Leibner Cage

As its title suggests, John Cage's ASLSP is to be played "as slow as possible," though this sparse keyboard work could take anywhere from the 64:05 timing Sabine Liebner gives it on this Neos release, to the 639 years it is calculated to last in the much-publicized performance given on the organ in St. Burchard Church in Halberstadt, Germany. Because Liebner takes this piece at a comparatively brisk tempo, it is possible to detect some shape in the work, and to feel a degree of connectedness in it, even though each pitch or chord is separated by extremely long silences.

As its title suggests, John Cage's ASLSP is to be played "as slow as possible," though this sparse keyboard work could take anywhere from the 64:05 timing Sabine Liebner gives it on this Neos release, to the 639 years it is calculated to last in the much-publicized performance given on the organ in St. Burchard Church in Halberstadt, Germany. Because Liebner takes this piece at a comparatively brisk tempo, it is possible to detect some shape in the work, and to feel a degree of connectedness in it, even though each pitch or chord is separated by extremely long silences.