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Max Deen Larsen ’68

January 12, 2018, in Baden by Vienna, Austria, of a pulmonary embolism.

Born in Richfield, Utah, Deen majored in German and religion at Reed, writing his thesis, “Paradox and Pointe in Friedrich Schlegel’s Fragments,” with Prof. Ottomar Rudolf [German 1963–98]. He went on to earn a master’s degree in philosophy at Yale University, and both an MA and PhD from the University of Vienna.

He taught poetry at the Yale School of Music and at the Vienna Music Academy; history of opera at Stanford in Austria; and was adjunct professor of music at the University of Alberta in Canada. In 1973, Deen moved to Baden by Vienna, where he founded and became director of the Franz Schubert Institute Baden, which offered master classes in performance, coaching in voice, piano, and recitation, and seminars offering insight into the cultural background of the Age of Goethe and the German Romantics. Baden’s Schubert Days showcased Baden as a globally significant city of music and culture, and Deen was acclaimed for that recognition.

He is survived by his wife, Verena, and his children, Evelyn, Rainer, Gwendolyn, and Brent.

Appeared in Reed magazine: March 2020