0:00:02 > 0:00:07SOARING MUSIC PLAYS
0:00:21 > 0:00:28# The hills are alive with the sound of music
0:00:28 > 0:00:29# With songs... #
0:00:29 > 0:00:34The Sound Of Music is the most popular film musical of all time.
0:00:34 > 0:00:39It was made nearly 50 years ago and is still loved by the whole world.
0:00:39 > 0:00:42AUDIENCE SINGS ALONG: # With the sound of music... #
0:00:42 > 0:00:46The story of a singing nun who mends a broken family through song
0:00:46 > 0:00:49seems to speak to everybody.
0:00:49 > 0:00:52APPLAUSE
0:00:52 > 0:00:54The Sound Of Music, which is fabulous.
0:00:54 > 0:00:56I like Julie Andrews.
0:00:56 > 0:00:58- You love Julie Andrews.- Yes.
0:00:58 > 0:01:00When the bee stings!
0:01:00 > 0:01:03I used to host Sound Of Music nights like this one
0:01:03 > 0:01:07and I've always wondered, what is the secret of its universal appeal?
0:01:09 > 0:01:11Is it the mountain vistas?
0:01:13 > 0:01:15Is it the yodelling?
0:01:15 > 0:01:17# Yodel le, yodel le, yodel le hee hoo! #
0:01:17 > 0:01:18CLEARS THROAT
0:01:20 > 0:01:21Is it the costumes?
0:01:21 > 0:01:22SHE PURRS
0:01:24 > 0:01:26Is it the marionettes?
0:01:27 > 0:01:29I'm assuming this is a costume.
0:01:29 > 0:01:30And are you a fan of the film?
0:01:30 > 0:01:33- I love it.- There's a soft side. He does like the popcorn.
0:01:33 > 0:01:36- IN A GERMAN ACCENT: Ja, I like zee popcorn. - You're a collaborator.
0:01:36 > 0:01:37I am a collaborator.
0:01:37 > 0:01:41Singing "high on the hill was a lonely goatherd."
0:01:55 > 0:01:56SIGHS HAPPILY
0:01:56 > 0:02:00It is very important when playing at Julie Andrews to spin left-to-right.
0:02:00 > 0:02:03Right-to-left, you'll turn into Wonder Woman. Just a tip.
0:02:10 > 0:02:13I've come to Salzburg, where the film is set, to find out
0:02:13 > 0:02:17about the Sound Of Music phenomenon and the story that inspired it.
0:02:19 > 0:02:23I'm also curious to know why, until now, the people of Salzburg
0:02:23 > 0:02:26have turned their backs on the story that is based here.
0:02:26 > 0:02:32Some are even casting doubt on the accuracy of Maria von Trapp's story.
0:02:32 > 0:02:34She wants to create her own reality.
0:02:34 > 0:02:40She's always presenting the best way of family life you ever can imagine.
0:02:40 > 0:02:43And that's the picture she wants to create.
0:02:43 > 0:02:46So essentially she's fictionalising her life
0:02:46 > 0:02:49- way before Hollywood fictionalises it.- Yes, it is.
0:02:49 > 0:02:52It's really her personal fiction.
0:02:52 > 0:02:55I think she did play up to a myth that was about her.
0:02:55 > 0:02:59I think she enjoyed the...
0:02:59 > 0:03:01Oh, Maria von Trapp is here.
0:03:01 > 0:03:04I think she rather liked that.
0:03:04 > 0:03:05Our story has been told
0:03:05 > 0:03:10so many times that you begin to confuse reality and fiction.
0:03:10 > 0:03:13Let's see now, which version is this?
0:03:15 > 0:03:19The legend of Maria von Trapp began with her 1949 autobiography.
0:03:19 > 0:03:23It became a Rodgers and Hammerstein musical in 1959
0:03:23 > 0:03:25and was immortalised on celluloid
0:03:25 > 0:03:28when Hollywood arrived in Salzburg in 1964,
0:03:28 > 0:03:32and used the Baroque beauty of the city as a ravishing backdrop.
0:03:32 > 0:03:35It is so spectacularly, fantastically beautiful
0:03:35 > 0:03:38that even my four eyes can't drink it in.
0:03:42 > 0:03:45Of course, Salzburg's most famous son is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,
0:03:45 > 0:03:48and there's Mozart branding everywhere - on chocolate,
0:03:48 > 0:03:52on stationery, on underpants, on tea towels - you name it.
0:03:52 > 0:03:53There's an airport named after him.
0:03:53 > 0:03:57And also, as you can see, a supermarket underneath his house.
0:03:57 > 0:04:00Which of course inspired his most beautiful work, Cosi fan Tesco.
0:04:04 > 0:04:05Bizarrely, though,
0:04:05 > 0:04:09it's the one place on earth that doesn't like The Sound Of Music.
0:04:10 > 0:04:11I've no idea why the Austrians
0:04:11 > 0:04:14simply haven't taken to The Sound Of Music.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17It's possibly just a little too sugary for their taste.
0:04:19 > 0:04:22So, what do the good burghers of Salzburg
0:04:22 > 0:04:23think of The Sound Of Music?
0:04:25 > 0:04:28Salzburgers really do not love the film.
0:04:28 > 0:04:31They see that the Villa von Trapp is not the original one.
0:04:31 > 0:04:36They see that Salzburgers are presented all as Nazis
0:04:36 > 0:04:39and it's not dealing with reality.
0:04:39 > 0:04:44- The musical from the von Trapps? - No, no.
0:04:44 > 0:04:47Ah, OK. Never mind, thank you.
0:04:49 > 0:04:51- Do you know The Sound Of Music?- No.
0:04:51 > 0:04:54- Never seen it?- I've never seen it.
0:04:54 > 0:04:55- Do you know who Julie Andrews is? - No.
0:04:55 > 0:04:57LAUGHS
0:04:57 > 0:04:58Brilliant, thank you.
0:04:58 > 0:05:00Edelweiss is not an Austrian song.
0:05:00 > 0:05:04When I came to the United States and my host family sang it to me
0:05:04 > 0:05:07expecting me to join in, they were really disappointed
0:05:07 > 0:05:08because I couldn't.
0:05:08 > 0:05:10Sprechen Sie Englisch?
0:05:10 > 0:05:13SONG: "Edelweiss"
0:05:13 > 0:05:17She doesn't... Doesn't.
0:05:17 > 0:05:20Even when the historic Salzburg marionette theatre was asked
0:05:20 > 0:05:24to take part in the film, they snootily refused.
0:05:24 > 0:05:27They asked us to make the puppet scenes
0:05:27 > 0:05:31and to show the actors how to handle the puppets.
0:05:31 > 0:05:35I really think it was the biggest mistake.
0:05:35 > 0:05:37Did you say no?
0:05:37 > 0:05:40- But they said no.- Why did... Do we know why they said no?- Yes.
0:05:40 > 0:05:44They just thought it's singing nuns... It's Nazis, no.
0:05:44 > 0:05:47They thought it's too American, something like that.
0:05:50 > 0:05:51In Salzburg itself,
0:05:51 > 0:05:56a lot of people have neither seen the movie nor the musical.
0:05:56 > 0:05:58But then we see that a lot of people coming to Salzburg
0:05:58 > 0:06:00just because of The Sound Of Music.
0:06:00 > 0:06:04300,000 people every year come to Salzburg
0:06:04 > 0:06:05because of Sound Of Music.
0:06:05 > 0:06:08It's forming our image in the whole world
0:06:08 > 0:06:10but weselves don't know this musical.
0:06:10 > 0:06:14SINGING: # Doe, a deer, a female deer
0:06:14 > 0:06:17# Ray, a drop of golden sun... #
0:06:17 > 0:06:22And here these 300,000 pilgrims find paradise.
0:06:22 > 0:06:25# Far, a long, long way to run
0:06:25 > 0:06:29# Sew, a needle pulling thread
0:06:29 > 0:06:33# La, a note to follow Sew
0:06:33 > 0:06:36# Tea, a drink with jam and bread
0:06:36 > 0:06:39# That will bring us back to Doe
0:06:39 > 0:06:41# Doe, doe. #
0:06:45 > 0:06:48- How many times do you think you've seen it?- Oh, about...
0:06:48 > 0:06:51- Loads, I can't count, just loads. - More than once a year?
0:06:51 > 0:06:54- I watched it on Tuesday.- You saw it last week.- I did, I watched it...
0:06:54 > 0:06:58- Last week was a refresher, to top it up.- It was, it was lovely, yeah.
0:06:58 > 0:06:59- Hi.- Hi, there.
0:06:59 > 0:07:03- I'm Athena.- Athena, and... - Maria.- Of course, what else?
0:07:03 > 0:07:06- And where are you from, Maria? - Colombia.- And where are you from?
0:07:06 > 0:07:10- I'm from the Philippines. - Yet united by The Sound Of Music.
