Polytonality

Are there guidelines for writing polytonal music, or any ways to organize such music logically? Are there any scores that I should study to get a deeper understanding of polytonality??

I'll appreciate any advice

I dont think their is any guidelines to writing polytonal music. I know it is a characteristic of some of the Bartok/Stravinsky music.

Stravinsky's Petrushka might have some in it dont know for sure though.

Bartok "Mikrokosmos" is always a good starting point for many compositional techniques, and it certainly applies here. Bartok regularly employed the technique of "one hand plays in one key/modality, one hand plays in the other".

Charles Ives took a different approach to bitonal/polytonal music (which I happen to be more fond of), and you can use it as a great exercise: write a short melody that strongly implies a certain key. Harmonize it in a different key. Try this multiple times. Try distant key relationships, or keys that share few common tones.

When using polychords and multiple tonal centers (keep in mind, I'm not experienced with this), a great tool is to use different registers and/or instrumentations (at least, at first). This will help you (and the listener) discern the different tonalities. Again, this is a technique employed often by Ives, as the listener will hear the different tonalities as different groups of sound (at least, in theory).

If you want a book that gives different approaches and exercises in an introductory format, I'd suggest Leon Dallin's "Twentieth Century Composition". He offers little previews (with many examples and critiques) of different techniques used in twentieth century writing, as well as exercises to explore the ideas. It's written more toward performers and educators, but I've found it to be very helpful.

Hope that helps.

You can also consider Persichetti's 'Twentieth Century Harmony' book which includes chapters about polytonality/polymodality and polychords.

I would look at Stravinsky (the beginning of the second tableau in Petrushka and a lot of his Rite of Spring). He invented the Petrushka Chord, which is C major and F# major (in a first inversion) arpeggios that are played simultaneously. Try looking into Bartok (14 Bagatelles, op. 6) and Ives (Variations on America).

To really begin composing polytonal music, you should research polychords (like Stravinsky's Petrushka Chord, Strauss' Electra Chord, Scriabin's Mystic/Prometheus Chord, etc.), octatonicism, polymodality, etc. I would also experiment with what Ives did. You simply play a melody in one key and harmonize it with another.

As for arranging music logically, I would stick to whatever forms currently exist. I would imagine that everything from fugue to fantasy is possible in polytonality.

And try not to make your music sound like you're just hitting wrong notes.

Why? Even Mozart used polytonality as an effect within his music with great results.

In which piece did Mozart use polytonality?

I've just listened to Mahler's 9th Symphony, and I think that in the 3rd movement, the countermelodies often are in a different key, than the other voice, am I right?

In which piece did Mozart use polytonality?

I've just listened to Mahler's 9th Symphony, and I think that in the 3rd movement, the countermelodies often are in a different key, than the other voice, am I right?

Ein musikalischer Spass. It's used as a comic effect, as alluded to by the title of the piece, but it's used nonetheless.

I don't have a Mahler 9 score or recording to reference, but I wouldn't be surprised. Mahler, later in his compositional output, really started pushing the envelope in terms of harmony and tonality to achieve truly linear counterpoint. Though he never went as far as his contemporaries and completely disregarded tonal centers, Mahler definitely challenged what was acceptable to the modern "large concert" audience.

And try not to make your music sound like you're just hitting wrong notes.

You don't like modern music, do you?

I can't speak for Max, but there are several composers that DO use polytonality as a comic effect, where the audience is intended to perceive wrong notes. While it's effective, it's also hackneyed and really makes true polytonal music seem less artistically valid.