Quote:
Originally Posted by JoshMc
I've just started messing around with the idea and the only thing I could think of was using diminished/augmented chords and resolve them to two different tonics or taking extended chords and treating them as two chords (ie. treating Cmaj7 as a C and an Em and continuing the progression from there in the keys of C and Em).
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Since I don't really use it much I am talking fairly theoretically. I think part of the point of polytonality is to create at least some chaos/sarcasm etc. In general I think that the approach is to use the keys contrapuntally rather than harmonically although you could think of the vertical effect. The Milhaud piece ends up having alot of independent lines so there is a point at which if you combine enough keys you just end up with an overall atonal texture. I think that the opening of Rite of Spring is a little bit similar but Stravinsky doesn't carry it too far. It all depends on why you want to use it and what effect you are trying to create. For example, there is the Moor's dance in Petruschka where the polytonality is combined with independent metres to create the effect of two characters, one of which cannot dance.