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Edelweiss (song)
"Edelweiss" is a show tune from the 1959 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical ''The Sound of Music''. It is named after the edelweiss (''Leontopodium nivale''), a white flower found high in the Alps. The song was created for the 1959 Broadway production of ''The Sound of Music'', as a song for the character Captain Georg von Trapp. In the stage musical and its 1965 film adaptation, Captain von Trapp and his family sing this song during the concert near the end of Act II, as well as a statement of Austrian patriotism in the face of the pressure put upon him to join the navy of Nazi Germany following the ''Anschluss'' (German annexation of Austria). It is also Captain von Trapp's subliminal goodbye to his beloved homeland, using the flower as a symbol of his loyalty to Austria. In the film version, the song is additionally sung by the Captain earlier in the film when he rediscovers music with his children. This was the final song of Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical collaboratio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Show Tune
A show tune is a song originally written as part of the score of a work of musical theatre or musical film, especially if the piece in question has become a standard, more or less detached in most people's minds from the original context. Though show tunes vary in style, they do tend to share common characteristics—they usually fit the context of a story being told in the original musical, they are useful in enhancing and heightening choice moments. A particularly common form of show tune is the "I Want" song, which composer Stephen Schwartz noted as being particularly likely to have a lifespan outside the show that spawned it. Show tunes were a major venue for popular music before the rock and roll and television era; most of the hits of such songwriters as Jerome Kern, Cole Porter, and George Gershwin came from their shows. (Even into the television and rock era, a few stage musicals managed to turn their show tunes into major pop music hits, sometimes aided by film ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theodore Bikel
Theodore Meir Bikel ( ; May 2, 1924 – July 21, 2015) was an Austrian-American actor, singer, musician, composer, unionist, and political activist. He made his stage debut in '' Tevye the Milkman'' in Mandatory Palestine, where he lived as a teenager. He later studied acting at Britain's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and made his London stage debut in 1948 and in New York in 1955. He was also a widely recognized and recorded folk singer and guitarist. In 1959, he co-founded the Newport Folk Festival, and created the role of Captain von Trapp opposite Mary Martin as Maria in the original Broadway production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's ''The Sound of Music''. In 1969, Bikel began acting and singing on stage as Tevye in the musical ''Fiddler on the Roof'', a role he performed more often than any other actor to date. The production won nine Tony Awards, and was one of the longest-running musicals in Broadway history. He also appeared in films, including '' The African Queen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gebirgsjäger
''Gebirgsjäger'' () is a German language, German military term for light infantry trained in mountain warfare. Currently used in the militaries of Germany, Austria and Switzerland, the term includes the word ''Jäger (military), jäger'', another German military term used to denote light infantry troops. Origins The Imperial-Royal Mountain Troops, mountain infantry of Austria have their roots in the three ''Landesschützen'' regiments of the Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian Empire. The mountain infantry of modern Germany carry on certain traditions of the Alpenkorps (German Empire), German Alpenkorps (Alpine corps) of World War I. Both countries' mountain infantry share the Edelweiß insignia, established in 1907 as a symbol of the Austro-Hungarian ''Landesschützen'' regiments by Emperor Franz Joseph I. These troops wore the edelweiss on the uniform collar. When the ''Alpenkorps'' served alongside the ''Landesschützen'' on Austria's southern frontier against Italian Campaig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Austrian Federal Army
The Austrian Armed Forces () are the combined military forces of Austria. The military consists of 16,000 active-duty personnel and 125,600 reservists. The military budget is 1.0% of national GDP (including pensions) or €3.317 billion (2023,without pensions). History Interwar In 1918, the Republic of German-Austria established a military known as the ("People's Defence"). ''Volkswehr'' forces took part in military confrontations with Royal Yugoslav Army troops which occupied parts of Carinthia that Austria claimed as its own. In 1920, after the Republic of German-Austria transitioned into the First Austrian Republic, the new regime changed the military's name to the ("Federal Army"), which it has been known by ever since. In 1938, officers led by Alfred Jansa developed a military operation plan to defend against a potential invasion by Nazi Germany, which ultimately went unused due to a lack of political willpower when Austria was annexed by the Germans in th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Austrian Euro Coins
Austrian euro coins have a unique design for each denomination, with a common theme for each of the three series of coins. The minor coins feature Austrian flowers, the middle coins examples of architecture from Austria's capital, Vienna, and the two major coins famous Austrians. All designs are by the hand of Josef Kaiser and also include the European symbols, 12 stars of the EU, Flag of Austria and the year of imprint. Austrian euro design Prior to 2008, the old common side showing national borders was used, but from the 2008 coins use the new common side without borders. For Euro coins#Depiction of euro coinage - Reverse side, images of the common side and a detailed description of the coins, see euro coins. Austria is the only country which uses the Latin alphabet and yet, repeats the denomination on the national side of the coins, thus not adhering to the rule. From 2017 (5 cent coins) and 2018 (2 and 1 cent coins) onwards, the design of the national side has been slightly alt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Austrian Schilling
