A finished symphony, at last

Apr. 28—GROVE CITY — Ludwig van Beethoven was a perfectionist and a boundary pusher.

So it's natural to wonder what the legendary composer would think of his unfinished "10th Symphony" being completed with the help of artificial intelligence.

"The whole piece has never been performed," said Mark Wasilko, a music technology instructor and music coordinating recruiter at Grove City College.

The college orchestra takes the stage at 7:30 p.m. Friday to perform "Symphony (After Beethoven)," created by composer and scientist David Cope's Experiments in Musical Intelligence.

The concert is free and open to the public and will be held in Ketler Auditorium at the Pew Fine Arts Center on campus.

Forums are set for 3 and 6:30 p.m. Friday to discuss AI, which Wasilko described as an intense version of the predictive text feature on smartphones. The earlier forum will focus on AI issues in general, while the 6:30 p.m. session will deal specifically with the AI composition of the "10th Symphony."

The concert includes the first movement of Beethoven's "10th Symphony" and the composer's "First Symphony."

The two final AI-written movements of the "10th Symphony" call for a choir, and the first movement is the most complete, Wasilko said of performing just the first movement.

Wasilko, who has a degree in music education from GCC, connected with Cope when Wasilko was doing graduate research.

Cope, also known as the "godfather of AI composition," started the project in the late 1990s, using sketches and a database of Beethoven's entire musical output, Wasilko said.

Beethoven's "10th Symphony" was completed about 20 years ago using the EMI program that Cope created, but the AI-finished piece never been performed live.

Wasilko asked Cope for a copy of the score, which he kept in the back of his mind.

"I've got this piece on my hands now," he said, adding that Beethoven left other unfinished compositions.

He pitched the idea to Dr. Jeffrey Tedford, chair of the college's music department and music professor.

Tedford wants his students to be aware of the implications of AI but also challenge their biases as it pertains to the creation of music.

He asked them to consider a few points, like who can create music and the responsibilities of artists and musicians to interpret and perform new music.

"Does it change the answer when the 'who' becomes a 'what'?" he asked, also directing the questions to the audience.

Tedford is not endorsing the use of AI composition to replace human creation of music, but he aims to provide new educational opportunities that will impact art and the world in the future.

"If I don't perform works like this and ignore the impact of AI or other subjects, I do my students a disservice," he said.

AI technology research continues to progress, and Wasilko also recognizes that it is a heavily-debated topic, and some of the student musicians were a little uncertain when first presented with the idea.

But they've kept an open mind while rehearsing and learning more about the piece, which other composers and musicologists have worked on, he said.

Anne Leaman, principal viola, said she was surprised by what the AI program was able to create, noting it's OK that it's not perfect.

"...it shows why we still need humans to compose music and how technology can be an aid to composers," she said.

Laura Austin, second violin, said that even if the completed piece sounds like it was created by a human, she feels that the humanity behind it is lost.

And it is still the musician's job to interpret the piece, AI or not, said Kendra Schoeppner, second violin.

Wasilko spent a lot of time loading each part of the symphony individually, as there is no commercially available software.

"I spent my entire spring break doing that," he said.

He is excited to see what the audience thinks and wants to assure people that this is not an attempt to desecrate Beethoven's work and image.

Automated programs and electronics have played a big role in music over the years, but AI is a tool that can't replace everything.

"I want people to talk," Wasilko said of AI in music.

The concert will be livestreamed on gcc.edu/livestream

NOTE: This article was edited April 26 to correct the 3 p.m. time for the earlier forum and to clarify that the symphony's choral elements were added with the AI composition.