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Post by OurCreature »

I quite like yodelling songs, even though I don't understand a word of what they are singing about. TRavine noted the other day that the lost Japanese tourist was singing in the Bavarian dialect in a yodelling video I posted a link to. So I thought I'd start a topic which can be avoided by folk who can't stand yodelling songs. And to kick off here is Der JodelKönig Franzl Lang who passed away a few years ago. He was from Bavaria though in this song he claims that his father is from Appenzell in Switzerland. He was very young in this video. And a question for TRavine - are the ladies wearing dirndls? Some of them look quite stern!

Like the late Chaircat Midge, I am not always right.
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Post by merry »

I also love a good Yodel, OC! and that one was fab! :D
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Post by TRavine »

Okay, so, here's what I've got. :D

Can't quite place the exact accent. It does sound like a Bavarian one, but the lyrics are probably written in a Swiss Dialect, so it's kind of a mixture. I'm not an expert on dialects at all. They differ so much from each other, depending on the area, that many German Native speakers can't understand what a person in a different dialect is saying. Austrians are usually better at decyphering different accents than Germans, so you're in luck, hehe.

I know Bavarian, because my father's family is originally from Bavaria. (I can't speak it well myself though), I myself regularly alter between Upper Austrian and Viennese, which are very different from each other, but I speak both of them fluently and adapt depending on who I am speaking to.

The lyrics to the song (I had to look them up, because I didn't catch all the words from just listening)

My father is from Appenzell
He eats his cheese including the plate
My brother is a virtuous man
he takes whatever he can get.

There are two more lines which he doesn't sing in the video about his mother having a lot of roe fawns in her stables and his sister having sixteen children but no husband.

And yes, the ladies are wearing Dirndls. Throughout Germany, Switzerland aud Austria there are hundreds of different models of Dirndl dresses. They are kind of "local brands" of specific regions. For example, a Dirndl from Salzburg would look different from a Dirndl from Carinthia - and even within the federal states, there are multiple different models for smaller regions. They differ in colour and cut, apron and sometimes embroidery, and those who are experts on the topic will be able to place them in the right region by just looking at them - I'm absolutely not one of those experts though.
What I do know is that there is this code of tying the bow of your apron. Depending on whether you tie it in the front or the back or on the side, you can indicate whether you are single, a married woman, a virgin,...or whatever. I don't know which is which.

Hope this helps!
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TRavine, thank you for all that info! I found it all very interesting.

I have found it quite difficult to find on the Internet the lyrics for the Appenzell song translated into English, but I found some. I knew the first bit about his father eating the plate as well as the cheese, indicating that there isn't much food in Appenzell; perhaps that's why the people who live there are said to be shorter than the rest of the Swiss typed he in jest. I have been told that the Swiss have jokes about the dwarfs of Appenzell which I thought was funny because of frequent references in England to the Gnomes of Zurich during our many financial crises of the 1960s and 1970s.

I also knew about his fine strong sons, and the vast numbers of children his sister had despite her not being married - but at least she's very healthy!

The point you make about different dialects of German all over the place is very true of Switzerland; in the Alps it varies from valley to valley, and my friend in Switzerland said that the dialect spoken in the home valley of their skier Pirmin Zurbriggen was so obscure that hardly any other Swiss could understand him when he spoke it.

I looked up about where to tie your dirndl apron. If you tie it on the right you are either married or spoken for - I presume engaged, betrothed etc. A dirndl apron tie on the left means you are single but that is all. A tie at the back means that you are widowed, a child, or a waitress at the Oktoberfest. These rules are not set in stone and often vary, but it seems that these are the most common interpretations of the various positions of the dirndl apron bow.

And here is Franzl singing a longer version of the song.

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Post by TRavine »

So, since you seem interested in Alpine music and culture, I thought I'd serenade y'all. It's the official federal anthem of Upper Austria and a pretty good example of a dialect song which most people outside of the area will have trouble understanding. ;) I remember singing this in primary school.




The lyrics are:
Homeland homeland,
you I like so very much
like a child its mother
a dog its owner
like a child its mother
a dog its owner.

I ran through the valley
I lay atop of the hill
and your sun dried me
after your rains drenched me
and your sun dried me
after your rains drenched me
"I'm not sure I'd know how to dabble." 8-)
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Post by OurCreature »

I liked that! I think I'd have picked up the basic meaning of the first verse, but have more difficulty with the second.

