Friday, May 05, 2006

John Cage Concert: In Progress

This is the power of the NYTimes. A tribute to John Cage has been going on in a small German town for almost five years. But when the Times puts a story about it on their front page, it gets emailed all over the world and I hear about it on TV and on the radio. The performance of his organ piece -- "As Slow As Possible" -- will last 639 years. (They debated having it last 1000 years, but as one German composer put it, "We have not had good luck with 'a thousand years' in Germany." That's one way of putting it. How great is it that the performance began with a "rest" that lasted 20 months? I know one thing: I'd love to be there for the finale.