Polystylism

A compositional technique associated above all with Alfred Schnittke, in which musical styles from different periods and traditions — Baroque counterpoint, Romantic tonal harmony, jazz, folk music, and avant-garde techniques — are juxtaposed, layered, or combined within a single work. The term was coined by Schnittke himself in a 1971 lecture. Polystylism is not mere eclecticism: the collision of styles carries semantic weight, creating irony, nostalgia, distortion, or violence depending on the context of the quotation or allusion.

In performance, each stylistic layer must be recognisable for the polystylistic strategy to work. Do not homogenise the contrasting elements into a single sound world; allow the jarring discontinuities to register. The 'wrong note' or unexpected tonal chord in an atonal context should stand out as clearly as Schnittke intended.