ranz des vaches

From Swiss French ranz des vaches.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈɹɒ̃(s)deɪvaʃ/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈɹɑ̃(s)deɪvəʃ/

ranz des vaches (plural ranz des vaches)

1. (music) Any of numerous traditional Swiss melodies played on the alpenhorn, originally to call cows in from the mountains. [from 18th c.]
   • 1972, Friedrich Schiller, William F. Mainland, transl., Wilhelm Tell, Act II, scene i:

     The herald cries his summons to the lists,
     But no sound comes to these sequestered valleys;
     I only hear the melancholy note
     Of cowbells and the dreary ranz des vaches.

From Swiss variant of rang des vaches (literally “rank of the cows”), calque of dialectal German Kuhreihen, with the second element Reihen (“dance”) misinterpreted at Reihe (“row”).

• IPA^(key): /ʁɑ̃ de vaʃ/, /ʁɑ̃s de vaʃ/

ranz des vaches m (plural ranz des vaches)

1. (music) ranz des vaches