'As Slow As Possible': World's Longest Running Concert At St. Burchard Church Turns 10

The Associated Press

HALBERSTADT, Germany — A decade and 11 chord changes in, what's billed as the world's longest concert is just getting going.

The 639-year performance based on American composer John Cage's "As slow as possible" started in September 2001 – with more than a year of silence.

Visitors hoping to experience the next chord change of the organ at the former St. Burchard church in the German town of Halberstadt will have to wait until July 2012.

The board chairman of the town's John Cage Organ Foundation, Rainer Neugebauer, says the performance fascinates people in today's hectic society.

He says that "here you can feel something that we urgently need today – serenity."

Neugebauer adds: "Everything does not need to happen so fast. If something needs a bit longer then it can give us an inner calm that is rare in normal life."

Watch a visitor approach the organ at St. Burchard Church: