An Expert System for Harmonizing Four-Part Chorales

Quite a few trends in algorithmic composition today are based on a streamlined formalism, for example, in the form of random generation of note attributes using elegant statistical distributions (Xenakis 1971), terse and powerful formal grammars (Jones 1981), elegant mathematical models (Kendall 1981; Vaggione 1984), or generalizations of serial composition procedures (Laske 1981). The economy and elegance of the formal representation underlying these musical styles (which are not in the least less respectable than traditional styles of music), may often have an aesthetic appeal in and of themselves. On the other hand, traditional music and most of modern music, which are usually composed without a computer, do not seem to permit such economical representations. In the traditional style, the typical basic training the composer has to go through in harmony, strict counterpoint, fugue,