Swiss Mountain Music

Swiss Mountain Music was a 1957 album published by Capitol Records, Inc. containing music involving yodeling and alphorn performances.

Stats

• OCLC: https://www.worldcat.org/title/221191101
• Pub date: 1957
• Publisher: Capitol Records, Inc.
• Internet Archive snapshot: https://archive.org/details/lp_swiss-mountain-music_various-alois-lischer-berner-landler-quint

History

• 1970s: The Price is Right used On the Franches Mountains song during its “Cliffhangers” minigame as early as 1977.
• 2017-02-21: In Opening Arguments episode 45, co-host Thomas Smith used a clip of On the Franches Mountains as introduction music for a regular segment that would become known as "Yodel Mountain"; the segment analogized Donald Trump's accumulation of criminal activity without legal consequences to the climb of a mountain climber puppet in the “Cliffhangers” minigame of the The Price is Right television show.

Album information

Transcribed from a scan of the LP case on the Internet Archive.

SWITZERLAND, by North American standards, is indeed a tiny nation. But its rich and melodic folk music offers far more variety than the music of many larger countries.

This long-playing record, actually recorded in Switzerland by numerous of the most popular Swiss recording artists, reflects the generous variety of true Swiss music.

It is entertaining, danceable and —most importantly— “different” from the music of other nations.

The massive alphorn is purely Swiss. Immense in size, as this albumʼs colorful front cover photo confirms, the alphorn looks like anything but a musical instrument. Only a few native moun- tain herdsmen have the wind, the strength and embouchure to play it. Not many alphorns are to be found these days in the Swiss Alps. They are fast disappearing, and so are the men who are skilled enough to play them.

This is the first (and only) recording of an authentic Swiss alphorn ever to be recorded in true high fidelity on modern sound equipment. It is heard at the start of Side One and, again, at the conclusion of Side Two.

Few Swiss can yodel, contrary to a widely-prevalent myth. But those who can are the best yodellers in the world. .

The origin of yodelling is not clear. Some say it comes from pagan songs of consecration of the alpine meadows. Others assert that yodelling evolved down through the centuries from cattle calls. Others argue that yodelling is merely a musical way of expressing shouts of joy.

Only within the last few decades, perhaps since the turn of the century, has Ländlermusik mit Jodel (country dance music featuring yodelling) gained wide popularity in Switzerland. The Zäuerli from Canton Appenzell is similar to the Naturjodel, and in Eastern Switzerland these two types of yodelling are often combined with the unusual Talerschwingen. A large silver coin is thrown into an earthenware basin which is then moved with one hand in a horizontal circle. The coin climbs up the side of the basin like a motorcyclist on the “wall of death” and a peculiar hissing note results.

Ländlermusik (country dance music) is performed traditionally in the Alpine valleys and in the villages of the central plain. At harvest festivals and weddings the old, cheerful tunes are heard over and over again. The true Ländler is a quick waltz with a clarinet or accordion playing melody, and often with considerable virtuosity. The normal waltz and a not-too-fast polka are, however, also included in the general description, as was at one time the now almost forgotten mazurka.

Each valley has its own melodies and instrumental combinations. This is apparent as you come with us over the Säntis into Appenzell, into the valley of the Grisons, to the Lake of the Four Cantons, to the Bernese Oberland, and the Jura. How different the music of the Ticino sounds, warm with the sun of nearby Italy!

At one time Ländlermusik was played on fiddle, bass-fiddle and hackbrett (a triangular zither whose strings are struck with light wooden rods, something like the cymbalon of gypsy orchestras). Nowadays the fiddle and hackbrett are found only in Appenzell. Clear trumpets notes are also to be heard, especially in the Berne district. French influences in the Jura give rise to rapid rhythms and the quick, tongue-modulated yodel.

To round off our short Capitol tour of Switzerland, we hear the cumbersome Alphorn once more, a dying echo from the land of beautiful Alps.

This is Switzerland in music!

MANUFACTURED BY CAPITOL RECORDS, INC., A SUBSIDIARY OF CAPITOL INDUSTRIES, INC., HOLLYWOOD AND VINE STREETS, HOLLYWOOD. CALIF. • FACTORIES: SCRANTON, PA., LOS ANGELES, CALIF., JACKSONVILLE, ILL.

Front Cover Color Photo by Sandra Thaw

Song information

Track Information

Side	Track	Song title	Description	Artist	Notes
1	1	ALPHORN WITH CATTLE		Alois Lischer
1	1	APPENZELLER YODEL WITH MOVING COINS		Franzsepp Inauen
1	1	UP TO THE RIGI	Country Dance With Yodelling	Ländlerkapelle Rigibuebe; Yodelling by Marthi Mumenthaler and Vreni Pfyl
1	1	BUNDER-SCHOTTISCH	Grisons Country Dance	Bünder Ländler-Quintet
1	1	THE HARE	Toggenburg Yodel	Jakob Metzler and Jodelklub Männertreu, Nesslau
1	1	ALPINE HERDSMAN	Central Swiss Dance	Accordion Duet by Wild and Forster
1	2	ALPINE SONG	From Appenzell	Innerrhoder Streichmusik, Franzsepp Inauen
1	2	ON THE LAKE OF BRIENZ	Berner Oberland Polka	Accordion Duet by Wild and Forster
1	2	THE MARCHLER	Central Swiss Waltz	Ländlerkapelle Rigibuebe; Yodelling by Marthi Mumenthaler and Vreni Pfyl
1	2	SPIEZER POLKA	Berner Oberland	The Berner Ländler-Quintet
1	2	THE SEVEN BOYS	Toggenburg Yodel	Yodelklub Männertreu, Nesslau
2	1	ON THE FRANCHES MOUNTAINS	Jura Bernois Country Dance With Yodelling	The Jura Orchestra	(Baltakatei: a.k.a. the “Cliffhangers” theme from The Price is Right. or the “Yodel Mountain” theme from Opening Arguments.)
2	1	IN THE AREA ʼROUND BERN	Country Dance With Yodelling	Berner Ländler-Quintet
2	1	GREETINGS FROM TICINO		Orchestrina Zurigo
2	1	SUN IN AROSA	Grisons Waltz With Yodelling	Bündner Ländler-Quintet; Yodelling by Marthi Mumenthaler and Vreni Pfyl
2	1	THE LISTENER	Toggenburg Yodelling With Moving Coins	Jakob Metzler and Jodelklub Männertreu, Nesslau
2	2	ON THE CAUMA LAKE	Grisons Waltz	Bündner Ländler-Quintet
2	2	THE SPRINGS AT WEGGIS	Central Swiss Song	Ländlerkapelle Rigibuebe
2	2	COME ON THE LAKE	Ticino Waltz	Orchestrina Zurigo
2	2	VIEW FROM THE ALPS	Neuchatel Polka With Yodelling	The Jura Orchestra
2	2	ALPHORN WITH CATTLE BELLS		Alois Lischer

Baltakatei History

• 2023-03-30: I posted about the indictment on my Mastodon account, linking the highest quality version of the “Cliffhangers” minigame music (from The Price is Right) which is called “On The Franches Mountains” and performed by the Jura Orchestra in 1957.

  I posted a comment on the Serious Inquiries Only podcast subreddit since as of earlier this year, many listeners of that podcast were Opening Arguments listeners who were familiar with the "If Donald Trump keeps yodeling up the mountain, eventually he's going to fall off, right?" in-joke since it first appeared on Opening Arguments since 2017.