Historia de La Música Suiza

Switzerland (Fr. Suisse; Ger. Schweiz; It.
Svizzera)
Pierre Meylan, Chris Walton and Max Peter Baumann
https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.27221
Published in print: 20 January 2001
Published online: 2001
updated, 11 February 2013
A country in western Europe. It consists of a confederation of 22

cantons. Its musical culture owes as much to the church as to
secular influences.
I. Art music
Swiss musical history must be seen against the background of

regional differences and of the circumstances which governed the
formation of the country. Four languages are spoken, German,
French, Italian and Romansh, and there are two religions, Catholic
and Protestant. Switzerland was founded in 1291 when three small
provinces – later to become the cantons Uri, Schwyz and
Unterwalden – declared their limited independence from the Holy
Roman Empire. Other cantons joined over the following centuries.
During the Middle Ages, most of French-speaking western
Switzerland was under the rule of the Savoy, then from 1536 to
1798, of Berne. The French invasion of 1798 precipitated the
declaration of a Helvetic Republic of all Switzerland. This attempt at
unification failed, however, and it was not until 1848, after a brief,
relatively bloodless war between the conservative Catholic cantons
and the liberal Protestant cantons that Switzerland took on its
present form of a confederation, with Berne as its capital.
Under Roman domination the main centres held by the legions, such
as Avenches and Vindonissa, practised whatever music was current
in Rome. The abbeys of St Maurice (founded in 515) and
Romainmôtier (5th century), the convent of Disentis (5th century),
the monasteries Engelberg and Einsiedeln, and the bishops’ palaces
at Sion, Geneva, Lausanne and Basle were important cultural
centres. The monastery of St Gallen (under Benedictine rule from
760) was the most important musical centre. In the 9th century
Notker composed sequences there which were sung in Cluny and in
England, Spain and Italy, and in the 10th century Notker Labeo
wrote there the earliest known musical treatise in German; in the
11th century Ekkehard IV introduced Gregorian chant to the
monastery. From the 13th century the cathedrals played a significant
part in the development of ecclesiastical chant; organs were built in
Basle and Einsiedeln (14th century), Sion (c1430), Fribourg,
Lausanne, Zürich and other towns. Landmarks in this development
included the appearance of polyphony in the liturgy (in Zürich in the
late 13th century and in Geneva c1500) and the performance of
Passion plays in the 13th and 14th centuries in Basle, Einsiedeln,
Engelberg and Selzach.
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During approximately the same period, troubadours and trouvères
toured the country and songs by Swiss Minnesinger are found in
German collections. From the 14th and 15th centuries onwards
instrumental music was performed in the main cities, which
maintained fife and drum bands for public holidays and official
ceremonies; nevertheless, vocal music predominated.
With the Reformation the development of music virtually ceased.

Zwingli in Zürich forbade all music in church, while Calvin in Geneva
forbade the use of organs and other instruments during services,
claiming that they distracted the faithful. Calvin allowed only the
singing of psalms, which were taught at school. Basle was less
affected by these restrictions; its university taught music from its
foundation (1460). Church music developed more there than
elsewhere, particularly under French and Flemish influences.
Instrumental music continued to be performed in the main centres,
but Ludwig Senfl and Heinrich Glarean, who both lived mainly
abroad, were the only composers who became widely known.
After the austerity of the Reformation, organs reappeared in

churches in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, while monasteries
remained important for church music and musical studies. By the
19th century music was practised at all levels of society. German
influence began to be felt and from 1808 the Société de Musique
Helvétique gave annual concerts with a large number of performers;
in 1842 Mendelssohn’s ‘Lobgesang’ Symphony was performed in
Lausanne in the composer’s presence with 182 instrumentalists and
533 singers, and in 1860 more than 500 people took part in
performances in Basle of Handel’s Jephtha and of Beethoven’s Ninth
Symphony. Inspired by Nägeli and others, unaccompanied male-
voice choirs grew up in German-speaking Switzerland, heavily
dependent on the German repertory.
In French-speaking Switzerland, French solo songs and folksongs

were preferred, though German or Swiss-German conductors soon
introduced their native chorales. Whether in the secular or in the
religious spheres, the public preferred works for large choral and
instrumental bodies and favoured events such as the Fête des
Vignerons (held every 25 years at Vevey) and the Einsiedeln Passion
Plays. The time spent by Wagner in Zürich and Lucerne, and by
Brahms in Zürich, Winterthur and Thun, had a major influence on
the activities of Swiss orchestras, many of which were founded at
this time. From the late 19th century until World War I German-
speaking Switzerland was culturally little more than a province of
Germany. Many of the important figures in musical life were either
German or of German descent. When touring in Southern Germany,
major artists would visit the German-Swiss cities as a matter of
course. In French Switzerland such musicians as Gustave Doret
(who was also a writer on music) and Emile Jaques-Dalcroze,
originator of eurhythmics, gradually directed the music of French
Switzerland away from Germany and towards France.
Every large town has its own symphony or chamber orchestra, the
most famous being the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. Swiss
conductors have included Ansermet, Sacher (conductor of the Basler
Kammerorchester and the Collegium Musicum Zürich), Dutoit,
Page 2 of 31
Denzler and Desarzens. Such composers as Schoeck, Burkhard,
Honegger and Martin are internationally known. Stravinsky, who
lived in Montreux and Morges (1914–20), collaborated with C.F.
Ramuz, whose scenarios he used in Renard, Les noces and Histoire
du Soldat. Librettos by René Morax were used by Doret for La
servante d’Evolène and by Honegger for Le roi David and Judith;
Morax founded the Théâtre du Jorat in Mézières (near Lausanne),
which opened in 1908 with Doret’s Henriette and represented a new
type of lyric theatre. Ansermet and Sacher conducted works by their
contemporaries, including the first performances of works dedicated
to them by Bartók, Britten, Stravinsky, Martinů and Malipiero. The
major opera houses are in Zürich, Basle, Geneva and Berne. The
Association Suisse des Musiciens organizes annual festivals largely
devoted to Swiss music with Swiss performers. In large towns the
proportion of concert-goers is one of the highest in western Europe,
particularly for subscription concerts.
An active avant garde, of which the leading members were Klaus

Huber, Holliger, Guyonnet, Moret, Wildberger and Kelterborn, grew
up in the 1960s and included pupils of Boulez, who taught at Basle
from 1960 to 1963. The operas of Heinrich Sutermeister have been
produced all over Europe.
Journals such as the Schweizerische Musikzeitung (Revue musicale

suisse; Zürich, 1861–1983) and the Revue musicale de la Suisse
romande (Morges-Yverdon, founded 1948), Dissonanz (Zürich,
founded 1984) and the Schweizer Musikzeitung (Zürich, founded
1998) reflect Swiss musical life. There are important festivals in
Lucerne, Zürich, Montreux, Lausanne, Gstaad and other towns. The
Eidgenössicher Musikverein, a confederation founded in 1862 to
promote wind music in Switzerland, has over 2000 member societies
with a total of 80,000 members, all amateur musicians. In some
cantons nearly every village has a choir or a brass band: the large
number of choirs is characteristic of Switzerland, and the Société
Fédérale de Chant has 200 male-voice choirs with a total of 15,000
members. The Société Fédérale des Orchestres has some 3000
members. These large numbers of musicians make amateur
performers of the great oratorios possible. Swiss radio plays an
important role in the development of new music by broadcasting
new works, although funding cutbacks in the 1980s have lessened its
importance. Private patrons of the arts have long been of major
importance. The government promotes and encourages music in
Switzerland through the arts council Pro Helvetia. The main
publishers of music and music books are Amadeus in Winterthur,
although Hug in Zürich, HBS Nepomuk in Aarau and Kunzelmann in
Adliswil are also active. The supermarket cooperative Migros
generously finances MGB, the largest producer of CDs of Swiss
music. Other CD firms such as Claves, Tudor, Guild Music and
Jecklin have also been active in propagating music by Swiss
composers, as has Swiss Radio International, which issues its own
series of CDs.
Education is the responsibility of individual cantons and thus varies

considerably. The Société Suisse de Pédagogie Musicale has some
5000 members, all qualified music teachers, and organizes diploma
exams. 370 music schools belong to the Verband Musikschulen
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Schweiz. Jeunesses Musicales (with about 5000 Swiss members)
organizes concerts, competitions and summer camps. There are
conservatories at Geneva (founded in 1835), where Liszt taught,
Zürich (the largest), Basle, Winterthur and other large towns.
See also Basle; Berne; Geneva; Lausanne; Lucerne; Montreux;

Winterthur; and Zürich.
Bibliography
FasquelleE
RefardtHBM
SML
G. Becker: La musique en Suisse depuis les temps les plus reculés

jusqu’à la fin du dix-huitième siècle (Geneva, 1874, 2/1923)
A. Niggli: Die Schweizer Musikgesellschaft: eine musik- und

culturgeschichtliche Studie (Zürich, 1886)
A. Soubies: Histoire de la musique suisse (Paris, 1899)
A.-E. Cherbuliez: Die Schweiz in der deutschen Musikgeschichte

