World-renowned folk music may be included on the UNESCO list

Yodeling is a singing technique characteristic of Tyrolean folk music, involving a sudden shift from low to high notes. Originally, mountain people used it to call cattle grazing in the mountain pastures. Now, the Swiss government is seeking to have yodeling added to the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List.

According to the Swiss government, at least 12,000 people are involved in the approximately 780 groups belonging to the Swiss Yodeling Association . This tradition is evolving, attracting more and more women. Once primarily a male domain, it was once a male-dominated activity.

According to the Associated Press, the Swiss government has submitted an application to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to include the yodeling tradition on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List . The UNESCO Committee for Intangible Cultural Heritage is expected to make a decision on the matter in mid-December in New Delhi.

Applicants for inclusion in the Intangible Cultural Heritage List are asked to describe the future prospects for their respective traditions. With this in mind, the Swiss Yodeling Association, together with the Roothus Gonten folk music center and the University of Lucerne, have developed projects aimed at introducing yodeling into primary schools.

If the procedure is successful, yodeling will join traditions such as nestinarstwo - a Bulgarian dance on hot coals, klapa - polyphonic singing by men in Dalmatia, and fado - melancholic Portuguese songs.