1964
Ensemble: MN, Yoko Ono, Dick Higgins, George Brecht, La Monte Young, Robert Watts, Ben Patterson, Name June Paik, Alison Knowles, Charlotte Moorman, etc.
On June 27, 1964, Max Neuhaus performed in the Fluxus Symphony Orchestra concert at Carnegie Recital Hall in New York City. This event is a cornerstone of Fluxus history, bringing together the movement's most radical figures to subvert the conventions of the classical "symphony."
The Performance
A "who's who" of the 1960s avant-garde, including Yoko Ono, Nam June Paik, George Brecht, La Monte Young, Charlotte Moorman, and Dick Higgins.
Having just completed his solo "Four Realizations" recital at the same venue weeks prior, Neuhaus provided the percussion backbone and technical precision for these "action music" pieces.
The concert featured Fluxus "Event Scores" where musicians performed non-traditional tasks. Key works included:
George Brecht’s Symphony No. 1: Often involving the simple act of musicians sitting through a period of silence or performing mundane tasks.
Nam June Paik’s Zen for Orchestra: Infamous for its conceptual minimalism and physical subversion of instruments.
Dick Higgins’s Constellation No. 4: A graphic and instructional score that emphasized the spatial distribution of sound.