(Frauenfeld, 1932)
E. Isler: ‘25 Jahre schweizerischer Musik (1914–39)’, SMz, 79

(1939), 323–32
F. Martin: ‘La musique en Suisse romande’, ReM, nos.195–6 (1940),

161–7
E. Refardt: Musik in der Schweiz, ed. H. Ehinger and E. Mohr

(Berne, 1952)
40 Schweizer Komponisten der Gegenwart/40 compositeurs suisses

contemporains (Amriswil, 1956; Eng. trans., 1956)
W. Tappolet: ‘De quoi vit le compositeur suisse?’, SMz, 101 (1961),

246–8
Schweizer Musik-Handbuch/Guide musical Suisse (1979–)
A. Briner: Swiss Composers in the 20th Century (Zürich, 1990)
W. Labhart: Vom Alphornruf zum Synthesizerklang: schweizer Musik

aus 150 Jahren, Rathaus, Lucerne, 17 Aug – 11 Sept 1991 (Lucerne,
1991) [exhibition catalogue]
D. Rosset, ed.: Musikleben in der Schweiz (Zürich, 1991)
H.-U. Mielsch: Die Schweizer Jahre berühmter Komponisten (Zürich,

1992)
Musikerziehung in der Schweiz: Festschrift 100 Jahre

Schweizerischer Musikpädagogischer Verband, 1893–1993 (Berne,
1993)
Page 4 of 31
Schweizer Komponisten unserer Zeit (Winterthur, 1993) [in Ger.,
Eng., Fr.]
J.-P. Amann: Musique pour un fin de siècle: vingt entretiens avec des
compositeurs suisses (Yverdon, 1994)
K. von Fischer: ‘Expressionistisches in der Schweizer Musik, 1914–

45’, Glazba, ideje i društvo: svečani zbornik za Ivana Supičića/Music,
Ideas and Society: Essays in Honour of Ivan Supičić, ed. S. Tuksar
(Zagreb, 1993), 49–56
II. Traditional music

Max Peter Baumann
According to its mode of transmission and cultural setting, Swiss

folk music can be classed either as Musikfolklore (folk music in a
narrower sense) or as Musikfolklorismus (folkloristic music).
Musikfolklore embraces all those musical phenomena that belong to
traditional culture and are still subject to the vagaries of oral
transmission; such music includes the Betruf or Alpsegen (Alpine
prayer or blessing), Jützli (‘shout of joy’), Jodel (yodel), Chuäreiheli
or Löckler (cattle calls), cradle songs, children’s songs etc., which
are all functionally related to traditional rituals, customs and work.
By contrast, Musikfolklorismus refers to those phenomena that have
become stereotyped, or are literary compositions: in both cases they
are transmitted by means of notation and include yodelling songs,
national songs, popular compositions, songs for festivals, folksong
arrangements and songs composed in a folk style. They are mostly
designed for public performances, chiefly by societies and
associations.
Because of its linguistic and cultural diversity, Switzerland has

maintained a lively reciprocal relationship with the musical
repertory of neighbouring countries for centuries. This applies
equally to the historical folksongs of the 16th century to the 18th
(many of which circulated among Swiss mercenaries in foreign
armies) and to the more recent song-tunes and instrumental pieces
of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. ‘We come to the conclusion
that, in Switzerland as a whole, there is hardly anything in our
treasury of traditional folksong that is characteristic of all
Switzerland’ (R. Weiss). Just as the Franco-Swiss folksong repertory
is shared with that of Alsace, so German-Swiss music has much in
common with that of Baden-Württemberg, Swabia and the Tyrol, and
Rhaeto-Romanic and Ticinese music with that of Piedmont and
Lombardy, because Switzerland’s political boundaries straddle
several different language groups.
1. History and research.

Although there was a sporadic interest in folk customs during the
Renaissance, it was not focused directly on folksongs or
instrumental music. However, the following references give some
Page 5 of 31
idea of the nature and distribution of folk music at that time: the
Kühreihen or ranz des vaches (herdsman’s song) from Appenzell in
Georg Rhau’s Bicinia (Wittenberg, 1545); the Swiss dance Der
Sibentaler genandt by Urban Weiss, in W. Heckel’s Lautten Buch
(Strasbourg, 1556, 2/1562); and scattered references to Alpsegen,
dancing, singing at Easter and New Year, Sternsingen (Epiphany
songs) and nightwatchmen’s songs in Cyssat’s Collectanea chronica
und denkwürdige Sachen (1565; ed. J. Schmid, Lucerne, 1969–72).
There are other brief references to folk music in similar sources,
such as those by Thomas Platter the Elder (Ein Lebensbild aus dem
Jahrhundert der Reformation, ed. H. Kohl, Leipzig, 1921) and Felix
Platter (Tagebuchblätter … des 16. Jahrhunderts, ed. H. Kohl,
Leipzig, 1913); and the first detailed account of the alphorn and its
use (Conrad Gesner: De raris et admirandis herbis, 1555). 15th- and
16th-century chroniclers showed interest in historical battle songs
following the rise of the Confederation. However, these and other
lesser sources tell little about the music itself. Johannes Hofer’s
medical dissertation, printed in 1688, refers to the homesickness
experienced by peasants who served as mercenaries in foreign
countries when they heard the ‘Cantilena Helvetica’. This was the
first of a long series of references to the effect of alphorn music or of
the ranz des vaches on Swiss expatriates, particularly those engaged
in foreign military service. During the 18th century, with the growth
of Helvetian patriotism and Rousseau’s advocacy of a ‘return to
nature’, the ranz des vaches, whether sung or played (on alphorn or
bagpipe), was increasingly regarded as the essence of Swiss
Nationalmelodie. Since the 17th century, secular song had been
shunned by the upper classes and censured by the authorities as
‘frivolous’, to be replaced by compulsorily introduced psalm singing.
They aimed, in the words of M.P. Planta, ‘to suppress vexatious and
corrupting songs and introduce beneficial ones in their place’ and
were supported by men like J.J. Bodmer (1698–1783), J.K. Lavater
(1741–1801) and their followers. They were offended by the real
folksongs of the period: such genres as the Kiltlieder (wooing songs),
cowherds’ sayings and teasing verses were considered unworthy of
attention. Later, in the 1812 edition of the Sammlung von Schweizer-
Kühreihen und alten Volksliedern, there appears the regretful, ironic
and self-accusing statement, ‘Our old national songs are in part lost
or extinct, in part spoiled and misrepresented’.
The ideas of the Enlightenment as proposed by Bodmer and Albrecht

von Haller (1707–37) gained influence when applied to the ‘return to
nature’ movement. Already in 1724 Bodmer and Laurenz Zellweger
had searched for the famous Kühreihen and Senenspruch to prove
that ‘human nature is alike in all reasonable people’ (Bodmer to
Zellweger, 14 September 1724). Mountain life and customs were
extolled in the poem Die Alpen (1729) by Haller, which had a far-
reaching influence towards idealization of the herdsman’s life from
the view of the urban dweller. With Rousseau’s musical notation of
the ranz des vaches in the Dictionnaire de musique (1768), this
interest found a scholarly basis (fig. 1).
Page 6 of 31
Musical notation of the ‘ranz des vaches’ in Rousseau’s ‘Dictionnaire de
musique’ (1768)
British Library, London
Before the publication of numerous (mostly) German travel accounts

of Switzerland towards the end of the 18th century, the scholar and
official scribe from Langnau, G.S. Studer (1761–1808), with the Kreis
der Berner Bergfreunde (groups of Bernese mountain-lovers),
started to collect and to document folksongs, ranz des vaches and
herdsmen’s songs from the Bernese Oberland, Appenzell, Uri,
Schwyz and Unterwalden. This early collecting activity, inspired by
Ossian and Haller, resulted in the first edition of a genuine folksong
collection, the Acht Schweizer-Kühreihen mit Musik und Text (1805)
by F.S. von Wagner. This was the foundation of Swiss folksong
research, and by the fourth edition it included 76 songs with guitar
or piano accompaniment. A few art songs by G.J. Kuhn and F.F.
Huber were also inserted, for the aim was to offer the people new
and ‘better’ folksongs as well as old ones. It was hoped to satisfy the
‘townsman’s longing for the idyllic’ by reviving extinct customs and
songs, and to inspire visiting tourists with an interest in Swiss folk
life. There was also a political aspect to the pastoral festival at
Unspunnen near Interlaken in 1805, for it marked the reinstatement
of Berne as the ‘directing canton’ for that year, following Napoleon’s
Act of Mediation in 1803. By means of public exercises in alphorn
playing, by singing and by Alpine contests, country folk were
prepared for later self-glorification in the ranz des vaches and
cowherd songs (Küher- and Sennenlieder) composed in popular style
during the 19th and 20th centuries. Thus Musikfolklorismus, the use
of traditional folklore to create and rationalize history, was
established by the early 19th century.
Folksong collection and study first began in educated circles, among

the followers of J.R. Wyss, F.S. von Wagner, G.J. Kuhn and F.F. Huber
in Berne, and those of Martin Usteri, D.H. Hess and J.U. Hegner in
Zürich. Isolated songs and airs soon appeared in calendars, weekly
journals and almanacs, and individual collections also appeared,
Page 7 of 31
such as the Allgemeines Schweizer-Liederbuch (1825, 4/1838) and
the Schweizerisches Taschen-Liederbuch ‘Alpenröschen’ (1859, 8/
1913).
E.L. Rochholz’s Eidgenössische Lieder-Chronik (1835), F.J. Schild’s

