THE SOUND OF MUSIC

Get out your soundtrack to the Sound of Music and invision yourself in Salzburg as you view these pictures.  If you don't have the soundtrack just hum "The hills are alive with the sound of music...

The tour included visiting the breathtaking landscapes and locations where the famous musical The Sound of Music was filmed.  

I suppose we have to establish a little fact from fiction.  So it was a Hollywood version of a true life story - it made a wonderful movie.  

• Larger Version

Maria von Trapp's certificate of arrival into Niagara Falls, NY, on December 30, 1942, authenticated that she arrived legally in the United States. (Records of District Courts of the United States, RG 21)

Fact from Fiction

While The Sound of Music was generally based on the first section of Maria's bookThe Story of the Trapp Family Singers(published in 1949), there were many alterations and omissions.

• Maria came to the von Trapp family in 1926 as a tutor for one of the children, Maria, who was recovering from scarlet fever, not as governess to all the children.
  
  
• Maria and Georg married in 1927, 11 years before the family left Austria, not right before the Nazi takeover of Austria.
  
  
• Maria did not marry Georg von Trapp because she was in love with him. As she said in her autobiography Maria, she fell in love with the children at first sight, not their father. When he asked her to marry him, she was not sure if she should abandon her religious calling but was advised by the nuns to do God's will and marry Georg. "I really and truly was not in love. I liked him but didn't love him. However, I loved the children, so in a way I really married the children.  . . . [B]y and by I learned to love him more than I have ever loved before or after."
  
  
• There were 10, not 7 von Trapp children.
  
  
• The names, ages, and sexes of the children were changed.
  
  
• The family was musically inclined before Maria arrived, but she did teach them to sing madrigals.
  
  
• Georg, far from being the detached, cold-blooded patriarch of the family who disapproved of music, as portrayed in the first half of The Sound of Music, was actually a gentle, warmhearted parent who enjoyed musical activities with his family. While this change in his character might have made for a better story in emphasizing Maria's healing effect on the von Trapps, it distressed his family greatly.
  
  
• The family did not secretly escape over the Alps to freedom in Switzerland, carrying their suitcases and musical instruments. As daughter Maria said in a 2003 interview printed in Opera News, "We did tell people that we were going to America to sing. And we did not climb over mountains with all our heavy suitcases and instruments. We left by train, pretending nothing."
  
  
• The von Trapps traveled to Italy, not Switzerland. Georg was born in Zadar (now in Croatia), which at that time was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Zadar became part of Italy in 1920, and Georg was thus an Italian citizen, and his wife and children as well. The family had a contract with an American booking agent when they left Austria. They contacted the agent from Italy and requested fare to America.
  
  
• Instead of the fictional Max Detweiler, pushy music promoter, the von Trapps' priest, the Reverend Franz Wasner, acted as their musical director for over 20 years.
  
  
• Though she was a caring and loving person, Maria wasn't always as sweet as the fictional Maria. She tended to erupt in angry outbursts consisting of yelling, throwing things, and slamming doors. Her feelings would immediately be relieved and good humor restored, while other family members, particularly her husband, found it less easy to recover. In her 2003 interview, the younger Maria confirmed that her stepmother "had a terrible temper. . . . And from one moment to the next, you didn't know what hit her. We were not used to this. But we took it like a thunderstorm that would pass, because the next minute she could be very nice.

The famed mountain that the Von Trapp family climbed to escape to Switzerland.  As you recall from the movie "The Captain" carrys the youngest Gretl over the mountain.  Gertl was about 5 years old when the movie was made and to keep her happy she was given various Austrian treats and during the filming of the movie she gained a bit of weight.  Christopher Plumber actually refused to carry her saying it woud hurt his back.  Another child was substituted.  Because of the different hair color a scarf was put over the child's head. 

Our first stop was the Leopoldskron Castle.  This is where the scene of Julie Andrews and the children falling  out of the boatwas filmed.   Only the front of this Castle and the lake were used.  The castle was built by Prince Archbishop Leopold Anton firmian in order to accommodate himself and his famiy. After WWI Max Reinhardt, a co-founder of the Salzburg Festival purchased it and brought new life to the old castle.  With the incorporation of Austria into the Third Reich, the Salzburg Festival decayed temporariy and the Jew Max Reinhardt had to leave Austria.  Today the castle is not open to the public, it is owned by the Salzburg Seminar, an organization founded by Harvard Graduates after WWII.  It is private property although some of it is used as a hotel.  

