The Korea Times
Park Ji-won
2021년 10월 15일
Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons," arranged by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Australian composer Hugh Crosthwaite to describe the climate change-hit Seoul in 2050, will be played by award-winning violinist Lim Ji-young with an orchestra in an upcoming concert to be held at Lotte Concert Hall on Oct. 20.
As part of an international project titled "The [Uncertain] Four Seasons" led by global marketing company AKQA to raise awareness on global warming following a report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warning of extreme global warming, Lim will play the arrangement of "The Four Seasons" or "The [Uncertain] Four Seasons, Seoul Variation" reflecting the data gathered from Seoul as compared to that of 1725 when the original work was composed to show the difference between the two. Seoul is the first Asian city to participate in the joint project.
Unlike the original version that beautifully shows the versatility and positive aspect of the changing seasons, this version is "not only dark but also depressing and unstable," Lim explained.
"When I first listened to its demo recording, I had to turn it off as it was so hard and strange to keep listening... But it is still the same piece as Vivaldi's 'Four Seasons' based on its compositional style," Lim said.
The newly arranged piece references the original melodies, but the AI's algorithm twists its musical elements such as tempo and sequences of melodic content.
For example, Vivaldi left poetic notes (or a sonnet) in the original score. For the "Spring" movement he wrote, "The birds celebrate her return with festive song, and murmuring streams are softly caressed by the breezes. … Led by the festive sound of rustic bagpipes, nymphs and shepherds lightly dance beneath the brilliant canopy of spring." But the new version eliminated parts evoking birdsong to show the decreased number of birds due to global warming.
For the part reflecting the movement of a stream, the 2050 version anticipated the decrease of rainfall and accordingly introduces a slower tempo than that of the original.
"As young people living on the Earth, I believe that we should try our best to pay attention to the environment and create a better future. I hope the concert could give audiences a wake-up call to the seriousness of climate change," Lim wrote in a press release.
"The [Uncertain] Four Seasons" has been performed in various countries such as Germany, Scotland, the Netherlands, Australia, Kenya, Canada and Brazil.
Along with the Seoul version, different versions of "The [Uncertain] Four Seasons" will be performed online during the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow held from Oct. 31 October to Nov. 12.