AI puts final notes on Beethoven's Tenth Symphony
The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Monday, October 14, 2024


AI puts final notes on Beethoven's Tenth Symphony
A sheet music with part of the completion of Beethoven's 10th symphony made using artificial intelligence is seen at the Telekom headquarters in Bonn, western Germany, on December 13, 2019. Telekom supports an experiment to complete the composer's 10th symphony using artificial intelligence and a team of international experts from science and music. A string quartet and a pianist perform two minutes of the AI composition live. Ina FASSBENDER / AFP.

by Mathieu Foulkes



BERLIN (AFP).- A few notes scribbled in his notebook are all that German composer Ludwig van Beethoven left of his Tenth Symphony before his death in 1827.

Now, a team of musicologists and programmers is racing to complete a version of the piece using artificial intelligence, ahead of the 250th anniversary of his birth next year.

"The progress has been impressive, even if the computer still has a lot to learn," said Christine Siegert, head of archives at Beethoven House in the composer's hometown of Bonn.

Siegert said she was "convinced" that Beethoven would have approved since he too was an innovator at the time, citing his compositions for the panharmonicon -- a type of organ that reproduces the sounds of wind and percussion instruments.

And she insisted the work would not affect his legacy because it would never be regarded as part of his oeuvre.

The final result of the project will be performed by a full orchestra on April 28 next year in Bonn, a centrepiece of celebrations for a composer who defined the romantic era of classical music.

"It's completely new territory," said Dirk Kaftan, conductor of the Beethoven Orchestra, which will perform the piece.

"We musicians are in two minds about it."

Beethoven, Germany's most famous musical figure, is loved in his homeland and critics of the project are concerned about protecting Beethoven's legacy.

The "national duty" to prepare for the anniversary was even written into a right-left coalition agreement to form a govenment six years ago.

The year of celebrations officially begins on December 16 -- believed to be his 249th birthday.

But a press preview on Friday at the Beethoven House Museum in his native Bonn following a renovation offered insights into his genius, including the notebooks he used to communicate after going deaf in 1801 -- 26 years before his death.

'Scope for improvement'
Beethoven began working on the Tenth Symphony alongside his Ninth, which includes the world-famous "Ode To Joy".

But he quickly gave up on the Tenth, leaving only a few notes and drafts by the time he died aged 57.

In the project, machine-learning software has been fed all of Beethoven's work and is now composing possible continuations of the symphony in the composer's style.

Deutsche Telekom, which is sponsoring the project, hopes to use the findings to develop technology such as voice recognition.

The team said the first results a few months ago were seen as too mechanical and repetitive but the latest AI compositions have been more promising.

Barry Cooper, a British composer and musicologist who himself wrote a hypothetical first movement for the Tenth Symphony in 1988, was more doubtful.

"I listened to a short excerpt that has been created. It did not sound remotely like a convincing reconstruction of what Beethoven intended," said Cooper, a professor at the University of Manchester and the author of several works on Beethoven.

"There is, however, scope for improvement with further work."

Cooper warned that "in any performance of Beethoven's music, there is a risk of distorting his intentions" but this was particularly the case for the Tenth Symphony as the German composer had left only fragmentary material.

Similar AI experiments based on works by Bach, Mahler and Schubert have been less than impressive.

A project earlier this year to complete Schubert's Eighth Symphony was seen by some reviewers as being closer to an American film soundtrack than the Austrian composer's work.


© Agence France-Presse










Today's News

December 15, 2019

Exhibition at McNay Art Museum pays homage to the City of Light

Christie's to offer important Bill Traylor work from the Collection of Alice Walker

U.S. places sanctions on art collector said to finance Hezbollah

Danny Aiello, actor in 'Do the Right Thing,' dies at 86

First art museum dedicated to celebrating southern China's regional Lingnan culture will open in March 2020

Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg opens an exhibition of works by Sagmeister and Walsh

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston opens "Norman Rockwell: American Freedom"

First solo museum exhibition in the UK of American artist Theaster Gates opens at Tate Liverpool

AI puts final notes on Beethoven's Tenth Symphony

New York's newest private museum is tucked away in Brooklyn

TEFAF supports three global and diverse conservation and restoration projects

The Kestner Gesellschaft opens an exhibition of works by the Czech artist Eva Koťátková

Kerlin Gallery opens an exhibition of new paintings and sculptures by Guggi

Morocco's Gnawa musical culture listed by UNESCO

Exhibition of new works by Australian photographic artist Leila Jeffreys opens at Olsen Gruin

William McFeely, Pulitzer-winning historian, dies as 89

The heroes of Bastogne: 75 years on

New Skin, curated by Jason Stopa opens at Monica King Contemporary

Elisabeth Sifton, editor and tamer of literary lions, dies at 80

kamel mennour exhibits a series of works by David Hominal

William Luce, playwright, dies at 88; Wrote 'Belle of Amherst'

'The Ferrante Effect': In Italy, female writers are ascendant

Mega Man video game sets $75,000 world record as most expensive ever sold at public auction

FotoFest Biennial 2020 artist list announced

Why Playtech Casinos Are Popular in the UK

Top 5 Most Unique and Handy Gadgets You Should Always Carry on Your Car

What is LSD? How to make LSD Drug and how it feels?




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez
Writer: Ofelia Zurbia Betancourt

Attorneys
Truck Accident Attorneys
Accident Attorneys
Holistic Dentist
Abogado de accidentes

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site Parroquia Natividad del Señor
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful