Traditional music and dance
What could be more Tyrolean than yodeling? This form of singing, which consists of rapidly alternating passages in chest and head voice, has a long history in European rural tradition, and is still a staple of the region's folk music. In concrete terms, it's thanks to a guttural technique, in which syllables follow one another in onomatopoeia, interspersed with high-pitched sounds, that singers produce the famous "yodela-hihou! This song probably originated in the shepherds' need to communicate at a distance, from one mountain or valley to another, stringing together a succession of syllables at different pitches so that they could be heard at the whim of the winds.
The tyrolienne is usually accompanied by accordion, and can be seen as a cousin of the French musette. The difference is that, unlike its French cousin, tyrolienne is alive and well today, whether at folk festivals, on stage or even on Austrian TV. Tyrolean singing is generally performed by groups dressed in folk costumes, accompanied by Schuhplattlers, costumed dancers who set the rhythm by clapping their thighs and shoes, and who generously feed the Tyrolean image.
Want to hear some yodeling? It's commonplace throughout Tyrol, and some establishments, such as theAlpenhotel Fernau (in the Stubai valley), even offer it during meals. Funnily enough, yodelling has long since crossed the borders of the Tyrol, and historically, some of the greatest performers of the discipline include an American, country singer Jimmy Rodgers in the 1920s, and a Japanese, Takeo Ishii, who is still active (and successful) today.
Apart from yodeling, the region is also home to a number of emblematic dances, known as Folkloretänze. Starting with the Ländler, the region's most popular folk dance. More or less equivalent to the French bourrée, it is traditionally performed in the round and combined with yodeling. Particularly bouncy, it appealed to composers such as Beethoven, Schubert, Bruckner and Mahler, who included it in some of their works. Originally from the Tyrol, the Zwiefacher is also a derivative of the waltz, a couple's dance in which the duet turns quickly and tightly. Less well known but just as authentic and picturesque, the Watschentanz is a masculine dance in which men dressed in Bermuda shorts and suspenders perform jousts simulating combat. Mentioned earlier, the Schuhplattler is another male dance very popular in Tyrol, where men form a circle, clap their hands and feet and perform acrobatic figures to impress women, in a sort of collective love parade in which individuals must distinguish themselves by their prowess.
These dancers are usually accompanied by folk orchestras that include accordionists, as well as zither and Hackbrett players. The region is also famous for the alphorn, although it is more often associated with Swiss folklore. These huge, elongated instruments, with one end resting on the ground, produce powerful sounds that can also be used for long-distance communication. At concerts, they are usually played in an orchestra, with at least four choristers playing together, producing an impressive vocal volume! These long trumpets are generally carved from a single block of spruce trunks, then reeled in. They measure between 3.60 and 4 meters in length, with some reaching over 15 meters! Of course, the longer the horn, the more breath it takes to produce a sound, and the more powerful it is...
As a festive region, Tyrol offers many opportunities to discover its folklore. The best time is during Carnival, known as Fasnacht, a series of festivities involving costumed parades and zany masks carved from wood, some of which are very old and a joy to behold. Alternatively, every first weekend in May, Zell am Ziller hosts one of Tyrol's biggest festivals, the Gauderfest, which translates as "Festival of the Good Times". This pure folk festival celebrating the arrival of spring is a veritable feast of traditional costumes, with Tyrolean dances and ranggeln (traditional wrestling) competitions. In the same spirit, the Pitztaler Schneefest(Pitztal Snow Festival) is another of Tyrol's colorful folk festivals, with a huge parade of traditional music.
In the Italian Tyrol, more specifically in the Dolomites, the work of the Calicanto group and the Dolomites Folk Orchestra is noteworthy, both driven by a similar ambition: to produce works aimed at preserving and revitalizing the local folk repertoire.
Classical music
For any self-respecting classical music lover, Austria is a sacred land. A cradle for the genre, where some of its greatest geniuses (let's not mince words) were born and flourished. The country's musical golden age corresponds to that of the apogee of Austrian civilization, i.e. the period spanning the reigns of Charles VI (1711-1740), Maria Theresa (1740-1780) and Joseph I (1780-1790). A crossroads of influences and the embodiment of Humanism, Austria was the ideal breeding ground for great music.
A land of music lovers in every corner, Tyrol also boasts a number of fine music festivals. These include the Tiroler Festspiele, a classical music festival held in Erl (Kufstein region), in an open-air opera house overlooking green expanses and inaccessible peaks, or the Innsbruck Early Music Festival, dedicated to masterpieces of the 16thand 17th centuries, some of which are performed in the splendid Ambras Castle.
