Suckers!
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".
Sales were surprisingly good in restaurants and bars that have jukeboxes.
I vaugely know the name. Filed with Jackson Pollock and Maplethorp.
Jonny, you have just got to see this. It's hilarious. Maybe we should introduce Camille to this John Cage dude. So what if Cage is dead. If we can get her onto singing his "classical" works, the world will be a more mellow place. ROFLMAO!!!
It's notated for piano.
just noise...
sounds like your cuppa tea ping ; )
Puh-leeze. Using the same principle, I could put a picture frame around an open window. And copyright that as well!
Cage is lame. 4' 33'' is his most famous work--in which the pianist sits there and does nothing for, you guessed it, 4' 33''. The catcalls and boos of the audience are supposed to be the "music." Whoever said decadent was right.
...The premiere of the three-movement 4’33’’ was given by David Tudor on August 29, 1952, at Woodstock, New York as part of a recital of contemporary piano music. The audience saw him sit at the piano and lift the lid of the piano. Some time later, without having played any notes, he closed the lid. A while after that, again having played nothing, he lifted the lid. And after a further period of time, he closed the lid once more and rose from the piano. The piece had passed without a note being played and without Tudor having made any deliberate sound, although he timed the lengths on a stopwatch while turning the pages of the score...
I'll bet he had a lot of fans during the '60s.
May have the name wrong - the dude that slattered paint on canvas. Pollard?
LOL
It was Pollack. And he was a great Artist compared to Cage.
I wonder what the threat of a Union slowdown sometime during the next 6 centuries would do?
Thanks. May do some Googling later. Off to here some actual music tonight. Robin and Linda Williams and Their Fine Band at the Down Home.
Sounds like something that would be done as a result of a bet made while consuming a large bottle of whiskey.
The most important part of the bet is getting someone to even think this is serious.
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