The story behind the sound of music

I heard my daughter humming last week. Listen carefully. I am humming Doraemon. I asked my daughter: How can you hum this song? My daughter said it was a music class, so the teacher showed them the movie "The Sound of Music" and taught them to sing this song. This surprised me that the teacher would arrange such an old movie in teaching. I asked my daughter: Have you finished reading it? The answer is that I haven't finished reading it. Ok, I'll arrange it right away on weekend night. The mother and daughter hid in the warm bed. After watching the film, my daughter watched it with relish.

? There are many episodes in the film, including several classic music that everyone is very familiar with. Music is relaxed, happy and interesting, showing the love for nature and life, such as Doraemon, Blossom of Blood, Good night, goodbye! "The Sound of Music", "The Lonely Shepherd" and so on. These are all masterpieces of art in The Sound of Music. They are considered to be the most cherished music and can be recalled by others.

? In other words, when searching for this movie on the Internet, most of them were in English, and it took a while to find the Mandarin version. On the way to search, I saw a film review about the sound of music, which opened the story behind the film.

? The Sound of Music is based on Maria von trapp's autobiography The Story of trapp Family Singers, which was adapted by American musical masters richard rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II.

? The story of The Sound of Music took place in Salzburg, Austria in 1938. Maria Rainer, a lively young nun, went to the home of retired naval colonel von trapp to take care of his seven children. Colonel von Trapp, though cold and stern, could not resist Maria's purity and kindness after all. They finally got married. Unfortunately, just after their honeymoon, their quiet life was broken by Nazi occupation of Austria.

The story of the von trapp family began in 19 10. Georg von Trapp, an outstanding young Royal Navy colonel, and Agathe Whitehead fell in love at first sight at a dance. At that time, Colonel von Trapp's reputation as a naval commander could be compared with Eisenhower during World War II. Whitehead family, who later became his wife, was also a very rich aristocrat. In fact, Agathe's grandfather was the inventor of the torpedo. After they got married, they inherited the Whitehead property, and even if they lived on interest, they were more than enough.

? Unfortunately, their happy married life was interrupted by the destruction of the Austro-Hungarian Empire after World War I. After the separation of Austria and Hungary, Austria no longer had a coastline (the former Austro-Hungarian Empire included Yugoslavia, and Yugoslavia had a coastline in the Mediterranean), and it was totally meaningless to keep the navy, so Colonel von trapp had to be forced to retire. At the same time, his wife Agate passed away. Johannes, the daughter of Colonel von Trapp, recalled that it was the darkest and most depressing time in her father's life. He devoted his life to the navy, but without the navy he could do nothing, as if he had lost himself.

? After the mother died, the children changed countless caregivers. They used to hire three caregivers at the same time, one to take care of the older children, one to take care of the children and one to take care of the whole family. But the children only liked one nurse, so they found a monastery and Maria was sent to Rapp's home in Feng Te. Unlike in movies, before Maria arrived, the colonel always encouraged the children to sing and play music. When a child sings, he also plays guitar, mandolin or violin. After Maria came, she taught the children to sing different styles of songs more systematically. According to Johannes, their later singing career actually depended on the reputation of Colonel von trapp, whose popularity in Austria made their choir very popular.

The good times didn't last long. 1932 the collapse of the Austrian bank wiped out the savings of the von Trapp family. They rented out some houses, and the children had to learn laundry and other housework. For children, these are all novel and interesting, but for their father, this is a big blow. By this time, he had married Maria and had two children. The only feasible way to raise nine children is to sing outside. Therefore, as parents, before each performance, the colonel first went on stage to introduce his wife and children, then everyone went on stage to perform a few songs, and finally the colonel went on stage to make a curtain call with everyone. At this time, they also met a young priest Franz Vaszner who lived nearby. Vaszner used to be a lawyer, and he also learned music quite well. He not only teaches children to sing and play various musical instruments in a wider and deeper way, but also helps them write songs. Later, the Feng Te Rapp family left Austria for the United States, and he stayed with them all the time.

? Their lives ended on 1938 when Hitler occupied Austria. The von Trapp family received three phone calls. The colonel needs to command the submarine of the German navy. His eldest son just graduated from medical school and was ordered to lead a big hospital in Vienna. Their family choir was invited to sing at Hitler's birthday party. It is said that the colonel called the family together and said, "We are standing next to the grave dug for Austria". He asked whether they would stay in Austria or leave. Although everyone knew it would be difficult to leave Austria, and Maria was pregnant with her tenth child at that time, they chose to leave. When they left home, they were almost empty-handed. What made them unbearable was that Hitler himself occupied their house after they left.

Unlike in the movie, the colonel's family left Austria directly without crossing the Alps. In fact, Salzburg is located on the northern border of Austria, just on the side bordering Germany. So the real von Trapp family pretended to travel to Italy, took a train and then left Austria on foot across the Alps.

