‘The Sound of Music’: A Family Tradition
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
In a movie scene permanently etched in the minds of many, Julie Andrews holds a golden-haired girl close to her chest while hiding in the tomblike chamber of a convent in Austria. “You must be very quiet. Hold tight to me,” she says as SS soldiers rush into the room, boots pounding and whistles shrilling.
It might be easy to forget that “The Sound of Music” is based on a true story, but the von Trapps existed long before Rodgers and Hammerstein’s catchy tunes, and the family’s musical legacy lives on. In fact, the great-grandchildren of Georg von Trapp, the patriarchal captain — Sofia, 20; Melanie, 18; Amanda, 17, and Justin, 13 — have become singing sensations in their own right.
The young von Trapps tour nine months out of the schoolyear, and they visited the Holocaust Museum Houston earlier this summer before performing with the Houston Symphony on July 19.
While the four singers have been to Dachau, Sofia explains this was their first visit to a Holocaust museum. They were given a private tour, and Sofia described the visit as extremely moving. “It’s amazing to think that could have been our family had we not escaped in 1938,” she said, remarking on her great-grandfather’s refusal to lead a Nazi submarine fleet.
The von Trapps, who live in Kalispell, Mont., are taking a break for the rest of the summer and will begin touring again this fall.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
