AI deployed to complete Beethoven’s unfinished tenth symphony

In the run-up to Ludwig van Beethoven’s 250th birthday, a team of musicologists and programmers is using artificial intelligence to complete the composer’s unfinished tenth symphony.

The piece was started by Beethoven alongside his famous ninth, which includes the well-known Ode To Joy, however by the time the German composer died in 1827, there were only a few notes and drafts of the composition, Euronews reports. 

After several tests which had not given good results, according to project leader, Matthias Roeder, from the Herbert von Karajan Institute, the AI’s latest compositions are more promising.

Euronews report adds that “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.”

Via Euronews