1964
During the same residency at Judson Hall, from September 8 to 13, 1964, where he premiered Feldman's work, Max Neuhaus performed the American premiere of Karlheinz Stockhausen's Originale.
The event became a turning point in the history of the avant-garde due to intense political protests.
Originale is a "music theater" work based on Stockhausen's Kontakte. It requires several "characters" (painter, painter, percussionist) to simultaneously perform autonomous actions.
Neuhaus played the central role of percussion, which included his virtuoso performance of Zyklus.
The cast included Charlotte Moorman, Nam June Paik, Allen Ginsberg, and James Tenney.
The performances were pickets of Action Against Cultural Imperialism (AACI), led by Henry Flynt and George Maciunas (founder of Fluxus).
The protesters labeled Stockhausen a "cultural imperialist" and a "European decorator of the West German war machine."
The protest caused a deep rift in the New York scene. Many Fluxus members, such as Dick Higgins and Nam June Paik, ignored the picket line to perform with Neuhaus, while others, such as Ayo and Takako Saito, joined the protest.
Despite the chaos outside, Neuhaus and the ensemble completed the six-night tour, which remains one of the most well-known events in 20th-century music.
In her January 1964 article "Music, Music, Music, Music" for Show Magazine, Gloria Steinem profiles the emerging "New Music" scene in New York, featuring Max Neuhaus as a quintessential figure of the avant-garde.
Steinem describes Neuhaus not just as a musician, but as a specialized percussionist-interpreter capable of executing the "impossible" scores of Karlheinz Stockhausen. At the time, Steinem was a prominent cultural journalist, and her profile helped translate the "downtown" experimental scene for a broader, sophisticated audience. The article highlights the visual and athletic nature of Neuhaus’s work. Steinem focuses on the "battery of instruments" surrounding him, portraying the modern percussionist as a high-tech laborer in a "sound factory." A "Happenings" Philosophy: Published just as the Fluxus movement and "Happenings" were gaining traction.