? The colonel's family arrived in America. For the next eighteen years, their family traveled around the world nonstop. In order to put family first, growing children have to suspend their lives. Maria insists that the whole family should always be together, even married children. Whenever she arrives at a new place, Maria always asks her family to visit at least one monastery. She always seems unable to choose between what God has given her and what she thinks is important, which also makes her often angry with her children.

? 1947 On May 30th, Colonel von trapp passed away. The children didn't want to run around any more, so they gradually left the singing group. 1956, the Von trapp family choir finally disintegrated. They bought an old farm in Stowe, Vermont, built a house together and took care of the farm together. But they soon found that such income was not enough to support the whole family, so when the family went out to perform, they rented the farm to local skiers. Later, they simply turned the farm into a hotel.

In a performance, because an instrument was missing, Maria waited for the instrument to be brought, while telling the audience the story of the von Trapp family. When the concert was over, a man went backstage and told Maria that she should write such a wonderful story in the book. Maria thought she was more suitable for telling stories, so the man suggested that Maria tell them, and he wrote a story about the von Trapp family. This is the origin of the book Von trapp Singer. This book was published in 1949.

? 1956, a German filmmaker found Maria, and he wanted to buy the copyright of this book for 1 10,000 dollars. Maria asked her lawyer, who told her that she should draw it instead of selling it all at once. But the German producer told Maria that German law did not allow German companies to pay foreigners, and Maria was already an American citizen. Maria believed him, so she sold the copyright of the book Von trapp Singer.

? Not only did the German producer cheat her with unnecessary laws, but a few weeks later, he called Maria and said that if Maria accepted $9,000, he could give her the money immediately. Maria agreed, because she needed money badly.

? As a result, the film Maria's Story and The Dietraps became an unprecedented movie at the German box office on 1956. Because the film was so successful, in 1958, Germany made a sequel, The Trapps Died in America. These two films became the most successful films in Germany after World War II.

1956, Hollywood Paramount Pictures bought the American film rights of Maria's Story-Von trapp's Story. A Broadway producer saw the film and thought the story could be made into an excellent musical, so he also signed a contract with a German producer. And he offered to give Maria 0.006%, which Maria didn't expect, and she accepted it gladly.

? The producers of Broadway are Richard halliday and his wife Mary Martin. They are the first people to play Maria in Broadway. They originally planned to use Vontrop's songs, but hoped to join Maria's solo, so they found the best films in American music at that time, richard rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. However, Rogers and Hammerstein think that the Austrian folk songs sung by Von trapp are not in their style. They prefer to be deputy producers and then start writing all the songs.

? In his autobiography, Rogers mentioned the writing process of The Sound of Music: "We think this play should not only write real characters, but also preserve their background. The Sound of Music is the first song in the play, and it is a song that sings nature and music with waving arms. "Do-re-mi" is Maria's first music lesson to the children, and it is also the result of her attempt to get close to the children. My favorite things are a series of the simplest and most pleasant things. This song smacks of folk songs. The Lonely Shepherd and the music Enderla were both inspired by the Austrian Alps. Climbing every mountain is to cheer up Maria who left the monastery. This song later became the music for the whole family to cross the Alps and leave their motherland Austria. "

? Although Rogers didn't fly to Vienna to experience life in order to write the lyrics of The Sound of Music, he was very serious about the songs in the play. For the Latin hymn in the monastery in the play, he specially invited the monastery in new york and went to new york to listen to their singing. Most of them think that it is the "edelweiss" of Austrian folk songs, but it is actually the result of the cooperation between Rogers and Hammerstein. In fact, this is the last song written by Hammerstein. At that time, Hammerstein already knew that his future days were numbered, so the love for the motherland shown in his songs was also his last wish.

? 1959 165438+1October16 "The Sound of Music" was performed at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre in Broadway, New York, because Mary Martin was very famous at that time, and the play had sold two million dollars of tickets before it was released. Although there are different comments on musicals, the audience's enthusiasm for the von Trapp family is growing. The Sound of Music performed 1443 performances on Broadway, and won six Tony awards, including the best musical. Their records sold as many as 3 million copies.

? Shortly after the opening of the musical, screenwriter Ernest Lehman began to think of ways to rewrite The Sound of Music into a movie. Before that, he had successfully put the musicals "The King and I" and "west side story" on the stage, so Dick Zanuck, then president of Twentieth Century Fox, agreed to let him write the script. In fact, the movie Cleopatra made by Fox Company at that time was very expensive and didn't have a box office. Without the later Sound of Music, Fox may not have been able to do this.

