The Big Picture
- The deluxe re-release of The Sound of Music soundtrack features 40 unreleased songs and instrumental versions of the musical numbers.
- Christopher Plummer’s singing voice, previously overdubbed, will be heard in the new edition along with remastered versions of classic songs.
- The deluxe edition offers a transformed experience of the iconic film, with extended songs and unused segments, accompanied by extensive liner notes.
The bestselling soundtrack for the 1965 classic The Sound of Music is getting a deluxe re-release – and it may become one of your favorite things. The new deluxe edition features never-before-released material, including the singing voice of Christopher Plummer.
Entertainment Weekly reports that the new deluxe edition of the Sound of Music soundtrack will feature 40 unreleased songs, instrumental versions of all the musical numbers, and eleven alternate takes. Those include songs sung by Plummer – although he sang while filming, in the finished film he was overdubbed by singer Bill Lee. It will also feature remastered versions of all the film’s classic musical numbers, including “Edelweiss”, “Do-Re-Mi”, and “So Long, Farewell” – and, of course, the unforgettable title track, which features in the film’s opening scene. The set also includes extensive liner notes written by film historian Mike Matessino, an associate of late Sound of Music director Robert Wise. Says Matessino, “You will hear what you’ve heard before, famous songs with the mellifluous tones of Dame Julie Andrews leading the way. But the experience has been transformed beyond what the 1965 soundtrack album offered — with extensions to the songs, a brilliantly arranged underscore, and even some segments not used in the completed version of the film.” The album will be released on December 1, and can be pre-ordered now on CraftRecordings.com.
What Is ‘The Sound of Music’?
One of the most iconic movie musicals of all time, The Sound of Music is an adaptation of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical of the same name, which was itself a depiction of the real life von Trapp family singers and their escape from Nazi-occupied Austria with their governess-turned-stepmother. The film was an enormous sensation, elevating leads Plummer and Andrews to stardom, winning five Oscars (including Best Picture), and displacing Gone With the Wind as the highest-grossing movie of all time. However, the film was one of Plummer’s least-favorite things; in a 2011 interview with Collider, he expressed his annoyance at constantly being asked about it.
Nearly sixty years after its release, The Sound of Music remains enormously popular, especially around the winter holidays. In a re-examination of the film last year, Collider’s Patrick Lyon found that the “unity of The Sound of Music‘s plot and format make for a surprisingly powerful story about the transformative joy of singing.”
The deluxe edition of The Sound of Music soundtrack will be released on December 1. Stay tuned to Collider for future updates, and watch the original trailer for The Sound of Music below.
