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Ongoing History Daily: The Longest Song in the World

What is the longest song ever written?  The answer is a piece entitled “As Slow As Possible” by avant-garde composer John Cage which has yet to have been completed once.

A group in eastern Germany has taken Cage’s instructions to the limit.  They started playing “As Slow As Possible” on an organ in a small church on September 5, 2001.  If things go according to plan, this performance is scheduled to wrap up on September 5, 2640.  That means a running time of 639 years.

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There have been seventeen chord changes so far with the latest happening on February 5, 2022 when a G# that had been played since September 5, 2022, was released, leaving just its one-time-companion E. As one person wrote, this is an organ recital for the very, very patient.  Six hundred and thirty-nine years.

Keep in mind that this is before anyone gets to the extended dance remix…

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