The Longest Concert Ever Has Reached Its 6th Note!
The slowest piece of music ever is currently being played in the church of St. Burchardi in Halberstadt, Germany. John Cage’s project is called ORGAN2/ASLSP (for ‘as slow as possible’). It began in 2000 and has just reached it’s sixth note!
The project is funded by donations which pay for new pipes when a new note is coming up in the sequence. The smallest unit on the staves is one month, each change in tone taking place on the fifth day of the corresponding month. The instrument is powered by a “machine.”
This is the current note:
http://www.john-cage.halberstadt.de/new/ton07.mp3
“Neighbors have got used to the monotonous tone coming out of the former Church of St. Burchard, which was used as a pig-sty in the communist years of East Germany. At first the all-day-and-night tone sounded something like an air-raid siren.”
Hang in there guys, only 19,914,776,375 seconds left!
To read more about the project and why John Cage picked 639 years, visit the ORGAN2/ASLSP website.
I absolutely love this idea! But, the neighbors can hear it? Not from their homes, I hope?
I wonder, given the pace of this piece, what effect it has on surrounding vegetation, specifically trees (because of their slower growth rate)? Have their growth patterns changed at all in response? Interesting questions the idea of vastly slower-than-usual music brings to mind.
It’s a nice idea, but this is not the longest performance. There is a program being broadcast from a lighthouse, called Longplayer, which began in 2000 and will reach the end of its musical rotation in the year 3000.
Not to mention that it is infinitely more tonally interesting than this single-note-at-a-time performance.
Fascinating, thanks Ryan!
WOW that is so kool!!!AKA cool!!!
I was told Cage once got many people in San Francisco to turn their lights on and off in time to a piece of music. I can’t find verification on the web. Does anyone visiting here happen to know? And, do you know if Cage ever lived on Telegraph Hill in San Francisco?
“listen to me as i ejaculate meaning via my own opinions. i am better than john cage, (aren’t we all). i am infinitely more interesting….infinitely more interesting….infinitely more interesting…*grasshopper chirps*…i am infinite”
-Golden Douche Bag