: Chopin Polonaise in Ab major, op 53 change in key In Chopin's polonaise in A-flat major, op.53, in the second section the key changes from A flat to E major. What type of change is this? Is it from the flattening of the sixth

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You're exactly right! It's technically a motion to ?VI, which would be F? major. But in order to make it easier to read, he spells it in E major (?V).

F? isn't in A? major, but it is in A? minor; thus this is an example of mode mixture.

The modulation is created by the common tone between the original A? tonic and the new E tonic. A? becomes the chordal third (G?) of the new key to create a smooth modulation.

This move to ?VI is really common in the Romantic era. Schumann's "Widmung" does the exact same modulation, and in the exact same key!