the moods of modes: the major key

The major key is usually described as bright, cheerful and happy, etc. (in contradistinction with the minor key which is somber, sad and dark). This is only a shorthand, though. Whenever I hear or play through Sor's Study no. 16, op. 60 I'm amazed at how poignant and teary-eyed it can make one:

And another Sor example that comes to mind readily is his Bagatelle no. 3 (from op. 43), marked Cantabile:


It would be hard to characterize this as cheerful, happy or bright. And while it is certainly very pretty there is an undeniable gravitas which makes the piece fairly somber.

Carcassi's study no. 3 is another great example, and there are many, many other examples to be found in the guitar repertoire of the 19th century, not to mention the entire classical repertoire of that period, or of other periods and styles.

Of course I point this out not for taxonomic purposes or any sort of academic reason, but because noticing this point, i.e. that the major key is multidimensional with respect to mood, and that by extension so are all the other modes, we can ourselves become more creative as improvisers and composers.