The Man Who Called Himself Beethoven

Shortly before the world premiere of Beethoven’s 10th symphony, a meteorite hits the Philharmonic concert hall. Dazed, the members of the orchestra stagger outside; the Maestro is furious. This concert was supposed to be a mega event, the President had announced his coming, sponsorship money is at risk - they’re not supposed to perform in the park now, are they, for just anyone to come and listen? The park, where this weird old chap turns up and starts asking even weirder questions, such as why there is a 10th Beethoven symphony all of a sudden? It’s been completed by an Artificial Intelligences, explains the viola player Clara, who has just been fired by the Maestro because she stood up against his tyrannical leadership. An argument ensues that scrutinises the conditions for art in many different ways. Must art comply with strict hierarchies and the laws of the market? Can algorithms create works of art? Where does that leave the unpredictability of humans, or emotions like pain or anger? And what significance do ideals such as ‘liberty, egality, brotherhood’ still have, ideals that motivated Beethoven? Have they become old-fashioned, or should one not continue - again - to dream along those lines?

With great seriousness and irony, Moritz Rinke and Mathias Schönsee offer a settling of accounts with a society that has made huge progress in the realm of technology since the Enlightenment but doesn’t seem to have learnt much about how we can live together.