Polytonality

Polytonality: Essay by Renee Jury

Polytonality was developed as a compositional technique during the early twentieth century. This essay will give an overview of polytonality, and will also examine the historical and musical contexts by which it is informed. In addition to this, the essay will also outline how a number of influential composers have helped in establishing the use of polytonality. Furthermore, as there are a number of important factors to consider when using polytonality as a compositional technique, this essay will examine these in some depth, as well as elucidating some of the problems and issues associated with polytonality.

Polytonality involves the “simultaneous use of two or more keys…” (Cope 1997, 19). Cope (1997, 19-20) states that there are two types of polytonal key relationships: consonant, in which keys that have five or more notes in common are combined (for example, F major and B flat major); and dissonant, in which keys that have less than five notes in common are combined (for example, C major and B major). Establishing the different key centers in a polytonal composition so that they are aurally discernible is a crucial part of this compositional technique (Cope 1997, 20-24; Kostka 2006, 105-107). There are a number of compositional methods that can be used to establish multiple key centers, such as: timbre differentiation; variation of musical material, dynamics and articulation between the different tonalities; using register and/or wide spacing to separate the different tonalities; using “strong progressions within each key”; and, ensuring that the polytonal nature of the piece is discernible by emphasizing the “contrasting notes between keys” and “defining the mode (major or minor) clearly” (Cope 1997, 20-21). In consonant key relationships it is important to accentuate the note differences of the multiple keys due to their close relationship with one another: otherwise, the piece may sound as though it only utilises one key instead of two or more (Cope 1997, 20). Likewise, in dissonant key relationships it is also important to differentiate between tonalities (Cope 1997, 20). But, in dissonant key relationships, separation of the multiple keys is important due to their disparate relationship. A failure to separate the different keys being utilised in a dissonant key relationship may result in a “high degree of chromaticism” and, consequently, the texture may be perceived as atonal rather than polytonal (Cope 1997, 20).

Cope (1997, 22-24) suggests that in compositions using three or more keys simultaneously, each of the three (or more) keys should have its own identity whilst still “contributing to the overall polytonal texture”. Likewise, tonal centers in compositions using four or more keys simultaneously should be “defined by assigning each key to a single line in a contrapuntal texture” (Cope 1997, 24). Using four or more keys in a composition can be problematic, as a chaotic, chromatic texture may result (Cope 1997, 23-24). Also, if care is not taken, then the piece could easily descend into atonality (Cope 1997, 24). However, tonal centers can still be established and defined, using the techniques described earlier, in order to avoid this. On the other hand, as Cope (1997, 24) points out, sometimes “chaos can be a desired effect”. Hence, it is evident that polytonality can be used as a compositional technique in a number of different ways, and can have a vast array of results; demonstrating how “the nuances and subtleties of polytonality can be a vibrant resource for composers” (Cope 1997, 24).

Although polytonality appeared in some music prior to the twentieth century, it was used mainly for a humourous or programmatic effect (Casella 1924, 161-162; Wikipedia 2006). Polytonality only began to be used more seriously as a compositional technique in the early twentieth century (Castella 1924). As a musical idiom, polytonality was informed by the upheaval of traditional musical ideas, and breakdown of common-practice tonality, that took place in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries (Casella 1924, 159-164; Cope 1997, 12-17; Simms 1986, 3-4). During this period, composers felt the need to escape the “exhausted” major-minor and tonic-subdominant functionality of common practice tonality (Casella 1924, 162-164). As a result, composers began to “seek new ways of musical utterance” (Casella 1924, 162). Consequently, “sophisticated extensions of…tonal vocabulary” were developed, and an “evolution of tonality” took place (Cope 1997, 17-19). Claude Debussy and Bela Bartok, for example, introduced the idea of polymodality and, as Casella (1924, 162) states, such composers extended the “possibilities for new tone-combinations”. Casella (1924, 162) goes on to point out that it was “…logical that the next generation should think of introducing the recent acquisitions in simultaneity. And so it came, between 1910 and 1914, that our “polytonality” was born”. Stravinsky’s “Le Sacre du Printemps” (1913) is often credited as being the first musical work to use polytonality in order to meet “demands of expression”, rather than just as a “happy experiment” (Casella 1924, 164). After this, “polytonality became a thing of current usage among the majority of European musicians belonging to the ‘vanguard’…” (Casella 1924, 164).

