like a chord progression

[@mrz80]

I incorporated that key change in Beethoven's 5th symphony in an Easter sermon a couple years ago. The dark, ominous tone that disappears into all those rumbling tympani sounded like Jesus' trial, crucifixion and burial, and that shift to that loud, bold major key 4th movement was the resurrection.

[@tow1709]

Could consider also the E-natural Horn entry in Brahms 1 movement IV just before the "big tune", another C minor to C major transition.

[@TheAskald]

Definitely my favorite "the sun comes out through the clouds" moment.

[@christopheravery83]

I love the video, however it’s important to note that the Mozart passage does not involve any change of key. This is rather a startling series of *pre-dominant* chords that sound increasingly more exciting because of the increased tension they create before finally reaching the dominant chord and arriving back on the tonic. The succession of harmonies mentioned in the clip is more accurately described as: iv - Neapolitan (2nd inversion) - German 6th - I 6/4 - V - I. One of my absolute favorite moments in all of music, and all within the key of C!

[@enjoyclassicalmusic6006]

Yes you may be right! I've addressed this in the pinned comment above...

[@fionamacleod30]

Totally agree with your number 1. I always cry at this key change moment. It’s like the biggest release after so many hours of never ending never settling unrestful harmony. What a moment.‘!!! 🙏🏻💚

[@kenmcguire5837]

While I am admittedly not the biggest Bruckner fan out there, I do love how his third symphony uses the initial trumpet theme from the 1st movement to resolve the whole work into a glorious D Major at the end of the finale.

[@JeanPaul-Hol65]

A big brucknerian fan here… 😅 I like your comment!

[@Kumgll]

I love the big seperate blocks of music in the 3rd.

[@threethrushes]

Bruckner has entered the chat.

[@ErnestSDavis1]

Wonderful video, thanks for posting! My own vote is for the shift from D major to D minor in the transition from the 2nd to the 3rd section of the Bach Chaconne in D minor. You think you have attained a state of peace and contentment, and then in four bars it shifts back to a deeper tragedy than ever.

[@Tracotel]

The best key changes are by Bruckner by far. Nobody supasses him as being the greatest master of subbtle long term harmonic construction and continuity. For instance: the "fake" recapitulation in the 1st movement of his 6th symphony is absolutely mindblowing: Eb major and then the real home tonality of A major with a reversed presentation of the motives and musical events of the exposition: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aXOZeaFpqtyEbrc

[@zappa_andre]

I specially love Mahler 4th adagio's key changes in the very end, opening the doors of the universe right after one of his least complex adagios... wonderful

[@balok63a40]

The adagio ends on a D major chord, to lead into the G major opening of the finale, but the climax of the movement is in E major, which is why the symphony ends in the "wrong" key of E major.

[@jeffwatkins352]

Nice, especially the Sibelius which is one of those musical moments which utterly crushes me. But how could you cut away before the final resolution of Tristan???

[@krzysztofq7420]

I don't know if it qualifies as key change, but there is a moment in Mahler's 4th symphony in the slow third movement, a few bars before the fff outburst near the end of the movement - with horns playing ascending motive in pianissimo (pp) and then strings play glissando to non-expected key in ppp dynamic.

[@enjoyclassicalmusic6006]

There's that amazing rise from a G major to a VERY pointily sharp E major, which is brilliant, such a beautiful symphony, haven't heard in ages, thanks!

[@JWP452]

Blabbing right through the famous C minor to C major episode in Beethoven's 5th.....

[@littleschnitzel8226]

All the chords during the 3rd example are written wrong, with the exception of the final D, they are in fact: Gb, Cb, Gb, F#m (with a hint at C#7) and D.

[@fltwwq]

#1: the “F# major to E major key change” is really just a shift from steps V to IV (however streched out and exalted) in the same key of B major, which is omnipresent. Nothing to do with the keys of F# and E per se, IMO. As with several of your other examples (as pointed out), you confuse harmonic marches and patterns within the same key, with actual key changes. For a key change to occur, the first key must be firmly eatablished, and the second must also settle as such, which is clearly not the case here.

[@wangligong]

Thank you for the great video. Since you mention Schubert's D.960: one of my favorite moments is towards the end of the second movement of this same sonata, where C major seems to come in from nowhere. One day I finally realized (I'm not a musician) this was the exact opposite of what happened earlier in the movement: earlier it was from G#/Ab to E (relative major of the home key), a major third down; and here from G#/Ab to C, a major third up. Since then I loved this moment even more...

