“The Lonely Goatherd” was written for Maria to comfort and distract the children after they find their way to her bedroom, frightened by the thunderstorm. The notion that Maria would invent a whole story for the children is very much in keeping with her spirit. For the movie, “The Lonely Goatherd” was adapted into a puppet show, which Maria and … Read More

Oldest child Liesl, who tells Maria “I don’t need a governess,” is “Sixteen Going On Seventeen.” Enchanted by a local boy named Rolf, who is a year older, Liesl plays along as he boasts about his relative experience and maturity. A classic Rodgers & Hammerstein “almost love song,” “Sixteen Going On Seventeen” provides a moment of lightness and naïvete for … Read More

“Do-Re-Mi” is Maria’s teaching song, sung to the reluctant children, who have just been introduced to yet another governess. Though the children tell Maria there is no music in the house, she forges ahead, unperturbed. One by one, the children warm to Maria and the notion of singing. By the end of the song, they have all been won over. … Read More

“My Favorite Things” provides a moment early in the stage show, as Maria and Mother Abbess share their mutual love of a childhood tune. A list song celebrating a wide variety of subjects familiar to an Austrian child, the piece is a lilting waltz, alternating from minor key to major key. In the film, “My Favorite Things” was repurposed to … Read More

“I Have Confidence” was written specifically for the film by Richard Rodgers alone, since Oscar Hammerstein II had died six months after the show’s Broadway opening. The filmmakers suggested the song as a way to visualize Maria’s journey from the Abbey to the von Trapp villa. There is a moment in the film, when Maria is crossing Residenzplatz, when the … Read More

Young Maria, full of life and curiosity, wants to become a nun, but it remains to be seen whether her destiny lies in the solemn, quiet life of the sisterhood. When they see Maria running past them, late for evening prayers, Mother Abbess and the sisters question whether the young postulant is fit for the reserved life of a nun. … Read More

In the title song, “The Sound of Music,” Maria is introduced in her place of refuge – outdoors, in her familiar hills. This is where she goes to have solitude, to contemplate her life. She begins with: “My day in the hills has come to an end, I know” – she knows she has to get back to the Abbey, … Read More