One final note before we close the book on the long songs.

Looking for “As Slow As Possible” yesterday I came upon a list of the Longest non-repetitive piano pieces. Damn if it wasn’t impressive and, frankly, staggering. That said, I’m not sure how sitting down for a five or six hour concert would fly. Still, people have done it.

Michael Finnissy has performed “The History of Photography in Sound,” a five-plus hour piece a number of times, though he does it in sections, the dexterity is still quite impressive (the longest continuous chuck lasts some 75 minutes). Compositions like “The History of Photography” aren’t just extended jams either—they’re fully written. You can even buy the entire sheet music for a mere £160.00 (too bad page count isn’t mentioned).

There are numerous others pieces of this nature, some longer, although it isn’t clear the duration or intervals in which they are performed live, but British composer Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji’s “Symphonic Nocturne” contains an uninterrupted two-hour stretch. Wow. That’s all I can say. Fucking wild.