Der Grossätti aus dem Leberberg (1864–73) and Alfons von Flugi’s
‘Chanzuns popularas d’Engiadina’ (Romanische studien, 1873) were
important forerunners for the first scholarly edition of Swiss
folksongs by Ludwig Tobler (1882–4). This collection of texts
included, in addition to a general introduction, critical remarks on
the historical, religious and secular songs that had been collected in
libraries.
The attentions of the German Romantic literary movement

introduced a philological approach. In addition to the models
provided by Herder, Brentano, Liliencron, Erk and Böhme, the works
of immigrants and scholars from Germany (Stolberg, Meisner,
Sczadrowsky, Rochholz, J. Meier etc.) had a long-lasting impact. They
paved the way for systematic collecting. Interests were still
predominantly philological until the foundation of the
Schweizerisches Archiv für Volkskunde. Conditions for music
research improved from 1906 with the founding of the
Volksliedarchiv (Basle), under the inspiration of J. Meier, firstly for
collections of German-Swiss folktunes, then (from 1907) of French,
and soon afterwards of Rhaeto-Romanic and Italian. Since then the
research findings of A. Tobler, H. In der Gand, O. von Greyerz, A.
Rossat, G. Züricher, S. Grolimund, A.L. Gassmann, M. Maissen and
many others have been published regularly in the Schriften der
Schweizerischen Gesellschaft für Volkskunde. In the years between
1908 and 1925, Greyerz published Im Röseligarte: schweizerische
Volkslieder in six volumes. Other well known collections include Les
chansons populaires receullies dans la Suisse Romande (1917–31) by
Rossat and Piguet, the Scelta di canzoni popolari ticinesi (1933) by
In der Gand and the Chanzunettas popularas rumauntschas (1958)
by G.G. Cloetta. The Hausbuch der Schweizer Volkslieder (Baumann,
1980) offers 220 traditional songs from all four language regions.
Scholarly research gradually declined because of the recession of

the folksong movement after World War II. Only in the early 1960s
did a new interest develop in the fields of history, folklore,
musicology and literature, stimulated by the Swiss encounter with
the Anglo-American ‘folk scene’. Various scholarly studies have
appeared since then, including those by Burdet, Baumann, Geiser or
Bachmann-Geiser, Engeler, Bolle-Zemp, Collenberg, Zemp, Messerli
and Buckhardt-Seebass.
Building upon the work of In der Gand of 1937, Brigitte Bachmann-

Geiser made an inventory of folk music instruments in Switzerland
from 1971 to 1977 and published the results in the volume Die
Volksmusikinstrumente der Schweiz (1981) as a part of the
Handbuch der europäischen Volksmusikinstrumente. Some parts of
this work have been documented on disc and television films.
Bachmann-Geiser was also a co-founder of the Schweizerisches
Museum, which opened in 1991, and the associated Institut für
Volksmusik und Musikinstrumente in Burgdorf. There is at present
Page 8 of 31
no single degree programme in ethnomusicology at a Swiss
university, although occasional lectures are given and classes held at
the universities of Basle, Berne, Fribourg and Zürich.
2. General characteristics.
Most traditional singing is for solo voice, except in western
Switzerland where some songs have choral refrains. Songs
connected with Christmas, New Year, Epiphany, mid-Lent, St
Nicholas and other church festivals are similar to soldiers’ songs,
professional and vocational songs, in that they are sung in parallel
3rds and 6ths or, less often, in an improvised polyphonic style
derived from the practice of schools and choirs. Partsinging of a
pre-19th-century origin can be found in the area of the Ticino
canton; according to Geering (1951, p.62) this ‘is not just a
degenerate form of art music’ but the last ‘offshoot of the practice of
partsinging … which predates written music’.
In the Appenzell canton there is another type of partsinging which is

neither transmitted in writing nor deliberately rehearsed. Here a
solo yodel or yodel-song is supported by an improvised vocal
harmony based on the root position primary triads: thus the solo
yodeller, often followed by a second singer, is given supporting
resonance from sustained block harmony (ex.1). This kind of singing,
known as Gradhäba (‘that which sustains the notes evenly’), must
have evolved from a 17th- and 18th-century homophonic psalm-
singing style. This yodel is often accompanied by idiophonic timbres
such as Schellenschütteln (the shaking of large cowbells; fig.1) and
Talerschwingen (in which a coin is swirled around in an earthenware
basin; fig.2). Similar multi-part Naturjodel are also found in
Toggenburg, in central and upper Berne, in Emmental and also
around Gruyères. Yodel duets and trios with independent part-
movement are known principally in central Switzerland, especially in
the Muotathal and Weggis regions. Yodels in the Schwyz region and
in Appenzell, and the ranz des vaches and Betruf, frequently
incorporate the ‘alphorn-fa’, that is, a sharpened fourth degree that
sounds like the natural 11th harmonic of the alphorn. The Naturjodel
proper, which is confined to the northern side of the Alps, can be
classified into individual yodel dialects and yodel regions according
to its use of free rhythm; its slow or swift and dance-like tempos; its
use of the ‘alphorn-fa’ mode; and the various different conventions of
extemporization. However, these characteristics still await basic
study and classification.
Page 9 of 31
Switzerland Fr. Suisse Ger. Schweiz It. Svizzera II. Traditional music 2.
General characteristics.: Ex.1 Gradhäba from Herisau, Appenzell
canton (Baumann, 1976, p.192)
Page 10 of 31
Yodellers accompanied by Schellenschütteln (shaking of large cowbells)
Pictures supplied by Switzerland Tourism
Page 11 of 31
Yodellers accompanied by Talerschwingen (the swirling of coins around
in earthenware basins)
Swiss National Tourist Office, London/ photo Philipp Giegel
A form comprising alternate solo yodelling and singing, known as

Jodellied or Gsätzli, appeared with increasing frequency towards the
end of the 19th century. Its development is most closely associated
with the work of J.H. Tobler, F. Huber and F.W. Kücken, who
accentuated the particularly Swiss element in their choral songs. F.
Huber, A. Glutz of Solothurn and J. Lüthy concluded their songs with
a yodel-like coda: such songs could be regarded as ‘the forerunners
of the yodelling songs much-beloved of contemporary folkloristic
circles’ (Zulauf). Because of the close association of the Jodellied
with the ‘stylised yodel’ defined by A. Tobler (a yodelling melody
whose vocables are replaced by words), and with the analogous type
of ranz des vaches whose melody has also been given words, it is
difficult to distinguish these song types in performance.
Under the influence of the Federal Yodel Union, which introduced

‘structural rules’ (Rahmengesetze) and standardized vocalization,
the primarily extemporized form of the yodelling song became a kind
Page 12 of 31
of male-voice partsong for quartet, quintet, sextet or mixed choir.
This kind of song, the ‘new and composed yodelling song’, is classed
as folkloristic music.
The more monotonic ranz des vaches or Kühreihen (fig.1) is usually

distinct from yodelling. The earliest recorded use of the German
term ‘einem den kuoreien pfyfen’ (‘to pipe the Kühreihen to one’)
was in 1531. It is described variously as a ‘driving-in song’,
Chuedreckeler (milking-song), or Lockgesang (calling or coaxing
song). It generally uses no falsetto and is further distinguished from
the wordless yodel by its pastoral text which expresses affection for
the cows; it might also be introduced or ended with a yodel call.
Some instrumental performances of Kühreihen have also been
notated, and played on the alphorn (ex.2), the bagpipe and even the
violin or Schweizerpfeife (Swiss fife). It is no longer performed by
the peasantry: A. Tobler (1903), who described himself as the last
singer of the traditional ranz des vaches, suggested that either the
texts no longer appealed or the musical demands were too great. In
recent years, in the context of the folk revival movement, the
kühreihen or ranz des vaches is being performed once more.
General characteristics.: Ex.2 Alphorn melody (Gassmann, 1961, p.
199)
Like the Viehlöckler (cattle call, ex.3) and the ranz des vaches, the
Betruf (prayer call), also known as Alpsegen (Alpine blessing, ex.4),
was once associated with the magical cults of shepherds and cattle
drovers. Like the Juchzer, the ordinary yodel and the Lockruf (call-
tune), the Betruf has no definite structure, being a type of
Sprechgesang whose form depends on the verbal content. The
psalm-like prayer requests the protection of the Virgin Mary and the
individual patron saints of the stock farmers. To whatever distance
the sound carries through the Folle (wooden or tin megaphone) the
pastures are placed under the care of St Anthony, St George, St
Gallus and St Wendelin, and evil is exorcised. The Betruf has a wide
distribution in Catholic areas and during summer pasturing it is still,
to some extent, called every evening in the Obwalden and Uri
cantons, in the St Gallen highlands, in Goms (Valais) and in
Entlebuch.
Page 13 of 31
General characteristics.: Ex.3 Viehlöckler (cattle call) from Muotathal,
Schwyz canton (Baumann, 1976, p.145)
General characteristics.: Ex.4 Bättrüäf (Betruf) or Alpine blessing,
Urner Boden, Uri canton, transcr. M. Baumann
The songs that survive in oral tradition are mostly associated with
customs or religion. In addition to sacred and narrative songs the
following, with few exceptions, are of 19th-century origin: Epiphany
and Christmas hymns, May songs, songs sung in the spinning-room,
children’s songs, joking songs, patriotic songs and love songs (see
exx.5 and 6). Alongside this folk heritage proper, songs in folk style
or composed ‘for the folk’, known as Schweizerlieder, have a wide
distribution. Hundreds of them came into circulation with the
growth of national and patriotic consciousness after the French
Revolution and through the activity of rifle clubs, gymnastic clubs
and students’ unions (e.g. the Zofinger songbooks, 1822 onwards).
Historical sources suggest that only a few extant melodies predate
Page 14 of 31
the 18th century: they include those of a few Juchzer, yodels, alpine
blessings, incantations, nightwatchmen’s songs, children’s and
cradle songs, religious and historical songs, mercenaries’ songs and
ballads (such as the Tannhäuser ballad).
General characteristics.: Ex.5 Das Guggisberger Lied (Swiss-German
love lament), Wohlen, Aargau canton; known since 1741 (Baumann,
1994, p.86)
General characteristics.: Ex.6 O chera, o bella (Rhaeto-Romanic
popular love songs), Engadin, Graubünden Canton (Baumann, 1994, p.
70)
Instrumental music includes fife and drum marches of the ‘old

