As Slow as Possible

AsSlow asPossible– a tribute to slowness  

As Slow as Possible lasts 639 years in Germany, where several years may pass between changes in pitch. During the Festival Week, you can experience it in six hours  

Imagine a piece of music composed to last as long as humanly possible. A work that celebrates and explores slowness – a slowness from which we might well draw inspiration in our everyday lives.  

John Cage’s piece*As Slow as Possible*is being performed at Halberstadt Cathedral in Germany. At the start of the Festival Week, the piece has been playing for just under 25 years, but is expected to last a total of 639 years – that is, until the year 2640!

However, you won’t have to wait more than two years for the next change of note at the Klosterkirke in Vor Frue Church, where*As Slow asPossible* is being performed as part of Aarhus Festival. For seven days, an ‘orgamat’ will play the church’s organfor over six hours. We won’t reveal, however, how long there is between each change of note. You’ll have to turn up and experience it for yourself, whilst exercising patience during this condensed version of the world’s longest piece of music.  

An exploration of slowness  

As Slow asPossible was composed for organ in 1987, but also exists in an earlier version for piano. The work has been interpreted on several occasions in the quest to achieve the longest possible playing time – within the limits of both human andnon-human capabilities.  

Now, as Aarhus Festuge draws to a close, Vor Frue Kirkes Klosterkirke joins the ranks of theseexplorerswith a six-hour musical performance, performed here byan ‘orgomat’. The performance begins on 28 August at 10.00 and concludes on the same day at 16.00.  

You can experience the work on 28, 29 and 31 August, as well as on 1, 2, 3 and 4 September. Each day, the performance begins at 10.00 and ends at 16.00.  

As Slow as Possible is part of Festugen’s series ‘Spaces that Proclaim’, in which you are invited to musical explorations of the city’s churches and spaces of proclamation.  

As Slow As Possible has been made possible in collaboration with Vor Frue Kirke