Modal Mixture and Schubert's Harmonic Practice

Describing the harmonic practice of any composer, but especially a composer like Franz Schubert, is a daunting task, and for this reason the focus of this study is limited to a particular feature of his style-modal mixture. To avoid any confusion, let me digress briefly to define exactly what is meant by that term: It refers to the borrowing of elements from the parallel mode, for example, the borrowing of elements from A minor in a passage or composition in A major, or vice versa. Music of the eighteenth century abounds with examples, most obvious being those involving a change in the quality of the tonic chord, for example the common practice of ending a composition in the minor mode with a major harmony or, at a larger level, the ending of a composition with an extended passage or movement in the parallel major mode, as one finds, for example, in Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. Of particular significance to this study is borrowing in the other direction, that is, the borrowing in a major key from the parallel minor mode. Once again, if we approach this historically, one can find numerous examples in the literature ranging from simple borrowing-for example, the local employment of a harmony from the parallel minor mode, typically the minor subdominant or altered supertonic (both involving t6) for local color-to more extended passages. Typically, more extended excursions into the parallel minor mode