Switzers’, French marches and Landesgemeindemärsche (in the
Graubünden, Obwalden and Valais cantons) and other fife and drum
tunes for public processions and ceremonies in the Val d’Anniviers.
Many of these date from the 18th century and are frequently of
German, French or English origin. Noise-making customs known as
Lärmbräuche include Geisselknallen (whip-cracking) during the
feast of St Nicholas and Rumpelmetten, the noisy call to Mass which
replaces bellringing during Lent. For the latter custom, rattles,
including Schnarren (large cog rattles), Klapperbretter (clappers)
Page 15 of 31
and Chlefeli (a type of castanet) are used. The Hackbrett (dulcimer)
and the zither are played in Valais, Appenzell, Emmental and
Toggenburg. The concerti sounded in churches in the Italian-
speaking Ticino canton and carillon playing in French-speaking
Valais are two distinctive forms of church bell music.
From the end of the 19th century the mass media and the growing
tourist traffic increased the influx of pan-alpine music
characteristics. To some extent the adoption and adaptation of songs
in non-Swiss dialects paralleled the intrusion of dialects from the
Lower Rhine, Baden-Württemberg, Alsace and Swabia into the
development of the spoken language. After World War II, a
conservative trend towards purism set in and, within the more
extreme nationalistic folkloristic circles, support was increasingly
voiced for the ‘Echt-Schweizerische’ (‘genuine Swiss spirit’) as a
construct of the past.
3. Folkloristic music.
The publication of the Acht Schweizer-Kühreihen and the occasion of
the Unspunnen festival in 1805 marked the first steps in the
development of folkloristic music: such music was conceived as the
transformation of the ‘primitive’ into the aesthetically pleasing, and
traditional music was seen as taking on ‘a new existence’ with this
change in its function. The alphorn, previously used for calling or
calming cattle, or as a signal of threatening danger and sickness,
came to be played as a spectacle for tourists. The Alpine blessing
and certain folkdances were given similar treatment. At the
Unspunnen festival the victors in the alphorn playing contest were
decorated with a ‘Spanish ewe, ram and lamb’ and given a ‘medal
and a small cap made of English leather’. Folkloristic performances
became more and more commercialized, although socio-economic
problems were often the background to such activity, which
included, for instance, horn blowing by beggars. Even so, folksong
and folkdance arrangements, produced for domestic music-making
in the alien surroundings of towns, supplanted traditional pastoral
music, and the yodel and the ranz des vaches, performed by
coloratura sopranos, resounded in concert halls. It was only a small
step from the process of arranging folksong to that of imitating
‘original’ folklore. F.F. Huber and G.J. Kuhn had already imitated the
ranz des vaches and the yodel in their own folk-style compositions.
In contrast to the early Schweizerlieder with words by Lavater and
melodies by J. Schmidlin and J.H. Egli (1770–87), some of these folk-
style songs promptly became popular. These imitative products were
originally supposed to lead the peasantry itself back to making its
own local songs (Dialektlieder), but the movement took a new
direction leading to the growth of musical societies in towns. At the
end of the 19th century Jodlerverbände evolved from the gymnastic
clubs (e.g. the Alte Sektion Zürich) and their singing, for all its
urban surroundings, was chiefly in praise of the cowherd and his
Alpine pastoral life.
Page 16 of 31
In 1912 a Swiss yodel association was officially founded, comprising
a number of yodel groups; in 1924 it became the Schweizerischer
Jodlerverband and, in 1932, the Eidgenössischer Jodlerverband; in
1975 there were over 15,000 affiliated members and over 600
branches. By 1992 the number of members had grown to over
24,000. The repertory promoted by the Schweizerische Gesellschaft
volkstümlicher Autoren, Komponisten und Verleger (an association
of authors, composers and publishers, founded in 1922) consists of
folkloristic compositions whose texts mostly glorify the peasantry in
an idealistic and nationalistic manner. Yodel songs such as Der
Chüejerstand, Bhuurebluet, D’r Geissbueb, Alpaufzug and many
others proclaim as ‘echoes of the homeland’, in self-glorifying
manner, the existence of an alien and completely different type of
society in which employees and workers strive in their leisure time
after a vanished rural way of life. Efforts are now being made, by
extending the subject matter of the texts, to counteract the
impression that townspeople sing the praises of a pastoral way of life
that they know only from hearsay.
The Schweizerische Trachtenvereinigung (Swiss Folk-costume

Society) is the leading society concerned with folk-costume and
folkdances. Because they are organized and presented as theatrical
spectacles, traditional dances are changing more and more.
Folkdances include the Allemande (or Alewander) from Engadin and
Obwalden; the widely distributed polkas, ländler, écossaises and
mazurkas; the ritual Klausjagen (at the Rigi); certain carnival and
masked dances such as the Röllibutze, Nüsslet and Vogel Gryff; and,
most commonly, couple-dances (known in central Switzerland as
Gäuerle and in Appenzell as Hierig). Traditional couple-dances have
to some extent survived independently of folkloristic activities.
Although published collections of Swiss folkdances mostly include
more recent dances, older dances such as circle-dances (ribbon
dances and wedding dances), Coraules (sung dances), the
pantomimic dances known as Picoulet and Vögelschottisch and the
couple-dances known as Matelote and La champérolaine feature
prominently in folk-costume festivals, known as Trachtenfeste.
Dance music is provided by small ensembles comprising various

combinations of the following: fiddles, clarinets, Schwäfelpfeiffen (a
type of fipple flute), trumpets and Schwyzer Örgeli (accordions); a
string bass usually accompanies these instruments. The Hackbrett
(dulcimer) is still used in the ländler bands in Appenzell, Valais and
the highlands of Berne. Less traditional bands include the piano and
even the saxophone.
There are numerous organizations, including workers’ associations

and societies for wind music, concerned in different ways with
maintaining the tradition of folkloristic music; among the more
important ones are the Schweizerische Vereinigung für Volkslied und
Hausmusik and the Jodler-Dirigenten-Vereinigung. The
Arbeitsgemeinschaft Schweizer Volkstanzkreise, the Vereinigung
Schweizerischer Volksmusikfreunde and the Gesellschaft für die
Volksmusik in der Schweiz also play an important role in promoting
and documenting folk music for practical purposes. The latter
published in 2001 the Schweizer Volksmusik-Sammlung aus dem
Page 17 of 31
Nachlass von Hanny Christen (1899–1976), the most comprehensive
collection of traditional dance tunes (more than 10,000) from
Switzerland dated between 1830–1960.
The conscious cultivation of native customs, costumes, dialects,

