Music in the Salzkammergut: A Mondsee-Serenade

Pay attention, says Daniel Laganda, and listen closely: It is wonderful when a melody floats across the water. The musician is sitting on a wall by the banks of the Mondsee, the “Steirische” (a local type of accordion) around his shoulders, looking at a spectacular blue sky. Then he begins to play and passers-by stop in their tracks, children halt their play, and even the moored boats nearby seem to creak a little more quietly. He plays „Es steigen scho die Lercherl auf“, an old folk song from the Salzkammergut, one that is especially fitting for an early summer morning like this. And indeed it seems as if the sounds from the accordion linger on the water surface for a while before they disperse above the Mondsee.

It was lakes such as this one which attracted the great composers of the 19th century. Richard Strauss and Johannes Brahms strolled along the banks of Lake Altaussee, thinking of new melodies, perhaps singing along as they walked. Franz Schubert used to compose in the town of Gmunden by the Traunsee. Gustav Mahler furnished a „Komponierhäuschen“ (composition house) directly by the bank of the lake, and brought his entire symphony No. 3 to paper there.