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Edelweiss (song) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia "Edelweiss" is a Rodgers and Hammerstein song from musical and film The Sound of Music. It is named after the edelweiss, a white flower found high in the Alpine hills. In The Sound of Music, the song is used as a double metaphor: it is first sung by lonely Captain Georg Ritter von Trapp, a widower, as he rediscovers music and a love for his children, in a rebirth similar to the flower's rebirth after the snows of winter recede; second, it is sung as a defiant statement of Austrian patriotism by the von Trapp family in the face of the pressure put upon Captain von Trapp to join the navy of Nazi Germany. The great popularity of the song has led many of its audience to believe that it is an Austrian folk song or even the official national anthem.[1] In actuality, Austria's official anthem is Land der Berge, Land am Strome, and the anthem used before the Anschluss was Sei gesegnet ohne Ende. The edelweiss is a popular flower in Austria, and was featured on the old 1 Schilling coin. It can also now be seen on the 2 cent Euro coin. The edelweiss is also worn as a cap device by certain Austrian Army mountain units. However, the edelweiss is in fact the national flower of Switzerland. The music was written by Richard Rodgers with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and was the final song that the great duo wrote together — Hammerstein would die nine months after the premiere of the musical. |