And well done you for singing this anthem for us - I can't remember anybody on this Board singing for the rest of us and including its previous incarnation it's been going for nearly 20 years.
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Post by TRavine »

You're very welcome :) I tend to sing a lot. It's what we do in our family. (Just wait until I get out my mouthorgan. I can play some Alpine folk tunes on that one too :D ).
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Post by merry »

Well I thought that was beautiful. How nice to be part of a singing family!

Aren't these lines lovely
I ran through the valley
I lay atop of the hill
and your sun dried me
after your rains drenched me
"... not to be told a story, but to live inside a dream." - Hades, The Burnt City
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PS can't wait till the mouthorgan comes out :D
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Post by Philipaholt »

TRavine wrote: Sat Nov 19, 2022 2:32 pm So, since you seem interested in Alpine music and culture, I thought I'd serenade y'all. It's the official federal anthem of Upper Austria and a pretty good example of a dialect song which most people outside of the area will have trouble understanding. ;) I remember singing this in primary school.




The lyrics are:
Homeland homeland,
you I like so very much
like a child its mother
a dog its owner
like a child its mother
a dog its owner.

I ran through the valley
I lay atop of the hill
and your sun dried me
after your rains drenched me
and your sun dried me
after your rains drenched me
Tom this was lovely. You've a nice voice and it's a treat to hear real singing. Thanks
The secret of life lies in laughter and humility. —GKC
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Post by Philipaholt »

merry wrote: Sat Nov 19, 2022 7:44 pm PS can't wait till the mouthorgan comes out :D
I'm sitting here just waiting.....
The secret of life lies in laughter and humility. —GKC
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Thank you all :) I'll make sure to dig up the mouthorgan as soon as I'm at my parent's place.

My grandma (rest her soul) bought it for me when I was a kid. Payed the equivalent of about 100 Euros for it (in Shillings still - that was before the currency union) which was a LOT of money for her. She also went all the way to Wels (a bigger town, about an hour away) to get it for me, because she knew I would enjoy it.
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Time for another Yodel! This time it's Melanie Oesch claiming that her father is from Appenzell which is a fib because she and her family are from Canton Bern. The other lady with the short haircut singing along with her is her mother, while her father is playing the small squeezebox. As you can see, she's a bit slower than Franzl Lang.

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And here is Die Dritten's tribute to HM on the occasion of her Platinum Jubilee.

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Now THAT is definitely a swiss dialect! :D
I have some swiss friends and in the beginning, I didn't catch a single word they were saying, lol. It got better with time, but it's VERY hard to understand.

But wow, she is really good!!!
That is some nice yodeling!
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Melanie is 34 now - the first video of her is from 14 years ago when she was in her very early 20s. Her Mum has abandoned the short hair look!
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Three yodelling ladies today - Angela from Germany, Melanie from Switzerland and Herlinde from Austria. They are doing their own take of the same yodel song. And then they go marching round the arena yodelling in harmony. This video is 13 years old and Melanie is very much the baby of the trio.

Last edited by OurCreature on Mon Dec 26, 2022 5:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Not 100% yodelling but still Alpine - here are Nicolas Senn and Lisa Stoll playing their traditional Swiss instruments along with Die Dritten. Nicolas is playing the Hackbrett (hammered dulcimer) while Lisa is playing the Alpenhorn. Nicolas, so his biography tells me, has been fascinated by this instrument since early childhood. He's from Canton Appenzell and you would know in Switzerland without being told because of his traditional Bajoran-style earring hanging from his right ear. Lisa is from Canton Schaffhausen.

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Post by TRavine »

Very nice! Love the Hackbrett playing (the instrument similar to a zither, but played with hammers) - I think I can actually play a bit of it. Haven't had the chance to try it out in a long time though.

Since tomorrow is the first Sunday of Advent, have an alpine Advent song. It's bavarian, but rather popular in Austria as well. We sang it in school at our Christmas concerts. This version also features a Hackbrett.



Lyrics:

Let's sing, in Advent,
a beautiful tune, a very beautiful tune,
and grow quiet, so quiet

Let's sing in Advent
carry a light out into the world
quietly, so quietly

Let's sing, in Advent,
as is the old custom,
as is the good custom,
and grow quiet, so quiet
"I'm not sure I'd know how to dabble." 8-)
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Post by merry »

I am so enjoying this lovely topic.
Let's sing, in Advent,
a beautiful tune, a very beautiful tune,
and grow quiet, so quiet
This is very beautiful.

And fitting for the day
"... not to be told a story, but to live inside a dream." - Hades, The Burnt City
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