In early summer 1929, after returning home from Germany, Ernst Krenek embarked on a twenty-day journey through the Austrian Alps, accompanied by his parents and his second wife, Berta. They covered the longer distances between the 14 stops by bus and train, from which they undertook their hikes and excursions. Their route took them from Vienna to Upper Styria, the Salzkammergut region, Carinthia, and East Tyrol, then back to Vienna via Lower Austria. On this journey, Krenek is not just a composer traveling, but rather a poet, stage designer, and philosopher tracing the spirit of the times in his homeland. Just a few days after returning to Vienna, he set to work and, while the impressions of the trip were still fresh, created the music and text for the song cycle almost simultaneously. The Austrian tenor Alexander Kaimbacher and Anna Sushon on piano present the resulting entertaining, often humorous “Reisebuch aus den österreichischen Alpen” (Travel Book from the Austrian Alps).