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.

[15] The Halberstadt performance started on September 5, 2001, with a rest lasting until February 5, 2003, when the first pipes played.

[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.