Two weeks ago we saw on TV a showing of the 1965 musical The Sound of Music, directed by Robert Wise.  As always, I was moved by the story, but also aware that it must have been idealized for the big screen.  I decided to read the real story, in the form of “The story of the Trapp family singers” by Maria Augusta Trapp. (N.B. She consistently leaves the “von” off their names, I think to sidestep the anti-German sentiment that grew out of World War II.)  This account was originally published in 1949. (This edition by Wm. Morrow, 2002.)

Although most of The Sound of Music is fictional, the feel of the story rings true to the reality.  Maria von Trapp was a fiercely optimistic person with a huge amount of energy; she is faithfully depicted by the incomparable Julie Andrews, overcoming one huge obstacle after another in a story whose drama exceeds that of the movie!

One obstacle arises after the end of the movie, which depicts the family climbing over the Alps to freedom from the Nazis.  After this climb, the family made two trips to the U.S. to give concert tours to raise money after they lost their savings in a bank closure.  After the first tour their visas obligated them to leave and return to Europe.  After obtaining new temporary visas they returned to Ellis Island to again gain admission to this country.

It was then that the idealistic and open Maria made a major gaffe.  When asked by the immigration agent how long she would be staying in America, she said enthusiastically “I am so happy to be back in this country and I never want to leave!”  This was interpreted as a rebellious and disobedient statement, and the family of eleven was jailed in a detention area not unlike Guantanamo.  There they met other “suspicious” refugees from other countries, including 80 from China, several of whom had already been imprisoned for eight months without legal process or representation.  Their older son Rupert was a medical student and was not travelling with them, and he was able to find friends who pulled political strings to get them released after four days.

Needless to say, this story was not included in the movie.

In reality, Maria was a highly trained musician and music teacher, and the music that the family sang included Bach, Palestrina, and Josquin des Prez, all of which they learned by heart.  In an example of life imitating art, there are several YouTube videos of subgroups of the family singing “Do Re Mi” which I do not believe was part of their repertoire.

Led by Maria and her husband Georg, the family achieved an amazing amount with a minimum of resources.  Maria became stepmother to seven children and proceeded to give birth to three more.  As an adult, she taught herself English and proceeded later in life to write several books about her experiences.  The family went on innumerable concert tours in the U.S. and Europe. They built a house in Stowe, Vermont and there started a Music Camp which attracted over a hundred students per year.  They started an Austrian Relief Fund to help the people of their war-ravaged homeland climb out of miserable poverty.

I have heard rumors over the years that Maria von Trapp was “not a nice person”, or was “too pushy” or unlikeable.  In this book she comes across as self-effacing, humble, and emotional.  In one vignette where the family’s concert contract is not being renewed,  she pushes to find out why, and finally gets the explanation that she has “zero sex appeal”.  Still a beginner at English, she goes on a crusade to find out what sex appeal is, and how one gains it.

At the end of the book she describes Georg’s last days as a victim of lung cancer in 1947, and her account is moving and earnest.

There are many humorous moments in the book, including one in which Maria, a student of American slang, tells a bishop to “scram” in order to get him to leave a room before her.  Later she describes the commuting pains of a family of ten with fifteen bags, including a spinet piano, on railroad trains.  She loses her four year-old son at one point, and finally finds him trying to con passengers out of pennies.

I have to point out an amazing fact about the movie’s song Edelweiss.  I am not alone in having assumed the song to be an old Austrian folk song, or even national song.  As it turns out it was written in 1959 by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein for the Broadway show The Sound of Music.  In other words, the real Georg von Trapp never heard this song, much less sang it.  Humorously, Theodore Bikel, who played Georg,  stated that, “after performances, he was approached by native Austrians who said they were delighted to hear that old folk-tune again.” (Wikipedia, “Edelweiss”)  Again life imitates art…

I found this story to be moving and honestly told.  Both it and The Sound of Music stand as accounts of the von Trapp family’s struggles, triumphs, and losses.  If you liked one, you may very well like the other.