The Sound of Music is a
musical with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein and music by Richard Rodgers. It is
based on the memoir of Maria von Trapp, The
Story of the Trapp Family Singers. Set in Austria on the eve of the Anschluss
(the annexation of Austria with Nazi Germany) in 1938, the musical tells the
story of Maria, who takes a job as governess to a large family while she
decides whether to become a nun. She falls in love with the children, and
eventually their widowed father, Captain von Trapp. He is ordered to accept a
commission in the German navy, but he opposes the Nazis. He and Maria decide on
a plan to flee Austria with the children. Many songs from the musical have
become standards, such as "Edelweiss", "My Favorite Things",
"Climb Ev'ry Mountain", "Do-Re-Mi", and the title song
"The Sound of Music".
The original Broadway production opened in 1959 and won five Tony
Awards, including Best Musical. It was adapted as a 1965 film musical starring Julie
Andrews and Christopher Plummer, which won five Academy Awards.
After viewing The Trapp Family,
a 1956 West German film about the von Trapp family, and its 1958 sequel (Die Trapp-Familie in Amerika), details
of the history of the von Trapp family were altered for the musical. The real Georg
von Trapp did live with his family in a villa in Aigen, a suburb of Salzburg.
He wrote to the Nonnberg Abbey in 1926 asking for a nun to help tutor his sick
daughter, and the Mother Abbess sent Maria. His wife had died in 1922. The real
Maria and Georg married at the Nonnberg Abbey in 1927. The story was altered so
that Maria was governess to all of the children, whose names and ages were
changed, as was Maria's original surname. The von Trapps spent some years in
Austria after Maria and the Captain married and was offered a commission in Germany's
navy. Since von Trapp opposed the Nazis by that time, the family left Austria
after the Anschluss, going by train to Italy and then traveling on to London
and the United States. To make the story more dramatic, it was rewritten so
that soon after Maria's and the Captain's wedding, the family escapes over the
mountains to Switzerland on foot.
Act I
In Salzburg, Austria, just before World War II, nuns from Nonnberg Abbey
sing the Dixit Dominus. One of
the postulants, Maria Rainer, is on the nearby mountainside, regretting leaving
the beautiful hills ("The Sound of Music") where she was brought up.
She returns late. The Mother Abbess and the other nuns consider what to do
about her ("Maria"). Maria explains her lateness, saying she was
raised on that mountain, and apologizes for singing in the garden without
permission. The Mother Abbess joins her in song ("My Favorite Things”).
The Mother Abbess tells her that she should spend some time outside the abbey
to decide whether she is ready for the monastic life. She will act as the governess
to the seven children of a widower, Austro-Hungarian Navy submarine Captain Georg
von Trapp.
Maria arrives at the villa of Captain von Trapp. He explains her duties and
summons the children with a boatswain's call. They march in, clad in uniforms.
He teaches her their individual signals on the call, but she openly disapproves
of this militaristic approach. Alone with them, she breaks through their
wariness and teaches them the basics of music ("Do-Re-Mi").
Rolf, a young messenger, delivers a telegram and then meets with the oldest
child, Liesl, outside the villa. He claims he knows what is right for her
because he is a year older than she ("Sixteen Going on Seventeen").
They kiss, and he runs off, leaving her squealing with joy. Meanwhile, the housekeeper,
Frau Schmidt, gives Maria material to make new clothes, as Maria had given all
her possessions to the poor. Maria sees Liesl slipping in through the window,
wet from a sudden thunderstorm, but agrees to keep her secret. The other
children are frightened by the storm. Maria sings "The Lonely Goatherd"
to distract them.
Captain von Trapp arrives a month later from Vienna with Baroness Elsa Schrader
and Max Detweiler. Elsa tells Max that something is preventing the Captain from
marrying her. He opines that only poor people have the time for great romances
("How Can Love Survive"). Rolf enters, looking for Liesl, and greets
them with "Heil". The Captain orders him away, saying that he is
Austrian, not German. Maria and the children leapfrog in, wearing play-clothes
that she made from the old drapes in her room. Infuriated, the Captain sends
them off to change. She tells him that they need him to love them, and he
angrily orders her back to the abbey. As she apologizes, they hear the children
singing "The Sound of Music", which she had taught them, to welcome
Elsa Schräder. He joins in and embraces them. Alone with Maria, he asks her to
stay, thanking her for bringing music back into his house. Elsa is suspicious
of her until she explains that she will be returning to the abbey in September.
