John Cage piece to be performed for 639 years (bottom of page).
Seven years after his death, the John Cage Organ Foundation has begun the performance of what will be Cage’s longest piece. Entitled “As Slow As Possible (ASLSP)”, the work will be performed on a town organ in Halberstadt, Germany over the course of 639 years…
Cage originally wrote “As Slow As Possible” in 1992 as a 20-minute piano piece. According to Art in Action, “musicologists have deliberated over just how slow, as slow as possible really is.” The group agreed on the figure 639, representing years since the construction of Germany’s first single-block organ.
At the piece’s opening performance, approximately 360 people paid $15 USD to see someone turn the organ on. They’ll have to return in another 18 months to hear the first chord. Notes will be played on similar intervals until the performance ends in 2640, provided sponsors can be found over the next several centuries.