
UPDATED ON MAY 6, 2021
The longest musical performance in history is currently taking place in the church of St. Burchardi in Halberstadt, Germany. The performance of John Cageโs โOrganยฒ/ASLSP (As Slow As Possible)โ started on Sept. 5, 2001, and is set to finish in 2640.
The first part of the song lacks a little in the area of excitement. It began on September 5, 2001, and for the next 518 days, it consisted of silence. The first notes weren’t struck until February 5, 2003, when the notes Gโฏ4, B4, Gโฏ5 were formed as a chord that held, continuously, for the next 518 days.
As of this writing, May 6, 2021, the song has been playing for 19 years, 8 months, and one day. In that time, there have been 15 note changes. This averages out to one every 479 days. As scheduled to be played, however, the duration between note changes can be as long as 2,527 days or as mind-blowingly-brief as 30 days.
The scheduled note changes for Part 1 of the composition follow. For some reason, only the first 70 years of the 639-year song are listed. Perhaps they were unable to rent the church that holds the organ beyond that date.
| Impulse | Action | Notes | Date | Length |
| 1 | Begin | none | 9/5/2001 | ย 518 days |
| 2 | Sound | Gโฏ4, B4, Gโฏ5 | 2/5/2003 | 516ย days |
| 3 | Sound | E3, E4 | 7/5/2004 | 365 days |
| 4 | Release | Gโฏ4, B4 | 7/5/2005 | 184 days |
| 5 | Sound | A4, C5, Fโฏ5 | 1/5/2006 | 120 days |
| 6 | Release | E3, E4 | 5/5/2006 | 792 days |
| 7 | Sound | C4, Aโญ4 | 7/5/2008 | 123 days |
| 8 | Release | C4 | 11/5/2008 | 92 days |
| 9 | Sound | D4, E5 | 2/9/2009 | 515 days |
| 10 | Release | E5 | 7/5/2010 | 215 days |
| 11 | Release | D4, Gโฏ5 | 2/5/2011 | 181 days |
| 12 | Sound Release | C4ย (16โฒ), Dโญ4ย (16โฒ) Aโญ4 | 8/5/2011 | 335 days |
| 13 | Release | A4, C5, Fโฏ5 | 7/5/2012 | 457 days |
| 14 | Sound | Dโฏ4, Aโฏ4, E5 | 10/5/2013 | 2,527 days |
| 15 | Sound | Gโฏ3, E4 | 9/5/2020 | 518 days |
| 16 | Release | Gโฏ3 | 2/5/2022 | 730 days |
| 17 | Sound | D4 | 2/5/2024 | 912 days |
| 18 | Sound | A4 | 8/5/2026 | 426 days |
| 19 | Release | E4 | 10/5/2027 | 183 days |
| 20 | Sound | G3 | 4/5/2028 | 122 days |
| 21 | Release | D4 | 8/5/2028 | 577 days |
| 22 | Release | A4 | 3/5/2030 | 184 days |
| 23 | Release | Dโฏ4, E5 | 9/5/2030 | 973 days |
| 24 | Release | G3 | 5/5/2033 | 214 days |
| 25 | Sound | B3 | 12/5/2033 | 243 days |
| 26 | Sound | F3, D4 | 8/5/2034 | 31 days |
| 27 | Release | F3, D4 | 9/5/2034 | 30 days |
| 28 | Release | B3 | 10/5/2034 | 243 days |
| 29 | Sound | Dโญ5 | 6/5/2035 | 823 days |
| 30 | Sound Release | A2ย (16โฒ) Dโญ5 | 9/5/2037 | 181 days |
| 31 | Sound | Aโญ4, Aโญ5 | 3/5/2038 | 122 days |
| 32 | Release | Aโญ5 | 7/5/2038 | 304 days |
| 33 | Release | Aโญ4 | 5/5/2039 | 214 days |
| 34 | Sound | D4, Aโญ4 | 12/5/2039 | 122 days |
| 35 | Release | D4, Aโญ4 | 4/5/2040 | 275 days |
| 36 | Sound | Dโญ3, Bโญ3 | 1/5/2041 | 424 days |
| 37 | Release | Dโญ3, Bโญ3 | 3/5/2042 | 610 days |
| 38 | Release | A2 (16โฒ) | 11/5/2043 | 243 days |
| 39 | Sound | A3, D4 | 7/5/2044 | 243 days |
| 40 | Sound Release | E4 Aโฏ4 | 3/5/2045 | 365 days |
| 41 | Sound | B4, C5, Aโฏ5 | 3/5/2046 | 579 days |
| 42 | Release | C4 (16โฒ), B4, C5, Aโฏ5 | 10/5/2047 | 489 days |
| 43 | Sound | C3 (16โฒ) | 2/5/2049 | 424 days |
| 44 | Sound | Dโฏ4, A4 | 4/5/2050 | 306 days |
| 45 | Release | A3, D4, E4 | 2/5/2051 | 273 days |
| 46 | Release | Dโฏ4, A4 | 11/5/2051 | 547 days |
| 47 | Sound | Eโญ3, B3 | 5/5/2053 | 549 days |
| 48 | Release | C3 (16โฒ) | 11/5/2054 | 608 days |
| 49 | Release | Eโญ3, B3 | 7/5/2056 | 396 days |
| 50 | Sound | Bโญ4 | 8/5/2057 | 273 days |
| 51 | Sound | A2 (16โฒ) | 5/5/2058 | 549 days |
| 52 | Release | A2 (16โฒ) | 11/5/2059 | 152 days |
| 53 | Sound | Gโญ4, C5, Dโญ5 | 4/5/2060 | 61 days |
| 54 | Release | Gโญ4, C5, Dโญ5 | 6/5/2060 | 153 days |
| 55 | Sound Release | E4 Bโญ4 | 11/5/2060 | 92 days |
| 56 | Sound | B4, C5, Eโญ5, C6 | 2/5/2061 | 59 days |
| 57 | Release | C5, Eโญ5, C6 | 4/5/2061 | 153 days |
| 58 | Sound Release | D4 E4 | 9/5/2061 | 334 days |
| 59 | Sound | Aโฏ3, Dโฏ4, Fโฏ4 | 8/5/2062 | 549 days |
| 60 | Release | Aโฏ3, Fโฏ4 | 2/5/2064 | 1,065 days |
| 61 | Sound Release | A3, A4 Dโฏ4 | 1/5/2067 | 151 days |
| 62 | Release | D4 | 6/5/2067 | 396 days |
| 63 | Release | A2, A4 | 7/5/2068 | 973 days |
| 64 | Release | Dโญ4 (16โฒ) | 3/5/2071 | 122 days |
| 65 | Release | B4 | 7/5/2071 |
While you are waiting for Part 2 to begin, you might as well make your way over to the theater and watch 100 Years, the movie that has been produced but won’t be released until November 18, 2115.
The official website (in German) of the Sankt Burchardi Church where this song is played gives more information about โOrganยฒ/ASLSP (As Slow As Possible).โ
For the true fans, you may purchase a 17-minute MP3 rendition of the song from Amazon Music here for $1.29. The site also lets you play a 30-second sample, which, to our untrained musical ears, sounds like horns blaring in rush hour traffic, but what do we know?
If you’d like to hear the song but don’t want to wait 6 centuries to get the full effect, you can listen to a vastly-sped-up rendition here:






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