The schilling (German language, German: ''Schilling''; ) is a former currency of Austria from 1925 to 1938 and from 1945 to 1999, and the circulating currency until 2002. The euro was introduced at a fixed parity of €1 = 13.7603 schilling to replace it. The schilling was divided into 100 groschen. History Following the Carolingian coin reform in 794 AD, new units of account were introduced, including the ''schilling (coin), schilling,'' which consisted of 12 silver ''pfennigs''. It was initially only a coin of account but later became an actual coin produced in many European countries. Before the modern Austrian schilling The currencies preceding the schilling include: * The florin, in existence as a currency of the Holy Roman Empire since the 16th century, divided into 8 ''Schillings'' = 60 ''Kreuzer'' = 240 ''Pfennigs'' * The Austro-Hungarian gulden after 1857, divided into 100 ''Neukreuzer'' * The Austro-Hungarian krone, introduced in 1892 upon adoption of the gold stand ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bill Lee (singer)
William Lee (August 21, 1916 – November 15, 1980) was an American playback singer who provided a voice or singing voice in many films, for actors in musicals and for many Disney characters. Biography Lee was born on August 21, 1916, in Johnson, Nebraska, and grew up in Des Moines, Iowa. His initial musical focus was as a trombone player, but after singing in several college vocal groups, he decided to concentrate on his voice. He served as an ensign in the United States Navy during World War II, then moved to Hollywood upon discharge. The bulk of Lee's income consisted of singing commercials for radio and television, much of which Lee felt was "silly" but he appreciated the financial independence this work gave him. He sang the lead role in a 1953 Gordon Jenkins made-for-record musical entitled ''Seven Dreams''. Much of Lee's best-known work is as part of the popular singing quartet known as The Mellomen, founded by Thurl Ravenscroft. It was Lee, rather than Ravensc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Captain Von Trapp
Georg Ludwig Ritter von Trapp (4 April 1880 – 30 May 1947) was an officer in the Austro-Hungarian Navy who became the patriarch of the Trapp Family, Trapp Family Singers. Trapp was the most successful Austro-Hungarian submarine commander of World War I, sinking 11 Allied merchant ships totaling 47,653 Gross register tonnage, GRT and two Allied warships displacing 12,641 tons. Trapp's accomplishments during World War I earned him numerous decorations, including the Military Order of Maria Theresa. His first wife Agathe Whitehead died of scarlet fever in 1922, leaving behind seven children. Trapp hired Maria von Trapp, Maria Augusta Kutschera to tutor one of his daughters and married her in 1927. He lost most of his wealth in the Great Depression, so the family turned to singing as a way of earning a livelihood. Trapp declined a commission in the Kriegsmarine, German Navy after the ''Anschluss'' and emigrated with his family to the United States. After his death in 1947, the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christopher Plummer
Arthur Christopher Orme Plummer (December 13, 1929 – February 5, 2021) was a Canadian actor. His career spanned seven decades, gaining him recognition for his performances in film, stage and television. His accolades included an Academy Award, two Tony Awards and two Primetime Emmy Awards, making him the only Canadian recipient of the " Triple Crown of Acting". He also received a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild Award, as well as a nomination for a Grammy Award. Plummer made his Broadway debut in the 1954 play ''The Starcross Story''. He received two Tony Awards, one for Best Actor in a Musical playing Cyrano de Bergerac in '' Cyrano'' (1974) and the other for Best Actor in a Play portraying John Barrymore in '' Barrymore'' (1997). His other Tony-nominated roles include in '' J.B.'' (1959), ''Othello'' (1982), '' No Man's Land'' (1994), ''King Lear'' (2004) and '' Inherit the Wind'' (2007). Plummer made his film debut in '' Stage Struck'' (195 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Russel Crouse
Russel Crouse (20 February 1893 – 3 April 1966) was an American playwright and librettist, best known for his work in the Broadway writing partnership of Lindsay and Crouse. Life and career Born in Findlay, Ohio, Crouse was the son of Sarah (née Schumacher) and Hiram Powers Crouse, a newspaperman. He began his Broadway career in 1928 as an actor in the play '' Gentlemen of the Press'', in which he played Bellflower. By 1931, however, he had turned his attention to writing, penning the book for the musical ''The Gang's All Here,'' collaborating with Frank McCoy, Morrie Ryskind and Oscar Hammerstein II. His first work with his long-time partner Howard Lindsay came in 1934, when the two men revised the P. G. Wodehouse/Guy Bolton book for the Cole Porter musical '' Anything Goes.'' They then went on to adapt Clarence Day's '' Life with Father'', which became one of the longest running Broadway plays. Lindsay and Crouse later became Broadway producers, often acting in that capac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Howard Lindsay
Howard Lindsay, born Herman Nelke, (March 29, 1889 – February 11, 1968) was an American playwright, librettist, director, actor and theatrical producer. He is best known for his writing work as part of the collaboration of Lindsay and Crouse, and for his performance, with his wife Dorothy Stickney, in the long-running play '' Life with Father''. Biography Lindsay graduated from Boston Latin School in 1907. He was an actor and director before turning to writing plays. He played the role of "Father" in '' Life with Father'' on Broadway in 1939. Together with Russel Crouse, Lindsay won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the 1945 play ''State of the Union'', which was adapted into a film directed by Frank Capra three years later. On October 5, 1947, Lindsay became the master of ceremonies of the ''Ford Theatre'' radio program. The 1957 Rodgers and Hammerstein television musical ''Cinderella'', recently revived by PBS, featured Lindsay and Stickney playing the roles of the King ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ernest Lehman
Ernest Paul Lehman (December 8, 1915 – July 2, 2005) was an American screenwriter and film producer. He was nominated six times for Academy Awards for his screenplays during his career, but did not win. At the 73rd Academy Awards in 2001, he received an Honorary Academy Award in recognition of his achievements and his influential works for the screen. He was the first screenwriter to receive that honor. He received two Edgar Awards of the Mystery Writers of America for screenplays of suspense films he wrote for director Alfred Hitchcock: '' North by Northwest'' (1959), his only original screenplay, and '' Family Plot'' (1976), one of numerous adaptations. Early life and education Lehman was born in 1915 to Gertrude (Thorn) and Paul E. Lehman. Their Jewish family was based on Long Island. Lehman attended the College of the City of New York (The City College of New York), from which he earned a bachelor's degree. During World War II he was trained at the New England Ra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