0:07:10 > 0:07:13What do you love about it, how does it make you feel when you watch it?
0:07:13 > 0:07:17Oh, it makes me feel young. It's imagination.
0:07:17 > 0:07:19- 16 going on 17?- Yes!
0:07:19 > 0:07:25# I am 16 going on 17, I know that I'm naive
0:07:25 > 0:07:32# Fellows I meet may tell me I'm sweet and willingly I believe
0:07:32 > 0:07:36# I am 16 going on 17... #
0:07:36 > 0:07:39The Sound Of Music connects us all to our childhood,
0:07:39 > 0:07:42and it works its magic across all cultures.
0:07:42 > 0:07:46# ..What do I know of those? #
0:07:46 > 0:07:51- Do means doughnut in Japanese. - Really?- Yes.
0:07:51 > 0:07:53Doughnut, a deer, a female deer. Is that what it translates?
0:07:53 > 0:07:57- Yes, so Do is doughnut.- What does Re mean in Japanese?- Re is lemon.
0:07:57 > 0:07:59This is very good.
0:07:59 > 0:08:03# Do wa donatsu no do
0:08:03 > 0:08:06# Le wa lemon no le
0:08:06 > 0:08:09# Mi wa minna no mi
0:08:09 > 0:08:13# Fa wa faito no fa
0:08:13 > 0:08:16# So wa aoisola... Blue sky
0:08:16 > 0:08:18# La wa lappa no la
0:08:18 > 0:08:20PRETENDS TO BLOW A TRUMPET
0:08:20 > 0:08:23- # Si wa siawase yo - Lucky!
0:08:23 > 0:08:24# Sa utaima sho
0:08:24 > 0:08:27- # Bring us back to Do, Do, doughnut! #- Yes.
0:08:29 > 0:08:32After ignoring The Sound Of Music for so long,
0:08:32 > 0:08:35the people of Salzburg are now gearing up for the first ever
0:08:35 > 0:08:38production of the musical in the city.
0:08:38 > 0:08:43It has been 73 years since the von Trapp family left Salzburg.
0:08:43 > 0:08:45That is quite a time.
0:08:45 > 0:08:50I think the time was just... We're ready to do it now.
0:08:51 > 0:08:52Five, six, seven eight. >
0:08:52 > 0:08:59SONG (IN GERMAN): "So Long, Farewell"
0:08:59 > 0:09:03One, two, three, four.
0:09:03 > 0:09:05Nice!
0:09:06 > 0:09:09Nicholas Hammond played Friedrich in the film.
0:09:09 > 0:09:10He is Sound Of Music royalty
0:09:10 > 0:09:12and has dropped in on the rehearsals.
0:09:14 > 0:09:17ALL: # Adieu! #
0:09:19 > 0:09:24- What's your name?- Isabella.- Isabella. And you'll be playing Brigitta.- Yes.
0:09:24 > 0:09:31- And what is your name?- Christina. - And you're playing Gretel?- Rosalie.
0:09:31 > 0:09:35Rosalie. And, boys, Kurt and Friedrich, right?
0:09:35 > 0:09:38And you know, once you've been a von Trapp you're a von Trapp forever.
0:09:38 > 0:09:40You stay in the family forever.
0:09:40 > 0:09:44SONG: "My Favourite Things"
0:09:46 > 0:09:48Nicholas has been caught up in The Sound Of Music
0:09:48 > 0:09:51fairytale for most of his life.
0:09:51 > 0:09:54There's a part of him that will always be Friedrich von Trapp.
0:10:00 > 0:10:04Perhaps he can unlock the mystery of the story's enduring appeal.
0:10:19 > 0:10:22My feeling about being in the movie was,
0:10:22 > 0:10:24it's pretty rare to have basically
0:10:24 > 0:10:27your entire life spent having people
0:10:27 > 0:10:31come up to you and thank you for the film and what it has meant to them.
0:10:31 > 0:10:33I'm sorry about that, I felt I should have introduced myself
0:10:33 > 0:10:36in a slightly more august way. Yeah.
0:10:36 > 0:10:39And I'm still waiting for your thank you.
0:10:39 > 0:10:41I'm sure it will come eventually.
0:10:41 > 0:10:43It's a thanks I won't be verbalising,
0:10:43 > 0:10:45but just trust me, it's there.
0:10:45 > 0:10:47- It's always there.- You'll find a way to show me.- I will.
0:10:47 > 0:10:50So this is it, the arbour where you performed bits of Do-Re-Mi.
0:10:50 > 0:10:52This is it, this is where Julie Andrews
0:10:52 > 0:10:54does the great, big gesture and I run right past.
0:10:54 > 0:10:56Go on, Sue, now's your chance, right now.
0:10:56 > 0:10:59- So it sort of jazz hands and then you do 100 metres?- That's right.
0:10:59 > 0:11:01- Be Maria - go on!- I'm ready.
0:11:01 > 0:11:05Oh! I'm ready, Friedrich! I'll race you!
0:11:05 > 0:11:08Oh, you've still got some pep, haven't you?!
0:11:10 > 0:11:13- So this bit requires a hitch kick. Show me how it's done.- Like this.
0:11:13 > 0:11:15That's it. It's just hitch kick.
0:11:15 > 0:11:20'Well, Nicholas has certainly still got all those moves.'
0:11:20 > 0:11:23And then it's... # That will bring us back to
0:11:23 > 0:11:29# So, Do, La, Fa, Mi, Do, Re. #
0:11:29 > 0:11:32Then when we do the next one, it's...
0:11:32 > 0:11:40# So, Do, La, Fa, Mi, Do, Re
0:11:40 > 0:11:46# So, Do, La, Ti, Do, Re, Do! #
0:11:46 > 0:11:49So, Fa. Six more months' rehearsal?
0:11:49 > 0:11:51- Yeah.- We'll have this.
0:11:51 > 0:11:55Dye that hair blonde. Learn how to sing, lose a couple of stone.
0:11:55 > 0:11:56Boom.
0:12:00 > 0:12:03Nicholas was keen to show me his Sound Of Music scrapbook.
0:12:03 > 0:12:06There you are, Nicholas Hammond. Friedrich!
0:12:07 > 0:12:09Oh, this is when we just won, this picture.
0:12:09 > 0:12:12Oh, you threw that in! "Oh, that was the time we just..." Yeah.
0:12:12 > 0:12:16And this is the telegram my agent sent my mother.
0:12:16 > 0:12:18Because we were off on a skiing holiday. You can see the date.
0:12:18 > 0:12:20- It's New Year's Eve.- Yeah.
0:12:20 > 0:12:22"Can Nicholas be in New York, Friday, January 3rd,
0:12:22 > 0:12:26"for a meeting with casting director for Sound Of Music? Call me."
0:12:26 > 0:12:28- So that was... - That's a great telegram!
0:12:28 > 0:12:33- That's right.- Oh, yes. Here we go. - Here we go.- Here come the photos.
0:12:33 > 0:12:35What a handsome lad! Look at you there!
0:12:35 > 0:12:36Oh, thank you.
0:12:36 > 0:12:40- So there you are, 13 going on 14. - I am. What did she write?
0:12:40 > 0:12:43"For Nicky, with love from Julie Andrews."
0:12:43 > 0:12:48- That's Maria von Trapp.- So you met Maria von Trapp on set?- I did.
0:12:48 > 0:12:50She actually plays an extra in the film.
0:12:50 > 0:12:55And as you can see, she's come ready to work in her traditional dirndl.
0:12:55 > 0:12:59And in the scene where Julie Andrews is singing "I Have Confidence"
0:12:59 > 0:13:01on her way to the house the first time,
0:13:01 > 0:13:06if you look at the film again, there is an older Austrian lady
0:13:06 > 0:13:09who walks behind her and it is Maria von Trapp.
0:13:09 > 0:13:12# ..If I don't, I just know I'll turn back... #
0:13:12 > 0:13:15There's something about being able to look at this family on film,
0:13:15 > 0:13:20where a woman drops out of the sky, magically makes their father happy,
0:13:20 > 0:13:25makes the children happy, gives them all a purpose.
0:13:25 > 0:13:30And with great courage, they overcome a tyrannical dictator
0:13:30 > 0:13:36and go on to a happy, wonderful life. That's the story in the film.
0:13:36 > 0:13:40And I think there's something about that story that everybody wants to believe.
0:13:42 > 0:13:44So how true is the story?
0:13:44 > 0:13:47Were the von Trapps the perfect family in real life?
0:13:47 > 0:13:50And who was Maria?
0:13:50 > 0:13:53She writes in her autobiography that she was born on a train
0:13:53 > 0:13:58bound for Vienna in 1905, and given the name Maria Augusta Kutschera.
0:14:02 > 0:14:05She was orphaned at the age of nine and raised by foster parents
0:14:05 > 0:14:07and then by an uncle, who treated her badly.
