Organ piece
New whistle sounds at the Cage music project
A sheet music of the music piece “ORGAN2/ASLSP” by John Cage before the beginning of the sound change in front of the organ in the Burchardi Church. photo
© Matthias Bein/dpa
The slowest piece of music in the world in Halberstadt has changed again. It is now a seven note. The avant-garde organ piece is a reference object for modern music and art.
The seventh whistle with the primed d should sound continuously for four and a half years – i.e. until August 5, 2028. Until then, according to the John Cage Organ Foundation in Halberstadt, there will be further sound changes in August 2026, October 2027 and April 2028. The foundation’s chairman of the board of trustees, Rainer O. Neugebauer, carried out the change of sound in front of several hundred guests. He inserted the pipe into the organ, the change was clearly audible.
Twice as many cameras as whistles
According to his own statements, Neugebauer has experienced all sound changes except one. Back in 2004 he added a whistle. “The first changes were familial. Today we have twice as many cameras as we have whistles.” The sound changes in the first part of the organ piece are calculated up to 2072.
According to the foundation, the organ piece by the American avant-gardist Cage, who was also a musician and philosopher, has become a globally recognized reference object for modern music and art. A specially built and automatically operated organ has been playing the piece continuously since September 5, 2001. The first “sound” was the start of operation of the bellows; it was not until February 5, 2003 that the first three whistle tones were heard. To date, there have been several sound changes – the longest break was seven years between 2013 and 2020. “Cage was about the liberation of sounds,” said Neugebauer. Anyone who listens should empty their minds.
The change of sound is accompanied by a supporting program in the Cage House in Halberstadt, including an exhibition with ten original pictures from Cage’s “Zen Ox-Herding Pictures” series. The house is also a place for readings, workshops, discussions and competitions, as it was said.
There are already tickets for the final 2640
The foundation has long criticized the lack of financial support from the state and federal government. Although the Cage project is being used for cultural marketing because of its uniqueness, this has not yet led to any tangible results in terms of the necessary institutional support, it was said. Everything is financed through donations, private money, a support association and volunteer work.
The foundation is already selling so-called final tickets for the final event on September 4, 2640 – to further finance the project. One costs: 2640 euros.