The composition being performed in this video is entitled "Nasciturus", and it's one of the many pieces of contemporary classical music created by Iamus — who just so happens to be a computer cluster housed in Spain's University of Málaga.


This piece, along with the other nine compositions that make up the computer's self-titled debut album, was produced with absolutely zero human input beyond the initial programming. "Nasciturus" is an example of what's known as evolutionary music, in which the computer starts with a small initial input and then uses a complex algorithm to "evolve" the piece into a full-fledged composition, adapting and increasing the complexity of the input to best fit the aesthetic criteria provided. It takes less than a second for Iamus to complete this process, though it does drag its heels a bit by taking another eight minutes to translate the music into formats that humans can read and understand.

Pianist and composer Gustavo Diaz-Jerez, who works as a software consultant for Iamus, explains just how the computer creates its remarkable compositions:

"We have taught a computer to write musical scores. Now we can produce modern classical music at the touch of a button. We've just told the computer some very general technical things. We have informed the computer that it is impossible for a pianist to play a 10 note chord with one hand. We only have five fingers on one hand. "Each composition has a musical core that becomes ever more complex and evolves automatically. It starts with very complex structures inside the computer. It is very different from other computer-generated music. When people hear the phrase they imagine that you can hear the computer playing music. Iamus does something different, it projects the complexity we are growing in the computer into musical structures."


For more on this story, check out the BBC. Also check out Diaz-Jerez's YouTube page for more music from Iamus.