"It was another milestone — well, inchstone — in the performance of "Organ2/ASLSP," a version of the John Cage composition titled "As Slow As Possible". And slow means slow. The piece, which began on Sept. 5, 2001, is not scheduled to end until 2640. But there will probably be a break after the first movement, which lasts a mere 71 years... The performance is in keeping with Cage's efforts to explore the boundaries of performance and how music exists in time and space. The change of notes prompted philosophical musings among some listeners, many of whom lingered for more than an hour after the chord change.
"It brought back the idea about time, and how time's changed," said Frank Edelkraut, 47, of Hamburg. Others compared it to cathedral-building.
"It's sort of like in the Middle Ages, when the people building the foundations of those really big churches knew they would not be able to finish the church," said Werner Kuhlemann, 53, of Hildesheim..."
(From The New York Times)