0:14:09 > 0:14:12As a teenager, she was part of a youth organisation
0:14:12 > 0:14:16which promoted hiking and Austrian folk traditions.
0:14:16 > 0:14:20Whilst walking in the Alps, she experienced a divine revelation.
0:14:20 > 0:14:24I had suggested that we go into the Alps, into the High Alps,
0:14:24 > 0:14:27where the snow mountains are.
0:14:27 > 0:14:33And suddenly it occurred to me, "All this, God gives to me.
0:14:33 > 0:14:37"What can I give him?" And there at that moment
0:14:37 > 0:14:42I got the idea, "Well, there is nothing better, I give that back.
0:14:42 > 0:14:49"Beautiful as it is." And I decided to go into a convent,
0:14:49 > 0:14:53which has perpetual enclosure.
0:14:53 > 0:14:55And I went to the Benedictine Abbey of Nonnberg.
0:14:59 > 0:15:01Founded in the year 713,
0:15:01 > 0:15:05Nonnberg Nunnery is the oldest nunnery in the world.
0:15:05 > 0:15:10Maria was destined for a life of contemplation and prayer.
0:15:10 > 0:15:11Ah!
0:15:11 > 0:15:13Dear Lord, grant me buns of steel,
0:15:13 > 0:15:16that I might be able to make my way up this incline!
0:15:19 > 0:15:23So, this is the Nonnberg Nunnery that Maria entered in 1924,
0:15:23 > 0:15:25after a mountain-top conversion.
0:15:25 > 0:15:28I don't know if they let lapsed Catholics like myself in,
0:15:28 > 0:15:31but we'll see. If you see smoke, you'll know it's all gone wrong.
0:15:35 > 0:15:38Maria claims the nuns found her too coarse and unruly
0:15:38 > 0:15:40for life in a convent.
0:15:41 > 0:15:46I was wild in that time, you see. I had no manners.
0:15:46 > 0:15:50I had... I was more a boy than a girl.
0:15:50 > 0:15:54And for some reason, the nuns were glad to see the back of her.
0:15:54 > 0:15:57Well, it turns out when it comes to Maria von Trapp,
0:15:57 > 0:16:01that is definitely a silent order. It's a shame.
0:16:01 > 0:16:05What is this, Nuns On The Run? Sister, excuse me! Sister! Sister!
0:16:05 > 0:16:06Ooh!
0:16:06 > 0:16:11The nuns had other plans for Maria and in 1926, at the age of 21,
0:16:11 > 0:16:14she was sent to be a teacher at the home of a widowed naval officer,
0:16:14 > 0:16:16Baron von Trapp.
0:16:16 > 0:16:20When I turned around and there's this tall gentleman standing behind me,
0:16:20 > 0:16:26who just made a slight bow towards me, took out a boatman's whistle,
0:16:26 > 0:16:28and blew signals on it.
0:16:30 > 0:16:33Each one of the children - finally I, too, later -
0:16:33 > 0:16:35had its signal.
0:16:35 > 0:16:36Lisa.
0:16:36 > 0:16:37WHISTLE BLOWS
0:16:37 > 0:16:38Friedrich.
0:16:38 > 0:16:40- WHISTLE BLOWS - Louisa.
0:16:40 > 0:16:42- WHISTLE BLOWS - Kurt.
0:16:42 > 0:16:43- WHISTLE BLOWS - Brigitta.
0:16:43 > 0:16:45- WHISTLE BLOWS - Marta.
0:16:45 > 0:16:46WHISTLE BLOWS
0:16:46 > 0:16:48WHISTLE BLOWS AGAIN
0:16:51 > 0:16:58Seven children, from four to 14. We just plain loved one another.
0:16:58 > 0:17:01I liked those little ones very much.
0:17:01 > 0:17:05It was the first time in my life that I was being kissed.
0:17:05 > 0:17:07See, I was an orphan.
0:17:07 > 0:17:11I was brought up by an elderly lady, a cousin of my father's.
0:17:11 > 0:17:15And there was no kissing being done in that house.
0:17:15 > 0:17:20And I grew up without. And these little kids, they were all over me.
0:17:20 > 0:17:24And it was such a warm and new experience.
0:17:25 > 0:17:29Georg von Trapp had been a U-boat commander during World War I.
0:17:29 > 0:17:31He was a hero of the Austro-Hungarian Empire,
0:17:31 > 0:17:35and he was 25 years older than Maria.
0:17:35 > 0:17:38His whole life was being a captain. He was very good at it.
0:17:38 > 0:17:39And all of a sudden,
0:17:39 > 0:17:43he loses his job and the possibility of any job,
0:17:43 > 0:17:47because Austria lost not only the war, but her coastline.
0:17:47 > 0:17:51And he suddenly is thrust into unemployment
0:17:51 > 0:17:54and a return to a devastated country.
0:17:54 > 0:17:57A few years later, his wife passed away and suddenly
0:17:57 > 0:17:59he's faced with seven children
0:17:59 > 0:18:02and an enormous amount of loss to cope with.
0:18:02 > 0:18:04I'm not sure he ever recovered from that fully.
0:18:04 > 0:18:07- Well...- Well, show me the berries you picked, come on.
0:18:07 > 0:18:08We don't have them any more.
0:18:08 > 0:18:11In The Sound Of Music, the Captain is depicted as a stern father,
0:18:11 > 0:18:16out of touch with his emotions. In reality, he was warm and loving.
0:18:16 > 0:18:19Maria was the one who needed to have her heart melted.
0:18:19 > 0:18:22Since you've obviously stuffed yourselves full
0:18:22 > 0:18:26of thousands of delicious berries, you can't be hungry any more,
0:18:26 > 0:18:30so I'll just have to simply tell Frau Schmidt to skip your dinner!
0:18:32 > 0:18:33They were married in 1928.
0:18:33 > 0:18:36It sounded like the children did the running back and forth
0:18:36 > 0:18:39between them, to kind of determine that my grandfather
0:18:39 > 0:18:42was going to marry her. As I recall, my grandmother's story
0:18:42 > 0:18:45is that she's standing on a stepladder, polishing a chandelier,
0:18:45 > 0:18:49or light bulbs or something, when the children come running in
0:18:49 > 0:18:51and say, "Papa says he'll marry you."
0:18:51 > 0:18:54And, you know, that's not exactly a proposal that you get
0:18:54 > 0:18:57out in the garden, the way, you know, it's sort of portrayed
0:18:57 > 0:18:59in the film.
0:18:59 > 0:19:02They didn't sing, and I was singing all the time.
0:19:02 > 0:19:06And I couldn't understand this, so I had a guitar,
0:19:06 > 0:19:09and it's the first thing we did, just we started singing.
0:19:09 > 0:19:13# Let's start at the very beginning... #
0:19:13 > 0:19:16In the movie, Julie Andrews teaches the children to sing,
0:19:16 > 0:19:19and within the space of one song, they've got the hang of it.
0:19:19 > 0:19:21A, B, C.
0:19:21 > 0:19:24# When you sing you begin with do-re-mi!
0:19:24 > 0:19:26# Do, re, mi! #
0:19:26 > 0:19:27Achtung!
0:19:27 > 0:19:30In the German version of the von Trapp story -
0:19:30 > 0:19:32yes, there's a German version too -
0:19:32 > 0:19:36the children are whipped into shape by a young priest, Father Wasner.
0:19:36 > 0:19:38This is what happened in reality.
0:19:38 > 0:19:43And Father Wasner became the family's musical director in 1935.
0:19:43 > 0:19:46Nein, nein, fiske A. Fiske A.
0:19:46 > 0:19:47SINGING
0:19:51 > 0:19:55The von Trapp Singers did not sing magical Rogers and Hammerstein songs
0:19:55 > 0:19:58such as "Do Re Mi" or "My Favourite Things".
0:19:58 > 0:20:02They sang austere, sacred music, as well as Alpine melodies.
0:20:04 > 0:20:07They had a successful singing career in Austria and Germany
0:20:07 > 0:20:10in the 1930s at a time when folk traditions
0:20:10 > 0:20:12were having a popular revival.
0:20:14 > 0:20:16This is overlooked in The Sound Of Music
0:20:16 > 0:20:20but depicted faithfully in the trusty German version.
0:20:21 > 0:20:24THEY SING IN GERMAN
0:20:34 > 0:20:37The von Trapp Family Singers were winning folk festivals
0:20:37 > 0:20:40all over Europe when, in 1938,
0:20:40 > 0:20:45Adolf Hitler annexed Austria and put the family in a moral quandary.
0:20:49 > 0:20:52We were so...desirable
0:20:52 > 0:20:55that we were asked to sing for Hitler's birthday
0:20:55 > 0:20:58and we said, "No, thank you very much, but no."
0:20:58 > 0:21:03And you cannot say no and stay. So that was a clue for us to go.
