Felsenmusik points out the front page of the online New York Times has a picture of the John Cage installation playing his organ work for centuries. That work will have a chord change tomorrow. From the article:
"In these times, acceleration spoils everything," said Heinz-Klaus Metzger, a prominent musicologist whose chance comments at an organ conference nine years ago sparked the project. "To begin a performance with the perspective of more than a half-millennium — it's just a kind of negation of the lifestyle of today."
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But its signifcance is lost on some. Rainer Neugebauer, another member of the foundation, said it was hard to convince some local people of the project's value. "It doesn't sound like Beethoven," he said.
I suppose the 24 hour stretch version of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony can't really be considered an authentic interpretation...
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