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A while ago we took a look at an effort to visualize the relationships and patterns of influence that emerged between authors. Earlier this year, Anonymous Prof created a 3D model of the interconnections that appear in the history of classical music. Beginning with medieval mystic Hildegard von Bingen and running through the present, the basic network (shown above) depicts 444 composers as spheres within a web of colored lines showing direct influence. Larger spheres reflect a greater number of artistic disciples, while the shift from red to blue lines denotes movement across time to more recent artists. Moving beyond the basic visualization, the data reveal the lasting significance of earlier composers when indirect influences are diagrammed, and filters allow users to explore geographic clusters.
In addition to the visualization itself, a quick video tour, and a discussion of methodology, Anonymous Prof provides links to the Charles Smith’s Classical Music Navigator, an earlier effort to explore both patterns of influence and “points of familiarity” among composers that provided the data for the striking model of musical influence.
. Historian Shae Davidson's research interests include public policy and the relationship between culture and civil society. His publications range from articles on industrial history to absurdist poetry.