0:21:05 > 0:21:09And the first prize, the highest honour in all Austria,
0:21:09 > 0:21:12to the von Trapp Family Singers.
0:21:12 > 0:21:15APPLAUSE
0:21:25 > 0:21:27They're gone!
0:21:27 > 0:21:28BELL TOLLS
0:21:28 > 0:21:30Baron von Trapp was a proud Austrian
0:21:30 > 0:21:33and would have nothing to do with the German occupiers.
0:21:35 > 0:21:38This is the part of The Sound Of Music which Austrians have trouble with
0:21:38 > 0:21:42because of their involvement with the Nazis during World War II.
0:21:43 > 0:21:47Marko Feingold, believe it or not, is almost 100.
0:21:47 > 0:21:50His life's mission is to remind Salzburgers
0:21:50 > 0:21:52of their collaboration with the Nazis.
0:21:52 > 0:21:56They say you're 98 years old, it's not possible!
0:21:56 > 0:21:58- Alles ist moglich.- Alles ist moglich.
0:22:01 > 0:22:04SPEAKS GERMAN:
0:22:24 > 0:22:30So, do you think the Austrians have come to terms with their past?
0:22:39 > 0:22:41The Salzburg premiere of The Sound Of Music
0:22:41 > 0:22:45faces the Nazi question full on.
0:22:45 > 0:22:50For my generation, the whole image of The Sound Of Music theme
0:22:50 > 0:22:53was too much like, "I love my country",
0:22:53 > 0:22:55too much like a national pride,
0:22:55 > 0:22:58which we actually didn't have at that time.
0:22:58 > 0:23:03We were scared to have because we were still being criticised for it
0:23:03 > 0:23:07or we were scared to be criticised to be in love with our country,
0:23:07 > 0:23:10in love with our traditions, and this image of this dirndl
0:23:10 > 0:23:14and these leather pants and this countryside was kind of scary for me.
0:23:14 > 0:23:18The topic of Nazi history is no longer a taboo
0:23:18 > 0:23:23and I think the musical really helps to give an education
0:23:23 > 0:23:29within a story from here to young audiences.
0:23:38 > 0:23:41In the final sequence of the film, the von Trapps are seen
0:23:41 > 0:23:45fleeing the Nazis by walking across the Alps to Switzerland.
0:23:48 > 0:23:51In reality, the border between Austria and Switzerland
0:23:51 > 0:23:53was virtually impossible to negotiate,
0:23:53 > 0:23:55so the von Trapps took the far more prosaic step
0:23:55 > 0:23:58of simply boarding a train to Italy.
0:23:58 > 0:24:00In the film, however, they use a lot more poetic licence
0:24:00 > 0:24:04and the von Trapp family happily scuttle off in this direction,
0:24:04 > 0:24:06which would have been an navigational nightmare
0:24:06 > 0:24:09seeing as just over there is Bertesgarten,
0:24:09 > 0:24:11or Hitler's holiday home to you and me.
0:24:11 > 0:24:13SHE TUTS
0:24:17 > 0:24:20It's not just the geographical inaccuracies of the film
0:24:20 > 0:24:22that have annoyed the Austrians.
0:24:22 > 0:24:26They are now casting doubt on other aspects of Maria von Trapp's story.
0:24:26 > 0:24:29Peter Husty has been researching a new exhibition on the von Trapps
0:24:29 > 0:24:32to coincide with the theatre premiere.
0:24:32 > 0:24:35It was really strange to go to the archives,
0:24:35 > 0:24:40and to find nothing about her background. None at all.
0:24:40 > 0:24:44This is unusual, because Austrians are known for good book-keeping.
0:24:44 > 0:24:46- Yes.- Why would they not have records?
0:24:46 > 0:24:50It seems to be the documents are not even there today.
0:24:50 > 0:24:54It seems that they got lost, but we don't know why.
0:24:54 > 0:24:57Does the Nonnberg Nunnery have any records of her?
0:24:57 > 0:25:02Her relationship to Nonnberg is also a little bit of a strange story
0:25:02 > 0:25:05because she was not really a teacher there,
0:25:05 > 0:25:08and she was not a member of the nuns.
0:25:08 > 0:25:13She was there to educate the children in their free time
0:25:13 > 0:25:16- in the afternoon or something like this.- Right.
0:25:16 > 0:25:19- So there's no proof that she was either a nun or a teacher?- No, no.
0:25:19 > 0:25:21We only know from the archive in Nonnberg
0:25:21 > 0:25:26that she came into Nonnberg and that she left in '26 Nonnberg.
0:25:26 > 0:25:28Nothing more in the papers.
0:25:28 > 0:25:31So, they have records of other nuns, they don't have records of her?
0:25:31 > 0:25:33- Nothing?- Really strange.
0:25:33 > 0:25:35It's a white leaflet.
0:25:35 > 0:25:39- Yeah, it's a blank piece of paper. That's what we say in English.- Yes.
0:25:39 > 0:25:43# How do you solve a problem like Maria?
0:25:43 > 0:25:47# How do you catch a cloud and pin it down?
0:25:47 > 0:25:51# How do you find a word that means Maria?
0:25:51 > 0:25:54# A flibbertijibbet! A will-o'-the wisp! A clown! #
0:25:54 > 0:25:56So, this has started off as a musical,
0:25:56 > 0:25:59but increasingly it's feeling like a detective story.
0:26:00 > 0:26:03It really is, how do you solve a problem like Maria?
0:26:03 > 0:26:05This is a woman who has no records of her birth,
0:26:05 > 0:26:08we know nothing about her mother, her father,
0:26:08 > 0:26:11we've got no trace of her at the nunnery...
0:26:11 > 0:26:16She's an enigma, she's a mystery, she is a will-o'-the-wisp.
0:26:16 > 0:26:18Maria von Trapp was a teacher.
0:26:18 > 0:26:20To begin with, she was not called Maria,
0:26:20 > 0:26:23she was called Gusta - an abbreviation of Augusta.
0:26:23 > 0:26:26She was teaching shorthand
0:26:26 > 0:26:29and my mother had her as a teacher.
0:26:29 > 0:26:32She was a very strict teacher and very religious.
0:26:32 > 0:26:35My mother was religious, too, but not to that extent.
0:26:35 > 0:26:37The students didn't like her very much.
0:26:37 > 0:26:43She was very strict and as I said, a little bit of a religious fanatic.
0:26:43 > 0:26:45The people fell in love with Julie Andrews
0:26:45 > 0:26:49and not the real Maria von Trapp, because she was by far
0:26:49 > 0:26:55not as charming and lovable as she is portrayed by Julie Andrews.
0:26:55 > 0:26:57This is what I found out.
0:26:57 > 0:27:01I mean, sometimes research can kill the story.
0:27:10 > 0:27:15And who would want to kill the story when it's such an intoxicating one?
0:27:16 > 0:27:19There certainly are a few question marks hanging over Maria.
0:27:19 > 0:27:22So much we know is from her own autobiography.
0:27:22 > 0:27:25But where's the real documentation of her life?
0:27:25 > 0:27:28What's true and what's fabricated?
0:27:31 > 0:27:34There are no von Trapps left in Salzburg to ask.
0:27:34 > 0:27:38The family settled in Vermont a few years after leaving Austria.
0:27:39 > 0:27:42It's a conundrum that I really need to solve,
0:27:42 > 0:27:44so I think probably the best thing is,
0:27:44 > 0:27:46much as I am loathe to leave the beer hall,
0:27:46 > 0:27:49I have to up sticks and go to Vermont to meet the von Trapps
0:27:49 > 0:27:51and to get a sense of who she really was.
0:27:51 > 0:27:53Until then, I've got 16 litres of the foaming stuff
0:27:53 > 0:27:56and a massive sausage, so excuse me.
0:28:03 > 0:28:08The von Trapp family arrived at New York's Ellis Island in October 1939.
0:28:08 > 0:28:12This was the processing centre for anyone hoping to gain entry
0:28:12 > 0:28:14to the promised land of America.
0:28:15 > 0:28:19There were now nine children and one more was on the way.
0:28:20 > 0:28:24The von Trapps had work visas for a six-month concert tour,
0:28:24 > 0:28:26led by Father Wasner.
0:28:26 > 0:28:28But as they queued in the great hall
0:28:28 > 0:28:31with the rest of the world's poor and huddled masses,
0:28:31 > 0:28:34Maria nearly sabotaged the whole thing.
0:28:34 > 0:28:37When asked by immigration how long they planned to remain in the US,
0:28:37 > 0:28:41Maria rather candidly and naively replied,
0:28:41 > 0:28:43"I hope forever!"
0:28:43 > 0:28:45and was immediately detained.
0:28:45 > 0:28:48Come on, Maria! It's a schoolgirl error.
