Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective music That uses two or more tonalities simultaneously

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective using more than one key or tonality simultaneously

Etymologies

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Examples

  • The first half ended with the Ives Sonata No. 4, an unruly pastiche of hymns, marches and folk songs in a polytonal texture, which simply stopped mid-phrase.

    Virtuoso violinist Hilary Hahn holds her audience rapt but adds some irritants 2011

  • Here's the group's first TV appearance; the polytonal divergence with the accompaniment notwithstanding, it's quite a first impression:

    I Promise to Remember Matthew Guerrieri 2008

  • Here's the group's first TV appearance; the polytonal divergence with the accompaniment notwithstanding, it's quite a first impression:

    Archive 2008-02-01 Matthew Guerrieri 2008

  • The big polytonal palaver of folk-tunes in Biber's "Battalia."

    Salvati dunque e scolpati Matthew Guerrieri 2007

  • Four dual-oscillator SEM modules each with its own filters and envelopes are joined together along with a simple analog mixer and 49-note keyboard to give you a polyphonic/polytonal Obie-beast!

    WN.com - Business News 2010

  • Four dual-oscillator SEM modules each with its own filters and envelopes are joined together along with a simple analog mixer and 49-note keyboard to give you a polyphonic/polytonal Obie-beast!

    WN.com - Business News 2010

  • "Trio Four for Eight," a polytonal piece that gets pretty far away from what anyone would call jazz, takes on the challenge of silence, culminating with Tani Tabbal and Vincent

    NYT > Home Page By JON PARELES 2010

  • The song flowed straight ahead, without any polytonal progressions.

    Denver Post: News: Breaking: Local Sam DeLeo 2010

  • I was using polytonal chords on the bridge, and I wanted to call it 'Milhaud Meets

    latimes.com - News 2010

  • Four dual-oscillator SEM modules each with its own filters and envelopes are joined together along with a simple analog mixer and 49-note keyboard to give you a polyphonic/polytonal Obie-beast!

    WN.com - Business News 2010

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