folksongs and dances that emerged around 1905 from the
Heimatschutzbewegung oriented itself increasingly over the years
towards a backward-looking, ‘intact’ world view. With the
transfiguration of the past, present reality was often suppressed or
simply forgotten. Scarcely any songs critically addressed, for
example, the effect of industrial development on the environment or
social changes, except perhaps in cabarets. Since the 1960s,
younger songwriters have been reaching back more often towards
traditional songs, but in doing so consciously select suppressed
protest songs and topics. Stimulated by the French chanson and the
Anglo-American folksong movement, young singers created the
contemporarily orientated Mundartlied. The new dialect songs of
Mani Matter (d 1972) were first inspired by the chansons of Georges
Brassens. From 1965 onwards, Matter in turn influenced the dialect
song within the circle of Berner Troubadours and trouvères and gave
important impulses to reflective discussion concerning the
transmitted body of songs. Songwriters (Liedermacher) such as Fritz
Widmer and Jacob Stickelberger from Berne, Toni Vescoli from
Zürich and Dieter Wiesmann from Schaffhausen broke off decisively
from the ‘romance of the glow of the Alps’. Years earlier, songwriters
such as Hans Roelli (1889–1962), the Swiss French chansonnier and
poet Gilles (Jean Villard, 1895–1982), later Ernst Born of Basle,
Walter Lietha of Chur and many others had prepared the way for the
regional song of the 1970s and 80s. In the Rhaeto-Romanic
Graubünden, Trubadurs and Sursilvans joined forces. Roberto e
Dimitri and Marco Zappa in Ticino developed another individual
style which made current a half-forgotten song repertory and at the
same time brought Ticinese folk music closer to folk and pop music.
Many of the ‘homemade’ Lieder and chansons hold up a critical

mirror to society and consciously confront and become engaged with
current issues (e.g. Urs Hostettler: Anderi Lieder, 1979). Political
events and citizens’ initiatives concerning women’s issues, nuclear
reactors, highways and the protection of the environment often
made an ideal podium for the Liedermacher. Sometimes new texts
that address current events are performed to traditional melodies
and are increasingly accompanied by folk music instruments such as
the Hackbrett, zither, Drehleier and the Schwyzer Örgeli. In reviving
old folksongs and folk music instruments, music groups and
songwriters are also sponsoring alternative festivals. Such
gatherings are consciously contrasted with the festive occasions of
the Swiss Folk-costume Society, of the Swiss Yodler Association, and
of folk choruses. They focus, in a complementary way, on the
contradictions present in dealing with ‘Heimat’, that is, between
traditional ‘Heimatschutz’ and modern ‘Umweltschutz’, between the
traditional, the popular, and avant-garde. The international Music
Festival Lezburgiade merges classical music and folk music from all
over the world. Of cross-cultural orientation is the biannual
international festival ‘Alpentöne’ (since 2001), where groups from
diverse alpine countries, such as from Austria, Germany, Italy,
Page 18 of 31
France, Slovenia and Switzerland, are invited and perform, without
any stylistic limitations, between local root concepts and transalpine
or global hybridization techniques.
Several institutions and organizations are promoting the

documentation, research, and/or distribution of traditional and
popular music. These include the Swiss National Sound Archives
(Lugano), the Swiss Folksong Archive (Basel), the Swiss Society for
Ethnomusicology (CH-EM), the Society for Traditional Music in
Switzerland (GVS/SMPS), the Ateliers d’Ethnomusicologie (Geneva),
the House of Folk Music (Altdorf), the Centre for Appenzell Folk
Music (ZAV, Gonten), the Alphorn Academy of Switzerland (Territet-
Montreaux), the Swiss Cultural Centre for Dulcimers (Trachselwald),
and the Fondation pour les musiques traditionelles romandes
(MUTRA). The most active popular associations for folk music and
dance are, among others, the Swiss National Costume Association
(STV), the Swiss Association for Popular Music (VSV), the Swiss
Yodeling Association (EJV), the Swiss Drummers’ and Fifers’
Association (STPV), the Swiss Associations of Folk Dance Clubs
(ASV), the Dulcimer Association Switzerland (VHbS), the Swiss
Harmonica and Accordion Association (EHAMV), and the Forum for
Folk-, Popular, and Gypsy Music in Switzerland (folkmusic.ch).
Bibliography
General
DEUMM (‘Svizzera, §1: musica popolare’; M.P. Baumann)
AND OTHER RESOURCES
MGG1 (‘Schweiz’, §E; A. Geering)
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vom Anfang des 18. Jahrhunderts bis zum Jahre 1830 (Berne, 1912)
W. Merian: ‘Das schweizerische Volkslied in musikalischer

Beziehung’, Die Garbe, 2 (1918), no.4, pp.116–23; no.5, pp.149–55;
no.6, pp.176–82
P. Budry and others, eds.: Die Schweiz, die singt: illustrierte

Geschichte des Volksliedes, des Chorgesanges und der Festspiele in
der Schweiz (Zürich, 1932; Fr. trans., 1932)
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1946/R), 223–46
W. Wiora: Zur Frühgeschichte der Musik in den Alpenländern (Basle,

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Page 19 of 31
Volkmusik in der Schweiz: erstes Verzeichnis der im Bereich
Volksmusik tätigen Personen und Institutionen, ed. Nationale
Schweizerische UNESCO-Kommission (Berne, 1979)
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(Leipzig and Zürich, 1981)
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der Schweiz: mit einem Beitrag zu Geschichte, Gegenstand und
Problemen der Volksliedforschung (Winterthur, 1981)
R. Thalmann, ed.: Das Jahr der Schweiz in Fest und Brauch (Zürich
and Munich, 1981)
R. Wolfram: ‘Die Volkstänze der Schweiz’, Beiträge zur Volksmusik in

Vorarlberg und im Bodenseeraum, ed. W. Deutsch and E. Schneider
(Vienna,1983), 185–211
B. Bachmann-Geiser and M.P. Baumann, eds.: Volksmusik in der

Schweiz (Zofingen, 1985)
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Volksmusik in der Schweiz’, Handbuch der schweizerischen
Volkskultur, ed. P. Hugger, 3 (Basle,1992), 1377–92
P. Pfrunder: ‘Schweizer Festbräuche: Bilder und Botschaften’,

Handbuch der schweizerischen Volkskultur, ed. P. Hugger, 2 (Basle,
1992), 629–59
B. Schader: ‘Eidenössische Festkultur’, Handbuch der

schweizerischen Volkskultur, ed. P. Hugger, 2 (Basle, 1992), 811–32
‘Der Sound des Alpenraums: die neue Volksmusik’, Du: Zeitschrift

der Kultur, 7 (1993) [special issue]
R. Gallati and C. Wyss : Unspunnen: die Geschichte der

Alphirtenfeste (Interlaken, 1993)
M.P. Baumann: ‘Jodeln’, MGG2 (Kassel, 1994)
M.P. Baumann: ‘Schweiz. II Volksmusik’, MGG2 (Kassel, 1998)
D. Ringli: Schweizer Volksmusik im Zeitalter der technischen

Reproduktion (diss. U. of Zürich, 2003)
Collections: General
F.S. von Wagner: Acht Schweizer-Kühreihen (Berne, 1805, rev. and
enlarged, 2/1812, rev. 4/1826/R as Sammlung von Schweizer-
Kühreihen und alten Volksliedernby F.F. Huber and J.R. Wyss; ed. R.
Simmen with commentary by B. Bachmann-Geiser, Zürich, 1979)
K. Stern, ed.: Sing und Spring: Volkstänze und Tanzspiele für Kinder
(Bern, 1948, 4/1977, Stettlen, 1994incl. CD)
Page 20 of 31
M.P. Baumann: Hausbuch der Schweizer Volkslieder: mit einem
geschichtlichen Überblick zu Volkslied und Volksmusik (Berne, 1980,
2/1982)
M.P. Baumann: Non plus belles chansons populaires/Die schönsten

Volkslieder der Schweiz (Vevey, 1994) [incl. CD]
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Christen (1899–1976), ed. Gesellschaft für die Volksmusik in der
Schweiz (Zürich, 2001)
Collections: German-speaking Switzerland

F.S. von Wagner and others: Sammlung aller Lieder, Gedichte und
andern Schriften auf das schweizerische Alpenhirten-Fest zu
Unspunnen im Kanton Bern (Berne, 1805)
E.L. Rochholz, ed.: Eidgenössische Lieder-Chronik: Sammlung der

ältesten und werthvollsten Schlacht-, Bundes- und Parteilieder
(Berne, 1835, 2/1842)
E.L. Rochholz, ed.: Alemannisches Kinderlied und Kinderspiel aus

der Schweiz (Leipzig, 1857/R)
F.J. Schild: Der Grossätti aus dem Leberberg (Biel, 1864/R)
L. Tobler, ed.: Schweizerische Volkslieder (Frauenfeld, 1882–4/R;

ed., with introduction by B. Bachmann-Geiser, Oberthofen, 2008)
A. Tobler: Kühreihen oder Kühreigen, Jodel und Jodellied in

Appenzell (Leipzig, 1890)
M.E. Marriage and J. Meier, eds.: ‘Volkslieder aus dem Kanton Bern’,
Schweizerisches Archiv für Volkskunde, 5 (1901), 1–47
A.L. Gassmann: Das Volkslied im Luzerner Wiggertal und Hinterland

(Basle, 1906)
O. von Greyerz: Im Röseligarte: schweizerische Volkslieder (Berne,

1908–25/R)
S. Grolimund, ed.: Volkslieder aus dem Kanton Solothurn (Basle,

1910)
S. Grolimund: Volkslieder aus dem Kanton Aargau (Basle, 1911)
A.L. Gassmann: ’s Alphorn, op.18: 100 echte Volkslieder, Jodel und

