HUBERT'S DESK

The summer draws to a close

The last of the 24 street music concerts took place on 29 August in St. Wolfgang, in the municipality that rejected the Capital of Culture community. But it was the express wish of Director Elisabeth Schweeger to include the little town on the shore of Lake Wolfgang nonetheless. And I was in complete agreement with her. St. Wolfgang is part of the Salzkammergut, just as Great Britain is part of Europe, whether they like it or not.

Given these circumstances, it was then a special kind of concert. But weren't they all? Yes, without exception. And just when summer seemed to be ahead of me, it is now coming to an end. Bluesy melancholy mixes with the anticipation of a glowing orange autumn. However, I confess to being happy that the street music chapter is now finished. Originally intended as a relaxed finger exercise, I had rather underestimated it in all its dimensions. Admittedly, I always do that.

I hadn't planned on contributing a great to the Capital of Culture, aside from being prepared to be involved with the committee and to serve as an in-house ambassador. When I disbanded my group last autumn and announced that I would be stepping away from the stage in order to take a long break, I certainly didn't foresee playing more concerts than in the "concert year" of 2023.

However, Elisabeth Schweeger caught me off guard, as they say, and since I'm no fan of doing things by halves, one thing led to another.

No half measures. And I regret nothing – neither the involvement in the opening ceremony with the "Choir of One Thousand" at the start of the Capital of Culture year, nor the 24 street music concerts and numerous other summer evening concerts, nor the benefit concert for St. Florian.

I didn't want to miss the experiences I had along the way. Not the encounters with people and certainly not the playing of music in so many different lineups, in so many beautiful places in my homeland.

The open air season is now at an end. Come November there will be seven concerts with the Lungau Big Band, all in concert halls. But then, after forty concerts and a number of public appearances, I'm really ready to get away from it all, that is, away from the public eye. I want to turn my back on the noise of the stage world and face my inner unrest. That's hardly an uncomplicated challenge, but one for which I need to take stock. And one that only works (for me at least) when the spotlight goes out and the stage smoke no longer meaningfully envelops me.

I imagine it'll take two years. But then again, I thought the same thing thirty years ago, when I disbanded the Alpinkatzen. Two years became seven before I stepped back on stage. So it's a cautious and at the same time daring forecast. I still allow myself to dream of giving concerts again in 2027.

With that, I close the chapter of summer fairytale of street music with gratitude and I look forward to meeting the daughters of memory, the muses.

Hubert von Goisern
Salzburg, on the last day of August