Max Neuhaus

Performance

Max Neuhaus received a B.M. (1961) and a M.M. (1962) from Manhattan School of Music. He performed as percussion soloist on concert tours throughout the U.S. with Pierre Boulez (1962-63) and with Karlheinz Stockhausen (1963-64). While an artist-in-residence at the University of Chicago during 1964-65, he presented two solo recitals in Carnegie Recital Hall in New York City. During 1965-66 he toured major European cities presenting fifteen solo recitals. In 1966 he began producing compositions in the form of mass-produced electronic circuits, the first of which was called Max-Feed, sold directly to the general public. The series of sound-oriented pieces presented here was produced in 1966-68. His most recent work is called Three Hours of Sound Construction, presented in 1968 in Carnegie Recital Hall. Mr. Neuhaus has been awarded fellowships by the Rockefeller Foundation, the Foundation for Contemporary Performing Arts, and the Martha Baird Rockefeller Fund for Music. Mr. Neuhaus resides in New York City.

six sound oriented pieces for situations other than that of the concert hall*...max neuhaus 1966-1968

listen

public supply

bi-product

american can

drive-in music

telephone access © Copyright Max Neuhaus 1968

*I use these pieces as frameworks of activities for myself (the existence of a framework eliminates many of the problems of production). Only one of them, American Can, was conceived for realization—or may be realized—by anyone other than myself.—M.N.

Sound works:

John Cage, 27' 10.554" - Realization '65, Venue unknown, April 24, 1965 -
John Cage, 27' 10.554" - Realization '65 9:23 British Broadcasting Corporation Studios, Maida Vale, London November 2, 1965
Bi-Product, 1966

"BI-PRODUCT"  (1 ,2) Town Hall, New York  City, 1966; Park Place Gallery, New York City, 1967

Works that mark Neuhaus' transition from performer to artist.






Max-Feed, 1966

"Max Neuhaus’s artwork Max-Feed (1966) was intended to be mass-produced and sold inexpensively in grocery stores. As an electronic device that creates feedback through a radio in its proximity, anyone could own the artwork and turn a room in their home into a sound installation. Neuhaus coined the term sound installation, and I share his belief that the omnipresence of sound, and its relation to public engagement, holds the potential for agency and democracy through participation." —Camille Norment, 2017


American Can, 1966/67

Works that mark Neuhaus' transition from performer to artist.

4th Annual New York Avant-Garde Festival, which took place in Central Park on September 9, 1966.
- sound event series, New York 

American Can, Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, 1967
American Can, Park, Staten Island's Clove lakes Park, New York, 1967

Event known as American Can, staged during the winter of 1966-67 in Staten Island’s Cloves Lakes Park (New York) and other locations around the city.

Morton Feldman, The King of Denmark ~9:00 Aspen Magazine, New York City, November 6, 1967
Earle Brown, Four Systems - For Four Amplified Cymbals 4:57 Columbia Records Studios, New York City, June 1968
Electronics and Percussion, Five Realizations by Max Neuhaus

 Student recital, Manhattan School of Music, 1961: nes: Sonata for Three Kettledrums

Milaud: Concerto Pour Marimba et Vibraphone.

1968 recording Electronics & Percussion: Five Realizations by Max Neuhaus, an LP that reveals Neuhaus as an artist exploring the boundaries separating the roles of performer, collaborator, and creator.

Five Realizations by Max Neuhaus

- Columbia Masterworks MS 7139

Earle Brown: Four Systems - For Four Amplified Cymbals 

Morton Feldman: The King of Denmark

Sylvano Bussotti: Coeur Pour Batteur - Positively Yes

Karlheinz Stockhausen: Nr. 9 Zyklus for One Percussionist

John Cage: Fontana Mix - Feed

 Misc percussion performances

 Reuning -Fantasie for Four Drums and Piano


 



 

Morton Feldman, The King of Denmark 6:17 Columbia Records Studios, New York City, June 1968
As You Please

What would happen if the sexual drive itself guided the actions of a musician -- if it became the composer -- if a performer's own sexuality was allowed to govern her musical actions. Thus arrived As You Please.

Max Neuhaus, email correspondence