Innervillgraten, a village in East Tyrol / Austria, situated 1,402 meters above sea level, with some 1,000 inhabitants: the funeral music tradition is probably more alive here than anywhere else in the Alpine region. Whenever a member of the village community passes away, and regardless of their official importance, the local music band marches out in full strength to personally and musically accompany the deceased from their family home, where they have been laid out in state, to the church and their final resting-place in the cemetery. Any day of the week, in any weather. Music for the last journey: over generations a very special repertoire has been accumulated, also including compositions by two local farmers, Josef Steidl the Elder and the Younger, who collectively held the offices of organist, choir master and musical director of the local music band for almost a century. This album is a unique ethnomusicological document of a fascinating Alpine music tradition: music that laughs and weeps at the same time. (Editor’s Note)