Ranz des Vaches

Ranz des Vaches (in German, Kuhreigen), a name applied to certain simple native melodies of the Swiss Alps, which are usually sung by the herdsmen, and played by them when driving their herds to and from the pasture, on the Aliphorn or Kuh-horn (q.v.). The associations of pastoral life recalled by these airs to the Swiss in foreign countries have been said to produce an almost irresistible longing for home, or nostalgia.