Music, Mathematics and Computer Science: History of Interaction

Abstract

The lecture “Music, Mathematics
and Computer Science” characterizes
by concrete examples various aspects
of interaction of these studies with each
other by incorporating the apparatus
of corresponding scholarly disciplines
(set theory, probability theory,
information science, group theory, etc.).
The role and meaning of these aspects
in the formation of an integral perception
about music and in the realization
of practical creative musical goals are educed.
Examination of these questions is what
the lecture studies are devoted to as part
of the educational courses “Mathematical
Methods of Research in Musicology”
and “Informational Technologies in Music”
developed by the authors for the students
of the St. Petersburg Rimsky-Korsakov State
Conservatory and the Herzen State Pedagogical
University of Russia.
The lecture “Music, Mathematics
and Computer Science” is subdivided into
two parts. The first part, “Music, Mathematics
and Computer Science: History of Interaction”
examines the processes of interconnection
and interpenetration of various fields of music,
mathematics and computer science, spanning the period from Ancient Times to the turn
of the 20th and the 21st centuries. The second
part of the lecture: “Music, Mathematics
and Computer Science: Particular Features
of Functioning of Computer-Musical
Technologies” (due to be published
in the journal’s next issue) is devoted
to examining various aspects of developing
and applying computer-musical technologies
in contemporary musical practice, including
musical composition, performance
and the sphere of music education.