Various Artists, Yodelling From the Mountains (Carinia Records, year unknown)
When
done well, a compilation is more than a mere collection of songs. A skilled
compiler can arrange a series of tunes in a way that the whole is much greater
than the sum of its parts, whether they are summarising the cultural landscape
(the groundbreaking Now That’s What I
Call Music! series) or evoking the feel of a specific time or place (the
excellent The Best Beer Drinking Songs in
the World Ever [Volume Two]).
When
compiling Yodelling From the Mountains, the
producers faced a formidable task: how to best convey the breathtaking
splendour of the Swiss Alps in a single record? In less capable hands, it could
have been a disaster. Thankfully, the uncredited creators of the album were
able to assemble an all-star cast of master yodellers (or meisterjodlers) for what would become a yodelling tour de force. It’s no surprise that big-name
yodeller Lois Kerschbaumer (with the Walter Ruggenthaler Trio) contributes no
less than three tracks, including seminal yodels Kannst du Jodeln? (Can You Yodel?) and Kuckucksjodler (Cuckoo Yodeller). However, yodelling aficionados
may also be pleased to see the inclusion of lesser-known yodellers Midi Berchtold
(with the Bemsi Trio) and Otto and Uschi Biersack.
Not
content with restricting itself to pure yodelling, Yodelling From the Mountains also contains a varied selection of
folk songs, marches and polkas. What’s that, I hear you ask? No plattlers? Oh,
you’d better believe there are plattlers: not one, but two, including the
classic Zirler Glockenplattler. You
could swear they were slapping their thighs in your own living room! And let’s
not forget the beautiful landlers that close each side of the record: the tuba
playing on Sterzinger Lander is
particularly exquisite.
With
an album full of yodelling heavyweights such as this, Yodelling From the Mountains seemed destined to become a classic.
Yet outside of yodelling circles it has all but been forgotten. How do such
things happen? Perhaps in today’s fast-paced world people just aren’t prepared
to sit and let themselves be transported to a faraway land of frosty peaks and
majestic alpenhorns. It’s a sad day when you ask a person on the street “kannst
du jodeln?” and are greeted with a
blank stare – I can only hope that future generations will once again
understand the pure pleasure of yodelling from the mountains.
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