Mind over Computer F
The Music of Emily Howell
our mobile phone. It is any mechanical procedure you perform without thinking about it. Computers are always executing an algorithm; that’s what they do.
Fast forward to 2010 and Centaur Records releases a new classical music CD featuring the piano music of Emily Howell. Critics are enthusiastic about the new talent. She has composed music in a broad range of classical and contemporary styles. You can find some examples on my website.
But, it transpires, Emily is a computer, the brainchild of David Cope from the University of Santa Cruz. On hearing this news critics revise their opinion of the compositions - “repetitive and formulaic,”
“not real music,” “pastiche” Listen again to the music and see whether you have changed your opinion. Whatever you think, Emily has made a good attempt at composing in the style of several great composers: J.S. Bach and Franz Liszt, as well as modern ones such as Stockhausen and
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