0:28:48 > 0:28:50These guys are tough. You need to have a mantra,
0:28:50 > 0:28:52and you need to stick to it. Simply say,
0:28:52 > 0:28:55"I'm here for a few days on holiday, I'm here for a few days on holiday."
0:28:55 > 0:28:59CHILDREN SING IN GERMAN
0:28:59 > 0:29:01While being detained,
0:29:01 > 0:29:04the von Trapps won the hearts of their fellow refugees
0:29:04 > 0:29:06by singing to them.
0:29:07 > 0:29:10In the German film, they sing their way to freedom
0:29:10 > 0:29:14in front of the Statue of Liberty and gain a new life in America.
0:29:16 > 0:29:19THEY SING IN GERMAN
0:29:22 > 0:29:25So, from this point on, the von Trapp family are refugees.
0:29:25 > 0:29:28They've got four dollars, they couldn't even buy a pretzel,
0:29:28 > 0:29:30not even in 1939, for that money.
0:29:30 > 0:29:32Those street vendors were always expensive.
0:29:32 > 0:29:35I think it's no small irony that the number one song of the time
0:29:35 > 0:29:38was Somewhere Over The Rainbow, Glenn Miller's version,
0:29:38 > 0:29:40which is in many ways a hymn to the American dream
0:29:40 > 0:29:42and that's what they were experiencing
0:29:42 > 0:29:44as they made this crossing.
0:29:44 > 0:29:48MUSIC: "Somewhere Over The Rainbow"
0:30:02 > 0:30:03We had four dollars.
0:30:03 > 0:30:05SHE LAUGHS
0:30:05 > 0:30:06All of us together.
0:30:08 > 0:30:10It was a difficult beginning.
0:30:12 > 0:30:15Simply to buy the daily food, you see,
0:30:15 > 0:30:17we had to fight for every dollar.
0:30:20 > 0:30:25We rented a bus and we practically lived in that bus
0:30:25 > 0:30:27for six or eight months,
0:30:27 > 0:30:30touring all over the country and giving concerts.
0:30:34 > 0:30:37The von Trapps quickly dropped the von
0:30:37 > 0:30:39and became simply the Trapp Family Singers,
0:30:39 > 0:30:42and built a hugely successful career in the USA.
0:30:43 > 0:30:47They adapted their repertoire for an American audience,
0:30:47 > 0:30:50but still offered a wholesome family folksy experience.
0:30:50 > 0:30:52They were like The Osmonds...
0:30:52 > 0:30:54in lederhosen.
0:30:54 > 0:30:57They had religious and semi-religious songs,
0:30:57 > 0:31:01which will always appeal to a large demographic in America.
0:31:01 > 0:31:06And they were just at the cusp of the American folk music movement,
0:31:06 > 0:31:10which happened right...um...
0:31:10 > 0:31:13sort of during and then, after World War II,
0:31:13 > 0:31:17where spirituals, folk songs,
0:31:17 > 0:31:21ethnically-specific music started to sort of bubble up,
0:31:21 > 0:31:26past the sort of processed music of Tin Pan Alley and Hollywood.
0:31:26 > 0:31:30Now, we're going to sing a hunting song,
0:31:30 > 0:31:35a hunting song which is going to be sung in the spring.
0:31:35 > 0:31:37It's an old folk song.
0:31:37 > 0:31:41We're not only singing, we're also using our ancient instruments.
0:31:41 > 0:31:44MUSIC: "Es Wollt Ein Jaegerlein Jagen"
0:31:47 > 0:31:50# Es wollt ein Jaegerlein jagen
0:31:50 > 0:31:53# Dreiviertel Stund vor Tagen
0:31:53 > 0:31:56# Wohl in dem gruenen Wald, ja Wald
0:31:56 > 0:32:00# Wohl in dem gruenen Wald
0:32:00 > 0:32:03- # Halli, hallo - Halli, hallo
0:32:03 > 0:32:06# Wohl in dem gruenen Wald!
0:32:06 > 0:32:09- # Halli, hallo - Halli, hallo
0:32:09 > 0:32:12# Wohl in dem gruenen Wald! #
0:32:12 > 0:32:15The von Trapps are both unique in their sound
0:32:15 > 0:32:18and yet, they also touched on what is, for Americans,
0:32:18 > 0:32:20fundamental of what our country is,
0:32:20 > 0:32:23built very much on the immigrant story.
0:32:23 > 0:32:27And for the Trapps to come to America with virtually nothing,
0:32:27 > 0:32:30since they were forced to leave everything behind,
0:32:30 > 0:32:33and to then build up the great family that they are today
0:32:33 > 0:32:36is a story that I think a lot of Americans relate to today
0:32:36 > 0:32:40and certainly related to in the mid '40s, in the '50s,
0:32:40 > 0:32:43coming out of the War and coming into the Post-war Era.
0:32:46 > 0:32:50In 1942, the von Trapps settled in Vermont
0:32:50 > 0:32:52because it reminded them of Austria,
0:32:52 > 0:32:54and used their lodge as a base for their tours
0:32:54 > 0:32:56as well as a venue for music camps.
0:32:58 > 0:33:01Here, they created a copy of Tyrolean life in the USA.
0:33:08 > 0:33:12So I'm in Vermont in the fall and it's so beautiful.
0:33:12 > 0:33:15And suddenly you come across this
0:33:15 > 0:33:17Austrian chalet in the middle of New England.
0:33:17 > 0:33:20It's like an amusement park, it's like Schnitzel World.
0:33:20 > 0:33:23And this is von Trapp Family HQ.
0:33:29 > 0:33:31We're trying to take advantage...
0:33:31 > 0:33:32'Sam von Trapp, Maria's grandson,
0:33:32 > 0:33:35'leads history tours around the lodge.'
0:33:35 > 0:33:37..and to educate our guests about agriculture,
0:33:37 > 0:33:41which with our herd of Scotch Highland cattle, the grass-fed beef,
0:33:41 > 0:33:44which is much more healthy than corn-fattened beef.
0:33:48 > 0:33:49There's a Trapp farm,
0:33:49 > 0:33:52a brewery brewing Trapp Lager,
0:33:52 > 0:33:55a gift shop.
0:33:55 > 0:33:57- To whom would you like me to make it out?- Judy.
0:33:57 > 0:33:59- Judy. J-U-D-Y?- Yeah.- OK.
0:34:02 > 0:34:06And The Sound Of Music is shown every day.
0:34:06 > 0:34:07OK, yeah.
0:34:07 > 0:34:08My father is Johannes,
0:34:08 > 0:34:12Johannes is the youngest son of Maria and the Baron.
0:34:12 > 0:34:14So after they were married, they had three more children.
0:34:14 > 0:34:17My father was the only one born in the United States.
0:34:17 > 0:34:20But he did grow up speaking German as a first language.
0:34:21 > 0:34:23There was definitely a sense
0:34:23 > 0:34:26of holding The Sound Of Music at arm's length when we were kids.
0:34:26 > 0:34:29I think it was coming from a sense of humility,
0:34:29 > 0:34:32of not wanting to be too into the movie about our family,
0:34:32 > 0:34:36but at the same time also the degree of disappointment
0:34:36 > 0:34:38that our grandfather was portrayed as being so stern,
0:34:38 > 0:34:41you know, our aunts and uncles, whose names had been changed,
0:34:41 > 0:34:43whose birth order had been changed.
0:34:43 > 0:34:46So there was somewhat of an arrogant attitude, actually,
0:34:46 > 0:34:49kind of putting the movie down and the musical down.
0:34:49 > 0:34:52And then, over time, and especially through leading the history tours,
0:34:52 > 0:34:56talking to people and hearing their positive experiences with the movie, how much it's meant to them,
0:34:56 > 0:35:00- we've really come around to making peace with the musical.- Uh-huh.
0:35:00 > 0:35:02So having seen the film,
0:35:02 > 0:35:05did you recognise any of the story as your own family story
0:35:05 > 0:35:07of did it just seem like a fantastical fairytale?
0:35:07 > 0:35:09Um... I think it was pretty surreal.
0:35:09 > 0:35:12Because you were looking at these kids in the movie
0:35:12 > 0:35:15and they're great and they're fun to watch and they're singing
0:35:15 > 0:35:17and then, we were thinking,
0:35:17 > 0:35:20"Wait, but those kids are old, older aunts and uncles."
0:35:20 > 0:35:22You know, how did they get...? And how does this work?
0:35:22 > 0:35:25- Yeah.- It was kind of surreal.
0:35:28 > 0:35:31The interior of the lodge is dirndl central.
0:35:31 > 0:35:34It's a shrine to all things Austrian and all things von Trapp.
0:35:38 > 0:35:42The walls are covered in family photos and movie memorabilia.
0:35:44 > 0:35:46I tell you, I must be getting old,
0:35:46 > 0:35:48cos I've completely forgotten the name of the family
0:35:48 > 0:35:50on whom The Sound Of Music was based.
