The Sound of Music is a 1965 American musical drama film directed and produced by Robert Wise, with a screenplay by Ernest Lehman. Based on Maria von Trapp’s 1949 memoir The Story of the Trapp Family Singers, the film follows a young postulant sent from her convent in Salzburg, Austria, in 1938 to become governess to the seven children of widowed naval officer Captain Georg von Trapp. She brings music back into the family’s life, marries the Captain, and the family ultimately flees Austria after the Nazi annexation.
Quick Facts
| Title | The Sound of Music |
| Release Date | March 2, 1965 (film and soundtrack album, RCA Victor) |
| Director | Robert Wise |
| Composer | Richard Rodgers (music) & Oscar Hammerstein II (lyrics); film songs arranged and conducted by Irwin Kostal |
| Genre | Musical drama |
| Where to Watch | Disney+, or rent/buy on Apple TV and Prime Video |
Who Composed the Sound of Music Soundtrack?
The songs were written by the Broadway team of Richard Rodgers (music) and Oscar Hammerstein II (lyrics) for the original 1959 stage musical. Hammerstein died in August 1960, five years before the film was made, so he had no involvement in the movie itself — The Sound of Music was in fact his final musical. Rodgers, who went on to write 43 Broadway musicals and hundreds of songs over his career, wrote two new songs especially for the film, “I Have Confidence” and “Something Good,” composing both the music and the lyrics himself since his longtime partner had passed away.
The film’s actual musical direction was handled by Irwin Kostal, who arranged and conducted every song for the screen and won the Academy Award for Scoring of Music – Adaptation or Treatment at the 38th Academy Awards. So while Rodgers and Hammerstein wrote the songs, it was Kostal who built the orchestral soundtrack heard in the movie.
The Sound of Music Soundtrack: Every Song
Here is the complete track list from the original 1965 RCA Victor soundtrack album, credited as performed on the release:
| # | Song | Performer(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Prelude and The Sound of Music | Julie Andrews |
| 2 | Overture and Preludium (Dixit Dominus) | Nuns’ Chorus |
| 3 | Morning Hymn and Alleluia | Nuns’ Chorus |
| 4 | Maria | Nuns’ Chorus |
| 5 | I Have Confidence | Julie Andrews |
| 6 | Sixteen Going on Seventeen | Charmian Carr & Daniel Truhitte |
| 7 | My Favorite Things | Julie Andrews |
| 8 | Climb Ev’ry Mountain | Peggy Wood |
| 9 | The Lonely Goatherd | Julie Andrews & the children |
| 10 | The Sound of Music | The children & Christopher Plummer |
| 11 | Do-Re-Mi | Julie Andrews & the children |
| 12 | Something Good | Julie Andrews & Christopher Plummer |
| 13 | Processional and Maria | Orchestra & Nuns’ Chorus |
| 14 | Edelweiss | Christopher Plummer, Julie Andrews, the children & chorus |
| 15 | So Long, Farewell | The children |
| 16 | Climb Ev’ry Mountain (Reprise) | Chorus & orchestra |
One well-known bit of trivia: while Christopher Plummer was credited as the singing Captain von Trapp on the original LP, most of his singing on the actual recording was dubbed by session vocalist Bill Lee. Plummer’s own original vocal takes for songs like “Edelweiss” and “Something Good” stayed unreleased for decades until they surfaced on a deluxe reissue of the soundtrack.
The soundtrack album spent two weeks at number one on the Billboard 200 and held a top-ten spot for 109 consecutive weeks — still the longest run of any soundtrack in the chart’s history. It has sold more than 20 million copies worldwide and was added to the Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry in 2018.
Where to Stream The Sound of Music
The film is available to stream on Disney+, which now holds the 20th Century Fox catalog, and can also be rented or purchased digitally through Apple TV and Prime Video.
Cast
- Julie Andrews as Maria
- Christopher Plummer as Captain Georg von Trapp
- Eleanor Parker as Baroness Elsa Schraeder
- Richard Haydn as Max Detweiler
- Peggy Wood as Mother Abbess
- Charmian Carr as Liesl von Trapp
The Sound of Music won five Academy Awards at the 38th ceremony, including Best Picture and Best Director for Robert Wise, alongside Kostal’s win for the score.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who composed the songs in The Sound of Music?
Richard Rodgers wrote the music and Oscar Hammerstein II wrote the lyrics for the original stage musical, which supplied nearly all the songs used in the 1965 film.
Did Oscar Hammerstein II work on the movie itself?
No. Hammerstein died in August 1960, five years before the film was made. The two new songs written for the movie, “I Have Confidence” and “Something Good,” were composed by Rodgers alone, who wrote both the music and lyrics.
Who arranged the film’s score, and did he win an Oscar for it?
Irwin Kostal arranged and conducted the music for the film and won the Academy Award for Scoring of Music – Adaptation or Treatment at the 38th Academy Awards in 1966.
Was Christopher Plummer’s singing voice used in the film?
Mostly not. Session singer Bill Lee dubbed the majority of Captain von Trapp’s vocals on the original release. Plummer’s own recorded vocals were not made widely available until a deluxe soundtrack reissue decades later.
Where can I stream The Sound of Music today?
It’s available on Disney+, and can be rented or purchased on Apple TV and Prime Video.
Related reading: explore more scores on our movie soundtrack hub, or see what’s streaming on Disney+ and other platforms via our streaming hub.