Yo-Di-Li-O

For jaded music lovers, looking for relief from the cultivated festivals that stipple the map of Europe, the Swiss National Yodel Festival last week was just the right rustic contrast. In the valley city of St. Gall (alt. 2,200 feet) gathered 2,800 apple-cheeked yo-di-li-o experts, the pick of Switzerland. The event was partly a competition, partly just a good chance to have fun./-

The yodelers performed singly and in groups, dressing up Swiss songs of summertime and young love with decorative hooting & hollering. Four judges sat and graded them on four points: 1) general impression, 2) tone and pronunciation, 3) rhythm and "dynamism," and 4) the purity of their singing as a whole. After two days and two nights of it, the singers stopped and awaited the verdict on their work. Ears ringing, the judges declined to choose a winner. Instead, they gave out little silver buttons classifying the wearer as first class (awarded to 95 of the soloists), good (85), or fair (22). A handful of performers, all of them city dwellers who had taken up yodeling in urban yodel clubs, were judged to have too "cultivated" a style. They drew the crushing verdict "insufficient."

/- The yodel used to be highly functional as one of the best ways of signaling friends in the Alps. Now that they have telephones, the Swiss use their ability mostly to entertain themselves. It still warms their hearts to hoot and hear the sound bounce back.

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