In our “modern/traditional” minds, music needs to be
produced, needs to have a formal framework that was agreed upon decades ago by
“old masters”. The music we listen to has the same system behind it. Notes form
a chord; tones form a melody; rhythm dictates the pacing, and the length is
something we unconsciously agree upon. Most songs, or most music, follow that
structure. There is, of course, variance, but this seems to be determined by
the style or era of music. Pop songs are short, Heavy Metal longer, and
Classical music even longer. But when these rules or principles can be altered,
then we can go even further and not just question the macro-structure of music,
but the essence of sounds as well. Where do sounds end and music starts? This
question is prominent in the era of Avant Garde and many composers, “inventors
of sounds”, as they would call themselves, tried to answer this question of the
essence of music by creating (inventing) new sounds and composing them into a
connected piece of art.
John Cage was such an “inventor of sounds” and created
a piece called Organ27/ASLSP (As slow as possible). A music performance carried
out by an organ, which, like the name suggested, is supposed to be played as
slowly as possible. In 2001, the church organ in Halberstadt began with the
first out of eight parts. When completed it will have been played for 639 years
- starting from 2000 and ending in 2639. Is there a valid meaning behind it?
Many people would say “no”. This was my first reaction as well. Why should we
care that one tone is played for two years, or that one part lasts around 71
years? One could say that it is meaningless because of its sheer length, which
outlasts anyone living on Earth today. But this is exactly what tackles the
question of music and sound. We are surrounded by sounds. Maybe those sounds
are too slow to be recognized as music, but so is “Organ 27/ASLSP” and it was
written down on paper. Is this music? This seems to be a vague question. Like
the funny but true phrase “Is this art or can it be thrown in the trash?”. We
don’t know. But the sounds of “Organ27/ASLSP” get combined into music. Why
should humans dictate the length of music? Nature, especially in its
fundamental form as the creator of the Universe, takes its time to develop. Why
should we care that the Universe is whatever billion years old? Can the sounds
of the Universe be aligned like music? I would say so. If you think about the
cosmic background noise, it certainly has that aspect of music, in the sense
that it consists of sounds and creates something bigger than itself – like a
white noise machine. It has that element of being calming and relaxing, which
are aspects certainly found in traditional music.
In addition to that, a tone played for a long time has
that aspect of silence or the absence of sound. Our minds want to fluctuate and
hear new sounds in a set timeframe. But hearing just one tone has that monotony
of silence – the monotony that reminds us that we are always surrounded by
sounds. Not just externally, but internally in our bodies in the form of blood
flowing, heart beating, and nervous system firing signals through our nerves as
well.
With his musical piece, John Cage set the fundamentals
of the discussion of sounds as music. It reminds us that we can bend and
re-interpret certain concepts and think further than just what traditional
systems have taught us.
I wonder if we will ever forget why we play this piece
of music on the organ in Halberstadt. Will they continue and see that
fundamental law of nature that sounds surround us uninterruptedly and just play
along, changing tones every two years? I really hope so, but I will never know.
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