G’sätzli (Zürich and Leipzig, 1913)
A.L. Gassmann: Juhui! Volksliedbüchlein für die Schweizer Jugend,

op.24: 60 echte Volkslieder, Jodel und Gsätzli für eine Vor- und
Nachstimme (Naturbegleitung) (Zürich, 1914)
K. Aeschbacher: 50 Appenzeller Volkstänze (Trogen, 1915, 6/1944)
H. In der Gand: Das Schwyzerfähnli: ernste und heitere Kriegs-,

Soldaten- und Volkslieder der Schweiz aus dem 16., 17., 18. und 19.
Jahrhundert (Biel, 1915–17)
Page 21 of 31
A.L. Gassmann: D’Ländlermusik: 100 Ländler und Buuretänz … aus
dem Hügelland und den Schweizer Bergen (Zürich, 1920)
A. Stoecklin: Weihnachts- und Neujahrslieder aus der Schweiz

(Basle, 1921)
G. Züricher, ed.: Kinderlieder der Deutschen Schweiz (Basle, 1926)
F.R. Berger: Das Basler Trommeln: nebst vollständigem Lehrgang

und einer Sammlung aller Basler Trommelmärsche (Basle, 1928)
A.L. Gassmann: Was unsere Väter sangen: Volkslieder und

Volksmusik vom Vierwaldstättersee, aus der Urschweiz und dem
Entlebuch (Basle, 1961)
Schweizer Liedermacher: Portraits und Materialen, i: Ernst Born,

Martin Hauzenberger, Jürg Jegge, Walter Lietha, Rolf Probala, Fritz
Widmer (Gümligen, 1976)
H.P. Treichler: Z’underst und z’oberst: die schönsten Lieder und

Balladen aus der alten Schweiz(Zürich, 1977)
U. Hostettler: Anderi Lieder: von den geringen Leuten, ihren

Legenden und Träumen, ihrer Not und ihren Aufständen (Berlin,
1979)
Jüüzli of the Muotatal: 1. Yootzing and Yodelling; 2. Head Voice,

Chest Voice; 3:. The Wedding of Susanne and Josef; 4. Glattalp, four
films, dir. H. Zemp and P. Betschart, CNRS (Paris,1986–7)
J. Manser: Mit wass freüden soll man singen: Liederbüchlein der

Maria Josepha Barbara Brogerin 1730 (Appenzell, 1996, 2/2003)
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rätoromanischen Raum: Sammlung von Texten und Erläuterungen
(Appenzell, 2007)
Collections: French-speaking Switzerland

A. Rossat: ‘Chants patois jurassiens’, Schweizerisches Archiv für
Volkskunde, 3 (1899), 257–99; 4(1900), 133–66; 5(1901), 81–113,
201–27; 6(1902), 161–83, 257–80; 7(1903), 81–101, 241–68
A. Rossat and E. Piguet, eds.: Les chansons populaires recueillies

dans la Suisse romande (Basle, 1917–31)
M. Vernet: Les carillons du Valais (Basle, 1965)
J. Urbain: La chanson populaire en Suisse romande: Fribourg,

Genève, Jura, Neuchâtel, Valais, Vaud (Yverdon-Lausanne, 1977–8)
Collections: Italian-speaking Switzerland

V. Pellandini: ‘Canti popolari ticinesi’, Schweizerisches Archiv für
Volkskunde, 12 (1908), 36–46, 268–75
Page 22 of 31
E. Fisch: Cantor popolari ticinesi (Zürich, 1916–17, 2/1927–31 as 22
canti popolari ticinesi)
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A. von Flugi: ‘Chanzuns popularas d‘Engiadina’, Romanische Studien
(1873), 309–35 (Ger. trans., Strasbourg, 1873)
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retorumantscha, 6 (1891), 34–75; 7(1892), 45–77
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16/R)
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de la Società retorumantscha, 43 (1929), 131–42
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Consolaziun dell’olma devoziusa, Rätoromanische Volkslieder, 1
(Basle, 1945)
G.G. Cloetta: Chanzunettas popularas rumauntschas (Basle, 1958)
M. Rauch: Chanzuns umoristocas rumantschas (Samedan, 1974)
Chalandamarz: collecziun da chanzuns da chalandamarz inrichida ün

püschel de las pü bellas chanzuns vernelas (Celerina, 1976)
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Spiellieder aus dem Puschlav für Kinder von 3–10 Jahren (Zürich,
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Studies
G. Tarenne: Recherches sur les ranz des vaches, ou sur les chansons
pastorales des bergers de la Suisse(Paris, 1813)
H. Sczadrowsky: ‘Nationaler Gesang bei den Alpenbewohnern’, Jb

des Schweizer Alpenclub, 1 (1864), 504–26
H. Sczadrowsky: ‘Die Musik und die tonerzeugenden Instrumente

der Alpenbewohner’, Jb des Schweizer Alpenclub, 4 (1867–8), 275–
352
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Page 23 of 31
O. von Greyerz: Das Volkslied der deutschen Schweiz (Frauenfeld,
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Annalen, 6 (1936), 205–15
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W. Sichardt: Der alpenländische Jodler und der Ursprung des Jodelns

(Berlin, 1939)
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513
H. Spreng: Die Alphirtenfeste zu Unspunnen 1805 und 1808

(Interlaken, 1946)
L. Witzig: Dances of Switzerland (London, 1949)
A. Geering: ‘Von der Tessiner Volksmesse’, Schweizerisches Archiv

für Volkskunde, 47 (1951), 55–77
J. Burdet: La danse populaire dans le pays de Vaud sous le régime

bernois 1536–1798 (Basle, 1957)
W. Senn: ‘Jodeln: ein Beitrag zur Entstehung und Verbreitung des

Wortes’, Jb des österreichischen Volksliedwerkes, 11 (1962), 150–66
K. Klenk: ‘Der Volkstanz in der Schweiz’, Jb von den

Sekundarlehrerkonferenzen der Ostschweiz 1963, 54–8
M. Vernet: Cloches et musique (Neuchâtel, 1963)
G. Duthaler: ‘Die Melodien der alten Schweizermärsche’,

J. Burdet: ‘Chansons populaires’, La musique dans le canton de Vaud

au XIXe siècle (Lausanne, 1971), 330–406 [with disc]
M.P. Baumann: Aus Tradition und Gegenwart der Volksmusik im

Oberwallis (Brig, 1972)
W. Meyer and H. Oesch : ‘Maultrommelfunde in der Schweiz’,

Festschrift Arnold Geering, ed. V. Ravizza (Berne, 1972), 211–30
A. Schmid: Chlefeli: Instrumente für Fastenzeit (Schwyz, 1973)
B. Geiser and K.H. Schickhaus : Das Hackbrett in der Schweiz(Visp,

1973, enlarged 2/1975with J.H. van der Meer as Das Hackbrett, ein
alpenländisches Musikinstrument)
M.P. Baumann: Musikfolklore und Musikfolklorismus: eine

ethnomusikologische Untersuchung zum Funktionswandel des Jodels
(Winterthur, 1976)
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Page 24 of 31
M.-J. Glanzmann, ed.: Mys nächschte Lied: 20 Jahre Schweizer
Chanson (Zürich and Cologne, 1976)
R. Peter: Ländlermusik: die amüsante und spannende Geschichte der

Schweizer Ländlermusik (Aarau and Stuttgart, 1978)
R. Peter: Volksmusik: Schweizer Volkmusik - was ist das eigentlich?

(Aarau and Stuttgart, 1979)
M. Engeler: Das Musikleben im Lande Appenzell, dargestellt anhand

der schriftlichen Quellen (Zürich, 1979)
J. Manser: Heemetklang us Innerrhode (Appenzell, 1979, 2/1980)
E. Roth: Kasi Geisser: Leben und Schaffen des berühmten Schweizer

Volksmusikanten (Altdorf, 1982) [with disc]
Volksliedforschung heute: Beiträge des Kolloquiums (1981) in Basel

zur Feier des 75-jährigen Bestehens des Schweizerischen
Volksliedarchivs, ed. Schweizerische Gesellschaft für Volkskunde
(Basle, 1983)
B. Bremberger and S. Döll : ‘Der Betruf auf dem Urnerboden im

Umfeld von Geschichte, Inhalt und Funktion’, Jb für
Volksliedforschung, 29 (1984), 65–96
M. Engeler: Das Beziehungsfeld zwischen Volksmusik, Volksmusiker

und Volksmusikpflege am Beispiel der Appenzeller Streichmusik
(Herisau and Trogen, 1984)
H. Hürlemann: Brumbass, Geige, Hackbrett: 100 Jahre Appenzeller

Streichmusik Alder (St. Gallen, 1984)
G.S. Métraux: Le ranz des vaches: du chant de bergers à l’ hymne

patriotique (Lausanne, 1984)
S. Bolle-Zemp: ‘Lyoba: appels au bétail et identité en Haute-Gruyère

(Suisse)’, YTM, 17 (1985), 167–97
C. Collenberg: Wandel im Volkslied: langfristige Veränderungen in

der Zusammensetung eines Volksliedbestandes, dargestellt am räto-
romanischen Volksliedkorpus (Freiburg, 1986)
G. Duthaler and others: Vom Trommeln und Pfeifen (Basle, 1986)
E. Roth: Lexikon der Schweizer Volksmusikanten (Aarau, 1987)
U. Mooser: Die instrumentale Volksmusik: Grundlagen und

