Talk on the top­ic: "Beeth­oven X - the AI pro­ject" with Prof Wal­ter Werzowa

"Beethoven as the father of "modern music" used the technologies of his time and we used the technologies of our time." - Prof Walter Werzowa

On 1 June 2023, Prof. Walter Werzowa (Professor of Media Composition with a focus on film music at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna) attended the seminar "PopEventCultures and Digital Media", led by Prof.in Dr. Beate Flath. Among other things, the connection between creativity and artificial intelligence (AI) was discussed in an open talk - the starting point for this was the project "Beethoven X - the AI Project", in which Werzowa was significantly involved as a composer and at the centre of which is Beethoven's unfinished 10th Symphony. Together with compositions by Beethoven himself and compositions that influenced Beethoven, the AI was trained with sketches of this unfinished piece of music. The resulting symphony was premiered by the Beethoven Orchestra Bonn on 9 October 2021.
So what is the relationship between AI and creativity, who can be seen as the composer of the work, how was the creative process organised and what about copyright in music and artificial intelligence? There was a lively discussion on these topics in an open round. Werzowa, who can look back on an internationally successful and long-standing career as a composer for film and advertising music, provided interesting insights into his work.

Further information on the project:

 

Text: Katharina Schmecht