The John Cage organ was built in Halberstadt, Germany, in a monastery (St. Burchardi) which dates back to the 11th century. Built around 1050 by Burchard of Nahburg, this church functioned as a Cistercian convent for more than 600 years. In The Thirty years War (1618-1648), St. Burchardi was partially destroyed, but rebuilt in 1711 and secularized by Jérome, the brother of Napoleon in 1810. For 190 years the church was used as a barn, hovel, distillery and a sty. One of the oldest churches in the city, St. Buchardi was rediscovered and is now the venue of this extraordinary project.

ASLSP was written by Cage for the piano in 1985, but in 1987, he rewrote the piece for organ at the suggestion of organist Gerd Zacher (this is known as ASLSP/Organ2). The first organ performance was 29 minutes. A more recent recording lasts 9 hours.

After Cage’s death in 1992, the question of how to realize the intention of the song’s title began. It was determined that as slow as possible would be to play the piece “at least as long as the organ remains and as long as peace and creativity in the following generations exists”.

The world’s slowest and longest concert began on September 5, 2000 – the anniversary of John Cage’s birthday. The first ‘note’ was a rest, and lasted for 18 months. One note will last 70 years, there will be a three year intermission, and all things continuing, the piece will not end until the same day, September 5th, 2639.



WHY HALBERSTADT, AND WHY 639?

The first ‘permanent’ organ with a modern (chromatic) keyboard arrangement was built in Halberstadt's cathedral in 1361. This organ was the first one with the claviature of 12 notes used on our keyboard instruments today. While one could say that this makes Halberstadt the cradle of modern music, it should also be known that the organ had twenty bellows operated by ten men, and that the wind pressure was so high that the player had to use the full power of his arm to hold down a key.

In the year 2000, 639 years had passed since the “Phenomenal day of Halberstadt”. Thus, it was decided that an organ could be built in 2000, and last until 2639, at least, in theory. The score was measured by slide rule, with notes assigned lengths, in months and years.



FROM THE FOUNDERS

The “discovery of slowness” and the planting of a “musical apple tree” can be understood as symbols of confidence in the future.

The length of this performance symbolizes not only the perception of music or a piece of music; It reflects the perception of time. As a generational project, this piece of music resists the fast reception, the simple solution preferred in our society.


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For further information, please visit the John Cage Project website:
http://www.john-cage.halberstadt.de

Support the John Cage Project:
http://www.cage-ev.de