When the St Burchardi church in Halberstadt hosts a rare musical event on Monday, many attendees will have made reservations years in advance and traveled from faraway places to attend. However, they will not request an encore.
Because if one thing is certain about this concert, it’s that it won’t be over for a long, long time yet.
John Cage’s composition Organ²/ASLSP As Slow as Possible has been playing continuously since September 2001 in a small town near the Harz mountains. It is considered one of the longest-running concerts in existence, with a projected duration of 639 years, set to end in 2640. The only musical performance with a longer forecasted duration is Jem Finer’s Longplayer, featuring singing bowls in a London lighthouse, which began almost two years earlier and is expected to conclude in 2999.
On February 5th at 3pm, the concert will reach a new milestone. A volunteer responsible for maintaining the project will connect a new pipe to the organ, creating a d’ note to the existing six-note chord. This will be the first time the chord has been changed in two years and the 16th change since the project began over 20 years ago.
Around 150 individuals from various countries including Germany, the United States, Russia, China, and the Philippines have purchased tickets for €200 to secure a seat in the front row. Based on past events, the church, which can accommodate up to 500 people, is expected to be at full capacity due to the popular chord changes. Typically, after the change in sound, there is a moment of silence and then the audience shows their appreciation with a round of applause.
“The upcoming performance, organized by a foundation and led by Rainer Neugebauer, challenges traditional notions of a concert,” remarks Neugebauer. He further muses, “There has been ongoing discussion about whether ‘concert’ accurately describes the event. It certainly has an element of eccentricity to it.”
The composition “As Slow as Possible” was first written by Cage for piano in 1985 and later arranged for the organ in 1987. The title provided clear instructions for the performers, but the precise tempo was left open-ended. During its debut performance in Metz in 1987, the piece lasted approximately 29 minutes.
A group of philosophers and musicians at an organ conference in Trossingen, Germany, suggested a more literal explanation in 1998, six years after the death of Cage. Plans for a 1,000-year concert were rejected due to the uncomfortable similarities to Hitler’s declaration of building an empire that would last the same length of time.
However, when the group decided to hold their performance in Halberstadt, they discovered historical documents stating that the cathedral once housed the first organ with a modern keyboard layout for religious purposes in 1361. By subtracting this number from the upcoming year 2000, they settled on the ambitious number 639 as their challenge.
Securing funds for the project was challenging. A total of 89 pipes are required for the organ to play all the notes in Cage’s composition, which would have been too expensive. Therefore, a smaller instrument was constructed, featuring nine holes that could accommodate interchangeable pipes.
It would have been physically impossible for a person to continuously play an organ for years, so the organist had to rely on a mechanical method. Instead of using their fingers to press the keys, a wind machine powered by electricity is used to push air into the pipes, and three small sandbags are used to press down on the keys.
The bellows of the instrument were installed on September 5th, 2001, which would have been Cage’s 89th birthday. The concert began after a 17-month period of silence, following the instructions of the original score. Kay Lautenbach, a sound engineer at Halberstadt’s Harztheater, described the moment as “incredible” and gave her goosebumps. She is responsible for ensuring the project continues to function properly. No sound could be heard during this period of silence.
The initial musical note was released through the pipes in February 2003, causing discontent among neighbors due to its loudness. In 2011, a solution was discovered to lower the air pressure. According to Neugebauer, there have not been any complaints since then.
According to his estimation, approximately 20,000 of Halberstadt’s inhabitants are unaware that the concert is still ongoing. The remaining 20,000 may not fully understand its significance, but they recognize it as a positive way to promote the town.
Individuals who visit St Burchardi church often come from distant places. They request to be alone inside the church for several hours, or have been given the opportunity to spend a night near the humming organ. According to Lautenbach, there are some people who initially believe this idea is overly intellectualized, but after entering the church, they become completely captivated.
Maintaining the long-term success of As Slow As Possible for an additional 616 years continues to be a difficult task, especially in terms of financial support. The project is dependent on donations, and all of the “sound plaques” within the church, representing each year of the performance, have already been purchased. The latest fundraising opportunity offers the chance to reserve a seat for the final performance on September 4, 2640 (with transferable tickets available).
It will be a significant challenge to persuade future volunteers to continue the project and ensure its completion. Unfortunately, some of the individuals who initially advocated for the performance in Halberstadt have since passed away. The current volunteers are aware that they will not live to hear the final chord.
Anneli Borgmann, a 51-year-old ecologist from Ströhbeck, who became a member of the foundation in 2021, expressed, “Isn’t that the best part of it?” This was shortly after a seven-year one-chord sequence had concluded.
I have accepted long ago that my lifetime is fleeting, like the blink of an eye,” she explains. “To me, Cage’s piece represents an unwavering optimism: while we will eventually pass away, this piece of art will endure for generations.”
Source: theguardian.com
