history-ebcioglu · pachet2001-harmonization-constraints

Schottstaedt (1984) describes a complete four-part harmonization system based on Fux's treatise [...]. Ebcioglu (1987) is probably the first to have completed a system able to produce high-quality four-part music entirely automatically. [...] Concerning the strict problem of harmonization, Ebcioglu's system contains about 350 rules, representing the style of Johan Sebastian Bach as analyzed by Ebcioglu. These rules are represented in a constraint language specifically designed for the task, called BSL. BSL is essentially a constraint logic programming language implementing backjumping [...]. The system is, however, difficult to understand and assess, because it is implemented in a proprietary language, and contains lots of interrelated modules.