Peter Varley wrote:

>Possibly you meant to say that you had written tools for "computer-assisted
>composition".

What it does is create themes that should have some melodic interest,
break them down into motifs, and arranges these into a form (structure)
which includes themes, development of themal fragments, variations and
modulations to new keys, and ornamental passages for added interest.  All
this is done with a varying degree of input (approval/disapproval, etc)
from the user.  If the user chooses to guide the process, they can claim
credit for it since their "judgment creativity" went into fashioning it.

>On this basis, computer software cannot compose CM.  Without judgment, the
>software cannot decide what is worth preserving.

I leave it to the user of the software to judge whether or not the
resulting composition is worth keeping.  If not they can get another one
in about 10 seconds.

>CM is written down, the presumption being that the composer considered
>the finished composition to be good enough to be worth preserving for
>posterity.

Actually (not offered pugnaciously) I think it is the judgment of history
that determines whether or not the composition will live in posterity, not
the composer.  Much written down music did (does) not pass this test and I
wonder how much would have been written down if they had tape recorders
back then..

But there is a new day coming.  The future of CM will not entail writing
down notes.  The computer takes care of that tedious job by "reading" the
midi keyboard input or composer mouse clicks and rendering the score to
print.  Whether one likes midi or not, its value in rendering sheet music,
instant playback, cut and pasting of parts will make it an invaluable part
of the future of CM.

This was actually the point of my inquiry.  There will now be an abundance
of CM in the future because the tedious task of writing it down is gone,
Nor is there a requirement to hire a symphony at great expense to perform
it.  Nor does it have to get published in the traditional way.  Now any
talented person can write a symphony, piano sonata, concerto, render it to
print, hear it via midi, and distribute both the midi file and the sheet
music via the Internet.  The question is, "will these people be wasting
their time?" Will it not be accepted by CM types for reasons of historical
value, lack of composer recognition, etc.  or will this music be accepted
based on its musical value, even if it were written by a computer using
"expert system" artificial intelligence technology.

I can't believe that on a planet of 6 billion people, there is not another
Mozart out there right now.  Does he (or she) have a chance.  That's what
I am trying to find out.  I would think that all of today's composers would
want to know this too.

Fortunately, more responses indicate that musical merit has a very high
rating over other criteria.  Hopefully CM is not isolated in a bubble of
works written long ago by people who are now famous and this container of
CM is handed down from generation to generation without being significantly
added to.  BTW I understand that Paul McCartney is writing CM (a symphony
I think).  Will he, who obviously has great musical talent, be successful
as a CM composer of will he have to wait for a hundred years or so like so
many great composers.

Its perfectly OK for CM to be limited to the bubble I described above.
That just means that we need another name for what would have been "future
classical music", and that that music will have to develope a following
like CM, jazz, rock, etc.

How about HSCM - highly structured contempory music - to describe music
written today that has not been around long enough to be called "classical".

Music would be called HSCM if it

- is based on recognizable themes
- contains development passages using motifs taken from these themes
- h as a discernable form of repeated passages
- generally lasts for more than 5 minutes
- is difficult to perform
- is available in sheet music form
- is enjoyable to listen too
- requires some mental effort to understand
- is composed by extremely talented but contemporary composers

All of today's "classical" music was HSCM at one time.

I truely believe that given midi technology, the computer and the Internet,
we could have a golden age of HSCM producing music that the people who live
in 22nd century will call classical music, but will it be popular with CM
types in its own time, can it be popular with CM types in its own time?.

I hope this clears up any confusion about my inquiry. I guess I care more
about the future of CM than its past.

Bill Pirkle