 At the time of the filming a white music pavilion stood in the palace park and played an important role in the film's romantic scenes.  Since the number of tourists increased after the release of the movie, the pavilion was moved to Schloss Hellbrunn in order to reduce the congestion at Schloss Leopoldskron

Our guide, dressed appropriately in Austrian garb.

A beauitful view as we got ready to climb aboard the bus.  the Salzburg Fortress ( Festung Hohensalzburg) in the distance. 

One last picture by the lake.  

Our next stop was at Hellbunn to visit the Gazebo used in the movie.  We would return to Hellbrunn Castle the following day to see more of this place but for now it was just the Gazebo which as mentioned before was moved here to relieve the congestion at the previous location.  

The gazebo is actually located in the park area of this castle.  

I wanted to burst out in song...I am seventy going on...

Peeking through the trees is the Frohnburg castle where exterior shots were used in the movie.  Often times conversations between Maria and the Captain were filmed with one of them located here and the other one at Loepoldskron.  Today Schloss Frohnburg has been renovated to meet modern standards as a dormitory, concert venue and rehearsal site.

The actual Von Trapp villa.  Not quite as lavish as in the movie - only twenty-two rooms.  They had two daughters that were born in this house.  

While the “Sound of Music” production team chose beautiful Mondsee Cathedral for the wedding location, Georg and Maria were really wed in Nonnberg Abbey itself.  Maria vividly recalled the joyful day, “Ten days before the wedding I entered the convent to prepare for marriage, which is a great sacrament indeed.  When the day arrived I greeted it with joy.  The postulates whom I had shared a room with months before helped me dress in my bridal veil, and for the last time the gate of Nonnberg closed behind me.  Through swimming eyes I saw a packed church, and oh! here were the children coming to lead me down the aisle.  Loudly and solemnly we promised to take each other ‘for better or worse’.” 

Maria Augusta Kutschera was born in Vienna, Austria, in 1905. She was orphaned as a young child and was raised as an atheist and socialist by an abusive relative. While attending the State Teachers' College of Progressive Education in Vienna, she accidentally attended a Palm Sunday service, believing it to be a concert of Bach music, where a priest was speaking. Years later she recalled in her autobiography Maria, "Now I had heard from my uncle that all of these Bible stories were inventions and old legends, and that there wasn't a word of truth in them. But the way this man talked just swept me off my feet. I was completely overwhelmed." Soon after, Maria graduated from college, and as a result of her religious awakening, she entered the Benedictine Abbey of Nonnberg in Salzburg as a novice. While she struggled with the unaccustomed rules and discipline, she considered that "These . . . two years were really necessary to get my twisted character and my overgrown self-will cut down to size."

However, her health suffered from not getting the exercise and fresh air to which she was accustomed. When Georg von Trapp approached the Reverend Mother of the Abbey seeking a teacher for his sick daughter, Maria was chosen, partly because of her training and skill as a teacher, but also because of concern for her health. She was supposed to remain with the von Trapps for 10 months, at the end of which she would formally enter the convent.

Maria tutored young Maria and developed a caring and loving relationship with all the children. She enjoyed singing with them and getting them involved in outdoor activities. During this time, Georg fell in love with Maria and asked her to stay with him and become a second mother to his children. Of his proposal, Maria said, "God must have made him word it that way because if he had only asked me to marry him I might not have said yes." Maria Kutschera and Georg von Trapp married in 1927. They had three children together: Rosmarie, 1928– ; Eleonore, 1931– ; and Johannes, 1939–.

The family lost most of its wealth through the worldwide depression when their bank failed in the early 1930s. Maria tightened belts all around by dismissing most of the servants and taking in boarders. It was around this time that they began considering making the family hobby of singing into a profession. Georg was reluctant for the family to perform in public, "but accepted it as God's will that they sing for others," daughter Eleonore said in a 1978 Washington Post interview. "It almost hurt him to have his family onstage, not from a snobbish view, but more from a protective one." As depicted in The Sound of Music, the family won first place in the Salzburg Music Festival in 1936 and became successful, singing Renaissance and Baroque music, madrigals, and folk songs all across Europe.

