Call it a reaction to the speed of modern life, call it a new experience of sound, call it a tourist attraction of the unusual sort – the small East German city of Halberstadt certainly ventured into new territory when it launched the performance of ASLSP by avant-garde composer John Cage in the year 2000, set for completion in – 2639.
ASLSP is a music piece for organ, which John Cage, always up for a little joke, noted should be played ‘as slow as possible’ – shrewdly leaving the comment open to interpretation. Performances range from 21 minutes to, erm, 639 years.
The city of Halberstadt, in the meantime, boasts the first organ with a 12-note claviature, which was completed in 1361 and laid the ground stone for organs to come. There are many myths and anecdotes as to why they decided to initiate the longest musical performance in history, but with some swift mathematics (2000-1361=639) a new and rather eccentric interpretation of ‘as slow as possible’ was determined, and the concert began on what would have been Cage’s 88th birthday, on September 05, 2000.
Note changes occur every few months, attracting a large crowd of music fanatics to experience, well, a change of chords. In the meantime, we’re here – 11 years in, 628 to go. People come up with curious things sometimes, but I’m sure John Cage would have loved the idea.
