Artificial Intelligence Used to Complete Beethoven’s Unfinished Symphony
- Admin
- Dec 17, 2019
- 2 min read
11/16
A German team of musicologist and programmers is using artificial intelligence to complete the composer’s unfinished tenth symphony.
Ludwig van Beethoven's unfinished Tenth Symphony will finally be completed using artificial intelligence to mark the 250th anniversary of his birth next year. The composer only left a few musical sketches on the tenth symphony when he passed away in 1827. The new project aims to use a computer to create the full work he might have composed.
“I think the project's goal should be to integrate Beethoven's existing musical fragments into a coherent musical flow. That's difficult enough, and if this project can manage that, it will be an incredible accomplishment.” Christine Siegert, head of the Beethoven Archive in Bonn and one of those involved in the project, told the German broadcaster Deutshe Welle.
The experiment risks failing to do justice to the beloved German composer. The team said the first few months yielded results that sounded mechanical and repetitive. Barry Cooper, a British composer and musicologist who attempted to complete Beethoven’s 10th Symphony in 1988, said what he had heard of the computer’s work so far was not convincing.
However, the project leader, Matthias Roeder, insists the AI's latest compositions are more promising.“An AI system learns an unbelievable amount of notes in an extremely short time," said Roeder. "And the first results are a bit like with people, you say 'hmm, maybe it's not so great'. But it keeps going and, at some point, the system really surprises you. And that happened the first time a few weeks ago. We're pleased that it's making such big strides.”
The final result of the project will be performed by a full orchestra on April 28 next year in Bonn.
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