The last work Rodgers and Hammerstein did together was The Sound of Music, and it told the story of the von Trapp family. It opened on Broadway in November of 1959 and was made into a film in 1965, and won five Oscars, including Best Picture. Hammerstein died in August 1960, before the film was made, so when Rodgers wrote two new songs for the film, he wrote the lyrics as well. The Sound of Music probably contains more hit songs than any other Rodgers and Hammerstein musical. Likely because of the success of the film version, it contained many memorable songs, including “Edelweiss” which was the last song
that they wrote together.
While their work contain cheerful and often uplifting songs, they departed from that by seriously addressing issues such as racism, sexism and classism in many of their works. For example, based on the true story of the von Trapp family, The Sound of Music explores the views of Austrians to the takeover of Austria by the Third Reich
The song My Favorite Things reminds me of my favorite things, which is the beauty of nature; the mountains, the plains, the ocean beaches, and one thing they all seem to have in common, everywhere you look little flowers of some sort seem to be popping up, even in Alaska in the spring you see beauty popping thru the snow. Cactus have flowers and the grasses that grow along the beaches have flowers, therefore I decided that flowers would be my theme for this months project. Enjoy, and think of your favorite things!