[@pawdaw]

I'm glad you mentioned this key change, it's truly extraordinary. The second movement of D960 is like a quiet, but impassioned prayer. In the return of the first section, Schubert shifts the key, with no preparation, from G# major to C major. The dynamic is so soft, and the texture so fragile, but this moment affects me profoundly. It's like a vision of heaven opening up. The shift to E major and then to C# major to finish the movement - these are also incredible. Since we're on Schubert, I might mention the middle of the slow movement of the String Quintet D956 - where the key dramatically shifts from E major to F minor, absolutely startling, every time you hear it.

[@wangligong]

@@pawdaw Exactly. It’s like you see heaven, so beautiful, but you realize it is also so strange, unfamiliar, and far from home…

[@pawdaw]

@@wangligong yes, it's only an illusion...

[@timweather3847]

Yes, to me that is the supreme key change in all music. I didn’t know the work when I bought the two volumes of Schubert’s sonatas many years ago, and when I played that movement for the first time that drop into C major was a shock almost like a lightning stroke. Has C major ever sounded so magical anywhere else? I still find it a breath-taking moment.

[@pawdaw]

@@timweather3847 you have the wrench up to E major at the end of Ravel's Bolero, and then you have this - both have the same impact. I was told that Igor Levit recently played this sonata in concert, and became so overcome during this passage that he was playing through tears. I get it.

[@reuben8531]

Dvoraks Humoresque has a really nice transition around half way through the piece from F# major to f# minor that just sounds amazing

[@williamcookmiller6997]

My fave: the modulation from C minor to A Major in the 1st movement of Mahler 2 -- kzbin.info/www/bejne/lYS4op19pM6ZhaM -- which feels like falling in love. Worth mentioning that The Beatles' "Something" also modulates beautifully from C to A in its middle eight.

[@pjkorab]

You mean C minor to E major (it just hangs on subdominant A major with natural D added near the end to add that pastoral flavor ^^, but this is preceded by a 6/4 dominant of E and afterwards resolves on a simple E major - 2 before [23], english horn solo, that's the "we're home" resolution in the new key:)) I do agree it's one of Mahler's best though. And his music is full of great harmonic moments

[@Zepperitz]

I miss anything of J. S. Bach, that's what key changes are all about!

[@alexanderzhao4448]

JS Bach’s Partita no 2 in D minor - Ciaccona from D minor to D major. Also Mozart’s Mass in C minor - Kyrie when the soprano comes in major

[@zorm_]

One of my favorite is in Chopin's Etude op.25 n°7 "Cello". The piece is written in C# minor and oscillates between C#m and E in the beginning. At measure 21, Chopin introduces a first dissonance that goes through a progression of adjacent keys, keeping up the dissonance in a crescendo motion, until it is finally and unexpectedly resolved at the climax of the piece on a key change to E♭ at measure 27. I don't know if that can be qualified as a key change, but it definitely is a progression that ends up on an unexpected key The versions that capture this interesting progression that I've found to be the best are Pollini and Trifonov

[@inotmark]

Tristan doesn't modulate from F# to E. There is an A# included in the C# minor (not E major) Chord, clearly identifying the key as B. The resolution of C# to B is a continuation of the whole step appogiatura modulations throughout the Liebestod, and has its effect due to that relationship.

[@balok63a40]

The Liebestod begins with an Ab 6/4 chord. The Prelude famously opens with the "Tristan chord" (when I was a kid, we learned to analyze it as an augmented sixth) that leads to a dominant 7th on E. But a dominant 7th on E can be respelled as an augmented 6th on Fb, which naturally progresses to. . . an Ab 6/4 chord. As far as I can tell, I am the only person in the world who thinks that this is not a coincidence.

[@inotmark]

@@balok63a40 The so called Tristan chord is a ii7 chord in Eb minor. The opening phrases of prelude oscillate between Eb and A minors Eb minor: ii7 A minor: V Eb minor: viio7 A minor : V of III Eb minor viiø7 A minor: V of V The failed modulation to Eb is the narrative of the prelude as a whole. The lovers attempt to break through to the "ocean of love's endless delights" (Wagner's words) and fail. The Tristan chord itself is made up of two thirds: F minor and B major. These two thirds represent the two lovers, Tristan is F and Isolde is B. The resolution of the Tristan chord to Ab via the augmented sixth relationship occurs in the second act with Tristan's "O König, das kann ich dir nicht sagen". Ab is of course the key of the first love duet and paean to night. Everything you were taught about the opera is likely wrong.

