Major or Minor? I'm stuck!

I have made some more progress on that sonata of mine, but I'm stuck now as I don't know whether to stay in minor or go to major for the passage for which I have already written the violin part. I haven't put in any dynamics or slurs yet as those typically come last in my compositional process. Bar 21 is where it goes from the A section that emphasizes relative motion to the B section that emphasizes parallel motion. Bar 22 starts an Alberti bass texture. And speaking of parallel, Bar 40 is where it moves from D major to the parallel D minor. And Bar 48 is where my composer's block hit.

You see, starting at Bar 48 and continuing to Bar 55, the violin does a circle of fifths motion from Bb to F to C. This and the melody itself scream major key(I mean just look at Bar 55, it screams C major chord). However, I don't want to go to a major key too early, as I intend to return back to the D major Alberti bass via some foreshadowing. So I figure staying in a minor key, and having Bar 55 actually be in A minor would fit the B section better. On the other hand, if you just take the melody into account and nothing else, you get what I stated before, a circle of fifths motion through major keys. And this is partly why I've been having that composer's block with this sonata, is because essentially, the major and minor are battling each other in my head, each having their pros and cons and I don't know which to do. Do I thwart the melody's major key intentions to make the return to D major all that more climactic by doing a Gm -> Dm -> Am motion in the cello? Or do I keep the melody's intentions intact by moving to major through the circle of fifths, but at the risk of having a very obvious G -> A7 -> D following it. I don't want to make the D major too obvious and I'm worried that if I keep the major key of the melody, the cadence to D major will be too obvious. And since I'm wanting to foreshadow the return of the D major Alberti bass, an obvious cadence to D major would defeat the purpose of that foreshadowing because you already know the D major is coming. Even evading the cadence and moving to B minor wouldn't really be a viable option as that's the key of the A section and so would be bringing the movement to a close too early.

Here's what I have so far of the second movement of my sonata.

Continue on the melody but move to the minor is how I would do it. Especially if you don't want to wrap up your development too quick. With the melody add a G# somewhere and use that to transition to the minor. Just my advice. it sounds good so far though.

3 hours ago, Bradley Scarff said:

Continue on the melody but move to the minor is how I would do it. Especially if you don't want to wrap up your development too quick. With the melody add a G# somewhere and use that to transition to the minor. Just my advice. it sounds good so far though.

 

I agree with Bradley. I like the way it sounds. Maybe add a sustained, decrescendo, vibrato note at bars 56 and 57? That's the only thing I could think of to add to this delightful piece.