I'm Coming Out of my Cage, and I've Been Taking My Time

Background: It’s not typical for people to pay hundreds of dollars to see a single chord change. But John Cage's "Organ2/ASLSP" ("As Slow as Possible") is not your typical musical piece. Written in the 1980s, it consists of eight pages of music meant to be played very slowly. Diane Luchese played it for 14 hours and 56 minutes, and Dr. Christopher Anderson extended it to 16 hours.

Yet, these remarkable feats pale in comparison to the audacious undertaking at St. Burchardi Church in Halberstadt, Germany, where a custom-built organ began playing the piece in 2001, with a projected completion date of 639 years - in the year 2640!

On Monday, February 5, 2024 there was a chord change. 150 guests paid €200 for a front-row seat.

The chord that had been sustained for two years (C, D-flat, D-sharp, E, A-sharp and E) became (C, D-flat, D, D-sharp, E, A-sharp and E), with a D note added.

How do you sustain an organ piece for 6 centuries? The air for the pipes is blown by an electronic wind machine, and the organ’s keys are held down by sandbags.

There are other ways to play music for a really, really long time, too. Just get a couple hundred Tibetan singing bowls and the right algorithm.

Profile: Jem Finer

Longplayer is the brainchild of Jem Finer. With roots in computer science studied during the 1970s, Finer has since ventured into photography, film, music composition, and avant-garde installations. Beyond Longplayer, Finer's known for

• "Score For a Hole In the Ground:" a captivating installation in a Kent forest that relies on gravity and nature to produce music.

• The Pogues: as founding member, Finer has played banjo, mandola, saxophone, hurdy-gurdy, guitar, vocals for the Celtic pink band.

• Artist in Residence, Oxford: Finer created several notable works at the Astrophysics Sub-department of the University of Oxford, including two sculptural observatories: "Landscope" and "The Centre of the Universe

A diverse think tank, including renowned names like Brian Eno and David Toop, also contributed their expertise to the Longplayer project.

Fact: No matter when you listen, you’ll never hear the same thing twice. According to Finer, here’s how Longplayer works.

“What happens is that every two minutes, the algorithm chooses a start point in each of those six. So what you're hearing is a superimposition of six different sections. Each plays for two minutes, and then at the end of the two minutes the start points move on. And the amount each start point moves on is different for each of the six piece...It's a bit like weather - you know you've seen skies like that, but you'd never seen the clouds in exactly those shapes in those places.”

Number: 911 days

August 5, 2026 is the next time St. Burchardi Church will change "Organ2/ASLSP" ("As Slow as Possible"). An A note will be added to the chord.

Word: Audiosculpture

A musical composition that blurs the lines between sound and sculpture, existing in space and time, evolving with its environment.

List: Please Don’t Stop the Music

Possibilities being considered by the Longplayer Trust to ensure its Technological Survival

• Radio Ga Ga: The dream is a dedicated global frequency, offering instant accessibility. While the current internet stream is vast, it relies heavily on complex infrastructure. Radio could offer a more robust solution across generations.

• Mr. Roboto: Research is ongoing for a robotic record player consisting of six two-armed turntables, each of a sufficient size to incorporate controlling mechanisms capable of raising, lowering and advancing the arms with adequate precision.

• Space Oddity: Inspired by the technology used in deep space missions, Longplayer could be embedded in a device with a single purpose: playing the music. Imagine thousands of these scattered like seeds, ensuring redundancy through sheer numbers.

• Human Touch: “Intermittent Continuum.” In theory, if there’s a reliable system for live performances, with long-lasting or easy-to-replace instruments, clear instructions, and a way to teach these methods to future generations, then performers will be able to continue the music at any time using straightforward calculations.

Recommended Reading: Silence: Lectures and Writings by John Cage.

"Silence starts with the finest dedications of modern times―'To Whom It May Concern'―and past that you embark on one of the most entertaining and rewarding intellectual voyages that contemporary literature affords."―Alfred Frankenstein, San Francisco Chronicle

(Not and Ad): Sonos: Immerse yourself in the rich, detailed sound of Sonos smart speakers and bring every note of Longplayer's millennium-long melody into your living space. Whether you're listening to this timeless composition, your favorite playlist, or a live podcast, Sonos delivers unparalleled sound quality that adapts to the acoustics of your room.

1 We couldn’t help ourselves. Here is the correct link to listen to Longplayer