In The Sound of Music are two beautiful songs that represent themselves as originating from Austrian folk culture. One is sung as if it were a national song celebrating Austrian pride, and the other is purportedly music for an Austrian folk dance.
So are they?
During the music festival near the end of Sound of Music, Captain von Trapp sings “Edelweiss” as a statement of Austrian patriotism in the midst of the Nazi annexation of the country, and also as his farewell to his homeland as he prepares to flee from the Nazi grip.
But the song never existed—even in the original Sound of Music. Not until try-outs for the Broadway production starring Theodore Bikel and Mary Martin was the song composed. Composer Richard Rodgers and lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II decided Captain von Trapp needed a song to do precisely what “Edelweiss” does: to proclaim his love for his country and to say farewell.
They penned the song as a 3/4 waltz and arranged it to be played accompanied by guitar, since they already knew Theodore Bikel would play the part, and he was an expert guitar player.
It became their most popular song, and was also the last song they ever composed together, because nine months later Hammerstein died from stomach cancer.
But the flower is real and is a definite symbol for Austria. Its name means “noble white.” It loves higher elevations and rocky limestone terrains, and thus thrives in the Alps. Its furry petals are thought to protect it from the cold and from ultraviolet radiation. Giving one as a gift is a symbol of dedication to a loved one.
“The Laendler” is an instrumental song in The Sound of Music that presents itself as an Austrian folk tune for an Austrian folk dance called the laendler.
The dance is real. It’s a dance that includes hopping and clapping and stomping and is accompanied by 3/4 waltz style music. In fact, it’s considered one of the precursors to the waltz. The name comes from Landl, a dialectic word in German that means Upper Austria. If you put the German suffix -er on the end of it, which then requires an umlaut over the A, or the alternate spelling “ae,” you get the dance’s name, laendler, basically meaning “the dance from Upper Austria.”
In the movie, Maria and the Captain dance an authentic laendler. But is the song they dance to also authentic?
In all the years since childhood I’ve been listening to The Sound of Music, I never noticed until today as I researched this subject that the music they dance the laendler to was cobbled from another Sound of Music song.
It’s fitting that it was, since “The Lonely Goatherd” is a love song about the romance between a maid and a goatherd. Composer Rodgers took that 4/4 song and turned it into 3/4 time, and came up with a sweet tune to dance the traditional dance to as Maria and Captain von Trapp begin to realize their feelings for each other.
Which just goes to show you what a difference there is between 4/4 and 3/4 time. Either meter has a distinct feel to it that can transform a song if you switch from one to the other.