In the Harper's Index a couple of months ago, they noted that John
Cage has a new composition called "As Slow as Possible" that will take
639 years to perform.  According to the index, the performance began
last February in Germany, and the opening three-note arpeggio took 3
months.  I'd like to find out any more information about this
particular piece: who is playing it and where?  Is there an audience? 
How do they expect to see it through to completion?  Any comments from
John Cage on its composition?

Dear madrona-ga;

Thank you for allowing me an opportunity to answer your interesting
question.

Actually, this is a serious endeavor about which a great deal is being
said of late; but not by Cage. You see, he died in 1992. It is
debatable that John Cage himself ever intended this recital to take
place in the way it has manifested itself (but it isn’t likely). He
wanted this piece to be played slowly but probably not over a period
of six centuries. As you will see, even the reasoning behind the
duration of 639 years and how this first came to be agreed upon is
also a somewhat debatable issue depending on who one asks.

I’ll provide you with some links and some excerpts so you can get an
idea of what each article is about. They each make for very
interesting reading in their entirety:


* SOME BACKGROUND *

“Composed by late avant-garde composer John Cage, who died in 1992,
the performance has already been going for 17 months - although all
that has been heard so far is the sound of the organ's bellows being
inflated…”

“…They settled on 639 years because the Halberstadt organ was 639
years old in the year 2000.”

"We started discussing - what is as slow as possible for the organ?"
Swedish composer and organist Hans-Ola Ericsson told BBC Radio 4's
Today programme.”

"We, a group of theologians, musicologists, philosophers, composers
and organists, met during a couple of years solely to discuss this
question. It was rather wonderful to have one topic to discuss at
length."

"We came up with the answer that the piece could last for the duration
of the organ - that is the lifetime of an organ."

BBC NEWS
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2728595.stm

-----------------------------------------------------------

* A REASON FOR THE RECITAL’S DURATION *

“Organ2/ASLSP is due to be performed on the town organ in Halberstadt
in northern Germany over a decidedly leisurely 639 years.

* ABOUT THE AUDIENCE AND THE VENUE *

Apparently some 360 spectators, paid DM30 (UK£10) to see the recital's
organist inflate his instrument's bellows and they'll have to come
back in another 18 months time in order to hear him play the first
chord - and one each year or so thereafter.

Providing that sponsors can be found, the performance is scheduled to
reach its finale in 2640, with a half time interval planned in 2319.”

* THE COMPOSER’S ORIGINAL INTENT *

“…Cage originally wrote ASLSP in 1992 as a 20-minute piece for piano…”


TIME FOR JOHN CAGE
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/arts/highlights/010911_cage.shtml

-----------------------------------------------------------

* HOW LONG IS 639 YEARS IN MUSICAL TERMS? *

“Entitled "As Slow As Possible (ASLSP)", the work will be performed on
a town organ in Halberstadt, Germany over the course of 639
years.That's right, 639 years-- which totals 11,644,754,400 minutes,
according to the official Pitchfork T1-83.”

PDXSALON
http://lists.2gyrlz.org/pipermail/pdxsalon/2003-February/000352.html

-----------------------------------------------------------

* YET ANOTHER SUPPOSED REASON FOR THE RECITAL’S DURATION *

“Thus, the John Cage Organ Foundation agreed on the figure of 639
years to correspond with the number of years since the construction of
Germany’s first block single organ. Since John Cage passed away in
1992, he was unable to voice his opinion on the decision. The first
three-note chord of Cage’s ASLSP was played on January 5, 2003, which
came 18 months after the "beginning" of the piece: in September, 2001,
audiences paid 30DM to hear the recital organist inflate the organ's
bellows. The next two notes can be heard on July 5, 2004.”

ENIGMOUS.COM
http://www.enigmous.com/index.php?viewid=278

-----------------------------------------------------------

* INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE COMPOSER HIMSELF (WELL, SORT OF) *

“When the United States composer John Cage wrote Organ2/ASLSP and
stipulated that it should be played “as slow as possible”, he had in
mind a performance of a few hours.”

* WHO ATTENDED THE PLAYING OF THE FIRST NOTES? *

“Things actually began on September 5 2001. But since Cage’s work
begins with a pause, 18 months have since gone past in silence. The
only invited guests at the deconsecrated church where the piece is
being played on a specially built organ were 70 school students.”

* WHO WILL CARRY THE MUSIC ON? *

“They should carry the project forward,’’ says the organiser of the
project, Dr Michael Betzle. “The students, who are 17 or 18 now, will
be able to accompany the project through the next 50, 60, 70 years.’’

* DID CAGE HAVE ANY IDEA THIS WOULD HAPPEN? *

“Professor Christoph Bossert of the Musikhochschule at Trossingen in
south-west Germany admits that Cage did not envisage anything quite so
long. But, he adds, “We can assume he was not against the idea."

ZA @ PLAY
http://www.chico.mweb.co.za/art/2003/2003feb/030214-cage.html

-----------------------------------------------------------

So, as it turns out long after Mozart, Beethoven and all the other
great composers of our time have been long since forgotten, if all
goes well Cage has been insured a place in history for the next 6
centuries (comparable only to fame of figures from the biblical era).
If we assume that he had the foresight to have planned this bizarre
rendition of his music prior to his death, it is also safe to assume
that he was not only a musical genius, but the most clever public
relations man who ever lived – as well a the inventor of the most
creative and prolific self-marketing ploy in history.

Below you will find that I have carefully defined my search strategy
for you in the event that you need to search for more information. By
following the same type of searches that I did you may be able to
enhance the research I have provided even further. I hope you find
that that my research exceeds your expectations. If you have any
questions about my research please post a clarification request prior
to rating the answer. Otherwise, I welcome your rating and your final
comments and I look forward to working with you again in the near
future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.

Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga


INFORMATION SOURCES

JOHN CAGE
http://www.john-cage.halberstadt.de/


BBC NEWS
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2728595.stm


ZA @ PLAY
http://www.chico.mweb.co.za/art/2003/2003feb/030214-cage.html


ENIGMOUS.COM
http://www.enigmous.com/index.php?viewid=278


TIME FOR JOHN CAGE
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/arts/highlights/010911_cage.shtml


PDXSALON
http://lists.2gyrlz.org/pipermail/pdxsalon/2003-February/000352.html


SEARCH STRATEGY


SEARCH ENGINE USED:

Google ://www.google.com


SEARCH TERMS USED:
You can find many, many more references to this topic using these
search strategies:


"As Slow as Possible" Cage
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22As+Slow+as+Possible%22+Cage


Organ2/ASLSP
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=Organ2%2FASLSP+


Organ 2/ASLSP
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=Organ+2/ASLSP+&spell=1

Thank you so much! Excellent work and just what I needed.