Although polytonality was used in compositions by composers such as Stravinsky, Bartok and others (such as Charles Ives) for almost two decades between 1900 and 1920, there was much ambiguity surrounding the term, with polytonality and atonality often presumed by music critics to be identical in meaning (Casella 1924, 159-161; De Médicis 2005). In 1921, music critic Jean Deroux (cited in De Médicis 2005, 576) reported that a satisfactory description of polytonality had not yet been offered. It was during this period, from 1920 onwards, that debates about polytonality surfaced as composers and critics alike struggled to find an adequate description of the term (De Médicis 2005). French composer and member of Les Six Darius Milhaud “participated actively in the development and dissemination of the innovative musical idiom of polytonality…” (De Médicis 2005, 573). Milhaud’s two articles, “Polytonality and Atonality” and “The Evolution of Modern Music in Paris & Vienna” (both published in 1923), gave clear explanations of polytonality and atonality, and helped to clear confusion over the two terms (De Médicis 2005, 589). One of the main proponents of polytonality, Milhaud began using the technique in approximately 1913 (Bauer 1942, 152). He “established its usage and stamped it with his personality” (Bauer 1942, 152). Milhaud wrote a number of polytonal works, including: “Suite Symphonique No.2” (1920); “Cinq Études” (1921); “Saudades do Brasil (1921); “String Quartet No. 5”; and “Scaramouche” (1936) (Bauer 1942; De Médicis 2005; Kostka 2006, 11). Whereas other polytonal works often used the technique only intermittently, a number of Milhaud’s works (especially “String Quartet No. 5”) used the technique continuously (De Médicis 2005, 591).

Later in the twentieth century, composers such as Benjamin Britten and Aaron Copland began using polytonality in their works; Britten to a greater extent than Copland (Simms 1986). A number of Britten’s operas, in particular “Billy Budd” (1951) and “Peter Grimes” (1944-45), use polytonality for dramatic and expressive purposes (Rupprecht 1996; Simms 1986, 298-302). For example, a “juxtaposition of flats and sharps” occurs in the opening phrases of “Peter Grimes” in order to convey the drama embedded within the narrative of the opera (Simms 1986, 301). Another interesting example occurs in the Prologue of “Billy Budd”, in which polytonality is again used to communicate elements of the narrative (Rupprecht 1996). In this instance, the key of Bb major is destabilized by juxtaposing Bb with “its semitonal neighbour”, B§ (Evans 1989, 172 cited in Rupprecht 1996, 313). As explained by Rupprecht (1996, 319), this has the following effect:

“…one senses B flat major is both present and under threat. It is an uncertainty that encapsulates the crux of the opera’s allegorical action. The music of Brittens’ Prologue well conveys the ambivalent psychological state of his protagonist…”

Although a number of different composers have utilised polytonality in many works over the course of the past century, as discussed above, it is important to note that, “…polytonality is often an intermittent procedure, and works that are continuously polytonal…are very rare” (De Médicis 2005, 591).

There are still ongoing debates in music literature concerning problems of perception with respect to polytonality and, more specifically, the use of polychords (Kostka 2006, 64-65; Marquis 1964, 240-246; Wikipedia 2006). As Kostka (2006, 64) states, a polychord “combines two or more (aurally distinguishable) chords into a more complex sonority…”. Polychords are most often the result of polytonality (Marquis 1964, 240). However, it is important to note that “the use of a polychord does not necessarily indicate that a passage is polytonal” (Kostka 2006, 65). Polychords are a point of confusion and contention among music theorists, due to the fact that what one person perceives as a polychord, another person may perceive as an altered or extended chord (Kostka 2006, 65; Marquis 1964, 240-246). Marquis (1964, 244-245) cites the famous example of Stravinsky’s “Petrouchka”, in which a combination of C and F# major triads are used at the same time. Marquis (1964, 244-245) points out that when a C triad is placed under an F# triad this can be perceived “as an augmented 11th chord on C”. Likewise, if F# major is on the bottom and C major is on the top, this can be perceived as an “altered 11th (chord) on F#” (Marquis 1964, 244-245). Of course, as Kostka (2006, 64-65) points out, this problem of perception could be overcome by separating the polychords by some means (for example, through manipulation of register and timbre). However, as Marquis (1964, 244-245) maintains, even if clarity is maintained, one can still hear polychords “as unaltered or altered traditional chords with one root”. This illustrates the point made by Kostka (2006, 65) that “there will inevitably be ambiguous cases…where one listener hears a polychord and another hears a single complex sonority”. As is evident from this, when utilising polychords as an integral part of a polytonal composition, or as a compositional technique on their own, composers must go to great lengths to ensure that listeners are able to perceive “…that separate harmonic entities are being juxtaposed if the result is to be a true polychord” (Kostka 2006, 64).

