Robotics Reference
In-Depth Information
this corresponds to note durations of
1
2
11
Thus, by making a random choice of which table to use for the musi-
cal notes and which row to use for their duration, the first line of the
chorale can be composed. The process continues, line by line, until the
composition is complete.
3
4
1
4
1
2
Mozart's Dice Game
Several other similar systems were developed by authors and composers
interested in
chance music
, including Philip Kirnbirger in 1757 and Josef
Haydn's
Philharmonic Joke
in 1790. In the introduction to his topic
The Ever Ready Composer of Polonaises and Minuets
, Kirnbirger explained
that the readers “will not have to resort to professional composition” but
could now compose their own music. His topic met with such success
that in 1783 he published a more complex system, enabling the reader
to compose sonatas, overtures and even symphonies.
The best known work in this genre was Mozart's
Musikalishes Wurfel-
spiel
(
Musical Dice Game
),
12
which appears to have first been published
anonymously in 1787, and then by Mozart's publisher, Nikolaus Sim-
rock, in Berlin in 1792, with instructions in German, French, and Eng-
lish.Mozart'sideawastoenablehisreaderstocompose“...withoutthe
least knowledge of music, German waltzes, by throwing a certain number
with two dice.”
Mozart provided 176 bars of music, arranged in 16 columns with
11 bars in each column. To select the first bar of a piece of music the
reader would throw two dice and, according to which of the 11 possible
totals resulted, the corresponding bar would be selected from the first
column. Then the dice would be thrown again and the new total used
to select a bar from the second column, and so on. The number of pos-
sible pieces composed in this way is 11
×
1,000,000,000,000,000 combinations. The method works sufficiently
×
×
11
11...,astaggering46
12
There have been some doubts cast upon its authenticity but most Mozart scholars now accept
it as authentic—his handwritten manuscript for at least part of the publication is listed as K516F in
the index compiled by Kochel, the standard authority on Mozart's work.
