This article documents a somewhat current event. Information may change extremely slowly as the event progresses.

Sankt-Burchardi-Church

Organ²/ASLSP (As SLow aS Possible) is a musical piece composed by John Cage. It was originally written in 1987 for organ and is adapted from the earlier work ASLSP 1985; a typical performance of the piano piece lasts for about 20 minutes. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2048x1536, 632 KB) Halberstadt, Klosterkirche St. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2048x1536, 632 KB) Halberstadt, Klosterkirche St. ... John Cage For the character of John Cage from the TV show Ally McBeal see: John Cage (Character) John Milton Cage (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American experimental music composer, writer and visual artist. ... 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... An organ is the following: In anatomy, an organ is a group of tissues which perform some function. ... 1985 (MCMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

A 1997 conference of musicians and philosophers discussed the implications of his instruction to play the piece "as slow as possible", given that an organ imposes virtually no time limits. A project emerged to perform the piece so that it would take a total of 639 years to play. This length was decided based on the estimated lifespan of the organ. The origin of this number is as follows: the piece was to be performed in the St. Burchardi church in Halberstadt, Germany, beginning in the year 2000; 639 years earlier, in the year 1361, the first big organ had been constructed in that church. 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Liebfrauenkirche Halberstadt is a city in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. ... This article is about the year 2000. ... Founding of the University of Pavia, Italy. ...

The actual performance commenced in the St. Burchardi church on September 5, 2001 with a pause lasting until February 5, 2003. The first chord was played from then until July 5, 2005. The latest sound from the organ was a three-note chord, A below middle C, C above middle C (A3-C4-Fis4) and F-sharp, which began on January 5, 2006 and concluded on May 5, 2006. The performance is planned to continue until September 5, 2640. September 5 is the 248th day of the year (249th in leap years). ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... February 5 is the 36th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... July 5 is the 186th day of the year (187th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 179 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... In music, the term middle C refers to the note C located between the staves of the grand staff, quoted as C4 in note-octave form. ... January 5 is the 5th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... May 5 is the 125th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (126th in leap years). ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... September 5 is the 248th day of the year (249th in leap years). ... Events The 639 year long performance of John Cages organ work As Slow As Possible (begun in 2001) is scheduled to finish at the St. ...

The piece

The Organ

Organ2/ASLSP is the slowest and longest lasting musical performance yet undertaken. The score consists of eight pages which have been stretched to fit the wanted duration of 639 years. This duration is the difference between the date of the installation of the ancient organ of 1361 and the originally planned start of the performance in 2000. This leads to a curve from 1361 over 2000 to 2639. Unfortunately, the performance began, a bit delayed, on September 5, 2001. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1200x1600, 323 KB) Summary This image has been taken by Wikipedia-ce on janurary 5 of 2005 and is public domain. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1200x1600, 323 KB) Summary This image has been taken by Wikipedia-ce on janurary 5 of 2005 and is public domain. ... Sheet music is written representation of music. ... Founding of the University of Pavia, Italy. ... This article is about the year 2000. ... Founding of the University of Pavia, Italy. ... This article is about the year 2000. ... September 5 is the 248th day of the year (249th in leap years). ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ...

Image File history File links ASLSP.jpg‎ John Cage, ASLSP excerpt from first movement This is an image of sheet music from a copyrighted musical composition. ...

Organ2/ASLSP contains profoundly different musical material than its predecessor (pictured above). The performance instructions vary slightly, as well.

ASLSP Performance Note: The title is an abbreviation of "as slow as possible." It also refers to "Soft morning city! Lsp!" the first exclamations in the last paragraph of Finnegans Wake (James Joyce).

There are eight pieces, any one of which must be omitted and any one of which must be repeated. The repetition may be placed anywhere (even before its appearance in the suite) but other wise the order of the pieces as written shall be maintaned.

Neither tempo nor dynamics have been notated. Time proportions are given (just as maps give proportional distances). Accidentals apply only to those pitches they directly precede.

