Originally published at The Crux
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HALBERSTADT, Germany — A small organ in eastern Germany is the headliner of the world’s slowest concert. It has been playing the same piece of music by composer John Cage at a glacial pace for nearly 25 years.
A rare chord change on Wednesday — from seven notes to eight once an A4 pipe is added — will represent the completion of about 4 percent of the 639-year endeavor of the John Cage Organ Project Halberstadt.
While the project commenced in 2000, the performance began Sept. 5, 2001 — Cage’s 89th birthday — with a silent pause that lasted until Feb. 5, 2003, when the first chords could actually be heard inside the medieval Burchardi Church in Halberstadt, Germany.
The “ORGAN²/ASLSP (As SLow aS Possible)” composition is scheduled to finish on Sept. 4, 2640.
Curator Anneli Borgmann, chairwoman of the John Cage Organ Project Halberstadt’s board of trustees, lifts a new pipe for a test at the John