Despite some of the issues and problems inherent in polytonality, it is nonetheless a rich compositional technique that has allowed many composers throughout the twentieth century to meet expressive demands in new and unconventional ways. Composers such as Stravinsky, Bartok, Milhaud and Britten (to name a few) have used polytonality in their compositions as an extension of traditional musical vocabulary: that is, a “sonorous enhancement resultant from diatonic history” (Casella 1924, 171). The issues and problems associated with polytonality (specifically, problems in the perception of polychords) are ongoing today, but may be overcome through careful application and manipulation of the technique, as previously discussed. Although polytonality is not widely used, and is often adopted in compositions intermittently rather than continuously, it is nevertheless a valuable compositional tool that is still relevant to contemporary composers who are in search of ways to enhance the musical and expressive possibilities of their compositions.

Links to Songs & Sheet Music

*To hear the first minute of "Billy Budd" Prologue by Britten (as discussed above), go to:

http://www.amazon.ca/Billy-Budd-Philip-Langridge/dp/B00004SUDA

*To hear the first minute of "Scaramouche" by Milhaud, go to:

http://www.amazon.com/Lyubov-Bruk-Taimanov-Arnold-Katz/dp/B00000HY8A

*Click here to view a copy of the sheet music for Scaramouche by Milhaud

*To hear an example of a more contemporary polytonal piece, go to http://www.chrisludwig.com/downloads.htm and download "Happy Piece # 2: A little less than happy (1998)". This is a polytonal composition for piano that may be of interest.

List of References and Resources

*Bauer, M. 1942. Darius Milhaud. The Musical Quarterly, 28 (2): 139-159. (accessed September 22, 2006, from JSTOR database).

*Casella, A. 1924. Tone Problems of Today. The Musical Quarterly, 10 (2): 159-171. (accessed September 22, 2006, from JSTOR database).

*Cope, D. 1997. Chapter Two: The Tonal Legacy. In D. Cope, Techniques of the contemporary composer, 12-25. New York: Schirmer Books. Queensland University of Technology: Course Materials Database http://oltfile.qut.edu.au/download.asprNum=3209718&pNum=2301333&fac=CI&OLTWebSiteID=KMB208&dir=sec&CFID=5785797&CFTOKEN=55214954 (accessed September 1, 2006).

*De Médicis, F. 2005. Darius Milhaud and the Debate on Polytonality in the French Press of the 1920s. Music & Letters, 86 (4): 573-591. (accessed September 22, 2006, from Project Muse database).

*Deroux, J. 1921. La Musique polytonale. Revue musicale, 11 (Oct. 1921): 251-257. quoted in F. De Médicis 2005. Darius Milhaud and the Debate on Polytonality in the French Press of the 1920s. Music & Letters, 86 (4): 573-591. (accessed September 22, 2006, from Project Muse database).

*Evans, P. 1989. The Music of Benjamin Britten. Revised ed. London: J.M. Dent. quoted in P. Rupprecht 1996. Tonal Stratification and Uncertainty in Britten's Music. Journal of Music Theory, 40 (2): 311-346. (accessed September 22, 2006, from JSTOR database).

*Kostka, S. 2006. Materials and Techniques of Twentieth-Century Music. 3rd ed. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.

*Marquis, G.W. 1964. Twentieth Century Music Idioms. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.

*Rupprecht, P. 1996. Tonal Stratification and Uncertainty in Britten's Music. Journal of Music Theory, 40 (2): 311-346. (accessed September 22, 2006, from JSTOR database).

*Simms, B.R. 1986. Music of the Twentieth Century: Style and Structure. New York: Schirmer Books.

*Wikipedia. 2006. Polytonality. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polytonality (accessed September 22, 2006).