Deep Focus: Enriching the Aspen Experience

Peter Mercer-Taylor, an expert on Mendelssohn and religious music, discusses the Reformation Symphony’s origins in the commemoration of the Lutheran Reformation and explores its greater innovation, the reclamation of J. S. Bach for the symphonic tradition.

In honor of Pierre Boulez’s 100th anniversary in 2025, Maestro David Robertson reflects on his working relationship with the composer, focusing particularly on the repertoire he will perform with the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble on July 9.

In the final entry of the 2024 Deep Focus series, Assistant Program Book Editor Christine Marie Goss takes a whirlwind tour through the history of the Aspen Music Festival, with special attention to its place in American composition, its sterling contribution to performance at the highest level, and its potential to bring inclusive change to the world of classical music.

The relationship between Richard Strauss and Pauline Strauss (née de Ahna) was heightened by emotional turbulence and strong-headed personalities on both sides. Surveying a few of the Aspen Festival’s 2024 performances of Strauss’s music, Dr. Patricia Prokert paints a rich portrait of a marriage through descriptions of lieder (songs) and the dramatic tone poem Ein Heldenleben.