ABSTRACT
The harmonic vocabulary of Baroque music consisted of all the diatonic triads and seventh chords along with the secondary functions attending each of those harmonies, in the home key and in the keys closely related. The latter part of the eighteenth century saw the addition of chromatic elements to the Baroque vocabulary. One important source of chromaticism was mode mixture—combining the resources of parallel major and minor modes. The process provided additional harmonies without entailing a modulation. Change of mode involves the shift from a major key to the parallel minor, or the reverse. The effect is dramatic, and if a composer seeks variety and contrast, he or she often need do nothing more than change mode. The lowered sixth degree and the harmonies that house it can lend a momentary somber cast to a major-mode work. They became favorites of the Romantic composers, whose music often involved themes of sorrow.
