639 Years to Perform a Concert

Here is a question for you… What do you imagine the longest song in the world to be? 15minutes, 30 minutes or maybe even a year?

Well you need to think BIG, try instead about 639 years. Thanks to invi for the information:

A new chord was scheduled to sound Thursday 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 U.S. experimental composer John Cage (1912-1992). Entitled “organ2/ASLSP” (or “As SLow aS Possible”), the performance began on Sept. 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 Feb. 2, 2003.

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.

This should test the battery life of any portable media player when it is released, if you are around in 600 odd years that is! Although on the bright side, who needs a massive playlist of tracks when you can manage with just the one.

Link: 639-Year Concert Lets Loose 2nd Chord

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