Longplayer
A Sound Installation by Jem Finer
4-31 August | during Cathedral opening hours
Throughout August a Longplayer listening post will be installed in the Lady Chapel, to mark the artwork’s 25th anniversary, and the Cathedral’s 975th anniversary.
Longplayer is a thousand-year-long piece of music. Composed by Jem Finer, it began playing on 31 December 1999 and will continue, without repetition, until the last moments of 2999, when it will return to the point at which it first began – and begin again. It can be heard playing continuously at listening posts in various locations around the world, and is also available via a live internet transmission. Originally conceived as a way of articulating time and its dimensions, it has become much more than that. As a catalyst for creative engagement with long-term thinking, it connects an international network of listeners and custodians to futures beyond their own lifetimes.
Longplayer has 975 years left to go, and it has been 975 years since the foundation of Exeter Cathedral. Visitors will be able to imaginatively inhabit the distant past through the fabric of the Cathedral building, and the distant future through the Longplayer score, at the same time. The power of both will be dramatically amplified by their concurrent presence. The result will be a uniquely expressive and expansive space for reflection: for imagining better futures, enabled by art and technology and underpinned by centuries of unbroken ritual and tradition.
Longplayer will be audible in the Lady Chapel during the Cathedral’s regular opening hours, except for when services are taking place. Plan your visit >