Two Definitions of Patience

The Month of May.

Taurus.

One of the well known Taurean traits is patience.

I present two definitions: The John Cage composition entitled As Slow as Possible is being performed
in the St. Burchardi church in Halberstadt, Germany.

The actual performance commenced on September 5, 2001 beginning with a pause that lasted until February 5, 2003 (that's 20 months of silence, folks). The first chord was played from then until July 5, 2005.
Currently the organ is playing a three-note chord, (A below middle C above middle C (A3-C4-Fis4) and F-sharp), which began on January 5, 2006 and concluded today, May 5! That's right! Today is chord change day! Huzzah!

There are eight movements to the piece, and Cage specified that at least one be repeated. Each movement lasts roughly 71 years, just four years shy of the life expectancy of the average German male.

The performance is planned to continue until September 4, 2640. The only limitations on the length of the performance are the durability of the organ and the will of future generations.

Heinz-Klaus Metzger, a musicologist whose chance comments at an organ conference nine years ago sparked the project said : In these times, acceleration spoils everything. 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.

That got me thinking about last month's 16 hour non-stop performance of Richard Wagner's Ring aired by Britain's Radio3 . Sixteen hours is a LONG time to sit through a performance...something along the lines of a David Blaine stunt.

And, since it took the man 26 years (1848-1874) to write it, it seems wrong to cram it all into one day.

I am reminded of PrettyAlice's tale of being in Les Misérables, and some performers would get to the theatre, put on their make-up and costume, do their scenes, THEN shower and change and go out for a full-course meal, to return to the theatre and get made up AGAIN, with time to spare for their next entrance.

Patience. Virtue or crazy publicity device?