The Sound of Music (song)

"The Sound of Music"
Song
Published 1959
Composer(s) Richard Rodgers
Lyricist(s) Oscar Hammerstein II

“The Sound of Music” is the title song from the 1959 musical The Sound of Music. It was composed by Richard Rodgers with lyrics written by Oscar Hammerstein II.

Performances

In 1959, Rodgers and Hammerstein asked singer Patti Page to record the title song of their forthcoming musical, The Sound of Music, hoping for some national attention. Page recorded the song for Mercury Records[1] on the day that the musical opened on Broadway. Since Page's version was recorded a week before the original Broadway cast album, Page was the first artist to record any song from the musical. She featured the song on her national TV variety show sponsored by Oldsmobile, The Patti Page Olds Show.

The song was sung by Mary Martin in the 1959 original Broadway production.

The version of the song which is perhaps the best known was sung by Julie Andrews in the 1965 film version, with a reprise by the Von Trapp family later in the film. The song introduces the character of Maria, a young novice in an Austrian abbey.

Neely Plumb was the music producer of the film's soundtrack album, which incorporated this version.[2]

Cues

The stage version of the song has a four-line verse ("My day in the hills has come to an end I know...") followed by the familiar chorus "The hills are alive with the sound of music..." The film soundtrack and the soundtrack album have two different instrumental preludes to "The hills are alive..." both of which contain portions of the music of the original verse. The cast album to the 1998 Broadway revival contains the four-line verse as well as the instrumental prelude present in the film version. This version is also the same key as the film version.

Honors and lists

The song was ranked tenth in the American Film Institute's list of the 100 Greatest Songs in Movie History.

The opening line, "the hills are alive with the sound of music" appears in the 1968 Beatles movie Yellow Submarine and the TV show Friends in Season 1 Episode 22 (1995). The song is referenced many times in the film Moulin Rouge! (2001). The Julie Andrews recording from the film features in the 1993 film Addams Family Values. Renée Zellweger performs the song in the 2004 film Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason.

A Simpsons comic book has a section in which Sideshow Bob and his brother Cecil sing parodies of musicals. Some of the songs are based on The Sound of Music, with the original lyrics replaced by ones about killing Bart Simpson. One example: "The hills are alive and they ate Bart Simpson."

In 2007, Carrie Underwood performed the song live Maria in The Sound of Music Live!. The program was seen live by more than 18 million viewers.[3] JLS sampled the song on their 2010 single "The Club Is Alive". The single debuted on the UK Singles Chart at number one.[4]

References

  1. ↑ "Patti Page – 'The Sound Of Music' / 'Little Donkey'", Discogs.com, accessed December 8, 2015. The disc debuted at No. 99 on the Billboard Hot 100. "Hot 100 Ads 16", The Billboard, December 28, 1959, p. 5, accessed December 8, 2015
  2. ↑ Plumb is credited as music producer on the back cover of the soundtrack album's LP version.
  3. ↑ Kondolojy, Amanda (December 6, 2013). "Thursday Final Ratings: 'The Big Bang Theory' & 'The X Factor' Adjusted Up; 'Once Upon a Time in Wonderland', 'The Millers', 'Grey's Anatomy' & Scandal' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved December 7, 2013.
  4. ↑ Jones, Alan (12 July 2010). "JLS and Kylie top charts". Music Week. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
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