Yodelling added to Unesco list of the world’s unique cultural heritage

Yodelling has been added to a Unesco list of unique cultural traditions (Michael Probst/AP)

Yodelling has been added to a United Nations list of the world’s unique cultural heritage.

The Alpine style of singing was among 67 traditions honoured by Unesco – the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation – following a meeting in New Delhi, India, on Thursday.

Italian cooking, Ghanaian highlife music, the fermented Kyrgyz beverage Maksym and the El Joropo music and dance tradition in Venezuela, were also picked for inclusion in the list.

The tradition list is different from the Unesco World Heritage List, which enshrines protections for physical sites that are considered important to humanity, like the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt.

“Yodelling can be performed by individuals, small groups or choirs, and sometimes with instruments like the accordion,” said Unesco.

“It features rich harmonics and is often performed at concerts, parties and competitions, with participants typically wearing traditional regional costumes,” the assessment said.

Switzerland’s government pushed the candidacy with Unesco, and promoters insist it is far more than the mountain cries of yesteryear by falsetto-bellowing male herders in suspenders on mountainsides: It is also a popular form of singing.

The government says at least 12,000 yodellers take part through about 780 groups of the Swiss Yodelling Association.