As Slow as Possible

The Friends of the Maryland Summer Institute for the Creative and Performing Arts commissioned the piece for contemporary requirement of a piano competition. Cage used an open format to ensure no two performances would be the same, and give judges a break from the consistency of most compositions. The score is eight pages.

Image:HalberstadtBurchardiChurchBellows.jpg

Image:HalberstadtBurchardiChurchOrganForOrgan2ASLSP.jpg

Musicians and philosophers discussed Cage's instruction to play "as slow as possible" at a conference in 1997, because a properly maintained pipe organ could sound indefinitely. The John Cage Organ Foundation Halberstadt decided to play the piece for 639 years, to mark the time between the first documented permanent organ installation in Halberstadt Cathedral, circa 1361, and the originally proposed start date of 2000. Because of a lack of money, the date was postponed by one year.{{Cite news |date=February 5, 2003 |title=First notes for 639-year composition |language=en-GB |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2728595.stm |access-date=September 5, 2023}} The chord changes of the first part which ends in 2072 were calculated by Christoph Bossert and Rainer O. Neugebauer. Until August 2021 the Foundation sold plaques commemorating the years through 2640 to fund the performance.{{cite web|url=https://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2019/04/halberstadt-john-cage-organ-feature|title=A Visit to John Cage's 639-Year Organ Composition|first=Aaron|last=Gonsher|website=redbullmusicacademy.com}}{{cite web|url=https://www.aslsp.org/Stiftertafel-Übersicht.html/|title=Alle Stiftertafeln sind vergeben|access-date = July 22, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230522090035/https://www.aslsp.org/Stiftertafel-Übersicht.html/|url-status=dead|archive-date = May 22, 2023}}

An organ was built specifically for the performance.{{cite web|url=https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/sankt-burchardi-church-organ|title=Sankt Burchardi Church Organ|publisher=atlasobscura.com|access-date=December 20, 2018}} It is in the church's right transept, with the bellows in the left transept.

Until 2011, acrylic glass encased it to reduce the volume, likely due to potential noise complaints.Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211205/FaABvYVfiuA Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20141231152405/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaABvYVfiuA Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaABvYVfiuA| title = 5 Min 48 sek von 639 Jahren: JOHN CAGE ORGAN 2 / ASLSP IN HALBERSTADT | website=YouTube| date = July 30, 2009 }}{{cbignore}}

The Halberstadt performance started on September 5, 2001, with a rest lasting until February 5, 2003, when the first pipes played.{{Cite web|url=https://www.aslsp.org/de|title=News – John-Cage-Orgelprojekt Halberstadt|website=www.aslsp.org|access-date=December 8, 2019|archive-date=September 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210907140232/https://www.aslsp.org/de/|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.john-cage.halberstadt.de/new/index.php?seite=cdundtoene&l=e |title=the Halberstadt event website |publisher=John-cage.halberstadt.de |date=November 19, 2004 |access-date=August 30, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722045416/http://www.john-cage.halberstadt.de/new/index.php?seite=cdundtoene&l=e |archive-date=July 22, 2011}} Sandbags depress the organ's pedals to maintain the notes. On July 5, 2008, two more organ pipes were added alongside the four already installed and the tone became more complex at 15:33 local time. The bellows provide a constant supply of air to keep the pipes playing.{{cite news|url=http://dw.de/p/EX0w |title=One Thousand Hear Change of Note in World's Longest Concert |agency=Deutsche Presse-Agentur |work=Deutsche Welle |date=July 5, 2008 |access-date=August 30, 2011}} On July 5, 2012, two more organ pipes were taken out, and two were in the organ. The note last changed on February 5, 2024. The performance is scheduled to end on September 4, 2640.

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• AS Long as Possible, a GIF-based visual art work named in tribute to As Slow as Possible
• List of compositions by John Cage
• Longplayer

{{reflist}}

• [http://www.aslsp.org/ Website of the Halberstadt event] {{in lang|de}}
• [https://www.npr.org/programs/pt/features/2003/sep/aslsp.html As Slow As Possible], Performance Today feature (National Public Radio), September 2003{{dead link|date=September 2022}}
• Recordings of a nine-hour performance of ASLSP at [http://www.artsaha.org ARTSaha! 2006] by [https://web.archive.org/web/20060911045353/http://www.analogartsensemble.net/member/Drew.htm Joseph Drew]: [https://web.archive.org/web/20070927182905/http://www.analogartsensemble.net/media/audio/Drew/ASLSP%20Beginning.mp3 Hour One], [https://web.archive.org/web/20070927182746/http://www.analogartsensemble.net/media/audio/Drew/ASLSP%209PM.mp3 Hour Six], [https://web.archive.org/web/20070927182551/http://www.analogartsensemble.net/media/audio/Drew/ASLSP%20END.mp3 Hour Nine]
• [http://www.zeit.de/online/2006/02/cage Die eingefrorene Zeit], Die Zeit, January 8, 2006 {{in lang|de}}
• [https://vimeo.com/637619443 (JC{639})] Documentary Film by Sabine Groschup, 2006/20012
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070820230654/http://www.as-slow-as-possible.com/ Website of the documentary film ASAP by Scott Smith]
• [https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/arts-post/post/worlds-longest-concert-will-last-639-years/2011/11/21/gIQAWrdXiN_blog.html "World's longest concert will last 639 years"] The Washington Post. November 21, 2011.
• [https://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2019/04/halberstadt-john-cage-organ-feature A Visit to John Cage's 639-Year Organ Composition] von Aaron Gonsher, Red Bull Music Academy, April 12, 2019
• [https://www.newstalk.com/podcasts/highlights-from-moncrieff/the-longest-song The Longest Song], Newstalk Radio Dublin, The Sean Moncrieff Show, September 11, 2020
• [https://www.hs-harz.de/user-mounts/292_m128/HowStuffWorksMeetJohnCageOct27th2020.pdfMeet John Cage, the Innovative Composer Behind the 639-year-long Consert], HowStuffWorks, October 27, 2020
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2VfJdAZzXgCage Conversation with Richard T. Eldridge], NAMM Show Believe in Music Week, January 2021
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Lyb0xvEFyY How Slow Is Slow?], FutureStops. A project of the Royal Canadian College of Organists Podcast Episode 02, September 23, 2021
• [https://www.hs-harz.de/user-mounts/292_m128/RON_John_Cage_Organ_Project___Climate_Change.pdf The John Cage Organ Project & the Climate Change], Interview with Warren Senders, Music 4 Climate Justice at 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow November 12, 2021
• [https://theworld.org/media/2023-01-04/longest-slowest-organ-music-ever The longest, slowest organ music ever], Interview with Bianca Hillier, The World (radio program), January 4, 2023
• [https://www.classicfm.com/composers/cage/as-slow-a-possible-aslsp-germany-organ-chord-change/ A 639-year-long John Cage organ piece just changed chord, for the first time in two years] by Kyle Macdonald, Classic FM (UK), February 6, 2024
• [https://wildflower.work/counter-architectures.html Counter-Architectures: ORGAN²/ASLSP, John Cage and Utopia] by Elijah Beaton, wildflower.work, February 25, 2024
• [https://www.hs-harz.de/user-mounts/292_m128/RON_Listen_to_the_unique_sounds_LTAP_Lecture_2024.pdf Listen to the unique sound], Lecture at the 1st International LTAP Conference in Halberstadt (Germany), August 31, 2024

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Category:1987 compositions

Category:3rd millennium

Category:Compositions by John Cage

Category:Compositions for organ