Archive for August 2nd, 2011
My friend Matt recently took a trip to Germany and Austria and shared dispatches and photos on Facebook. Some of the pictures came from a visit to Salzburg and the “Sound of Music” tour.
I adore “The Sound of Music” and memories about the movie and soundtrack. In the days before VCRs (remember the Betamax?) and DVDs, “The Sound of Music” TV broadcast was a HUGE event in the Everson house. And, my friend Peter and I loved singing along with an 8 track cassette (remember THOSE?) when we drove around Indianapolis in his enormous 1970′s “Caddy Cadillac.”
I put the movie soundtrack CD into the car player yesterday for the first time in a long time. Hearing the twittering of the birds just before the music swells into a crescendo with a burst of Julie Andrews exhaled singing. Just writing this gave me goosebumps.
I listened intently to the words and realized that this song is itself a testament to the glorious magic of music and it conveys the deep desire and compulsion many of us share to sing out and express our feelings in song.
THE SOUND OF MUSIC
Words by Oscar Hammerstein II
Music by Richard Rodgers
The hills are alive
With the sound of music,
With songs they have sung,
For a thousand years.
The hills fill my heart,
With the sound of music.
My heart wants to sing every song it hears.
My heart wants to beat like the wings
Of the birds that rise from the lake to the trees.
My heart wants to sigh
Like a chime that flies
From a church on a breeze,
To laugh like a brook when it trips and falls
Over stones on its way,
To sing through the night,
Like a lark who is learning to pray.
I go to the hills
When my heart is lonely.
I know I will hear
What I heard before.
My heart will be blessed
With the sound of music
And I’ll sing once more.
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Joy of Joys, you can SING many of the songs with a beautiful pop-pup Singable Picture Book.
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The Sound of Music (A Classic Collectible Pop-Up)
Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II
Music by Richard Rodgers
Original Stage Book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse
Story Adapted by Bert Fink
Illustrated by Dan Andreasen
Paper Engineering by Bruce Foster
Watch a video to learn more about the creation of the book, here:
http://www.amazon.com/Sound-Music-Classic-Collectible-Pop-Up/dp/1416936556
The story line in this edition follows the story line from the stage production, as opposed to the movie’s which is slightly different.
For singing-along, this karaoke collection has nice, mostly cheese-free, instrumentation:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Sound-Of-Music/dp/B002RMCRS2/ref=tmm_msc_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1312147199&sr=8-4
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Related Articles
POP-UP (SINGABLE) PICTURE BOOKS
Singable Pop Up Picture Books and Smithsonian Exhibit, “Paper Engineering: Fold, Pull, Pop & Turn”
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2011/01/30/singable-pop-up-picture-books-and-smithsonian-exhibit-paper-engineering-fold-pull-pop-turn/
RODGERS AND HAMMERSTEIN
Singable Picture Books of Rodgers & Hammerstein Songs
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2010/04/10/a-few-favorite-singable-books-part-59-rodgers-hammerstein/
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I LOVE this!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EYAUazLI9k
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PS: My friend Matt (who went to Austria and inspired this post) is a blogger and a figure in DC’s cabaret scene.
Here are his links:
DC Cabaret Info:
http://dccabaret.info/
Barbra Streisand Archives:
http://barbra-archives.com/
