Posted on 01/06/2006 4:42:30 PM PST by Borges
HALBERSTADT, Germany (AFP) - A new chord was scheduled to sound in the world's slowest and longest lasting concert that is taking a total 639 years to perform.
The abandoned Buchardi church in Halberstadt, eastern Germany, is the venue for a mind-boggling 639-year-long performance of a piece of music by US experimental composer John Cage (1912-1992).
Entitled "organ2/ASLSP" (or "As SLow aS Possible"), the performance began on September 5, 2001 and is scheduled to last until 2639.
The first year and half of the performance was total silence, with the first chord -- G-sharp, B and G-sharp -- not sounding until February 2, 2003.
Then in July 2004, two additional Es, an octave apart, were sounded and are scheduled to be released later this year on May 5.
But at 5:00 pm (1600 GMT) on Thursday, the first chord was due to progress to a second -- comprising A, C and F-sharp -- and is to be held down over the next few years by weights on an organ being built especially for the project.
Cage originally conceived "ASLSP" in 1985 as a 20-minute work for piano, subsequently transcribing it for organ in 1987.
But organisers of the John Cage Organ Project decided to take the composer at his word and stretch out the performance for 639 years, using Cage's transcription for organ.
The enormous running time was chosen to commemorate the creation of Halberstadt's historic Blockwerk organ in 1361 -- 639 years before the current project started.
That original organ, built by Nikolaus Faber for Halberstadt's cathedral, was the first organ ever to be used for liturgical purposes, ringing in a new era in which the organ has played a central role in church music ever since.
As part of Halberstadt's John Cage Organ Project, a brand-new organ is being built specially, with new pipes added in time for when new notes are scheduled to sound.
Cage was a pupil of one of the 20th century's most influential composers, Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951).
Cage's avant-garde oeuvre includes works such as the notorious "4'33", a piece comprising four minutes and 33 seconds of total silence, all meticulously notated.
The organisers of the John Cage Organ Project say the record-breaking performance in Halberstadt also has a philosophical background -- to "rediscover calm and slowness in today's fast-changing world".
See #179.
I'm bored from here. It's certainly not Bach these days. I told my music teacher I hated modern music; she said 'It will be famous in 100 years.' (ie, you are just stupid). I think it will be a footnote in history.
Haha, you should do that at a concert. Honestly, the Emporer has NO CLOTHES.
I was kidding. :-)
John Cage = most boring composer ever. Not to mention attention-getting "idiot" with "output" like this. Gimme a break. Are thousands beating down the door to hear these chords being played one year at a time? (rolling my eyes....) Never met the guy but I bet he's as arrogant as they come.
I'll go with you and crinkle my cough drop wrappers through the entire 4:33 min/sec. We'll have a GREAT time! ;-)
Argumentum ad regimentam. Everyone has a mechanical function in commercial culture.
Years ago I was in a class with a guy who owned a rather prestigious art gallery in Philly. One day I decided to stop in a take a look. The piece that I remember was a huge yellow canvas with a blue grid. When you got up close to the canvas you could see the pencil lines used to make the grid. Not interesting, no talent involved that I could see, not even colorful like Mondrian, just some blue lines on a yellow canvas.
$10,000.
Maybe it was painted by the same dude who painted the large white canvas with the red dot I saw at the UN.
$10,000 -- now I know I'm in the wrong line of work.
Lemme guess.... he was Japanese?! ;-)
I'll bring the beer and a boom box!
He actually died in 1992.
He also cut at least one record of childrens' songs ... truly a man with varied tastes.
Are they paying the musicians by the hour? And what happens in 2639 if the audience calls for an encore?
Seriously, this is the most self-indulgent thing I ever heard of! I agree with my aunt. After she died, I found a hand-written note in her Book of Common Prayer, "No music written after 1900!"
The longest lasting concert on Earth was my 4th grade concert when I had to perform a solo in front of the entire school. Now THAT was a concert that seemed like an eternity!
The only thing he did that was mildly interesting was his 'prepared piano'.
My sister said that the monks believed that if they chanted they would live forever.
My father listened for a few minutes and said, "It only SEEMS like forever!"
Well, at least he never has to worry about the piece being ripped to MP3 and distributed over the net. Maybe some of the bands that are worried about MP3 piracy can subscribe to this model.
Especially when playfully superimposed on a lilting melodious line from the virtual oboes and tubas.
Vaughan Williams wrote a lot of fine church music after 1900!
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