0:35:50 > 0:35:53And I just wished there was somewhere in this lodge
0:35:53 > 0:35:55that I could be reminded.
0:35:56 > 0:35:58I think it's Schmidt.
0:36:01 > 0:36:03'Johannes is the patriarch of the lodge.
0:36:03 > 0:36:07'He's Sam and Kristina's father and Maria's youngest child.
0:36:07 > 0:36:09'He paints a sober picture of Maria von Trapp
0:36:09 > 0:36:12'and life in the singing group.'
0:36:12 > 0:36:17I was in a cradle at the back of the bus from birth on.
0:36:17 > 0:36:19I do remember,
0:36:19 > 0:36:21say, from age four on,
0:36:21 > 0:36:23travelling with the family,
0:36:23 > 0:36:27coming on stage and then being introduced.
0:36:27 > 0:36:30# Old Macdonald had a farm
0:36:30 > 0:36:33# Ee-eye, ee-eye-oh
0:36:33 > 0:36:37# And on the farm He had some cows... #
0:36:37 > 0:36:38- Pigs.- Pigs.
0:36:38 > 0:36:40# Ee-eye, ee-eye-oh
0:36:40 > 0:36:42- # With an...- Oink, oink here And an oink, oink there
0:36:42 > 0:36:45# Here an oink, there an oink Everywhere an oink, oink
0:36:45 > 0:36:48BOTH: # Old MacDonald had a farm Ee-eye, ee-eye-oh
0:36:48 > 0:36:50# Old MacDonald had a... #
0:36:50 > 0:36:52Well, I think enough.
0:36:52 > 0:36:55You know, the singing was hard, hard work.
0:36:55 > 0:36:57And the performances were, you know,
0:36:57 > 0:37:00there was a tremendous amount of discipline involved
0:37:00 > 0:37:02and...we were not soloists, really.
0:37:02 > 0:37:05We sang well as a group.
0:37:05 > 0:37:10Um... We were all closely related and so our voices had a similar timbre
0:37:10 > 0:37:13and our conductor, Father Wasner,
0:37:13 > 0:37:15who was sadly left out of the film,
0:37:15 > 0:37:19had a great talent for arranging music
0:37:19 > 0:37:23to capitalise on our strengths and minimise our weaknesses.
0:37:23 > 0:37:24Tell me about your mother.
0:37:24 > 0:37:26What do you remember about her?
0:37:26 > 0:37:29My mother was a very complex person.
0:37:29 > 0:37:31Um...
0:37:31 > 0:37:34She was an incredibly strong person,
0:37:34 > 0:37:37had a formidable will.
0:37:37 > 0:37:39HE CHUCKLES
0:37:39 > 0:37:41Literally, indomitable will.
0:37:42 > 0:37:47- Sometimes, running into that will was not so pleasant.- Yeah.
0:37:47 > 0:37:52And we would have our head-to-heads.
0:37:52 > 0:37:55She had a very unhappy childhood.
0:37:55 > 0:37:58And someone with her background
0:37:58 > 0:38:00either becomes a very strong person
0:38:00 > 0:38:03or they end up as a homeless person somewhere.
0:38:05 > 0:38:06And she became very strong.
0:38:12 > 0:38:15It was Maria's drive that pushed the Trapp Family Singers
0:38:15 > 0:38:18and kept them going in America for 20 years.
0:38:18 > 0:38:21The Baron was not comfortable with this kind of show business life
0:38:21 > 0:38:23and kept in the background.
0:38:23 > 0:38:25When he died, in 1947,
0:38:25 > 0:38:29the Singers carried on under the leadership of Father Wasner.
0:38:31 > 0:38:34It was hard for my grandfather to be on this gruelling schedule,
0:38:34 > 0:38:36travelling across the country.
0:38:36 > 0:38:39He didn't want to be in public that way.
0:38:39 > 0:38:42He was just making life work, because it had to work this way
0:38:42 > 0:38:44and their whole world had crumbled
0:38:44 > 0:38:45and he didn't have an alternative.
0:38:45 > 0:38:50And I think, as the years went by, he became increasingly sad.
0:38:50 > 0:38:54Nowadays, we call it depression. Then, they called it melancholia.
0:38:54 > 0:38:58The Trapp Family Singers finally disbanded in 1956
0:38:58 > 0:39:01and the family started going their separate ways.
0:39:01 > 0:39:06For most of the family, it was a relief to stop singing.
0:39:06 > 0:39:12It had been 20 years of public performances and that's a long time.
0:39:12 > 0:39:16So you were sort of living her dream, really.
0:39:16 > 0:39:18- That's correct.- She was the entertainer.- That's correct.
0:39:18 > 0:39:21- But she did it through her kids. - Yeah.
0:39:21 > 0:39:24My mother loved contact with the public.
0:39:24 > 0:39:26She could never have enough.
0:39:26 > 0:39:30She was like a politician who shakes hands with 1,000 people
0:39:30 > 0:39:35and appears to have more energy at the end of it all than at the start.
0:39:35 > 0:39:38You know, they draw nourishment from this contact.
0:39:38 > 0:39:40She did a lot of lecturing
0:39:40 > 0:39:43and she really needed this contact with the public.
0:39:46 > 0:39:49Maria kept the story of the von Trapp family alive
0:39:49 > 0:39:53by selling the rights to her autobiography in the 1950s
0:39:53 > 0:39:55to German film producers
0:39:55 > 0:39:57for a buyout fee of 9,000.
0:39:57 > 0:40:01They, in turn, sold the rights to Rodgers and Hammerstein
0:40:01 > 0:40:03and later Hollywood.
0:40:03 > 0:40:06The von Trapps make very little money from The Sound Of Music,
0:40:06 > 0:40:11but the legend Maria created lives on at the Trapp Family Lodge.
0:40:11 > 0:40:14The longer I stay here, the more I notice that the people who've come
0:40:14 > 0:40:17treat this site as a place of pilgrimage.
0:40:17 > 0:40:19It's like a Mecca with melodies
0:40:19 > 0:40:22or a Lourdes with lullabies.
0:40:22 > 0:40:25And I think for these people, for these visitors,
0:40:25 > 0:40:30the film and the real story have become fused as one.
0:40:30 > 0:40:31And they make this journey
0:40:31 > 0:40:35because they think somehow they're going to find the happy ending here
0:40:35 > 0:40:37that has so far eluded them in their real lives.
0:40:37 > 0:40:39And they'll get to resolve everything
0:40:39 > 0:40:42and dance forever in the beautiful hills,
0:40:42 > 0:40:44like a von Trapp child.
0:40:50 > 0:40:53If the von Trapp legend is all about happy families,
0:40:53 > 0:40:56the reality, as you would expect, is more complicated.
0:40:56 > 0:40:59MUSIC: "Somewhere Over The Rainbow"
0:41:02 > 0:41:04One member of the family
0:41:04 > 0:41:07who best understands the sacrifices made by the singing group
0:41:07 > 0:41:10is also the only grandchild to maintain a musical career,
0:41:10 > 0:41:12Elisabeth von Trapp.
0:41:12 > 0:41:17# Somewhere over the rainbow
0:41:17 > 0:41:23# Way up high
0:41:23 > 0:41:26# There's a dream that you dreamed of
0:41:26 > 0:41:31# Once in a lullaby... #
0:41:31 > 0:41:35The survival technique that they had was to stay together
0:41:35 > 0:41:38and they, they had made a living
0:41:38 > 0:41:41and they bonded so that they wouldn't be scattered.
0:41:41 > 0:41:43It was quite complex.
0:41:43 > 0:41:44They had a farm,
0:41:44 > 0:41:46they had a music camp,
0:41:46 > 0:41:49they had...then, they had concert tours
0:41:49 > 0:41:51that were booked years in advance,
0:41:51 > 0:41:53so they had to be true to that.
0:41:53 > 0:41:56So there's great commitment.
0:41:56 > 0:41:59Many of the relatives, um...
0:41:59 > 0:42:01Some of them never married,
0:42:01 > 0:42:05because there was the dynamics of staying true to this vision.
0:42:05 > 0:42:08And my grandmother probably had a say in that.
0:42:08 > 0:42:11But when it came time and they disbanded,
0:42:11 > 0:42:14the greatest difficulty they all had
0:42:14 > 0:42:17was starting all over again.
0:42:17 > 0:42:21And they had to start over with very little means.
0:42:21 > 0:42:25They didn't have the financial support
0:42:25 > 0:42:28that a lot of people, when they got into the recordings,
0:42:28 > 0:42:30they would have that money.
0:42:30 > 0:42:31They didn't have that.
0:42:31 > 0:42:35All the money was pooled and put into this place here.
0:42:37 > 0:42:39After the singing group disbanded,
0:42:39 > 0:42:41Maria and three of her children spent many years
0:42:41 > 0:42:44working as missionaries in the South Pacific.
