Swiss seek recognition from UN as tradition turns modern

Yodel-ay-hee...what?! Those famed yodeling calls that for centuries have echoed through the Alps, and more recently have morphed into popular song and folk music, could soon reap a response - from faraway Paris. Switzerland’s government is looking for a shout-out from U.N. cultural agency UNESCO, based in the French capital, to include the tradition of yodeling on its list of intangible cultural heritage. A decision is expected by year-end. Modern-day promoters emphasize that the yodel is far more than the mountain cries of yesteryear by falsetto-bellowing male herders in suspenders who intone alongside giant alphorn instruments atop verdant hillsides. It’s now a popular form of singing.

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Over the last century, yodeling clubs sprouted up in Switzerland, building upon the tradition and broadening its appeal—with its tones, techniques and tremolos finding their way deeper into the musical lexicon internationally in classical, jazz and folk. U.S. country crooners prominently blended yodels into their songs in the late 1920s and 30s.

About seven years ago, the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts became the first Swiss university to teach yodeling. "For me, actually, in Switzerland we have four languages but I think really we have five languages. We have a fifth: The yodel,” said Nadja Räss, a professor at the university, alluding to the official German, French, Italian and Romansh languages in Switzerland. Yodeling exists in neighboring Austria, Germany and Italy, but Swiss yodeling is distinctive because of its vocal technique, she said.