After avoiding the subject for most of their visit, Elsa and Max talk plainly with the Captain about responding to the coming Anschluss. Max and Elsa, who’d rather make friends than enemies, encourage the Captain to “compromise” and be “non-committal.” But he remains steadfast in his loyalty to his homeland and refuses to capitulate. “No Way to Stop It” is … Read More

When Maria returns to the Abbey, confused by her feelings for Captain von Trapp, the Mother Abbess assures her that loving another person can be part of what God wants us to do. “You must find the life you were born to live,” she says before singing this inspirational anthem. By the end of the song, Maria understands and removes … Read More

Max is looking for singers for the “Kaltzberg Festival” (renamed the “Salzburg Festival” for the film) when the children perform “So Long, Farewell” for the dinner guests before heading off to bed. Elsa had encouraged them to perform the song, and Max realizes that a family of singers would be perfect for the concert. The Captain is not pleased at … Read More

In a key moment in the story, a traditional Austrian Folk dance is played at the party, and Maria helps young Kurt remember the steps. The Captain cuts in, taking Kurt’s place, and soon finds himself face to face with Maria. For the first time, the Captain and Maria recognize their unspoken attraction.

Max and Elsa, friends of Captain von Trapp, are guests at his villa. Assuming that Elsa will eventually marry the Captain, Max asks why she hasn’t secured the Captain’s hand in marriage. He suggests that the problem may be money, since Elsa and the Captain are both rich! Teasingly, Max sings, “In all the famous love affairs, the lovers have … Read More

“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