Each hand plays its own part and is not to be assisted by the other. A diamond-shaped note indicates a note to be depressed without sounding. All the notes have stems. The stem gives the point in time of the single note, interval or aggregate. A closed notehead tied to an open notehead indicates the end of a sustained sound. Sustained sounds are alos notated sometimes with straight line-extensions.

In a performance a correspondence between space and time should be realized so that the music "sounds" as it "looks". -- John Cage

The piece was commissioned by The Friends of the Maryland Summer Institute for the Creative and Performing Arts as a contemporary requirement for a piano competition. Cage employed an open format mainly to insure that no two performances would be the same, providing the judges a break from the monotony of most competitions.

Organ2/ASLSP does not allow for an omission of one of the pieces, but it does require one repetition.

Sound changes

The piece started with a rest of one and a half years, so the first audible sound appeared on February 5, 2003. Further dates for changing notes are: February 5 is the 36th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

• July 5, 2004
• July 5, 2005
• January 5, 2006
• May 5, 2006
• July 5, 2008
• November 5, 2008
• February 5, 2009
• July 5, 2010
• February 5, 2011
• August 5, 2011
• July 5, 2012
• October 5, 2013
• September 5, 2020

On these dates St. Burchardi usually is well visited. Between October 5, 2013 and September 5, 2020 it will be impossible to take part at a sound change because there is none. The sound change of January 5, 2006 is available as an Audiofile. July 5 is the 186th day of the year (187th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 179 days remaining. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... July 5 is the 186th day of the year (187th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 179 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... January 5 is the 5th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... May 5 is the 125th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (126th in leap years). ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... July 5 is the 186th day of the year (187th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 179 days remaining. ... 2008 (MMVIII) will be a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... November 5 is the 309th day of the year (310th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 56 days remaining. ... 2008 (MMVIII) will be a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... February 5 is the 36th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2009 (MMIX) will be a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... July 5 is the 186th day of the year (187th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 179 days remaining. ... For the film, see 2010: The Year We Make Contact. ... February 5 is the 36th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2011 (MMXI) will be a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... August 5 is the 217th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (218th in leap years), with 148 days remaining. ... 2011 (MMXI) will be a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... July 5 is the 186th day of the year (187th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 179 days remaining. ... 2012 (MMXII) will be a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... October 5 is the 278th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (279th in Leap years). ... 2013 (MMXIII) will be a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... September 5 is the 248th day of the year (249th in leap years). ... 2020 (MMXX) will be a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... October 5 is the 278th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (279th in Leap years). ... 2013 (MMXIII) will be a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... September 5 is the 248th day of the year (249th in leap years). ... 2020 (MMXX) will be a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... January 5 is the 5th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The instrument

The Bellows

An organ is being built specifically for this performance and will be finished in 2009. It is standing in the right transept of the Burchardi-church, while the bellows are in the left. Between January and May 2005, it contained only six pipes. Due to the fact that the instrument sounds constantly, there is a cube of acrylic glass around it to reduce the sound emissions. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1600x1200, 675 KB) Summary This image has been taken by Wikipedia-ce on janurary 5 of 2005 and is public domain. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1600x1200, 675 KB) Summary This image has been taken by Wikipedia-ce on janurary 5 of 2005 and is public domain. ...

Memorial plaques

Memorial plaques on the walls of the church

In the church there are memorial plaques, one for each year of the composition. Any person who donates at least 1000 EUR can get one plaque and define a text for it. On the webpage of the project there is a list of the plaques still available resp. years. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1600x1200, 664 KB) Summary This image has been taken by Wikipedia-ce on janurary 5 of 2005 and is public domain. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1600x1200, 664 KB) Summary This image has been taken by Wikipedia-ce on janurary 5 of 2005 and is public domain. ...

External links

• Recordings of a nine-hour performance of ASLSP at ARTSaha! 2006 by Joseph Drew: Hour One, Hour Six, Hour Nine
• Website of the Halberstadt event
• First notes for 639-year composition, BBC News, 5 February 2003
• As Slow As Possible, Performance Today feature (National Public Radio), September 2003
• (German) Die eingefrorene Zeit, Die Zeit, January 8, 2006
• Website of the documentary film 'ASAP' by Scott Smith