Abstract
Recent advances in the quantitative, computational methodology for the modeling and analysis of heterogeneous large-scale data are leading to new opportunities for understanding human behaviors and faculties, including creativity that drives creative enterprises such as science. While innovation is crucial for novel and influential achievements, quantifying these qualities in creative works remains a challenge. Here we present an information-theoretic framework for computing the novelty and influence of creative works based on their generation probabilities reflecting the degree of uniqueness of their elements in comparison with other works. Applying the formalism to a high-quality, large-scale data set of classical piano compositions–works of significant scientific and intellectual value–spanning several centuries of musical history, represented as symbolic progressions of chords, we find that the enterprise’s developmental history can be characterised as a dynamic process composed of the emergence of dominant, paradigmatic creative styles that define distinct historical periods. These findings can offer a new understanding of the evolution of creative enterprises based on principled measures of novelty and influence.
Highlights
Stories of how creative enterprises–science, technology, and art being principal examples– have evolved are often filled with tales of revolutionary, triumphant “Eurekas” that usher in a new era: Einstein’s theory of relativity, Kekulé’s determination of the structure of benzene, Tesla’s invention of the alternating current (AC) motor, and Brunelleschi’s invention of the linear perspective in art are widely-cited examples [1]
We show that it allows us to define the influence of a creative work on later ones, allowing us to identify the most followed or referenced works that could be understood as having laid the groundwork of the styles found among the works of a given time
2 Novelty and influence in classical piano music We study Western classical piano music from the so-called common practice period chosen for the following advantages: High scientific and cultural significance, widely credited for having produced many fundamental musical styles that are influential today; A rich body of musicological understanding available from traditional research that could be compared with new, alternative approaches such as ours; And the abundance of high-quality data
Summary
Stories of how creative enterprises–science, technology, and art being principal examples– have evolved are often filled with tales of revolutionary, triumphant “Eurekas” that usher in a new era: Einstein’s theory of relativity, Kekulé’s determination of the structure of benzene, Tesla’s invention of the alternating current (AC) motor, and Brunelleschi’s invention of the linear perspective in art are widely-cited examples [1]. 2.2 Influence and shifts in dominant styles While novel achievements are indispensable for the progress and growth of a creative enterprise, our results above suggest that novelty alone would not cause one to be considered ‘the greatest’: Beethoven, for instance, stand among the lower half in computed novelty This is in line with many recent research findings that a creative work’s impact on its posterity does not depend solely on the degree of its novelty, and how it builds on tradition is important [4, 7, 8]. Since a high influence means that later works share common elements, we can interpret such rise and fall of composers’ influence as indicating shifts in compositional style, and providing a quantitative justification for the distinct period labels. Through a similar mechanism, during the Romantic period new composers such as Schubert, Chopin, and Liszt rise in influence to rival or overtake Mozart and Beethoven (Fig. 5 E), befitting their reputation as of eclipsing those “classical sounds” and establishing many essential repertoire permanently associated with the piano [37]
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