As Slow as Possible

(this was my last Xanga post reprinted here)

I love this...
By the standards of this performance, it was a dramatic solo turn.
A new chord was heard yesterday in a six-century-long organ performance of John Cage's Organ2/ASLSP ("As Slow as Possible"), according to the London Times.

Cage's 1992 piece originally lasted just 20 minutes (and was played on a piano). But a group of musicologists decided several years ago to take its title at face value, and initiated a 639-year performance of the work on a church organ in Halberstadt, Germany (the length was chosen to match the age of the organ).

The performance began in September 2001 with the inflation of the organ's bellows, followed by 18 months of silence. In February 2003, a chord was heard, and in July 2004 two notes were added. The new chord—an A, a C, and an F-sharp—will last until 2012.

According to the Times, the performance is being carried out with the help of sandbags placed on the keys.