A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Tyrolienne

by William Barclay Squire

TYROLIENNE, a modified form of Ländler. [See vol. ii. p. 83.] The 'Tyrolienne' never had any distinctive existence as a dance; the name was first applied to Ballet music, supposed more or less accurately to represent the naïve dances of the Austrian or Bavarian peasants. In a similar manner it was adopted by the compilers of trivial school-room pieces, with whom it is as much a rule to print their title-pages in French as their marks of time and expression in Italian. The fashion for Tyrolean music in England was first set by the visit of the Rainer family, in May 1827, since when several similar performances have been heard from time to time. Most of these companies of peasant musicians come from the Ziller Thal, where the peculiar forms of Tyrolean music may still be heard better than anywhere else. The best-known example of an artificial 'Tyrolienne' is the well-known 'Chœur Tyrolien' in Act iii. of Rossini's 'Guillaume Tell,' the first strain of which is given below. For examples of the genuine Ländler we must refer the reader to Ritter v. Spaun's 'Oesterreichischen Volksweisen' (Vienna, 1845), M. V. Suss's 'Salzburger Volkslieder' (Salzburg. 1865), or Von Kobell's 'Schnadahüpfeln' (Munich, 1845).

A characteristic feature of the original form of Ländler as sung in Austrian and Bavarian Tyrol is the Jodel. This term is applied to the abrupt but not inharmonious changes from the chest voice to the falsetto, which are such a well-known feature in the performances of Tyrolese singers. The practice is not easy to acquire, unless the voice has been accustomed to it from early youth: it also requires a powerful organ and considerable compass. Jodels form an impromptu adornment to the simple country melodies sung by the peasants; they are also used as ritornels or refrains at the end of each verse of the song. They are not sung to words, but merely vocalised, although passages resembling them in form are of frequent occurrence in Tyrolean melodies. Examples of these will be found below in a dance song from von Spaun's collection. Moscheles (Tyrolese Melodies, 1827) tried to note down some of the Jodels sung by the Rainer family, but the result was neither accurate nor successful.

[ W. B. S. ]