6th chord played in 639-year organ performance
Last Updated: Sunday, July 6, 2008 | 2:46 PM ET
CBC News
The world's longest concert, expected to finish in 2640, was one step closer to the end as the sixth chord of John Cage's As Slow As Possible was played on a church organ in Germany, eight years after the performance began.
Officials in Halberstadt moved the weights holding down the pedals of an organ in the town's medieval church on Saturday, changing to the sixth chord change in Cage's piece. The weights will hold those notes until the next change, meaning the sound can be heard in the church all the time.
The town decided to take the composer's eight-page composition literally, starting the performance in 2000 and letting it run for a total of 639 years.
After beginning with a year-and-a-half of total silence, the first chord was sounded in February 2003. Organizers sounded two additional notes in July 2004, held until July 2005 and that subsequent change was then played until January 2006.
The town's officials have yet to reveal how long this chord will be played.
Organizers chose to stretch out the performance for 639 years in order to mark the creation of the city's historic Blockwerk organ in 1361 by Nikolaus Faber. It was the first organ ever used for liturgies.
The American composer wrote his famous work in 1985 — meant to counter the hustle and bustle of modern life — but the late avant-garde composer never delineated the exact length of its performance.
Its maiden performance lasted only 29 minutes.
Cage, who died in 1992, may be best known for his other irreverent creation, 4'33", which consists of 4 minutes and 33 seconds of silence.
