Through usage, "cycle" is the proper term for a group of songs performed in sequence. The usage of "sequence" to denote a song cycle would be confusing, as "song cycle" is the tried and true designation.
Calling Beethoven's nine symphonies a "cycle" would seem just as inappropriate by John's criterion of a cycle's needing to return to the beginning.
Actually, there is a Schumann cycle where the postlude recapitulates the prelude, (or some instrumental sequence which occured before,) so I guess we could say that's a cycle by John's criteria.
Doris, a New Jersey soprano
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