Did Bela Bartok compose in any set key?

Question

Case in point: Bartok's Bagatelle no.1 , the right hand is E Major and the left hand is A flat Major.

What's up with that?

Answer 1

Yes Bartok certainly composed in set keys. It's just that sometimes he used two set keys.

It's called bitonality. Stravinsky used this technique, as idid Ives, Prokofiev, and many other 20th century composers. It is a standard 20th century technique.

In Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring", the famous "stamping" theme is based on the juxtaposition of an Eb7th chord and an E Major chord. His famous "Petrouchka" sound is based on two major chords whose roots are a tritone apart. These last two examples are really examples of bichordality, which can be looked at as a subset of bitonality. Composers of the 20th century were looking for a way to expand the harmonic lanuage in a systematic way.

Ives not only wrote in two keys at the same time, but also in two different meters.

The more you study the 20th century, the more interesting things you will find. Be open minded and listen for the colors.