0:42:46 > 0:42:50My mother had a bit of a Messiah complex
0:42:50 > 0:42:52and when we stopped singing,
0:42:52 > 0:42:57our musical mission, if you will, sort of, was over.
0:42:57 > 0:43:01And she felt that a religious mission would replace it.
0:43:01 > 0:43:05One of the missionary children, also called Maria,
0:43:05 > 0:43:07lives on another part of the estate.
0:43:07 > 0:43:10She is the oldest daughter of the Baron and his first wife
0:43:10 > 0:43:12and is now aged 97.
0:43:12 > 0:43:14Right, I'm off to meet the source,
0:43:14 > 0:43:16the head honcho, the big bratwurst.
0:43:16 > 0:43:18Maria, of course, who's the last remaining
0:43:18 > 0:43:20of the original seven von Trapp kids,
0:43:20 > 0:43:22as portrayed in the feature film.
0:43:44 > 0:43:45THEY LAUGH
0:43:45 > 0:43:47That was good!
0:43:47 > 0:43:51So it's amazing that you have forgotten how to speak English,
0:43:51 > 0:43:53but the music, you can still play the music.
0:43:53 > 0:43:56- So you remember.. - Ich kenne die Musik.
0:43:56 > 0:43:59Ja, but the Musik still in...in the head.
0:43:59 > 0:44:02- Yeah.- Still there. - Yes, it is in the head.
0:44:02 > 0:44:04- But kein Englisch?- Nein.
0:44:04 > 0:44:06So that's gone, all the memories...
0:44:06 > 0:44:10...Englische... Oesterreichisch...
0:44:10 > 0:44:13Oesterreich. So you only speak Oesterreich.
0:44:13 > 0:44:15- Oesterreichisch.- Kein Englisch. - Nein.
0:44:15 > 0:44:18- But the music... - Ist Oesterreichisch.
0:44:22 > 0:44:24Maria spent 30 years living in Papua New Guinea
0:44:24 > 0:44:27and is now taken care of by her adopted son.
0:44:35 > 0:44:36It was an absolute pleasure
0:44:36 > 0:44:39to be given a few accordion tips by a living legend.
0:44:46 > 0:44:49But life for the von Trapp children was a mixed blessing.
0:44:49 > 0:44:52One of Maria's daughters lives off the estate
0:44:52 > 0:44:54in the local town of Stowe
0:44:54 > 0:44:57and seems to have paid a rather heavy price for being a von Trapp.
0:44:58 > 0:45:01- You were the first of Maria's children.- Yes.
0:45:01 > 0:45:04And did that set you apart in any way from the other kids?
0:45:04 > 0:45:07Did you feel a distance between you?
0:45:07 > 0:45:09Yes. Very much.
0:45:09 > 0:45:14Because my mother concentrated on the older set.
0:45:14 > 0:45:17- OK. So who...- The ones in the movie! - The ones in the movie.
0:45:17 > 0:45:18So, tell me about your mother?
0:45:18 > 0:45:21Tell me, what sort of person was she like?
0:45:21 > 0:45:24A lot of people would say she was too much of a dictator.
0:45:25 > 0:45:29I was very shy, and so I had stage fright
0:45:29 > 0:45:31and I was just afraid all the time.
0:45:31 > 0:45:34I was not happy on stage at all.
0:45:34 > 0:45:36- But you were made to do it?- Yes.
0:45:36 > 0:45:40I don't know what she believed in, except the Lord.
0:45:40 > 0:45:42She had a chapel in the house.
0:45:44 > 0:45:50She tried to get everybody to go into a convent. I was fighting that.
0:45:50 > 0:45:54I knew that if I was going in a convent, I would be...
0:45:54 > 0:45:57in a prison. Like in a prison.
0:45:57 > 0:46:01- And was she always happy and smiley? - No.- There was a darker side?
0:46:01 > 0:46:05She wasn't all the time happy. She was up and down, I think.
0:46:05 > 0:46:08Anyway, I lived with a friend who was bipolar
0:46:08 > 0:46:10and she reminded me of my mother.
0:46:10 > 0:46:12So you think your mother might have...
0:46:12 > 0:46:15I think my mother might have had that.
0:46:15 > 0:46:19- Do you think that she was very smiley with the general public and then quite dark at home?- She tried.
0:46:19 > 0:46:21Yes, she tried to be real nice with the public
0:46:21 > 0:46:27and then she had to let go and was double cross with us.
0:46:27 > 0:46:32When I was 18, my dad died and I had a nervous breakdown.
0:46:32 > 0:46:36I guess I depended a lot on him.
0:46:36 > 0:46:40In the background, he was always in the background in the concerts.
0:46:40 > 0:46:42And... SHE COUGHS
0:46:45 > 0:46:48And when he died
0:46:48 > 0:46:51I just couldn't handle being at home.
0:46:51 > 0:46:54What was your mother's response to your breakdown?
0:46:54 > 0:46:58She sent me to psychiatrists!
0:46:58 > 0:47:01And they gave me electric shock treatments.
0:47:01 > 0:47:05- But that's terrible. - Well, it was too much.
0:47:05 > 0:47:08- Yeah, I really got rebellious. - So you smoked?
0:47:08 > 0:47:10- Did you drink a bit? - No, no, I didn't drink.
0:47:10 > 0:47:14- Did you hang out with boys a bit? - No. I was scared of boys.
0:47:14 > 0:47:20- Were you? Why?- Because my mother didn't foster us getting into boys.
0:47:20 > 0:47:23- So she made you think that they were...- Yeah, they were taboo.
0:47:23 > 0:47:27OK. And to be fearful of.
0:47:28 > 0:47:33Maria died in 1987 and is buried in the family cemetery of the lodge.
0:47:33 > 0:47:36Her death seemed to undo the von Trapps even more,
0:47:36 > 0:47:39and the family fell out over money issues.
0:47:40 > 0:47:46In 1996, some members of the family took others to the Supreme Court
0:47:46 > 0:47:48in a dispute over the sale of shares in the lodge.
0:47:48 > 0:47:52Do you think that once your mother passed away,
0:47:52 > 0:47:56that the family started fighting a bit more without her direction?
0:47:56 > 0:47:58- Yes.- Do you think that's true?
0:47:58 > 0:48:03Yes, that's true, and they all were looking for their own identity now,
0:48:03 > 0:48:05when my mother died.
0:48:05 > 0:48:10And then they started fighting about the money, of course,
0:48:10 > 0:48:15and then they were all doing their own thing.
0:48:15 > 0:48:21If you could have done anything with your life, anything at all...
0:48:21 > 0:48:24- Yeah. What I would have done? - What would you have done?
0:48:24 > 0:48:28- Probably I would have got married. - Yeah?
0:48:28 > 0:48:31Yeah. I wanted to, but then I got scared.
0:48:31 > 0:48:34What would your ideal husband have been like?
0:48:34 > 0:48:37- Can you think about what he would have been like?- Well, no.
0:48:37 > 0:48:39Secretly you can, come on.
0:48:39 > 0:48:42Well, I would have wanted one like my dad.
0:48:44 > 0:48:47Meeting Rosemarie has thrown up quite a few things for me,
0:48:47 > 0:48:49because when I grew up and I watched that film,
0:48:49 > 0:48:50all I wanted to be was a von Trapp.
0:48:50 > 0:48:53The von Trapps were everything that the von Perkins weren't.
0:48:53 > 0:48:56They had perfect vision, they were blue-eyed and blonde-haired,
0:48:56 > 0:48:59and they skipped joyfully into the future.
0:48:59 > 0:49:02But, hey, of course real life doesn't travel
0:49:02 > 0:49:04on the same route as the film
0:49:04 > 0:49:07and that's become incredibly poignantly clear.
0:49:07 > 0:49:08In the film, of course,
0:49:08 > 0:49:10you have a man and a woman meeting and falling in love
0:49:10 > 0:49:12and spending the rest of their life together.
0:49:12 > 0:49:14For most of the von Trapp girls that never happened.
0:49:14 > 0:49:16They were frightened of men,
0:49:16 > 0:49:18they were timid about their own futures,
0:49:18 > 0:49:21because they'd only had them authored by their mother
0:49:21 > 0:49:24and I think sometimes that Maria, their mother's voice,
0:49:24 > 0:49:25is still in their heads.
0:49:33 > 0:49:35When I returned to Salzburg for the premiere,
0:49:35 > 0:49:38I was somewhat chastened by what I'd seen in Vermont.
0:49:40 > 0:49:42I'd arranged to meet someone
0:49:42 > 0:49:45who was able to shine yet more light on Maria's story -
0:49:45 > 0:49:46the nephew of the family's priest,
0:49:46 > 0:49:49musical director and enigma, Father Wasner.
0:49:51 > 0:49:52So how long did...
0:49:52 > 0:49:54Father Wasner joined the family, essentially, didn't he?
