Expert: David Froom - 3/31/2004

Question
I was told that every movement of every composition from
1650-1900 ended in a root position tonic chord which
corresponds with the initial key signature of the work. I was
challenged to find a work that is an exception to this rule,
and told that there are at least two, one of which is well
known. Can you help me?  

Answer
You will find many.  A famous one is Chopin's Prelude #23 (from his 24 Preludes), which puts a seventh into the final triad, making it a V7 of IV.  You will find, in short piano works and songs of Schumann, many instances where the last chord is in second inversion (look and see).  Chopin also has a posthumously published Mazurka which cycles around on itself, so it doesn't really end (the last instruction is "DC senza fine," or "go back to the beginning, and there is no end").  Also look at Beethoven's Fantasy (for piano), opus 77, which begins in g minor (it is called Fantasy in G minor) but ends in B major (an unrelated key).

These are early examples (pre-1850).  As you get closer to 1900, you see this kind of thing more often.  Look at the individual movements to Mahler's seventh symphony, for example.

Hope this helped.

David Froom