TONSPUR live_open_air

PAUL WALLFISCH ^feat. TONY BUCK ^& MARTIN SIEWERT: TRAIN SONGS

Paul Wallfisch from New York, former music director at the Volkstheater Wien, the Australian drummer Tony Buck from Berlin, member of the legendary band The Necks, and the German guitarist Martin Siewert based in Vienna bring the groove of the rails to the Museumsquartier.

Concept

Trains are the most romantic and most fraught means of transport. Of people, prisoners and prospectors. And of the freight and goods that fuel our world. The rhythm of the rails conjures seduction and anticipation. Paul Wallfisch’s parents left Romania by train not even 80 years ago and he’s been headed back that way almost since the day he was born.
On the same day of the performance, the TONSPUR_passage in the MQ will become the “Tunnel of Love”, imported from Ukraine, but as a universal artifact of our collective desire to find and conspire with the endless instances of accidental natural beauty that surround us.
Wallfisch’s grandfather studied moss, among the tiniest manifestations of our world’s wonders. He never left Romania. He was too scared. He studied moss and wrote a book. He got really close to the ground and never truly saw the forest for the trees. But most of the people around him were killed trying to leave. Or even trying to stay.
Paul Wallfisch went to Ukraine, via Wroklaw—Breslau—where all the Wallfisches are from; all the Jews. He doesn’t really consider himself Jewish in the religious sense, but he certainly is a Jew.

Quote

“In Breslau and Lviv—Lemberg—the active feeling of the death of all the Jews presses on you from all sides. Like a drill press slowly turning. All dead. But some took the trains and made it out. Train songs. The engine has an energy. We’re coming for you! We’ll play some Johnny Cash, of course—our way; but there are literally thousands of possibilities. Not to mention the field recordings of the trains in Ukraine that I just made. And beats still to be discovered by the iconic Austrialian musical Tony Buck, my Viennese kindred spirit Martin Siewert, a wonderful musician and Mensch, and Me. Train kept a rollin’… See you in June!”
– Paul Wallfisch

TRAINS SONGS – the music: Georg Weckwerth in conversation with Paul Wallfisch

GW: Paul, you say that Tony Buck, Martin Siewert and you – this constellation is a world premiere, by the way – will be playing a series of railroad songs at the MQ on June 14. What do you mean by that?

PW: It’s deliberately broad and vague. Although, really–anybody can imagine what a train song is. And there are literally thousands! By the way, I just read that the first train in Austria, was actually the first in Europe. Maybe we’ll write about it. You never know…

GW: Is there a definition for “train songs”? Or what is yours?

PW: Train Songs is a genre generally considered a country-folk inspired sub culture of Americana. But actually “train songs” have been written in virtually every style of music from folk to jazz to classical to avant-garde.

GW: What will we get to hear from the three of you, especially as this is your first time playing together?

PW: We’ll definitely play some Johnny Cash, who’s written at least a dozen in the genre, not to mention the iconic first lines of Folsom Prison Blues: “I hear the train a coming’ / it’s rollin’ ‘round the bend…” Elvis’ “Mystery Train”, both Presley & Costello, come to mind. As well as The Clash’s “Train in Vain”; “Midnight Train to Georgia”, by Gladys Knight…and a hundred more!

GW: Is there also an Austrian train song?

PW: The only Austrian train song I know is by an artist called Glimpse. Here’s a link for “Train In Austria”. We’ll cover it!
I hope this gives you something of an idea of the music we plan to play.

GW: I’m really looking forward to hearing this set, which also has a connection to your upcoming piece for TONSPUR, which will be dedicated to Ukraine and will open on Sunday, March 15.
Anything else you would like to add?

PW: Let me add the Wikipedia entry on the train song here: A train song is a song referencing passenger or freight railroads, often using a syncopated beat resembling the sound of train wheels over train tracks. Trains have been a theme in both traditional and popular music since the first half of the 19th century (…). While the prominence of railroads in the United States has faded in recent decades, the train endures as a common image in popular song. The earliest known train songs date to two years before the first public railway began operating in the United States. “The Carrollton March”, copyrighted July 1, 1828, was composed by Arthur Clifton to commemorate the groundbreaking of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.

GW: Dear Paul, thank you for this short conversation in which you gave us an impression of what can be expected from you and the musicians you have selected under the title “Track Songs” on June 15 as part of the TONSPUR_live_open_airs_2025 on the MQ Summer Stage.

TONSPUR_live_open_air_2025

Paul Wallfisch ^feat. Tony Buck ^& Martin Siewert

TRAIN SONGS
Music performance
Dauer 60min

MQ Summerstage & Livestream
Sonntag 15. Juni 2025 • 19:00–20:00 Uhr