Séminaire ICE « Musical Languages and Formal Sciences: How Mathematics and Computer Science Can Help in Analyzing and Composing Music »

Abstract
The way to perform Western art music has continuously evolved during the 20th century. This evolution led to interpretations based on a strict fidelity to the musical score, and even to historically informed performances aiming at playing the works as they were performed at their creation. However, authentic interpretation may be an unattainable ideal… To discuss this issue, the talk will analyze the musical parameters that can be formally defined in the written musical language. On that basis, it will also discuss how the formal part of the musical language can be used to help in analyzing and composing music. As an illustration, we will present a dodecaphonic work composed with the help of TTool, the formal modeling toolkit developed by the LabSoC research group at Télécom Paris. Finally, the talk will compare the evolution of modern music and modern mathematics.

Bio
Bastien Sultan is a postdoctoral research fellow at the LabSoC research team at Télécom Paris. His research interests include theoretical Computer Science, formal modeling and verification, and safety and security of cyber-physical systems. Before joining Télécom Paris, Bastien has worked at Télécom Bretagne, École Navale and Thales SIX GTS. Bastien holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from IMT Atlantique, an Engineer’s degree from ENSTA Bretagne, and a Master’s degree in Mathematics and Applications from the University of Angers.