Edelweiss

DESCRIPTION: "Edelweiss, edelweiss, Every morning you greet me." The singer describes and praises the flower, and asks it to "bless my homeland forever."
AUTHOR: Words: Oscar Hammerstein II / Music: Richard Rodgers
EARLIEST DATE: 1959 (musical, "The Sound of Music")
KEYWORDS: flowers nonballad
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Averill-CampSongsFolkSongs, p. 555, "Eidelweiss" (sic.) (notes only)
NOTES [240 words]: This song has become so popular (deservedly for the melody, less so for the words) that folklore has arisen that it is the national anthem of Austria. It is not -- the authors didn't even have a German version! -- and Austrians supposedly hate it.
Although Averill lists five songs from "The Sound of Music" as having been sung in camps, this one is three times as popular as any other. It is the only one I suspect might actually have become a true folk song.
It is the last song sung in "The Sound of Music," and supposedly the last one to be created; Thomas S. Hischak, The American Musical Theatre Song Encyclopedia (with a Foreword by Gerald Bordman), Greenwood Press, 1995, p. 79, claims it was the last lyric written by Oscar Hammerstein before his death. The song was written when "The Sound of Music" was in stage tryouts, with Theodore Bikel in mind as Captain von Trapp (meaning that he could play guitar and sing -- unlike much of the material in the musical, the song is relatively easy for a guitarist); apparently a lot of work went into making it look like Christopher Plummer was singing it in the movie.
According to Hischak, "Originally it was planned that... [the Captain and family at the Salzburg Music Festival would] reprise one of the earlier songs from the score, but it was later felt that the Captain should use the festival as a way of displaying his Austrian patriotism to the Nazis occupying his homeland." - RBW
Last updated in version 7.1
File: ACSF555E

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