Longplayer

The lowdown

Inside London's only lighthouse, out at Trinity Buoy Wharf where the River Lea meets the Thames, a piece of music is playing that began on the first day of the year 2000 and is designed to continue without ever repeating until the last day of the year 2999. It is called Longplayer, and listening to it is free.

Conceived by the musician Jem Finer, the work uses singing bowls and a clever system that recombines its parts so the same passage never recurs in a thousand years. Climb the lighthouse to the listening room at weekends, sit among the bowls with the river all around, and you are hearing a sound no human will ever hear in full. It is strange, calm and quietly profound, and one of the most unusual free experiences in the city.