JODLER (Yodeler)
Uli Gruber
Timeline
Uli Gruber (b. 1964)
- born 1964 in Germany. Uli Gruber has written much music for children in a variety of contemporary styles. He has also taken well known pieces such as The Entertainer and made simplified arrangements for young pianists to enjoy playing.
Style
Jodler comes from a collection of 38 pieces called Play and Enjoy. It is written in a CONTEMPORARY style but the music has an interesting title…
Yodeling is a form of singing involving rapid changes of pitch between low-pitch and high-pitch notes. It can often be heard in the folk music from Switzerland, Austria, and southern Germany. It can be heard over long distances and dates back many centuries from when herders would call to their sheep and cattle or to their home villages in the mountains.
It is quite unusual – just Click on this image to see the famous yodeller Franzl Lang from Bavaria in the south of Germany:
When the Uli Gruber wrote this piece there were no dynamics but the editor has added dynamics for the exam to give it more interest. The editor has also added the English translation of the title in brackets (Yodeler).
Interpretation
- This piece can be played with a gentle lilt to give it more movement – rather like a slow Waltz which is a dance in 3 time.
- The suggested tempo at ♩= 102 might feel a bit slow. It is fine to play it a little quicker as long as it still feels like Andante
- Keep the right hand quavers even in rhythm and tone so the higher notes do not jump out.
- The dynamics mf and mp might seem very close but it is fine to make more of a difference between them.
- The first two lines can be played legato in the right hand but lighten the second note of each pair in the left hand rather like this:
- The crotchets in bar 4 and 8 can also be slightly detached:
- The second half of the piece can be phrased differently to give it more interest:
- At the end just take a little time before placing the last note in the left hand:
