Post by Slinger on Sept 6, 2020 13:45:30 GMT
Fans have flocked to a church in Germany to hear a chord change in a musical composition that lasts for 639 years.
It is the first change in the piece, As Slow As Possible, in seven years.
The work is by the avant-garde American composer, John Cage.
It began 19 years ago with a pause lasting nearly 18 months. The change of chord took place on the specially built organ on which the composition is being performed.
The Saint Burchardi Church in the city of Halberstadt started playing the music in 2001 and the last note change took place in 2013.
The score is made up of eight pages of music, to be played at the piano or organ - very slowly.
But the wait for the next scheduled chord change will be quick in comparison - with 5 February 2022 slated as the date.
The piece will end in 2640.
Cage, who died in 1992 at the age of 79, wrote the piece in the 1980s.
SOURCE
In other Cage-related news:
Wombles composer Mike Batt's silence legal row 'a scam'
Composer Mike Batt has revealed that a legal battle over a silent song was nothing more than a publicity stunt.
The Wombles song creator reputedly paid a six-figure sum to American composer John Cage after including a section of his silent track, 4'33", on an album.
The pair were interviewed on the steps of the High Court in 2002 apparently after agreeing a settlement.
Earlier the Southampton-born composer admitted on Twitter that the whole thing had been a "great scam".
The issue hit the headlines when the Southampton-born composer included a blank track - titled A One Minute Silence - on an album he made with The Planets.
'Lot of fun'
After the album had topped the classical charts, John Cage's publishers lodged a claim for royalties.
Mr Batt, who also penned the hit Bright Eyes, said they had no real claim but he and the publisher decided to use opportunity to publicise the issue of copyright.
Mr Batt wrote on Twitter: "I agreed to pay a donation to the John Cage trust, so long as they accepted it on the steps of the High Court to give the impression that it was a settlement out of court in front of the press.
"Everyone from Reuters to The Times and BBC TV turned up. It was a great scam.
"The guy from the other side rather naughtily told Reuters it was a six-figure sum, under pressure of interrogation, and so they all printed it cost me £100k. In fact it was £1,000 - a donation.
"There was no court case, no serious litigation, just a lot of fun between us, and lots of press coverage."
SOURCE
It is the first change in the piece, As Slow As Possible, in seven years.
The work is by the avant-garde American composer, John Cage.
It began 19 years ago with a pause lasting nearly 18 months. The change of chord took place on the specially built organ on which the composition is being performed.
The Saint Burchardi Church in the city of Halberstadt started playing the music in 2001 and the last note change took place in 2013.
The score is made up of eight pages of music, to be played at the piano or organ - very slowly.
But the wait for the next scheduled chord change will be quick in comparison - with 5 February 2022 slated as the date.
The piece will end in 2640.
Cage, who died in 1992 at the age of 79, wrote the piece in the 1980s.
SOURCE
In other Cage-related news:
Wombles composer Mike Batt's silence legal row 'a scam'
Composer Mike Batt has revealed that a legal battle over a silent song was nothing more than a publicity stunt.
The Wombles song creator reputedly paid a six-figure sum to American composer John Cage after including a section of his silent track, 4'33", on an album.
The pair were interviewed on the steps of the High Court in 2002 apparently after agreeing a settlement.
Earlier the Southampton-born composer admitted on Twitter that the whole thing had been a "great scam".
The issue hit the headlines when the Southampton-born composer included a blank track - titled A One Minute Silence - on an album he made with The Planets.
'Lot of fun'
After the album had topped the classical charts, John Cage's publishers lodged a claim for royalties.
Mr Batt, who also penned the hit Bright Eyes, said they had no real claim but he and the publisher decided to use opportunity to publicise the issue of copyright.
Mr Batt wrote on Twitter: "I agreed to pay a donation to the John Cage trust, so long as they accepted it on the steps of the High Court to give the impression that it was a settlement out of court in front of the press.
"Everyone from Reuters to The Times and BBC TV turned up. It was a great scam.
"The guy from the other side rather naughtily told Reuters it was a six-figure sum, under pressure of interrogation, and so they all printed it cost me £100k. In fact it was £1,000 - a donation.
"There was no court case, no serious litigation, just a lot of fun between us, and lots of press coverage."
SOURCE