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Excerpted from The Globe and Mail today:
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A group of Germans is playing a John Cage organ piece so slowly that it won't hit its final note for 600 years
Six years ago, Heinz-Klaus Metzger gave a short talk about a long, potentially very long piece of music -- Organ2/ASLSP, by U.S. composer John Cage.
Speaking at a conference on organ music, Metzger wondered what the late avant-garde composer meant by ASLSP, his designation as "as slow as possible". Mechanical organs, like the ones Europeans have built in churches for centuries, can hold notes indefinitely. "One could imagine playing the organ piece so slowly that it would take years to come to an end," mused Metzger, a music theorist who knew Cage.
"Does that mean the concert ends when the organist dies?" a voice in the audience asked. Or when the organ itself finally gives out? another ventured.
Metzger and a group of supporters are now seeking an answer in the forlorn eastern German city of Halberstadt. Here, in a crumbling medieval church used as a pig sty until a few years ago, they have started a performance of Organ2 so slow that is supposed to continue for at least six centuries - until the year 2640.
Fans of Cage haven't missed much so far. The concert officially started on Sept. 5, 2001, but since Organ2 begins with a rest, or silence, there was nothing to hear for the first 17 months except the wheezing of the organ's solar-powered bellows In fact, at the time, the bellows were the only part of the organ that existed. it's being assembled as the recital goes on.
The first three notes started on Feb. 5 of this year, when the organizers hung weighted sacks from the organ's bare, wooden levers. Within the church's crude stone walls, a steady, unvarying chord can be heard 24 hours a day. Two more notes will be added in July, 2004.
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*blink blink* 640 years? I must admit, I admire their persistence, and I had a hearty laugh at "since Organ2 begins with a rest, the first 17 months were silent". XD
Can you imagine, that in 2640, some generation of your family (30 generations later!) will hear the final note of Organ2?
~~
A group of Germans is playing a John Cage organ piece so slowly that it won't hit its final note for 600 years
Six years ago, Heinz-Klaus Metzger gave a short talk about a long, potentially very long piece of music -- Organ2/ASLSP, by U.S. composer John Cage.
Speaking at a conference on organ music, Metzger wondered what the late avant-garde composer meant by ASLSP, his designation as "as slow as possible". Mechanical organs, like the ones Europeans have built in churches for centuries, can hold notes indefinitely. "One could imagine playing the organ piece so slowly that it would take years to come to an end," mused Metzger, a music theorist who knew Cage.
"Does that mean the concert ends when the organist dies?" a voice in the audience asked. Or when the organ itself finally gives out? another ventured.
Metzger and a group of supporters are now seeking an answer in the forlorn eastern German city of Halberstadt. Here, in a crumbling medieval church used as a pig sty until a few years ago, they have started a performance of Organ2 so slow that is supposed to continue for at least six centuries - until the year 2640.
Fans of Cage haven't missed much so far. The concert officially started on Sept. 5, 2001, but since Organ2 begins with a rest, or silence, there was nothing to hear for the first 17 months except the wheezing of the organ's solar-powered bellows In fact, at the time, the bellows were the only part of the organ that existed. it's being assembled as the recital goes on.
The first three notes started on Feb. 5 of this year, when the organizers hung weighted sacks from the organ's bare, wooden levers. Within the church's crude stone walls, a steady, unvarying chord can be heard 24 hours a day. Two more notes will be added in July, 2004.
~~
*blink blink* 640 years? I must admit, I admire their persistence, and I had a hearty laugh at "since Organ2 begins with a rest, the first 17 months were silent". XD
Can you imagine, that in 2640, some generation of your family (30 generations later!) will hear the final note of Organ2?
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