"The Sound of Music" is the title song from the 1959 musical of the same name. It was composed by Richard Rodgers with lyrics written by Oscar Hammerstein II. The song introduces the character of

Maria Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial * 170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 * Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, ...

, a young novice in an Austrian abbey.

Performances

In 1959, Rodgers and Hammerstein asked singer Patti Page to record the title song of their forthcoming musical, ''

The Sound of Music ''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, ''The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. S ...

'', hoping for some national attention. A week before the opening of the Broadway production, she recorded the song for

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it i ...

. The disc debuted at No. 99 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on the day that the musical opened on Broadway. She featured the song on her national TV variety show sponsored by

Oldsmobile Oldsmobile or formally the Oldsmobile Division of General Motors was a brand of American automobiles, produced for most of its existence by General Motors. Originally established as "Olds Motor Vehicle Company" by Ransom E. Olds in 1897, it pro ...

, ''The Patti Page Olds Show''. The song was sung by

Mary Martin Mary Virginia Martin (December 1, 1913 – November 3, 1990) was an American actress and singer. A muse of Rodgers and Hammerstein, she originated many leading roles on stage over her career, including Nellie Forbush in '' South Pacific'' (194 ...

in the 1959 original Broadway production and by Julie Andrews in the 1965 film version, with a reprise by the Von Trapp family later in the film. The song was ranked tenth in the American Film Institute's list of the 100 Greatest Songs in Movie History.

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 in the same key as the film version.

In popular culture

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! ''Moulin Rouge!'' (, ) is a 2001 jukebox musical romantic drama film directed, co-produced, and co-written by Baz Luhrmann. It follows a young English poet, Christian, who falls in love with the star of the Moulin Rouge, cabaret actress and cour ...

'' (2001). The Julie Andrews recording from the film features in the 1993 film ''

Addams Family Values ''Addams Family Values'' is a 1993 American supernatural black comedy film directed by Barry Sonnenfeld and written by Paul Rudnick, based on the characters created by Charles Addams. It is the sequel to '' The Addams Family'' (1991). The fil ...

''.

Renée Zellweger Renée Kathleen Zellweger (; born April 25, 1969) is an American actress. The recipient of various accolades, including two Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards, she was one of the world's highest-paid ...

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 2013, Carrie Underwood performed this song while portraying Maria in the television broadcast ''

The Sound of Music Live! ''The Sound of Music Live!'' is an American television special that was originally broadcast by NBC on December 5, 2013. Produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, the special was an adaptation of Rodgers and Hammerstein's 1959 Broadway musical ''T ...

'', which was seen live by more than 18 million viewers. JLS sampled the song on their 2010 single " The Club Is Alive". The single debuted on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

at number one.

References

External links

Original recording of the song by Patti Page
re-released on ''Patti Page: The Complete Us Hits 1948-62'', Vol. 2
Original cast album
sung by

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sound Of Music, The 1959 songs Songs with music by Richard Rodgers Songs with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II Songs from The Sound of Music Mary Martin songs Julie Andrews songs