[@anman1352]

One of my all-time favorites is the transition from F major to F-sharp minor in the finale of Beethoven's 8th symphony using the C sharp/D flat as the pivotal note. Every time I listen to it I marvel at just how seamless it flows.

[@1258-Eckhart]

Listening to this, and adding my feeble "like", I feel such an incredible dork.

[@georgenorris2657]

Somebody below mentions the end of the adagio of Mahler's fourth. One of the most entrancing passages ever. And, of course, you mentioned the swan theme from the finale of Sibelius 5 which brings me close to tears just to think about it. Beethoven's ninth needs mentioning too though - especially the amazing key changes in the slow movement. It's in B flat but then that amazing D first version chord transforms everything. Later you get the Eflat forte section and the second time it comes the whole orchestra play the most resounding D flat chord. an overwhelming moment which seems to contain all of life's struggles within it.

[@michaelv6304]

Ending of the opening chorus of Bach's St Matthew passion, for sure.

[@stevegandy4203]

What about the famous key change in the Verdi Requiem at the end of the first or second movement where the orchestra and choir have been playing and singing in a minor key. When they reach the word “Amen” they suddenly shift to a major key with a huge crescendo/diminuendo before reverting back to the previous minor key.

[@chrisperyagh]

The key change in Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture going into Db Major (where the cor anglais plays the love theme) is a landmark.

[@EtienneBerny]

Let me introduce my favourite one with César Franck's 2nd Choral for Organ : kzbin.info/www/bejne/mHXMlWZngrhgsKs. Timecode 10:15, the phrase ends in B flat minor, and then we go straight to F# minor... Awesome.

[@Szhenrik94]

This video is quite interesting. Liked it a lot, only one thing: in the Schubert sonata you wrote D flat, but in fact it is G flat, after it C flat (B) major, f sharp minor, then turns into A major. You were slipped by a fifth. And in the Sibelius at the beginning you wrote D major, instead of C major. Tiny mistakes, anyway it is awesome.

[@andrewketchum960]

Yes, I fully agree on Beethoven's 5th symphony, third to fourth movement. During the progression there are hints of the first movement as well. One of my favorites.

[@ozielich]

Oh! You have been missing out! The best key change ever, is Bach's Crucifixus into the Et Resurrexit from the B minor Mass.

[@davidkimmins8781]

And the shift into G for 'Et in terra pax'

[@dylanhughes5981]

Great video. I could listen to Schubert’s piano sonata in B flat Major all day every day. I wish you would’ve picked a better opera singer without a wobble, such as Birgit Nillson. Maybe next time 😉

[@Kumgll]

Yes. Schubert.

[@Snuggelbubs1]

I don't notice anyone mentioning the climax to the trio from Rosenkavalier!! My GOD, if you want a shocking key-change at a climactic moment, try moving super-fast from Ab major (as the dominant to Db, the key of the piece) to a quick few chord changes culminating in a shocking E-major chord over a B in the bass, while all three women are soaring up to high Bs or similar. Then a very quick turn-around to get us back to a solid Db major.

[@andy_pandy88]

I think one of the best key changes is in the finale of Mahler’s first symphony…. Heading back to the f minor home key, fixed on c major and all of a sudden a glorious D major chorale falls out of the sky. It’s perfect

[@johnlueck9742]

I absolutely agree also in the first movement is a great key change

[@sergeisavitski7339]

I agree with comments about Mozart not being a modulation. But isn’t Wagner “Tristan und Isolde” also a pretty standard chord progression? I hear F#9 resolving to EM on B with E and G# pitches acting like a suspension to the resolution to BM that follows right after. So it’s really extended F#7 resolving to the home key of BM, just with the suspension at first, dominant moving to a tonic essentially.

