Chromatic mediants

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Chromatic mediants

Chromatic mediants, or a chromatic mediant relationship is a relationship between two chords whose roots are related by a major third

Major third

A major third is one of two commonly occurring musical intervals that span three diatonic scale degrees, the other being the minor third. It is denoted 'major' because it is the larger of the two: the major third is a leap of four semitones, the minor third three....
or minor third

Minor third

A minor third is a Interval of three semitones. It is the smaller of two commonly occurring musical intervals compounded of two steps of the diatonic scale....
, contain one common tone, and share the same quality, i.e. major or minor. For example, the chords C major and A major are chromatic mediants, as are F minor and D minor.

Chromatic mediants have been used in Western classical music since the Renaissance

Renaissance

The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe....
but it was not until the Romantic period

Romantic music

In music, romanticism is a term, often considered misleading, and concept derived from literature traditionally defined by attributes including, "interest in nature, medieval chivalry, mysticism, [and] remoteness [ Social alienation and Solitude]"....
that chromatic mediants were used more extensively by composers.