How To Listen

Orgelprojekt Halberstadt

ASLSP (As Slow As Possible)

Like, really slow. 639 years slow.

The piece was written by John Cage and is the longest piece of music ever.  Cage initially intended the work to last about one hour, however he later revised the score to remove the durations and indicated that the piece be played as slow as possible. Given the pipe organ’s ability to play until the bellows stop pumping, the piece lends itself to an enormously long performance.

Right now the organ is playing a tri-tone (D₄ and A-flat₄) and will continue to do so until July 5, 2010.  On that day, the A-flat will end and a single D will sound for seven months. Then a G₅ will be added. The piece will end on September 5, 2640. To put that date into perspective, The United States of America will have tripled in age. 2009 will be a small blip in the play of time and an organ in Germany will still be playing the same piece.

The beauty of the internet has made it possible to hear the organ from your living room. You can rest assured I will be tuning in to hear the sonority change on July 5th.

The organ itself is something of a marvel too.  It resides in a church that was once used as a pig sty during the communist years in East Germany. Right now it has only six pipes, which is plenty for the foreseeable future. The committee that is overseeing the performance accepts donations and will expand the organ as needed.