Sailing am Attersee

View of the mountains
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Last night we stayed at Steinbach am Attersee at the same hotel at which the composer Gustav Mahler stayed when writing part of his 2^nd and all of his 3^rd Symphony. We’ve been listening to the 3^rd ALL WEEK. It’s hard not to see how all the mountain splendor inspired him to write beautiful music. People have lived here for thousands of years, since Roman times, because of the salt mines in the Salz Kammer. Salt was apparently a huge commodity back in the day. The beauty of the natural features is preserved as if people just came here yesterday. The lake water is clear, blue-green, and our tour guide tells us that it’s drinking quality. Mahler’s composing hut is right by the water. The lake is surrounded on three sides by majestic mountains of varying size and texture. There were some right behind our hotel called Hells Mountains that look almost like vertical sheet rock. South of those are some sloping tree-covered mountains directly next to the lake.

Mahler's composing hut, our hotel, and Hell's Mountains
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We took a boat out on the lake this morning. It was a surprise. Our boat glided across the glistening aquamarine waves, leaving broad ripples in its glassy surface. The boat had just enough room for all of us–there were seats all around, surrounding the deck of the boat, with windows everywhere, making for a spectacular view. The weather has been spectacular too; no rain and mostly clear skies, although the mountains get hazy in the distance.

Today we focused on Anton Bruckner, another Late Ramontic composer. We went to his birth house and the cathedral where he went to school and played a beautiful organ with over 7000 pipes! The church is very old, founded around 4 B.C. Things have been rebuilt and remodeled, but the foundations are from around that period. The Austrians have such a rich history. I guess it never occurred to me how relatively close they were to the center of the Roman Empire. I know that the Renaissance tried to recapture the Roman aesthetic; perhaps the reason that the Austrians took it up and carried it so splendidly through the Baroque was their underlying Italian influence. This influence is clearly evident in their appreciation for music.