Hiroto Nagai, a geo-environmental scientist from Japan, has created a unique string quartet titled “String Quartet No. 1 “Polar Energy Budget” based on over 30 years of climate data from the Arctic and Antarctic. This 6-minute composition aims to draw attention to how climate is influenced by the energy input and output at the poles. Nagai hopes that this project will mark a transition from only scientists handling data to artists being able to use data to create their works freely. The composition was featured in the journal iScience as part of a collection exploring the connection between art and science.
Nagai believes that music, rather than sound, can evoke emotional responses. He introduced the concept of “musification” of data, where a composer adds tension and dynamics to sonified data to create a more emotional impact. In this composition, he liberally added a “human touch” to merge sonification with traditional music composition, creating a unique experience for the listeners. Nagai focused on building tension and resolution in the piece, aiming to affect the audience’s emotions intentionally with the artistic piece through the combination of different musical elements.
Using a program, Nagai sonified environmental data collected from four polar locations over several decades. He assigned sounds to different data values, including measurements of radiation, precipitation, temperature, and cloud thickness. After transforming the sonified data into a musical form, Nagai composed the piece to be played by two violins, a viola, and a cello. Manipulating the pitch of data points, assigning sections to different instruments, and introducing musical techniques were all part of the composition process. Nagai also added artistic elements by introducing rhythm, removing sounds deliberately, and including handwritten parts that were not data-derived.
The quartet was first performed live at Waseda University in Tokyo in March 2023, followed by a panel discussion. A filmed performance by the PRT Quartet, a professional string quartet from Japan, was released on YouTube. Professional violinist Haruka Sakuma, who performed the second violin, described the composition as a typical contemporary piece that was challenging due to its complex flow. Nagai suggests that combining graphical and music representations of data might have a more powerful impact on audiences, as music can elicit emotion more effectively than graphical representations.
Nagai’s work showcases the potential for outreach in the Earth sciences through music, as it has the ability to grab the audience’s attention forcefully. The combination of data sonification with traditional music composition opens up new possibilities for artists to engage with scientific data and create art that conveys complex scientific concepts in an emotional and impactful way. This project was supported by the Remote Sensing Technology Center of Japan, highlighting the interdisciplinary nature of the collaboration between science and music in this innovative approach to communicating climate data through art.