Musizierpraxis der Ländlermusik (Zürich, 1988)
S. Bolle-Zemp: ‘Institutionalized Folklore and Helvetic Ideology’,

YTM, 22 (1990), 127–40
G. Haenni: ‘Les Valaisans et la musique’, Revue Musicale de Suisse

romande, 45 (1992), 3–23
S. Bolle-Zemp: Le réenchantment de la montagne: aspects du

folklore musical en Haute-Gruyère (Basle and Geneva, 1992)
Page 25 of 31
Chr. Burckhardt-Seebass and others: ‘… Im Kreise der Lieben’: eine
volkskundliche Untersuchung zur populären Liedkultur in der
Schweiz (Basle and Frankfurt, 1993)
E. Roth: Schwyzerörgeli: eine Kulturgeshichte und

Instrumentenkunde (Aarau, 1993)
A. Tunger: Geschichte der Musik in Appenzell Ausserrhoden

(Herisau, 1993)
P. Stoecklin and others: La chanson populaire dans le Valais central:

Contextes sociaux et esthétiques des pratiques du chant et
implications méthodologiques de recherche (Basle, 1994)
C. Suter: Das religiöse Kinderlied des 19. Jahrhunderts – ein

Ausdruck seiner Zeit: Beobachtungen am Liedgut im
deutschsprachigen reformierten Raum der Schweiz (Bern, 1995)
M.P. Baumann: ‘Folk Music Revival: Concepts between Regression

and Emancipation’, World of Music, 38/3 (1996), 71–86
M. Engeler: ‘Mythos und Kommerz: Tendenzen im Umfeld der

heutigen Appenzeller Volksmusik’, Schweizerisches Archiv für
Volkskunde, 92/2, (1996), 137–59
A. Tunger: ‘Appenzeller Kuhreihen: Beobachtungen, Erkenntnisse,

Fragen’, Schweizerisches Archiv für Volkskunde, 93/2, (1997), 169–
98
M. Sorce Keller and P. Bianchi: ‘Musica e danza tradizionale nella

Svizzera italiana: una breve ricognizione di repertori e strumenti’,
Ticino 1798–1998: Dai baliaggi italiani alla Rebbublica cantonale
(Bellinzona, 1998), 321–37
B. Bachmann-Geiser: Das Alphorn: vom Lock-zum Rockinstrument

(Berne, 1999)
L. Mühlemann: Die Zither in der Schweiz: von den Anfängen bis zur
Gegenwart (Gümligen, 1999)
A. Cernuschi: ‘De quelques échos du ranz des vaches dans les

Encyclopédies du dix-huitième siècle’, Schweizer Töne: Die Schweiz
im Spiegel der Musik, ed. A. Gerhard and A. Landau (Zürich, 2000),
45–63
M.P. Baumann: ‘Die Älplerfeste zu Unspunnen und die Anfänge der

Volksmusikforschung in der Schweiz’, Schweizer Töne: Die Schweiz
im Spiegel der Musik, ed. A. Gerhard and A. Landau (Zürich, 2000),
45–63
F. Schüssele: Alphorn und Hirtenhorn in Europa: hölzerne Hörner

von der Schweiz bis nach Schweden, von Russland bis Rumänien in
Geschichte und Gegenwart (Friesenheim, 2000) [incl. CD,
discography, catalogue of compositions for alphorn)
C. Vignau: Identität durch Klang; das Alphorn und die Schweiz (diss.,
U. of Amsterdam, 2000) [incl. CD]
Page 26 of 31
I. Garbani Mareantini: ‘La cornamusa in Ticino’, GVS/CH-EM
Bulletin (2002–3), 31–8
P. Imola: Bal suisse - Zom bleegge schö!: überlieferte zweiteilige

Tanzmelodien aus der Schweiz (Zürich, 2003)
M. Staehelin: ‘Johann Jakob Spreng (1699–1768) über Kuhreihen

und Namengebung’, Literatur – Geschichte Literaturgeschichte:
Beiträge zur mediävistischen Literaturwissenschaft: Festschrift für
V. Honemann zum 60. Geburtstag, ed. N. Miedema and R. Suntrup
(Frankfurt am Main, 2003), 335–49
H. Bühler-Bättig and P. Mettler-Kraft: Verwalteter Tanz: ein Beitrag

zur Luzerner Sittengeschichte des 18. Jahrhunderts (Luzern, 2004)
C. Schmid: ‘Liedmelodien in den Tänzen der Hanny Christen-

Sammlung’, GVS/CH-EM Bulletin (2004), 6–30
B. Plantenga: Yodel-Ay-Ee-Oooo: the Secret History of Yodeling

Around the World (New York, 2004)
M. Sorce Keller: ‘The Swiss-Germans in Melbourne. Some

Considerations on Musical Traditions and Identity’, Schweizer
Jahrbuch für Musikwissenschaft, new ser., 25 (2005), 131–54
D. Ringli: Schweizer Volksmusik von den Anfängen um 1800 bis zur

Gegenwart (Altdorf, 2006)
D. Ringli: ‘Vom Bewahren der eigenen Tradition gegen fremde

Einflüsse oder das Problem der Schweizer Volksmusik’, Volksmusik
in den Alpen: interkulturelle Horizonte und Crossovers, ed. T.
Nussbaumer (Anif/Salzburg, 2006), 91–101
I. Albin: ‘2000 rätoromanische Volkslieder – ein kulturhistorischer

Schatz: Aufnahmen aus den 30er, 40er und 50er Jahren des 20.
Jahrhunderts’, GVS/CH-EM Bulletin (2007), 7–24
L. Mühlemann: Die Geschichte der Halszither in der Schweiz im

Kontext der europäischen Entwicklung (Altdorf, 2007)
M. Renggli: Die Krienser Halszither (Altdorf, 2007)
K. Oehme: ‘Das isch Volksmusigg: Vom Aushandeln und Verhandeln

musikalischer Werte,’ Rückkehr in die Gegenwart: Volkskultur in der
Schweiz, ed. T. Antonietti, B. Meier and K. Rieder (Baden, 2008), 72–
83
M. Weidmann: Hackbrettschule - ein Lehrgang für das Appenzeller

Hackbrett (Gonten, 2008)
A. Bänziger, K. Neumann-Braun and B. Schmitz: ‘Volks-Song und

Pop-Lied: Befragungsergebnisse zum Lied- und Songverständnis und
–gebrauch von jungen Menschen in der Schweiz’, Ewigi Liäbi:
Singen bleibt populär, ed. W. Leimgruber, A. Messerli and K. Oehme
(Münster, 2009), 165–88
C. Emmenegger: ‘Falsche Töne gehören zur Guggenmusik: Der

Sound der Schlossruugger, Noggeler und Sonnechöbler’, GVS/CH-
EM Bulletin (2009), 71–80
Page 27 of 31
J. Manser: Alpstobete im Alpstein: Geschichte und Gegenwart der
beliebten Älplerfeste im Appenzellerland (Gonten, 2009)
C. Merki: Musikszene Schweiz: Begegnungen mit Menschen und

Orten (Zürich, 2009) [incl. folkmusic]
A. Messerli: ‘Kinderlieder und Kinderreime in der Stadt Zürich in

einer Lanzeituntersuchung zwischen 1985–2006’, Ewigi Liäbi:
Singen bleibt populär, ed. W. Leimgruber, A. Messerli and K. Oehme
(Münster, 2009), 139–62
K. Oehme: ‘Performance and Performativity in Swiss Folk Music’,

Musik im interkulturellen Dialog: Festschrift für M.P. Baumann, ed.
K. Oehme and N. Çiftçi (Neustadt an der Aisch, 2009), 101–8
J. Manser, ed.: Appenzellische Volksmusik (Herisau, 2010)
N. Räss and F. Wigger: Jodel: Theorie & Praxis (Altdorf, 2010)

[textbook with CD]
Recordings and films

Musica Helvetica: Swiss Folk Music, Swiss Radio International
(1972–80)
Jüüzli: Jodel aus dem Muotatal (Schweiz) Chant du Monde LDX

74716 (1979)
Folk Music Instruments of Switzerland, Claves LP D 8012–13 (1980);

reissued as Clave CD 50-9621 [incl. notes by B. Bachmann-Geiser in
Fr., Ger., It., Eng.]
Am eidgenössischen Jodlerfescht: 40 beliebte und bekannte

Jodelmelodien/A la fête fédérale des yodleurs: 40 mélodies de yodel
célèbres, Tell Records TLA 12–13 (1981) [incl. notes by H. Leuthold,
J. Marty and M.P. Baumann]
Canti liturgici popolari nel Ticino, Fata Morgana FM 84022 (1984)

[incl. notes by P. Bianchi in It., Fr., Ger.]
Der Volksliedsänger und -forscher Hanns in der Gand, Fata Morgana

FM 84023 (1984) [incl. notes by C. Burckhardt-Seebass in Ger., Fr.,
It.]
Musique Populaire Suisse/Schweizerische Volksmusik: Collection/

Sammlung Constantin Brailoiu, rec. 1927–51, AIMP (1986) [incl.
notes in Eng., Fr., Ger.]
Chant Jura, Fata Morgana FM 85736 (1988) [incl. notes by B. Eng

and C. Burckhardt-Seebass in Fr., Ger., It.]
Schweizer-Lieder aus allen Kantonen/Chansons suisse de tous les

cantons/Canzoni suizzere di tutti cantoni, K-Tel Switzerland AG
330009-2 (1991)
Tritonus: alte Volksmusik in der Schweiz (1991) [incl. notes by B.