The Captain gives a party to introduce Elsa, and guests argue over the Anschluss. Kurt asks Maria to teach
him to dance the Landler. When he fails to negotiate a complicated figure, the
Captain steps in to demonstrate. He and Maria dance until they come
face-to-face; and she breaks away, embarrassed and confused. Discussing the
expected marriage between Elsa and the Captain, Brigitta tells Maria that she
thinks Maria and the Captain are really in love with each other. Elsa asks the
Captain to allow the children to say goodnight to the guests with a song,
"So Long, Farewell". Max is amazed at their talent and wants them for
the Kaltzberg Festival, which he is organizing. The guests leave for the dining
room, and Maria slips out the front door with her luggage.
At the abbey, Maria says that she is ready to take her monastic vows; but
the Mother Abbess realizes that she is running away from her feelings. She
tells her to face the Captain and discover if they love each other, and tells
her to search for and find the life she was meant to live ("Climb Ev'ry
Mountain").
Act II
Max teaches the children how to sing on stage. When the Captain tries to
lead them, they complain that he is not doing it as Maria did. He tells them
that he has asked Elsa to marry him. They try to cheer themselves up by singing
"My Favorite Things" but are unsuccessful until they hear Maria
singing on her way to rejoin them. Learning of the wedding plans, she decides
to stay only until the Captain can arrange for another governess. Max and Elsa
argue with him about the imminent Anschluss,
trying to convince him that it is inevitable ("No Way to Stop It").
When he refuses to compromise, Elsa breaks off the engagement. Alone, the
Captain and Maria finally admit their love, desiring only to be "An
Ordinary Couple". As they marry, the nuns reprise "Maria"
against the wedding processional.
During the honeymoon, Max prepares the children to perform at the Kaltzberg
Festival. Herr Zeller, the Gauleiter,
demands to know why they are not flying the flag of the Third Reich now that
the Anschluss has occurred. The
Captain and Maria return early from their honeymoon before the Festival. In
view of developments, he refuses to allow the children to sing. Max argues that
they would sing for Austria, but the Captain points out that it no longer
exists. Maria and Liesl discuss romantic love; Maria predicts that in a few
years Liesl will be married ("Sixteen Going on Seventeen (Reprise)").
Rolf enters with a telegram that offers the Captain a commission in the German
Navy, and Liesl is upset to discover that Rolf is now a committed Nazi. The
Captain consults Maria and decides that they must secretly flee Austria. German
Admiral von Schreiber arrives to find out why Captain von Trapp has not
answered the telegram. He explains that the German Navy holds him in high
regard, offers him the commission, and tells him to report immediately to Bremerhaven
to assume command. Maria says that he cannot leave immediately, as they are all
singing in the Festival concert; and the Admiral agrees to wait.
At the concert, after the von Trapps sing an elaborate reprise of
"Do-Re-Mi", Max brings out the Captain's guitar. Captain von Trapp
sings "Edelweiss", as a goodbye to his homeland, while using Austria's
national flower as a symbol to declare his loyalty to the country. Max asks for
an encore and announces that this is the von Trapp family's last chance to sing
together, as the honor guard waits to escort the Captain to his new command.
While the judges decide on the prizes, the von Trapps sing "So Long,
Farewell", leaving the stage in small groups. Max then announces the
runners-up, stalling as much as possible. When he announces that the first
prize goes to the von Trapps and they do not appear, the Nazis start a search.
The family hides at the Abbey, and Sister Margaretta tells them that the
borders have been closed. Rolf comes upon them and calls his lieutenant, but
after seeing Liesl he changes his mind and tells him they aren't there. The
Nazis leave, and the von Trapps flee over the Alps as the nuns reprise
"Climb Ev'ry Mountain".
