As Slow as Possible

The Friends of the Maryland Summer Institute for the Creative and Performing Arts commissioned the piece for contemporary requirement of a piano competition.

Cage used an open format to ensure no two performances would be the same, and give judges a break from the consistency of most compositions.

Musicians and philosophers discussed Cage's instruction to play "as slow as possible" at a conference in 1997, because a properly maintained pipe organ could sound indefinitely.

The John Cage Organ Foundation Halberstadt decided to play the piece for 639 years, to mark the time between the first documented permanent organ installation in Halberstadt Cathedral, circa 1361, and the originally proposed start date of 2000.

[2] On July 5, 2008, two more organ pipes were added alongside the four already installed and the tone became more complex at 15:33 local time.