Linus Chen-Plotkin
Germantown Friends School
Philadelphia, PA
Predictability and Statistical Memory in Classical Sonatas and Quartets
Linus Chen-Plotkin, 18, of Philadelphia, used statistical tools to analyze classical music for his Regeneron Science Talent Search behavioral sciences project.
View Poster
He created three statistical tests to measure a melody’s “memory” — how much later notes depend on those that come before. Long memory means earlier notes continue to influence later ones; short memory means the melody moves quickly to new ideas. Linus applied his tests to over 600 piano sonatas and string quartets by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert.
Across all tests, Mozart’s music stood out, with shorter memories and less predictable melodies. Linus showed that composers differ in how they balance repetition and novelty, an aspect of musical personality. He believes his approach and other quantitative methods can help improve the understanding of areas that are typically studied qualitatively, such as the humanities.
The child of Joshua Plotkin and Alice Chen-Plotkin, Linus attends Germantown Friends School, where he is a varsity wrestler and advanced Mandarin student.
Beyond the Project
Linus is a varsity wrestler and advanced Mandarin student. He also collaborates with a professor at Johns Hopkins, analyzing the grammatical rules of rhyme and meter in Geoffrey Chaucer’s works.
FUN FACTS: Linus sings and plays blues guitar at a bourbon bar called The Twisted Tail and was formerly a member and soloist of the Philadelphia Boys Choir & Chorale. He is also a licensed amateur radio operator.
