Traditional spectacle to draw yodelling crowds
The city of Lucerne is playing host to the country's largest festival of traditional music featuring yodellers and alphorn players.
A record number of Swiss expatriates are expected to take part in this weekend’s federal yodelling festival – an event which takes place every three years.
It is a common misunderstanding outside Switzerland that every Swiss is an expert yodeller, but only a very few can yodel. It’s an art form and not easy to master.
Travellers to Lucerne over the weekend could be forgiven for thinking that the Swiss are a nation of yodellers.
But it is more than just a big party. The groups, clubs and individuals who take part in public performances and are assessed by yodelling specialists put in a great deal of effort. Failure to deliver can seriously dampen the general enthusiasm.
Some top-rate venues host the events, including the renowned Culture and Congress Centre KKL, the city theatre and various churches along the lakeshore.
“The jury assesses the performance according to musical purity, tone, diction, rhythm and dynamic drive,” says Markus Stadelmann who heads the music committee.
A participant can win a maximum of ten points in every category. Added to that there is another ten points for overall impression. Outstanding yodellers can collect up to 60 points in total.
“Anything between 54 and 60 points gets you the coveted distinction ‘very good’ or ‘Class 1’. Then there is also ‘good’, ‘satisfactory’ or even ‘unsatisfactory’,” says Stadelmann.
Expatriates
The Yodel Club Heimattreu from Calgary, Canada, has high hopes.
“Of course we are going for the ‘very good’ mark,” says Peter Stapfer. His club has 24 active members and will deliver the yodel Schnittertanz by Robert Fellmann from Lucerne.
“It is important for us to be compared and assessed in a Swiss environment,” he adds.
Stapfer says he is looking forward to the festival and the opportunity to compete with other Swiss clubs from abroad, including those from New Glarus, Australia and New Zealand.
The Swiss abroad community has never been represented by more clubs than this year in Lucerne. Groups from Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy Japan, New Zealand and the United States are taking part in the competition.
Committed to tradition
The traditional yodels performed in Lucerne present the image of a rural and God-fearing country at one with nature. They create the impression that God is Swiss, as some would say.
Political or social issues, including farmers’ concerns about their future in a globalised economy, do not feature in yodels.
The keepers of the tradition are very cautious about opening up the music to modern influences.
For the first time a special competition, Yodel Plus, has been organised for composers using accompanying instruments such as saxophone, bass, harp and percussion.
But this is just a trial. The organisers of the festival want the regular competition to remain subject to strict rules. Accordions, notably the Swiss-style diatonic button accordion, are normally the only permitted accompanying instruments.
Novelties
Another novelty in Lucerne is the number of yodellers allowed in a performing group. Initially it was limited to 16 artists, later extended to 22, but now there is no upper limit.
Traditionalists defending the heritage of the late Adolf Stähli – the dominant figure of yodelling in Switzerland who died in 1999 – scoff at the new rule, saying there will be 30 people on stage but only ten of them yodelling.
As always the weather will play a crucial role in the success of the federal yodelling festival.
The numerous yodellers and alphorn players are counting on clear skies and mild temperatures as they perform in the streets of Lucerne.
swissinfo, based on an article in German by Urs Maurer
A record number of 12,000 yodellers, flag throwers and alphorn players are expected to take part in the festival that began on Thursday.
The four-day event, with a SFr5.7 million ($5.5 million) budget, is expected to attract about 200,000 people to the city of Lucerne.
Highlights include the competitive performances and the traditional parade on Sunday, as well as a light show and fireworks.
Organisers set up venues for yodellers in 35 restaurants, three bars and at about 80 special stages.
Yodelling is a warbling song form, characterised by a constant alternating between chest and head voices.
In addition to older types of yodelling, there is yodel song, a folk song composed of yodel refrains.
This was based on the Tyrol yodels, performed in Switzerland by wandering singers from neighbouring Austria.
The first Swiss yodel club was founded in Zurich in 1896.
The first national yodelling association was founded by Oskar Friedrich Schmalz in 1910. Federal yodelling festivals take place every three years.
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