[@leoblum0631]

This is my personal favourite. There are a couple of key changes before the truly amazing one appearing at: "Ist dies etwa - der Tot..." Do listen to the entire performance, if you have the time, it's well worth it. But if you're only interested in another magic key change, tune in on around 4'50''. That is something to remember and cherish! Better than any of Wagner's modulations! kzbin.info/www/bejne/bpyYin2EhparkM0

[@CuratorOfRealities]

This is basically in the same spirit as that Thomas the Tank Engine episode when they rescue the mud-bound band, and at the end they listen to the music the band plays, but they don't love the music itself being played, they just love that there is music. This video is the same. It's an enjoyment of the fact that there are key changes in these pieces at all. There are far more earth-shattering key changes around than any of these listed.

[@davidkimmins8781]

Yes, I love the sudden change in Faure's Requiem from F to Ab to introduce the 'Lux aeterna' passage in 'Agnus Dei'. Going from the sublime to the ridiculous, was that Eric Morecambe playing the Schubert?

[@tj-co9go]

Brahms second piano concerto second movement has a pretty amazing one 5) That's my favorite one too! 4) Not quite a key change. Just a chord progression. 3) It's okay. 2) Probably great. Haven't listened to this piece 1) Great one

[@crazychameleon123]

Go away and listen to it! Sibelius 5 is sublime.

[@Kumgll]

Yes, its other worldly. Screaming anguish.

[@pwjaiter6277]

I think n3 is from f sharp minor to d major

[@dsm2240]

Bolero at the end shifts to E Major.

[@gevenliu1931]

I’m so glad you included the Schubert D.960!! This is one of my absolutely favorite pieces (especially the later 2min in first movement development section, I think that’s the most tender two minutes in the entire Western musical literature). Schubert is so often overshadowed by the giants of grandiose sublimity propelled by the romantic historicity; to for me his tender vision is every bit as respectable as the hugeness in Wagner or Mahler. That said, I have to say, in the same sonata D.960, in the second movement recapitulation part, the very abrupt unmodulated key change from C# to C Major in bar 103 is absolutely magical and jaw-dropping, perhaps even more surprising than the first movement recap! Schubert simply has way too many interesting key change examples!

[@nickroosh9407]

The schubert example was incorrect by an entire 4th.

[@JAMESLEVEE]

Sibelius' 5th is in E-flat, not C. His 3rd and 7th are in C, but to my knowledge, the 5th begins and ends in E-flat.

[@jgesselberty]

The closing moments of the Gloria from Beethoven's "Missa Solemnis" are mind blowing.

[@mogret7451]

Have to listen to it.

[@edcassells]

Arguably, the hardest work I've ever performed.

[@johanbrandtt.gr.3384]

Y - E - S !!!

[@pos_itronium]

well, i have to claim that in fact the 3rd fragment shows a modulation from G flat to A. the subdominant of A is a major D chord and it passes by, but it's not the key, the new key is A major. and i can't even notice where the D flat is

[@anthonysandle5055]

Agreed

[@pwjaiter6277]

5:10 isn't this f sharp major?

[@marionbayley1351]

It’s a real shame that you talking over the music means we don’t really hear the music properly. Perhaps it’s something you could think about changing.

[@enjoyclassicalmusic6006]

I always try to leave links to the music I use in the description to encourage people to find the music themselves and to hear it in context! If we creators just output music we can get hit with copyright claims...

[@marionbayley1351]

@@enjoyclassicalmusic6006 Sorry, I hadn’t thought about the copyright. It was an interesting selection.

[@ellenstanton2043]

Schubert was the master of incredible key changes.

[@grahamhorton5659]

For me, it‘s the transition into Nimrod in the Enigma Variations by Elgar kzbin.info/www/bejne/rH2xfamZd9Kip9E

[@_rstcm]

Quick correction for the Schubert sonata Progression.....the second theme is actually in Gb major. And the transition is from F# minor to D major....which are much closer in relation. Also....in Sibelius 5, it goes from Ab to Db.....not Bb to Db.

[@BsktImp]

The coda from Vaughan Williams' _Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis._ The transition into the brightest G major sunlight.

[@neilsander7348]

I would actually argue that the greatest key change in music is the coda of Alice in Chains' "Would?" (F#m -> C#Maj -> GMaj -> F#Maj -> D#Maj, ending in C#m7), but limiting it to classical music, I'd say (1) GMaj -> DMaj7 in Copland's Rodeo; (2) Dm -> Dmaj in Orff's O Fortuna; (3) the delicate repeated transition from F#m -> FMaj in Britten's War Requiem; and (4) the entirety of the 3rd movement of Schumann's Piano Concerto.