When the Nazis annexed Austria in 1938, the von Trapps realized that they were on thin ice with a regime they abhorred. Georg not only refused to fly the Nazi flag on their house, but he also declined a naval command and a request to sing at Hitler's birthday party. They were also becoming aware of the Nazis' anti-religious propaganda and policies, the pervasive fear that those around them could be acting as spies for the Nazis, and the brainwashing of children against their parents. They weighed staying in Austria and taking advantage of the enticements the Nazis were offering—greater fame as a singing group, a medical doctor's position for Rupert, and a renewed naval career for Georg—against leaving behind everything they knew—their friends, family, estate, and all their possessions. They decided that they could not compromise their principles and left.

Just a note of interest, there are three monastery's and one nunnery in Salzburg. This is the Nonneberg Abbey where the real wedding took place. 

That fortress is imposing.  It keeps getting in all my pictures.  

The hills are alive....

The richest man in Salzburg is the owner of this company - Red Bull.  He also owns two professional sporting teams both named the "Red Bulls".  

Lake Wolfgang and the village of St. Gilgen.Scenes from the beginning of the movie were filmed here.  St Gilgen is the birth place of Wolgang Mozart and his sister Nanneri lived there.  

Our tour group busy taking pictures of the beautiful scenery.  

As you know , of course, the national flower of Austria is the edelweiss - they are shaped like stars and are short lived perennials.  The flower is a symbol of love and if a young man truly loves a girl he will give this flower to her.  However, this flower only grows on the very top of the mountains and on very steep cliffs.  Not easy to get to. Our guide thought maybe that why there was a shorage of men in Austria.   If you did and you brought the flower down to present to your love you woul be stopped by the local constables who would arrest you and demand that you pay a 3000 euro fine.  Perhaps they have found another way to express love.  The song Edelweiss is not the National Song of Austria and was only written for the movie.  

Most people in Austria have never seen the movie and  can't believe that most tourists come to Salzburg to see where the Sound of Music was filmed rather to see the place where Mozart was born.  The movie when it was released was shown for three days in the city and pulled since it had such a poor showing.  

Moon Lake right outside Mondsee.  Mondsee actually means "moon lake" and the lake is shaped like a crescent moon.

  

While the “Sound of Music” production team chose beautiful Mondsee Cathedral for the wedding location, Georg and Maria were really wed in Nonnberg Abbey itself.  Maria vividly recalled the joyful day, “Ten days before the wedding I entered the convent to prepare for marriage, which is a great sacrament indeed.  When the day arrived I greeted it with joy.  The postulates whom I had shared a room with months before helped me dress in my bridal veil, and for the last time the gate of Nonnberg closed behind me.  Through swimming eyes I saw a packed church, and oh! here were the children coming to lead me down the aisle.  Loudly and solemnly we promised to take each other ‘for better or worse’.” 

 Maria's wedding dress was not even remotely as beautiful as the on-screen version although Maria wore a wreath of flowers as portrayed in the film with a somewhat shorter veil.  The film vei was reportedy fourteen feet long and took half a day for "Maria" to learn to walk with.

A side chapel which was very interesting and quite a contrast from the main church.  

Time for a coffee break.  

And what would a coffee break be in Austria without some apple strudel with your choice ofvanilla  cream or ice cream - one of each please. 

The lake at Mondsee.

We left Mondsee and headed back to the city and Marabelle gardens, another filming site for the movie.  Prince-Archbishop Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau had altenau Palace built in 1606 as a token of his love for Salome Alt.  The palace fulfilled its purpose:fifteen children were born of their union, ten of whom survived.  

After Dietrich's death, the palace was renamed 'Mirabell" by his successor, Markus Sitticus von Hohenems.  (Don't you love thee names)!

These are some figures from the dwarf garden which features a number of misshapen creatures made of white Untersberg marble and dates back to the time of Archbishop Franz Anton Harrach.

This particular one was featured in the movie.  

The staircase where the children learned to sing - Do -Re  Mi

And we ended out tour in the Rose Arbor with Sharon singing " The Sound of Music"  . Just between you and me - just a little bit embarrassing but...

The movie won five Academy Awards.  The Sound of Music was the final musical written by Rodgers and Hammerstein;Oscar Hammertein died of cancer nine months after the Broadway premiere.