Featured In: The Sound of MusicComposers: Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein II
Performers: Christopher Plummer & cast
Description:"Edelweiss" is a show tune from the 1959 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical
The Sound of Music. It is named after the edelweiss, a white flower found high in the Alps. It is sung by Captain Georg Ludwig von Trapp and his family during the concert as a defiant statement of Austrian patriotism in the face of the pressure put upon him to join the navy of Nazi Germany. In the 1965 film adaptation, the song is also sung by the Captain earlier in the film as he rediscovers music and a love for his children.
"Edelweiss" is not an Austrian or German song. The only thing "German" about "Edelweiss" is its title and the Alpine flower itself. The song was written and composed by two Americans (Rodgers and Hammerstein). Hammerstein did have a German heritage, but the song is strictly American. (Hammerstein's grandfather, Oscar Hammerstein I, was born in Sceczin, Pommerania in 1848, the eldest son of a German-speaking, Jewish family.) In the film version, Captain von Trapp sings an emotional version of the song, which may have contributed to the false idea that it is the Austrian national anthem.
"Edelweiss" is virtually unknown in Austria, as is
The Sound of Music. Although Salzburg makes a good living by exploiting the film, the Austrian city's tourist customers for "The Sound of Music" tours include very few Austrians or Germans.
Personal Note: I once went to a German-American heritage festival (full disclosure, I am like 75% German) and they sang "Edelweiss" as though it was the national anthem of Germany. They were all arm in arm and raising their beer steins like the goddamned Irish. It was ridiculous.