An organ in Halberstadt has been playing the same piece since 2001. Its audience may need 614 more years to hear the ending
In 25 years, only 4% of the piece had been completed
The "John Cage Organ Project Halberstadt" is a musical performance of a lifetime, literally. On September 5, 2001, a wood-framed organ at St. Burchardi Church in Halberstadt, Germany, began playing John Cage's "ORGAN²/ASLSP (As SLow aS Possible)," appropriately enough, on what would have been the composer's 89th birthday. The piece has now been playing for 25 years, yet the organ has changed chords only 17 times. Its latest chord change came on August 5, 2026, and the musical performance still has roughly 614 years left to go. That means no one alive today is likely to hear how it ends, as ABC Radio National host Ce Benedict noted in a September 1, 2026, video that has since drawn 39,100 views and 1,528 likes.
18 months of silence
The project was started by John Cage fans who wanted to see how long they could stretch "As Slow As Possible." They chose to turn it into a 639-year-long performance. It started in 2001 and will finally be completed in 2640. Although the performance already started, it took 18 months for the first chords to be heard on February 5, 2003. All that time was complete silence in the church.
Cage composed the piece in 1985. Originally, it was made for the piano, but he updated it for the organ in 1987. When it was played for the first time on the piano in 1987, the performance lasted 27 minutes. This was an impressive feat for a human being, but playing the same piece on an organ for more than 600 years? They used sandbags to keep the performance going.
Only 4% completed in 25 years
As mentioned, there had only been 17 chord changes so far, with the last one before the 17th change being in February 2024. "The seventeenth in the piece saw the preceding C, D-flat, D-sharp, E, A-sharp, and E chord turn into a C, D-flat, D, D-sharp, E, A-sharp, and E, with an additional D note," the Art Forum explained. In 25 years, only 4% of the piece had been completed. Ce Benedict said, "We get to hear this piece now. We can't possibly hear the end of it. But if the organ survives, if the church survives, if humanity survives, maybe our great, great, great, great... grandkids will get to hear how it ends."
Next chord change
For those who did not know, Cage fans did not choose '639' years on a random whim. The intention was to honor the years between the invention of the modern keyboard-played organ in Halberstadt in 1361, and the turn of the millennium in 2000. The outlet also revealed that 150 people gathered at the St. Burchardi church to listen to chord change. The chairwoman of the John Cage Organ Project Halberstadt, Anneli Borgmann, said, "As fast as our world is developing, I think it’s a wonderful place to be and to come to yourself and just to be touched by this 'being there.'" The next chord change is supposed to be on October 5, 2027.
'A bop'
Netizens were extremely impressed by the 639-year-old classical piece. @stellachenart commented, "Wow, how cool is this?" But not everyone was won over. @shaun_taylor_10 sarcastically wrote, "4 minutes of silence. God, it’s a masterpiece. Bro, I'm crying."
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