The Sound of Music (song)
| "The Sound of Music" | |
|---|---|
| Song from The Sound of Music | |
| Published | 1959 |
| Writer(s) | Oscar Hammerstein II |
| Composer(s) | Richard Rodgers |
“The Sound of Music” is the title song from the 1959 musical The Sound of Music. Its music was composed by Richard Rodgers to lyrics written by Oscar Hammerstein II.
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 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.
The stage version of the song has a four-line vocal prelude ("My day in the hills has come to an end I know...") followed by the familiar "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 original vocal prelude. The cast album to the 1998 Broadway revival contains the four-line prelude as well as the instrumental prelude present in the film version. This version is also the same key as the film version.
The song was ranked tenth in the American Film Institute's list of the 100 Greatest Songs in Movie History.
Italo-American opera/romantic crossover artist Sergio Franchi recorded the song in his 1963 RCA Victor Red Seal album Broadway, I Love You.
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