? Next, Lehman and Zanuck found william wyler as a director. He made the classic films Wuthering Heights and Roman Holiday. But Wyler himself didn't like The Sound of Music. Although he accepted the task, he didn't start working. It is said that Lehman handed the first draft to Wheeler without making any changes, which is impossible for a serious director, so Lehman knew at that time that he was leaving the project. Sure enough, Wyler soon announced that he would make another film and give up The Sound of Music. (Although Wyler himself denies it, the general view is that he privately gave the script of The Sound of Music to the later director robert wise. )

? Robert wise is the only person who has won two consecutive Oscars. West side story, which he directed and produced for the first time, won him the best director award and the best film award, and then The Sound of Music won him the best director and the best film.

? In fact, the entire interior of the Vontep Villa, including its huge ballroom, was built and set up in the studio of Fox Company. Proud of the luxury and beauty of the ballroom, Fox did not tear it down after the filming, but donated it to the Hollywood Museum.

? Boris Levin, who won an Oscar for West Side Story, is in charge of scene design and sound arrangement. The inner courtyard of the monastery he designed was so accurate that even the tour guide on the "Sound of Music Tour" in Salzburg thought that the film was shot in the monastery.

? Dorothy Jeakins, who designs clothes, took great pains for this film. Director Wise asked the children's clothes to be as simple as possible because he didn't want the children to be too cute and let the audience ignore more important things. In fact, this is what he tried to do in the whole movie. Because at that time, after people heard about the theme of this film, they all thought that this film would impress others with children's innocence and cuteness, including christopher plummer who later played Colonel von trapp. It is said that he once spent four days with the author Lehman to revise the script to make the colonel's role more reasonable and complete. )

? Dorothy Jeakins was the best dresser in Hollywood at that time. Her design is famous for keeping its original flavor, so is the clothing of the sound of music. Jeakins and her assistant Pia Arnold searched all the information they could find, from the buttons of the navy uniform to the bag Maria carried when she first arrived at the colonel's house, all of which had real backgrounds. For the nun's dress and headscarf style, she also went to the monastery in Los Angeles to ask the dean. After the actors were booked, Jeakins and director Wise met with each actor and asked their opinions. Julie Andrews, who plays Maria, always appreciates Jenkins' eyes and accepts all the clothes she provides.

? The choreographers are Mark Blue and Dee Dee Wood. They once designed the movie "Joy on Earth" for Julie Andrews (this is also the first time that Julie Andrews won the Oscar for Best Actress). They negotiated the character with the director, so they took several assistants to the training room, accompanied by Sol Chaplin, and designed a dance that conformed to the character and music beat.

? Enderla, designed by Breaux and Wood, is a short dance for children by Maria and Colonel at the dance. They referred to Austrian folk dance and added their own footwork to design a very light and seamless dance to match the music. What most people didn't expect was that even the puppet dance in the puppet show was their masterpiece.

? Another person worth mentioning is Ma Ni Nixon, who plays Sister Sophia in The Sound of Music (when several nuns sing Maria together, she is the blonde young nun who likes Maria). Although this is the only film she has appeared in front of the camera, in fact, she has sung for the heroines in several films adapted from famous musicals: deborah kerr in The King and I, Natalie Wood in west side story and Audrey Hepburn in My Lover.

? After Maria left, the baroness tried to please the children, but failed. The children were even sadder when they learned that the colonel was going to marry the baroness. They went to the monastery to look for Maria, but they couldn't see her. Maria confessed her love for the colonel and her confusion about life to Dean Ebiss. Dean Ebis told her to have backbone and courage, and to find her true love even if she climbs every mountain in the world. So Maria went back to Lapp's home in Feng Te.

When Maria came back, the baroness found that she could not recover the affection between Maria and the colonel. She voluntarily withdrew from the engagement, and the Colonel and Maria confided in each other. Soon, they got married.

? Unfortunately, their lives are not always happy. When they were still on their honeymoon, the German Nazis occupied Austria. When they got back to Salzburg, they found Nazi flags everywhere. When they were away, Uncle Mike, who was in charge of taking care of the children, registered them for the Salzburg Music Festival. As soon as the colonel got home, he received a telegram from the Nazis asking him to report to the Nazi navy immediately. The colonel, who had always hated the Nazis, decided to lead his family out of Austria. When they left the villa at night, they were stopped by Nazis who had been hiding outside the door to watch them, so the colonel explained that they left to participate in the Hillsborough Music Festival and took out the program as evidence. Accompanied by the Nazis, they came to the venue and performed songs prepared by the children. At this time, the colonel and Maria sang "Snow Melts Flowers", and their love for their motherland Austria was strong and profound. Regardless of the Nazi guards with guns next to them, the audience present also sang "Snow Melts Flowers" with the colonel.

? After the performance, the colonel's family fled the performance site when the award was presented, and the Nazis chased them all the way to the monastery. With the help of nuns, the colonel's family hid behind the tombstone and escaped Nazi tracking. Then they crossed the Alps and left Austria.