Stromlinien - Ein Logbuch by Hubert von Goisern

A musical bridge through Europe along the Danube: the logbook of the tour

This book tells the story of the journey that Hubert von Goisern and his friends undertook on a cargo ship converted to a stage ship. With a floating, musical, singing village, as he called it, he sailed the Danube upstream and downstream through new Europe, from the centre to the very edges, from Linz to Rotterdam and down to the Black Sea. He tells of encounters with people along the river banks, of musical colleagues from a dozen different countries, of joint concerts, of the longing for freedom and distance and of a vision: unity in variety. Music is the common language and the message. And Hubert von Goisern is an artist who carries this out into the world, who looks for understanding and exchange across all boundaries. And so he sets off on journeys, off to uncharted territory and returns time and again as a new person.

Stromlinien - Ein Logbuch by Hubert von Goisern published on 14th May 2010
Now available to order: Amazon | Residenz Verlag | ISBN: 9783701731862

Book presentation dates in September 2010 and more information: Stromlinien

An event for the Salzburger Festspiele 2010

Claudio Magris, born in 1939 in the Italian city of Trieste, is one of Italy’s most important experts on German literature and writers on current cultural matters and one of the best-known literati and essayists in Europe. His book Danube: a sentimental journey from the source to the Black Sea became a standard in 30 countries.

Hubert von Goisern set an equally daring milestone with his Linz Europe Tour from the Black Sea to the North Sea, as he and his band on sailed downstream to the mouth of the river on a cargo ship converted to a stage, inviting musicians from each country along the river to come on board and giving concerts together with them for the people on the shore.

It is the literary and musical journey to new shores that connects the experiences of Claudio Magris and Hubert von Goisern. Both explorations of the river became odyssees through the history of a region in which the chronicle of Europe is reflected and boundaries are blurred in the truest sense of the word.

The adventurous river journey of the Linz Europe Tour is now over, the concert barge has returned to its original purpose, carrying ballast along the river - but the energy and joy in both playing music and meeting other musicians and people is being carried on into 2009, the year in which Linz is the European Capital of Culture.

From 3rd to 5th July 2009 the finale of the Linz Europe Tour will be taking place with a festival, in which nearly all the protagonists of the past two eventful and richly musical years will join together on stage. Anyone who could not make it to a concert on the route to the Black Sea or Amsterdam now has the chance to see how these exciting musical encounters will be recalled, not on board this time, but still together with Hubert von Goisern on stage.

The three-day programme will be carried by Hubert von Goisern and his band, who after the end of the leisurely forward motion on the barge took on a terrific concert hall tour at a faster tempo. Hard rock booms. Pop bubbles. There's inner alpine yodelling. Luxuriance never becomes lost in the details.

Benefit concert at the Salzburg republic in aid of school children in Nepal

On 19th April Hubert von Goisern will be giving a benefit concert together with students from the Musische Gymnasium Salzburg. At this special concert in aid of a free international school in Jharkot/Nepal, the young musicians will enjoy a remarkable experience on stage with HvG. The audience will not only witness a unique event, but can also be sure that their contribution will make a real impact in helping otherwise deprived children towards a better future. [Learn more about the Jharkot Project]

Hubert von Goisern weit weg ganz nah
Benefit concert with the Musische Gymnasium
Sunday, 19th April 2009, 7.30pm at the Salzburg republic (sold out!)
UPDATE 20th April: Read more about the concert...

In 1992 Hubert von Goisern found fame across all borders with the song Koa Hiatamadl. He was considered as the most successful representative of "new folk music" and had become the founder of so-called "alpine rock". Yet his position on his musical trail between boundaries had barely been defined before he was somewhere else - departing and arriving to explore the sound of the world. And since then he has reinvented himself time and time again.

The search led Hubert von Goisern "far, far away", from Hallstatt to New York, from Bad Ischl to Timbuktu, from Salzburg to Dakar. And it also led him back deep into the heart of the very native tradition that he had revived and then revived anew - with what he had experienced "on tour": not restless, but curious and open. And thus to this day he has remained true to himself, not just musically, but in his social and political commitments too.
 
Bernhard Flieher has followed these journeys through many destinations and both the biographical and musical development, from the beginnings to present day. Along the way he describes the path that has been taken: straight ahead.

Weit, weit weg: Die Welt des Hubert von Goisern by Bernhard Flieher
Published 7th March 2009 | ISBN 9783701731350 | Order now: Residenz Verlag | Amazon.de

Book presentation with HvG and Bernhard Flieher: jazz-it, Salzburg; 19th March 2009, 7.30pm

what a bloody mess!

with the result of the austrian national election, the biblical saying "Where three have come together, i am there among them" is given new meaning. it's incredible that the right-wing camp is at 30%. though the most depressing thing of all is that the most reactionary, retrogressive party won the most votes with the under-30s, a hefty 25%!
it was said in the 60s that one should beware of the over-30s. now exactly the opposite seems to be true.

of course it can't be denied that the situation 40 years ago was one of departure and relative recklessness, while the young people of today didn't just inherit a pile of rubbish, but were also born into a world of upheaval. however "the good old days" evoked by those on the right are an illusion. there's no way back. retreating and sealing yourselves off has never been a solution, otherwise things will only get worse. we live in a world in which we need each other.

but it's not over til the fat lady sings and we're still a long way off from it being time to emigrate.
unimaginable, but desirable for many would be a 3 party coalition: red-black-green.

i've never been as sad after an election as i am this time. and now there's the resignation of ALEXANDER VAN DER BELLEN. understandable after such a disappointment, but what a loss for politics, for austria. THE MAN BELONGS IN GOVERNMENT! precisely because he is what he is: competent and a man of integrity.

that alone is a rare combination in politics and he has a friendly, polite nature to add to this. considering the idiocy and spitefulness of our political landscape, these are all qualities to which i take off my hat.

and then there are the non-voters - i wondered myself about not voting this time, as the result was foreseeable. namely that the blacks would lose, the reds would get one in the eye, but be ahead by a nose and the fruits of this would fall into the lap of the right; and so once more there would be a grand coalition. but i'm happy to have cast my vote - one can see what the non-voters have done. ignorance is no better than stupidity. yes, to me voting out of protest is pubescent stupidity. if one really wants a change of situation in the political landscape it's not enough to vote for a brayer. the greens could have led a better election campaign. but is it not exactly this absence of gimmickry with van der bellen that so refreshingly sets him apart from the fairytale-tellers and barons of lies?

hubert von goisern