Fans of funk and techno know: the longer it is, the better it is. If you also like musical compositions that never end, here are the ones you could listen to.
Long player : 1.000 ans
Composed, or rather programmed, by the British musician Jem Finer, Long player was put online on December 31, 1999. Based on an original sequence of 20 minutes and 20 seconds, Long player is constantly reworked by an algorithm, so as to continue… until December 31, 2999.
ORGAN2/ASLSP (As Slow as Possible) : 639 ans
For a “normal” performance of this John Cage composition, allow 20 to 70 minutes, but if you have a few decades to spare, head to St. Burchardi Church in Halberstadt, in Germany. An organ plays there ORGAN2/ASLSP (As Slow as Possible) due to one grade per year. Launched in 2001, this performance must end… in 2640.
Shri Ram Charit Manas : more than five days
Five days, 18 hours, 41 minutes and 20 seconds: that’s how long it will take you to listen Shri Ram Charit Manas. Unlike the two previous ones, this piece has already been completed: it therefore has the honor of appearing in the Guinness Book of Records. Created by the Indian Jagadeesh Pillai, it is actually a musical reading of a sacred Hindu text from the 16th century.
Well, okay, but isn’t that all a bit of cheating?
Let’s face it, our three winners could be accused of cheating: computer-generated, performed based on one note per year or based on a pre-existing text, no one meets the usual criteria for an original composition. So what else?
As for “learned” music, whether classical, contemporary or ambient, it is not uncommon to find compositions lasting more or less an hour: you are spoiled for choice.
As for pop artists, we also find titles that are a little long, but more often limited to 15-30 minutes. Disco fans will immediately think of the maxi version of Love To Love You Baby by Donna Summer (nearly 17 minutes), but we can also cite these versions of Funkentelechy by George Clinton (24 minutes), The War by Prince (26 minutes) or Confusion Break Bones by Fela Kuti (40 minutes). As for progressive rock, which gained a lot of momentum in the 1970s, the question arises as to whether an album title like Thick As A Brick by Jethro Tull is actually 43 minutes long… or if each of its “chapters” is a composition in its own right.
