The Kurieholen, or Ranz des Vaches, the celebrated national air of the
Swiss, does not consist in articulated sounds, nor is it accompanied by
words; but is a simple melody formed by a kind of guttural intonation
very closely resembling the tones of a flute. Two of these voices at a
short distance produce the most pleasing effect, the echoes of the
surrounding rocks reverberating the music till it seems like enchantment;
but sometimes the illusion is dissipated by the appearance of the singers,
in the persons of two old women, returning from their labour in a
neighbouring valley.