Jump to content

Ranz des Vaches: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Content deleted Content added
m Reverted edits by 204.169.64.30 (talk) to last revision by VolkovBot (HG)
Extended the issue of Swiss Nostalgia, added sections
Line 1: Line 1:
A '''''Ranz des Vaches''''' or '''''Kuhreihen''''' is a simple [[melody]] traditionally played on the horn by the [[Swiss Alps|Swiss Alpine]] herdsmen as they drove their cattle to or from the pasture. The [[James Wood (encyclopedist)|Reverend James Wood]], writing in the ''[[The Nuttall Encyclopaedia|Nuttall Encyclopaedia]]'' in 1907, said that such a tune "when played in foreign lands, produces on a Swiss an almost irrepressible yearning for home", repeating 18th century accounts the ''mal du Suisse'' or ''[[nostalgia]]'' diagnosed in [[Swiss mercenaries]].
A '''''Ranz des Vaches''''' or '''''Kuhreihen''''' is a simple [[melody]] traditionally played on the horn by the [[Swiss Alps|Swiss Alpine]] herdsmen as they drove their cattle to or from the pasture. The Kureihen was linked to the [[Nostalgia#Romanticism|Swiss nostalgia]] and Homesickness (also known as mal du Suisse "Swiss illness" or Schweizerheimweh "Swiss homesickness").


==In Swiss Nostalgia==
The ''Kuhreihen'' were romanticized in the wake of the [[Unspunnenfest]] of 1805 in a collection edited by G. J Kühn and J. R. Wyss. The fourth edition of 1826 gave scores for piano and was luxuriously illustrated, its intended market the educated early [[tourism in Switzerland|tourists to Switzerland]]. The collection also influenced the Swiss [[yodel]] that was emerging at the time.
The [[James Wood (encyclopedist)|Reverend James Wood]], writing in the ''[[The Nuttall Encyclopaedia|Nuttall Encyclopaedia]]'' in 1907, said that such a tune "when played in foreign lands, produces on a Swiss an almost irrepressible yearning for home", repeating 18th century accounts the ''mal du Suisse'' or ''[[nostalgia]]'' diagnosed in [[Swiss mercenaries]]. Singing of ''Kuhreihen'' was forbidden to Swiss mercenaries because they led to ''nostalgia'' to the point of desertion, illness or death. The 1767 ''Dictionnaire de Musique'' by [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]] claims that Swiss mercenaries were threatened with severe punishment to prevent them from singing their Swiss songs. The Romantic connection of ''nostalgia'', the ''Kuhreihen'' and the [[Swiss Alps]] was a significant factor in the enthusiasm for Switzerland, the development of early [[tourism in Switzerland]] and [[Exploration of the High Alps|Alpinism]] that took hold of the European cultural elite in the 19th century.

==The Music==
The ''Kuhreihen'' were romanticized in the wake of the [[Unspunnenfest]] of 1805 in a collection edited by G. J Kühn and J. R. Wyss. The fourth edition of 1826 gave scores for piano and was luxuriously illustrated, its intended market the educated early [[tourism in Switzerland|tourists to Switzerland]]. The collection also influenced the Swiss [[yodel]] that was emerging at the time. It became somewhat of a ''topos'' in Romantic literature, and figures in the poem ''Der Schweizer'' by [[Achim von Arnim]] (1805) and in [[Clemens Brentano]]'s ''Des Knaben Wunderhorn'' (1809) as well as in the opera ''Le Chalet'' by [[Adolphe Charles Adam]] (1834) which was performed for [[Queen Victoria]] under the title ''The Swiss Cottage''.


A famous example of a Ranz des Vaches melody is the [[English horn]] and [[Flute]] solo in the third section of the [[William Tell Overture|overture]] to [[Gioachino Rossini]]'s [[opera]] ''[[William Tell (opera)|William Tell]]''.
A famous example of a Ranz des Vaches melody is the [[English horn]] and [[Flute]] solo in the third section of the [[William Tell Overture|overture]] to [[Gioachino Rossini]]'s [[opera]] ''[[William Tell (opera)|William Tell]]''.

Revision as of 08:13, 26 December 2010

A Ranz des Vaches or Kuhreihen is a simple melody traditionally played on the horn by the Swiss Alpine herdsmen as they drove their cattle to or from the pasture. The Kureihen was linked to the Swiss nostalgia and Homesickness (also known as mal du Suisse "Swiss illness" or Schweizerheimweh "Swiss homesickness").

In Swiss Nostalgia

The Reverend James Wood, writing in the Nuttall Encyclopaedia in 1907, said that such a tune "when played in foreign lands, produces on a Swiss an almost irrepressible yearning for home", repeating 18th century accounts the mal du Suisse or nostalgia diagnosed in Swiss mercenaries. Singing of Kuhreihen was forbidden to Swiss mercenaries because they led to nostalgia to the point of desertion, illness or death. The 1767 Dictionnaire de Musique by Jean-Jacques Rousseau claims that Swiss mercenaries were threatened with severe punishment to prevent them from singing their Swiss songs. The Romantic connection of nostalgia, the Kuhreihen and the Swiss Alps was a significant factor in the enthusiasm for Switzerland, the development of early tourism in Switzerland and Alpinism that took hold of the European cultural elite in the 19th century.

The Music

The Kuhreihen were romanticized in the wake of the Unspunnenfest of 1805 in a collection edited by G. J Kühn and J. R. Wyss. The fourth edition of 1826 gave scores for piano and was luxuriously illustrated, its intended market the educated early tourists to Switzerland. The collection also influenced the Swiss yodel that was emerging at the time. It became somewhat of a topos in Romantic literature, and figures in the poem Der Schweizer by Achim von Arnim (1805) and in Clemens Brentano's Des Knaben Wunderhorn (1809) as well as in the opera Le Chalet by Adolphe Charles Adam (1834) which was performed for Queen Victoria under the title The Swiss Cottage.

A famous example of a Ranz des Vaches melody is the English horn and Flute solo in the third section of the overture to Gioachino Rossini's opera William Tell.

Henry David Thoreau compared the song of the wood thrush to a ranz des vaches: "So there is something in the music of the cow bell, something sweeter and more nutritious, than in the milk which the farmers drink. This thrush’s song is a ranz des vaches to me. I long for wildness, a nature which I cannot put my foot through, woods where the wood thrush forever sings, where the hours are early morning ones, and there is dew on the grass, and the day is forever unproved, where I might have a fertile unknown for a soil about me." [1]

References

  • Fritz Frauchiger, The Swiss Kuhreihen, The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 54, No. 213/214 (Jul. - Dec., 1941), pp. 121-131.
  1. ^ Thoreau, Henry David (1884) Summer: From the Journal of Henry D. Thoreau, ed by Harrison Gray Otis Blake (4th Ed.) Houghton, Mifflin, 212-213.
  • This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domainWood, James, ed. (1907). The Nuttall Encyclopædia. London and New York: Frederick Warne. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)