[@hoangkimviet8545]

Interesting topic. By the way, can you do the video about the most notable time signature changes in only a movement?

[@mikesummers-smith4091]

Bartok's Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta 1st movement, for one.

[@andycarter9845]

Fugue from young person's guide to the orchestra surely?

[@mikesummers-smith4091]

@@andycarter9845 One of the great tingle moments in all music.

[@mikesummers-smith4091]

The Scherzo and Trio in Schubert's C Major Quintet.

[@ProgettoMemoria]

Mahler is full with them

[@lukeharrison8753]

you have to love the G major to B major key change at the beginning of Beethoven PC number 4

[@jimwinchester339]

Can't agree with some of the choices. #5: Nothing novel at all about C minor --> C major change; especially since Beethoven elides playing the 3rds at all during the transition. It's rather boring, actually; finally resolving right about the same time we're getting tired of it. Good thing the 4th movement is so jubilant that we pomptly forget it. #4: Yep - the f-->D-flat transition is the "fork point" that keeps you from ending up in the dominant key again, and lets you finish in the original key . See 'pseudotonal's remarks about this. #3, #2: #1: No comment. I feel you've missed some of the more interesting key changes in Rachmoninov's and Gershwin's works.

[@geckolocator]

The Wagner example is harmonically sublime but it's still just a very simple V7 - IV - I progression in B major - not a key change

[@Nelya57]

I like that moment in Beethoven’s famous 17th Sonata lll movement, when, after many g-?-A-d goes d6/4- A-d and suddenly instead of A you hear Es- c-F-B-g-c-F-B-?-c-F-B!

[@VaggosWho]

I thinkg Bach is the master of the changes.....especially at the finale! Personally i hate that changes!

[@nilsfrederking62]

Isn't the Schubert D 960 (example number 3) from G-flat major via f-sharp minor to D-major? So enharmonically F-sharp major via f-sharp minor to D-major. So not so far away and would explai that it sounds relatively smooth.

[@jaygbardo8781]

Actually the wagnerian is piece is not a key change. It is on a V area just before and move to IV so it is progression within the key of B at this point...So, you need to work on that a bit...And even the mozart C major Fm - Db are modulations away from C not key changes. I - iv - bII - bVI7 which servers as a German 6th resolving to I....It still all in the key of C, not a key change.. the Beethoven is a change of mode Minor to Major...not a key change....only the Schubert and Sebilius are obtuse enough and more like key lifts, which is technically a key change.... So....nice try for you but no cigar....I give you D+ go study some theory....

[@yodorob]

G.F. Handel, in two of his oratorios, makes key changes from minor to major in the final chorus of Act II. In Judas Maccabaeus, it's from C minor to C major; in Joseph and His Brethren, it's from D minor to D major. In neither of these cases are we talking about especially happy choruses.

[@PartiallyGeorge]

What about movement 1 of Schubert Great Symphony? The last third is built entirely on key change (imho).

[@paulroussell]

Surely the greatest is the moment in the Chichister Psalms by Bernstein startng at kzbin.info/www/bejne/bYrLn6CiaamKb8k where the progression goes G to D7 to C#7 (or D Flat 7?) and resolves a tritone back to G. It brings tear to my I when I remember the first time I heard it when performing it in a choir.

[@5610winston]

About four-and-a-half minutes into Beethoven's Emperor Concerto there is a little nine-note motif which is only indirectly related to my favorite key changes. Aleksandr Borodin took those nine notes and expanded them into the First theme of the Allegro for his Quartet No. 1 in A-major (The movement opens with an Andante not unlike Haydn's "Sunrise" Quartet. The Allegro theme is stated, restated, and developed quite energetically and even including lot of virtuosic work for the viola (Borodin himself was a 'cellist as well as being one of the most important chemists of the nineteenth century: look up the Borodin-Hunsdiecker reaction). The development becomes more and more exciting until it comes to an unexpected stop, brief _fermata_ pause, then the 'cello picks the theme up from the middle as the subject of a fugato, you'll think it's just more sunshine and frolicking in the flowers until the countersubject hits and takes us into a darker minor key and a furious minor "dogfight" style shouting match before working through a reconciliation and restatement of the "Suggested by a theme of Beethoven" theme. The second movement is, in my opinion, predictive of Shostakovich's Eighth String Quartet in some ways, the third movement Scherzo is a tribute to Mendelssohn's _Midsummer Night's Dream_ and Borodin's final movement is a rousing and challenging minor-key dance. Imagine Borodin and three of his pals in his faculty apartment with students passing through the parlor to get to the stairs to the dormitory rooms and his wife's relatives passed out on top of the piano and all the other chaos in his life.... Anyhow, when you have about forty minutes to spend exploring Borodin's first quartet, you will find it's full of modulation "Easter Eggs", as well as some amazing metrical tricks. There are a couple of recordings on KZbin, but if you're hearing it for the first time I would recommend the one with the scrolling score.

