Ongoing History Daily: The longest song in the world
What is the longest song ever written? The answer is a piece entitled “As Slow As Possible” by avant-garde composer John Cage.
A group in eastern Germany has taken Cage’s instructions to the limit. They started playing “As Slow As Possible” on an organ in a small church on September 5, 2001. If things go according to plan, this performance is scheduled to wrap up on September 5, 2640. That means a running time of 639 years.
There have been seventeen chord changes so far with the latest happening on February 5, 2022, when a G# that had been played since September 5, 2022, was released, leaving just its one-time-companion E. As one person wrote, this is an organ recital for the very, very patient.
Six hundred and thirty-nine years. And this is before anyone gets to the extended dance remix…
