[Dixielandjazz] Second Chord Sounded in John Cage's 639 year concert.

[Stan Brager]

Thanks, Steve.

It's shortsighted of Gunter and the others to put Cage's composition down
without ever hearing it. Unfortunately, I missed the first couple of chords
and I've got plans for this coming May 5th.

I think I'll wait for the CD.

Stan
Stan Brager
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Steve barbone" <barbonestreet at earthlink.net>
To: "DJML" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Monday, January 09, 2006 5:22 PM
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Second Chord Sounded in John Cage's 639 year
concert.


> Listmates:
>
> And we thought 4':33" was strange. None of us will be alive when this
> concert ends. :-) VBG
>
> Note that the chords keep sounding and weights are used to hold them.
> Good thing there is no drummer or the time would slow down for sure.
>
> Cheers,
> Steve
>
> Second chord sounds in world's longest lasting concert
>
> Thu Jan 5, 11:12 AM ET
>
> A new chord was scheduled to sound in the world's slowest and longest
> lasting concert that is taking a total 639 years to perform.
>
> The abandoned Buchardi church in Halberstadt, eastern Germany, is the
> venue for a mind-boggling 639-year-long performance of a piece of music
> by US experimental composer John Cage (1912-1992).
>
> Entitled "organ2/ASLSP" (or "As SLow aS Possible"), the performance
> began on September 5, 2001 and is scheduled to last until 2639.
>
> The first year and half of the performance was total silence, with the
> first chord -- G-sharp, B and G-sharp -- not sounding until February 2,
> 2003.
>
> Then in July 2004, two additional Es, an octave apart, were sounded and
> are scheduled to be released later this year on May 5.
>
> But at 5:00 pm (1600 GMT) on Thursday, the first chord was due to
> progress to a second -- comprising A, C and F-sharp -- and is to be held
> down over the next few years by weights on an organ being built
> especially for the project.
>
> Cage originally conceived "ASLSP" in 1985 as a 20-minute work for piano,
> subsequently transcribing it for organ in 1987.
>
> But organisers of the John Cage Organ Project decided to take the
> composer at his word and stretch out the performance for 639 years,
> using Cage's transcription for organ.
>
> The enormous running time was chosen to commemorate the creation of
> Halberstadt's historic Blockwerk organ in 1361 -- 639 years before the
> current project started.
>
> That original organ, built by Nikolaus Faber for Halberstadt's
> cathedral, was the first organ ever to be used for liturgical purposes,
> ringing in a new era in which the organ has played a central role in
> church music ever since.
>
> As part of Halberstadt's John Cage Organ Project, a brand-new organ is
> being built specially, with new pipes added in time for when new notes
> are scheduled to sound.
>
> Cage was a pupil of one of the 20th century's most influential
> composers, Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951).
>
> Cage's avant-garde oeuvre includes works such as the notorious "4'33", a
> piece comprising four minutes and 33 seconds of total silence, all
> meticulously notated.
>
> The organisers of the John Cage Organ Project say the record-breaking
> performance in Halberstadt also has a philosophical background -- to
> "rediscover calm and slowness in today's fast-changing world".
>
>
>
>