[@PatrickOfTav]

A much better example from the Mozart is after the first repeat (bar 158) kzbin.info/www/bejne/nXLQqGt3idGhbJo. The whole passage goes through a number of keys and ends with an extraordinary modulation from B major back to C major at bar 219. That is a real modulation!

[@rogerraphael7799]

Another great moment is in the 1st movement of that same Sibelius symphony (shortly before the first letter N, in the score that's on IMSLP). There's an extended preceding section that's written in Eb/Cm, but it's hard to hear a clear tonality of you're not a theory nerd. The music is pained and sort of thrashes around, frustrated and stuck. The marking is patetico. Some angry-sounding brass chords start to build, the music gets slower and more intense, and seems to be headed for trouble. And then, totally unexpected the first time I heard it, there's this sunburst where the music resolves to B major, and the whole ungainly movement pivots right there-- the tempo picks up, the texture thins, a pulse, always present but hidden under the weight of everything, emerges, and in the space of a few bars, we're in an entirely different place-- a sort of rustic, tuneful dance that bops along and makes you smile, all the way to the end of the movement. A truly great transition, one of my favorites.

[@paulsteger1620]

In Bach's B minor mass in the part of "Et expecto". Very dark music that resembles death and despair but suddenly it turns exultant with all trumpets and drums involved. I think the key change is from f sharp minor to d major but I am not completely sure. Worth checking out! Here is an example: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jKmnk4qPYt5sn8k

[@anthonysandle5055]

I DO NOT get where he is coming from in the Schubert. I don't, sadly, have the score on front of me, but the keys coming out of the piano in the film are G flat maj, F# min, A major. The modulation isn't the same as he states, not even allowing for transposition. Weird.

[@anthonyparker2869]

Since the Greeks music had already been explored entirely. From monophonic to homo to poly, following the same pattern that happned again in the church and then again the classical Era to the romantics. It was all explored already. There is nothing novel. It's either harmony or dissonance or both. The higher forms or laws of music have never changed and never will.

[@lindildeev5721]

Two more changes of key 1: the wonderful E major at the end of the adagio in Mahler's 4th symphony 2: the 8th variation (in G major) in the Enigma Variations ending on a G for the transition with the famous 9th variation "Nimrod" which is in Eb major.

[@michael_p]

One butifull and brightening key change can be found in the "Loure" from the Orchestral Suite TWV 55:D15 by Georg Philipp Telemann: kzbin.info/www/bejne/b6Wrc36vnrqgeNk (it is in the second half of the movement). The first time I heard this Suite, I was astonished about such an abrupt key change, not that common in this time period.

[@ryanpmcguire]

The ending throws of Beethoven symphony no. 2, movement 4. Those who know, know.

[@youtubecommenter2]

My favourite is the one between bar 5 and 6 of Chopin's nocturne op. 9 no. 1. It's so atmospheric and hard hitting.

[@paulenhelenjonsthovel9311]

No Russian or French composers included here? One example: Ravel's lÉnfant et les Sortileges when all the animals carry the child back to his mother: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qIjdZquKobmLjs0&ab_channel=patricederrez from 41:40 to 42:05. one of the most beautiful key changes I ever heard.

[@Gorboduc]

I don't know the exact chords, but the middle section of the last movement of Mahler 1, about 8 or 9 minutes in, when the brass makes a wholly unwarranted yet absolutely justified leap to D Major. You know the bit I mean!

[@aufstiegundfall]

Mozart is the most overrated composer ever. The only piece of him I appreciate is Lacrimosa, the rest is just as boring as Hayden. Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Schubert ruled harmonics and pioneered premodernism