We've discussed speed and "who's the fastest" over and over.  Now for something completely different.  

Composer John Cage's (1912-1992) piece "As Slow As Possible" is still being performed on a church organ in Halberstadt, Germany.  

The piece was started on September 5, 2001 (Cage's birthday) and began with 17 months of silence.  The first actual chord was played in February, 2003.  The first three chords will take a year and a half to play.  The piece is said to be the longest and slowest piece of music in history, and will go on for 639 years.

Here's an old BBC piece on it:  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2728595.stm

Hmmm...  I wonder if the organist has to sit there and count measures.  Could be a well-paying gig if its listed as a Class A union performance!

It's a 2 CD set, I'm pretty sure.  :-)

One of the things I've always loved about Cage's music is the difference the performer can make to most of it.   As a big fan of indeterminancy the variables the perfomers add is always relevant.    When Cage performed this particular piece he did it on piano in 20 minutes.    

That and will it load onto the new Apple iPod Ultra Maximus Grande that is due to be announced at Mac World in 2640.

Oh, and the cost to stream it down to your fancy new 2640 mobile phone might be just a tad prohibitive.

Wow, I wish i could live to be 1308 so i could hear it.....

Rehearsals Schmershals!!

Even *I* can sight read stuff THAT slow!!  

LOL! Nice.

Some people never get it.  There are some truly talented people out there that do things differently.

I actually got to go out sat. night and see a band (it has been awhile):

The drummer there had really beat up pinstripes and a kevlar head on his snare drum he was geeked cause he bought this new snare head and shared it with me.  It was a good sound I thought.  And  I really liked his drumsound thru the pa.  It wasn't my drumsound (not that mine is any better but different  ya know?) but I thought it sounded pretty good- the guy played purely and honestly.  I liked it quite a bit!

  A couple of other drummers (from the "old neighborhood") sat down at our table (which was kind of weird but hey I was nervous enough in this bar) and one of them started immediately trashing this guys sound!  I sorta stuck up for the guy playing since I knew him (the drummer with the beat heads), had already gotten the lowdown on the kit, etc.  But the guy isn't rich (kinda poor actually) and I thought his sound was pretty darn good, especially his old paistes- what do I know.  He was a very solid player- I could hear every note for the most part and the tone of the note.  I love the tone- just listening to 1 note and it's tonal quality.  There is so so much to tone and timbre but you have to listen for it sometimes.

The guitar player started right off the bat playing all these notes!  Aye carumba... every song it seemed.  I was like "what is he doing?" It really sucked.  What do I know.

Anyways, there is alot in one note to listen to if you take the time analyse or think about it.  There is also alot to listen for in silence and rests (is there such a thing as silence and rests?).  Yes but Cage makes me think.  I would love to hear his work in Germany.  In fact I just might go check it out!

No but if it takes about 600 years to make and 600 years to listen then i would be about 1200 years old by the time i heard it. that is if it is being recorded everyday. If not then excuse my poor math skills