Wolf and U. Klauser]
Page 28 of 31
Schweizer Volksmusik im Jahreskreis/Les saisons et la musique
populaire suisse, Gesellschaft fur die Volksmusik in der Schweiz
(1991–3) [incl. notes in Ger., Fr., It., Eng.]
Der Sound des Alpenraums, comp. C. Seiler, Jecklin (1993)
Die schönsten Schweizer Volkslieder/Nos plus belles chansons

populaires, Mondo/DRS/Echo 9409–2 (1994)
Musique traditionelle de la Suisse romande/Folk Music from French-

Speaking Switzerland, Musica Helvetica MH CD 81.2 and 82.2
(1997) [incl. notes in Fr., Eng.]
Swiss View: Folk Music from Switzerland, SRI CD 003.2 SV (1998)
Schweizer Volksmusik/Swiss Traditional Music, Zyt 432 (1996) [incl.

notes by B. Bachmann-Geiser]
Ur-Musig. Eine Reise durch die Klanglandschaften der Innerschweiz

und des Appenzellerlandes. Ein Volksmusikfilm von C. Schläpfer,
CSR Records (Zürich, 1993) [DVD 2003]
Das Alphorn, DVD, dir. S. Schwietert (Berlin, 2004)
Bättruef: Alpsegen / Swiss Alpine Prayer. Idee, Konzept und Texte,

Zyt 4587 (2006) [incl notes by B. Bachmann-Geiser]
Customs & Traditions in Switzerland: Swiss Folk Customs Round the

Year, DVD, dir. B. Bachmann-Geiser (Berne, 2007) [in Eng., Ger., Fr.,
Sp, Jap.]
Heimatklänge: Vom Juchzen und anderen Gesängen, mit Erika

Stucki, Noldi Adler und Christian Zehnder, dir. S. Schwietert,
Ventura Film (Berlin, 2007)
Traditionelle Schweizer Musik/Traditional Swiss Music, rec. 1965

(Oberhofen, 2008) [re-mastering of Forum Alpinum by A. Christen;
incl. notes in Ger. and Fr. by B. Bachmann-Geiser]
Josef Stump and Balz Schmidig: zwei Schwyzerörgeli-Pioniere am

Anfang des 20. Jahrhunderts (Altdorf, 2009) [incl. notes by D. Ringli]
Les Musiques Traditionnelles en Suisse Romande, tout au long du

XXe siècle … et tout au debut du XXIe!, Fondation pour les Musiques
Traditionnelles Romandes, Gallo, VDE CD 1124/1125 (2003)
Swiss Alpine Music http://www.swissinfo.ch/html/

swissalpinemusic <http://www.swissinfo.ch/html/swissalpinemusic>
See also
Basle
Berne
Geneva
Lausanne
Lucerne
Page 29 of 31
Montreux
Zürich
Collegium musicum, §2: Germany
Copyright, §VI: Switzerland
Harpsichord, §4(iv)(c): 18th century., v) Germany and
other European countries., Spain.
Jenny, Markus
Gysi, Fritz
Isler, Ernst
Meylan, Pierre
Mooser, R.-Aloys
Reich, Willi
Schuh, Willi
Jaques-Dalcroze, Emile
Musicology, §III, 7: National traditions of musicology:
Eastern Europe
Schweizerische Musikforschende Gesellschaft
Société Suisse de Musicologie
National anthems: Sweden
Bommer, Johann Jakob
Bossard
Carlen
Haas, Friedrich
Metzler Orgelbau
Mooser, Aloys
Tugi, Hans
Walpen
Paiste & Sohn
Periodicals, §II, 5(xii): Switzerland
Radio, §III, 1: Western Europe (including Scandinavia)
Calvin, Jean
Zwick, Johannes
Zwingli, Ulrich
Reformed and Presbyterian church music, §I, 2:
Continental Europe
St Gallen
USA, §II, 1(ii)(g): Traditional music: European American:
Swiss
Winterthur
Page 30 of 31
More on this topic
Switzerland (opera) <http://oxfordmusiconline.com/
grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/
9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-
e-5000007777> in Oxford Music Online <http://
oxfordmusiconline.com>
Page 31 of 31

Historia de La Música Suiza

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Historia de La Música Suiza

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Switzerland (Fr. Suisse; Ger. Schweiz; It.

A country in western Europe. It consists of a confederation of 22

Swiss musical history must be seen against the background of

With the Reformation the development of music virtually ceased.

After the austerity of the Reformation, organs reappeared in

In French-speaking Switzerland, French solo songs and folksongs

An active avant garde, of which the leading members were Klaus

Journals such as the Schweizerische Musikzeitung (Revue musicale

Education is the responsibility of individual cantons and thus varies

See also Basle; Berne; Geneva; Lausanne; Lucerne; Montreux;

G. Becker: La musique en Suisse depuis les temps les plus reculés

A. Niggli: Die Schweizer Musikgesellschaft: eine musik- und

A. Soubies: Histoire de la musique suisse (Paris, 1899)

A.-E. Cherbuliez: Die Schweiz in der deutschen Musikgeschichte

E. Isler: ‘25 Jahre schweizerischer Musik (1914–39)’, SMz, 79

F. Martin: ‘La musique en Suisse romande’, ReM, nos.195–6 (1940),

E. Refardt: Musik in der Schweiz, ed. H. Ehinger and E. Mohr

40 Schweizer Komponisten der Gegenwart/40 compositeurs suisses

W. Tappolet: ‘De quoi vit le compositeur suisse?’, SMz, 101 (1961),

Schweizer Musik-Handbuch/Guide musical Suisse (1979–)

A. Briner: Swiss Composers in the 20th Century (Zürich, 1990)

W. Labhart: Vom Alphornruf zum Synthesizerklang: schweizer Musik

D. Rosset, ed.: Musikleben in der Schweiz (Zürich, 1991)

H.-U. Mielsch: Die Schweizer Jahre berühmter Komponisten (Zürich,

Musikerziehung in der Schweiz: Festschrift 100 Jahre

K. von Fischer: ‘Expressionistisches in der Schweizer Musik, 1914–

II. Traditional music

According to its mode of transmission and cultural setting, Swiss

Because of its linguistic and cultural diversity, Switzerland has

1. History and research.

The ideas of the Enlightenment as proposed by Bodmer and Albrecht

British Library, London

Before the publication of numerous (mostly) German travel accounts

Folksong collection and study first began in educated circles, among

E.L. Rochholz’s Eidgenössische Lieder-Chronik (1835), F.J. Schild’s

The attentions of the German Romantic literary movement

Scholarly research gradually declined because of the recession of

Building upon the work of In der Gand of 1937, Brigitte Bachmann-

In the Appenzell canton there is another type of partsinging which is

Pictures supplied by Switzerland Tourism

Swiss National Tourist Office, London/ photo Philipp Giegel

A form comprising alternate solo yodelling and singing, known as

Under the influence of the Federal Yodel Union, which introduced

The more monotonic ranz des vaches or Kühreihen (fig.1) is usually

Instrumental music includes fife and drum marches of the ‘old

The Schweizerische Trachtenvereinigung (Swiss Folk-costume

Dance music is provided by small ensembles comprising various

There are numerous organizations, including workers’ associations

The conscious cultivation of native customs, costumes, dialects,

Many of the ‘homemade’ Lieder and chansons hold up a critical

Several institutions and organizations are promoting the

AND OTHER RESOURCES

MGG1 (‘Schweiz’, §E; A. Geering)

P. Geiger: Volksliedinteresse und Volksliedforschung in der Schweiz

W. Merian: ‘Das schweizerische Volkslied in musikalischer

P. Budry and others, eds.: Die Schweiz, die singt: illustrierte

R. Weiss: ‘Musik und Gesang’, Volkskunde der Schweiz (Zürich,

W. Wiora: Zur Frühgeschichte der Musik in den Alpenländern (Basle,

M. Zulauf: Das Volkslied in der Schweiz im 19. Jahrhundert (Berne,

B. Bachmann-Geiser: Die Volksmusikinstrumente der Schweiz

M.P. Baumann: Bibliographie zur ethnomusikologischen Literatur

R. Wolfram: ‘Die Volkstänze der Schweiz’, Beiträge zur Volksmusik in

B. Bachmann-Geiser and M.P. Baumann, eds.: Volksmusik in der

B. Bachmann-Geiser: ‘Volksmusikinstrumente und instrumentale