It was a little while back when we last wrote about this staggering piece of music, which is scheduled to take 637 years to play, but a new note has sounded in the piece, entitled ‘"ORGAN2/ASLSP As Slow aS Possible’.
On the weekend the organ changed from a C4 to an Ab4 to an audience of around a thousand people crammed into the St. Burchardi church in Halberstadt, Germany.The piece was written by experimental composer John Cage and took a mere 29 minutes and 15 seconds to perform when it was first premiered in 1987.
Now, each note lasts for several years, including a 58 year-long note coming up and recently they had to install soundproofing around the church that houses the constantly-being-rebuilt organ to keep the neighbours happy with the 24 hour noise emanating from the small building.
The piece opened with an 18-month pause that lasted from September ’01 to February ’05.
If you want to be there for the next note change, it’ll be here (relatively) soon, on November 4, 2008.
