MOTM

Funny, I just heard this in the news on the radio this morning.
The reporter ended with the dry comment that "a rerun of the
performance is not scheduled yet."

JH.


-----Urspr\ufffdngliche Nachricht-----
Von: Tkacs, Ken <ken.tkacs@...>
An: <motm@yahoogroups.com>
Gesendet: Mittwoch, 5. September 2001 16:49
Betreff: [motm] OT: John Cage... ad infinitum...


> A little tidbit from the world of the avant garde:
>
> The world's longest performance of a piece of music began at
> midnight in a small German town - and will last a staggering 639 years.
The
> sole item on the programme is an organ composition by the revolutionary
> American composer John Cage (1912-1992), entitled Organ2/ASLSP. It was
> originally a piece for piano lasting just 20 minutes and entitled ASLSP
(As
> Slow As Possible), but the organisers of the concert decided to take the
> American composer John Cage quite literally. The audience gathering at the
> former Buchardi monastery in Halberstadt will not hear the first chord for
> another year and a half. All they will get is the mellow sound of the
> organ's bellows being inflated. If that fails to take the audience's
breath
> away, the organisers, the John Cage Project, have laid on a dance
> performance and two connected organ concerts conducted at a more sprightly
> pace to fill the gap. The organisers say the lengthy performance is
supposed
> to contrast with the hectic pace of change in the modern world.
Halberstadt
> is known for its famous organs, and the duration of the piece was chosen
to
> reflect the building of the first of a series, 639 years ago. If
everything
> goes to plan, the audience could be allowed an interval for refreshments
and
> a nip to the loo in about three centuries. Allowing for a couple of
curtain
> calls, they will probably spill out onto the streets looking for a taxi in
> the second half of the millennium.
>
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/europe/newsid_1525000/1525792.stm
> <http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/europe/newsid_1525000/1525792.stm>
>
>
>
>
>
>