0:49:54 > 0:49:56He was part of the touring set-up.
0:49:56 > 0:49:59- Did he live with the family? - For 20 years every day.
0:49:59 > 0:50:02Every day they started with saying Mass in the morning
0:50:02 > 0:50:05and he did his rehearsals every day
0:50:05 > 0:50:09and the kids hated him for that.
0:50:09 > 0:50:12Georg von Trapp died rather early in '47,
0:50:12 > 0:50:15and then my uncle was the only male figure
0:50:15 > 0:50:18to still replace the father for the family.
0:50:18 > 0:50:22Maria and my uncle were the two rather poor folks
0:50:22 > 0:50:24in this noble family.
0:50:24 > 0:50:27That probably made them more sympathetic.
0:50:27 > 0:50:30Actually, I have here the music.
0:50:30 > 0:50:34The lyrics are by Maria von Trapp and the music is by Franz Wasner.
0:50:34 > 0:50:36This is a collaboration they did?
0:50:36 > 0:50:40She wrote the lyrics, a poem, and he wrote the music in 1935,
0:50:40 > 0:50:43which is when he first got to the family.
0:50:43 > 0:50:45Zwei Menschen. Two people.
0:50:45 > 0:50:49Two people are walking under the starlit moon,
0:50:49 > 0:50:51the apple trees are in bloom
0:50:51 > 0:50:55and the flower petals fall on their heads like snow.
0:50:55 > 0:50:57Bells are ringing in the distance.
0:50:57 > 0:51:00But that's not a sacred piece of music.
0:51:00 > 0:51:01This is not a sacred piece of music.
0:51:03 > 0:51:07SHE SINGS: "Zwei Menschen"
0:51:14 > 0:51:17So they composed this together. But this is like a...
0:51:17 > 0:51:20It's a dedicated love song.
0:51:20 > 0:51:22So you've got Father Wasner and Maria von Trapp
0:51:22 > 0:51:26- collaborating on a love song. - Oh, yes.
0:51:26 > 0:51:27The very first day they met.
0:51:27 > 0:51:30They both had probably unfulfilled dreams.
0:51:42 > 0:51:47- Towards each other, do you think? - They could understand each other.
0:51:47 > 0:51:49They were born in the same year,
0:51:49 > 0:51:52they were from the same poor background, simple background,
0:51:52 > 0:51:56and they were both dedicated to music and the church.
0:51:56 > 0:51:58But they came together in this particular song
0:51:58 > 0:52:01and it was some expression of something, we don't know what.
0:52:01 > 0:52:03- Yeah.- OK.
0:52:03 > 0:52:05But who wants to know?
0:52:05 > 0:52:09Maybe you're right. Maybe it's better as a mystery,
0:52:09 > 0:52:12because nobody wants the fairytale to end.
0:52:14 > 0:52:18Maria and Father Wasner both travelled as missionaries
0:52:18 > 0:52:19to the South Pacific.
0:52:19 > 0:52:23They eventually went their separate ways but were reunited in 1984.
0:52:26 > 0:52:27'Father Wasner.'
0:52:28 > 0:52:32'You know, seeing him again was so normal, so natural,
0:52:32 > 0:52:35'as if he had just walked out yesterday.
0:52:35 > 0:52:38'And here he is again. He was very much a part of us.'
0:52:40 > 0:52:46'He took over automatically and told us not to do this, but to do that.
0:52:46 > 0:52:53'And he slowly but surely moulded us into a real musical entity.'
0:52:56 > 0:53:01'He's an excellent musician and we were not musicians,
0:53:01 > 0:53:03'we were just a family who loved to sing.'
0:53:08 > 0:53:13They were remarkable, singing in four parts, very beautifully.
0:53:13 > 0:53:18The master sang some hymns and I commented upon them,
0:53:18 > 0:53:19upon the singing.
0:53:19 > 0:53:21And Father Wasner said,
0:53:21 > 0:53:26"Whatever you sang this morning was quite nice, but..."
0:53:26 > 0:53:31And that "but" was the decision for our life, you see. On that but...
0:53:31 > 0:53:35- Grew the Trapp Family Singers. - ..grew the Trapp Family Singers.
0:53:41 > 0:53:43SUE HUMS: "The Sound Of Music"
0:53:45 > 0:53:48Whatever the truth is about Maria von Trapp's life,
0:53:48 > 0:53:51ultimately it's not the facts we care about.
0:53:55 > 0:53:59The magic of any story lies in the way it's told.
0:53:59 > 0:54:01Maria's story was created by her,
0:54:01 > 0:54:05and then turned into a wonderful musical and a timeless film.
0:54:05 > 0:54:07And that's what we love -
0:54:07 > 0:54:09the way that life gets turned into art.
0:54:19 > 0:54:23So, it's time to embrace the story, get kitted up in a dirndl
0:54:23 > 0:54:28and get ready for Salzburg's first performance of The Sound Of Music.
0:54:28 > 0:54:33OK. So this is what the bang-on-trend Fraulein is wearing.
0:54:33 > 0:54:39This has been going since 1408 and it's Spezialhaus - special house.
0:54:39 > 0:54:41Fur Wildledl...
0:54:41 > 0:54:44Wildlederbekleidung.
0:54:44 > 0:54:47Wildlederbekleidung und Trachten.
0:54:47 > 0:54:50Which means wildebeest wear...
0:54:50 > 0:54:51for ladies.
0:54:53 > 0:54:55Ein bisschen Deutsch. Just ein bisschen.
0:54:56 > 0:54:59So, does dirndl mean anything in English?
0:54:59 > 0:55:03Dirndl is dirndl. It's always the same.
0:55:03 > 0:55:06This is my first dirndl, so you have to be very gentle with me.
0:55:06 > 0:55:08So, it's perfect.
0:55:10 > 0:55:13- I look like Satanic Heidi.- No.
0:55:13 > 0:55:15- You think it's good?- Very good.
0:55:15 > 0:55:18- You think I could pass as Austrian? - Ja!
0:55:18 > 0:55:21I had to breach about three international treaties
0:55:21 > 0:55:22to get into it, but ooh...
0:55:22 > 0:55:25That's a firm touch there.
0:55:26 > 0:55:28It's making me a bit sprightly already.
0:55:28 > 0:55:33It's good. And so... I... I'm going to a premiere.
0:55:33 > 0:55:35You must be very good.
0:55:35 > 0:55:38If only that were true. You've no idea.
0:55:40 > 0:55:43Sort of half scarf, half garrotte.
0:55:50 > 0:55:53The great and the good of Salzburg have gathered for the premiere
0:55:53 > 0:55:56and Johannes and Sam and Kristina von Trapp
0:55:56 > 0:55:58have flown in from Vermont.
0:56:15 > 0:56:19- You've come with dirndl! - Of course I've come in dirndl!
0:56:19 > 0:56:22- What do you think?- Fantastic.
0:56:22 > 0:56:26SONG: "How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria" in German
0:56:41 > 0:56:45SONG: "My Favourite Things" in German
0:56:55 > 0:56:59SONG: "Do-Re-Mi" in German
0:57:10 > 0:57:15# Edelweiss
0:57:15 > 0:57:19# Edelweiss... #
0:57:21 > 0:57:26The Salzburg premiere turns out to be a highly political production.
0:57:26 > 0:57:28There are Nazi guards standing in the auditorium
0:57:28 > 0:57:29and swastikas everywhere.
0:57:31 > 0:57:34There's no escaping the past in this show,
0:57:34 > 0:57:36but the audience loves it.
0:57:37 > 0:57:40APPLAUSE AND CHEERING
0:57:42 > 0:57:44At the curtain call, the cast are joined on stage
0:57:44 > 0:57:47by the von Trapps and Nicholas Hammond.
0:57:47 > 0:57:50It's a wonderful moment of reconciliation
0:57:50 > 0:57:54between Salzburg, the von Trapps and The Sound Of Music.
0:57:59 > 0:58:02Goats, leather chaps, great songs. It's been a brilliant night.
0:58:02 > 0:58:06What's most moving for me, I think, is the reaction of the crowd,
0:58:06 > 0:58:08which was totally visceral,
0:58:08 > 0:58:10it was totally unlike any other theatrical experience.
0:58:10 > 0:58:12Because it did seem at that moment
0:58:12 > 0:58:15that Austria had started to accept not only the musical as coming home,
0:58:15 > 0:58:18but the point of their own history coming to roost
0:58:18 > 0:58:23and... It was a privilege to be here, anyway.
0:58:23 > 0:58:25# Blossom of snow
0:58:25 > 0:58:30# May you bloom and grow
0:58:30 > 0:58:37# Bloom and grow forever
0:58:37 > 0:58:40# Edelweiss
0:58:40 > 0:58:45# Edelweiss
0:58:45 > 0:58:51# Bless my homeland forever. #