So Long, Farewell

"So Long, Farewell" is a song from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s 1959 classic, The Sound of Music. It was included in the original Broadway run and was first performed by the Von Trapp children, Kathy Dunn, David Gress, Evanna Lien, Mary Susan Locke, Lauri Peters, Marilyn Rogers, Joseph Stewart, and Frances Underhill. "So Long, Farewell", along with "Do-Re-Mi", are the only songs to predominately feature the Von Trapp children. They first perform the song on their own to party guests of their parents and when it is reprised are joined by Maria (Mary Martin) and The Captain (Theodore Bikel). Being a farewell song, it is first performed late in the first act and is reprised once near the end of the second act.

"So Long, Farewell" is a basic composition that plays on the children’s higher voices and young charm. There is one main chorus that is repeated several times throughout the song, which is entirely in major key. It is designed to be a cute children’s song that showcases the Von Trapp children and does so quite well.

"So Long, Farewell" has lived on in popular culture well past its Broadway run. The song was featured in the 1965 film and spoofed in an episode of Family Guy. "So Long, Farewell" is one of the last songs written by the legendary Oscar Hammerstein II as he died a mere 9 months after the opening of The Sound of Music.

References

Maria von Trapp's The Story of the Trapp Family Singers

Films	The Trapp Family (1956) The Trapp Family in America (1958) The Sound of Music (1965)

Other adaptations	The Sound of Music (1959 musical) Trapp Family Story (1991 anime) The Sound of Music Live! (2013) The Sound of Music Live (2015)

Songs	"The Sound of Music" "Maria" "My Favorite Things" "Do-Re-Mi" "Sixteen Going on Seventeen" "The Lonely Goatherd" "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" "No Way to Stop It" "So Long, Farewell" "Edelweiss" "Something Good"

Albums	The Groovy Sound of Music (1964) The Sound of Music (1965 soundtrack) The Sound of Music: Music from the NBC Television Event (2013)

Legacy	The von Trapps

Rodgers and Hammerstein

Stage musicals	Oklahoma! Carousel Allegro South Pacific The King and I Me and Juliet Pipe Dream Flower Drum Song The Sound of Music A Grand Night for Singing State Fair Cinderella

Productions	I Remember Mama Annie Get Your Gun Happy Birthday John Loves Mary Show Boat The Happy Time Burning Bright

Films	State Fair Oklahoma! Carousel The King and I South Pacific Flower Drum Song State Fair The Sound of Music Cinderella

Television	Cinderella The Sound of Music Live!

Songs	"Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" "The Surrey with the Fringe on Top" "Kansas City" "I Cain't Say No" "Many a New Day" "It's a Scandal! It's a Outrage!" "People Will Say We're in Love" "Lonely Room" "The Farmer and the Cowman" "All Er Nuthin'" "Oklahoma" "If I Loved You" "Soliloquy" "You'll Never Walk Alone" "It Might as Well Be Spring" "That's for Me" "A Fellow Needs a Girl" "So Far" "Some Enchanted Evening" "There Is Nothing Like a Dame" "Bali Ha'i" "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair" "I'm in Love with a Wonderful Guy" "Younger Than Springtime" "Happy Talk" "You've Got to Be Carefully Taught" "I Whistle a Happy Tune" "Hello, Young Lovers" "Getting to Know You" "We Kiss in a Shadow" "Something Wonderful" "I Have Dreamed" "Shall We Dance?" "No Other Love" "I Enjoy Being a Girl" "The Sound of Music" "Maria" "My Favorite Things" "Do-Re-Mi" "Sixteen Going on Seventeen" "The Lonely Goatherd" "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" "So Long, Farewell" "No Way to Stop It" "Edelweiss"

Related articles	"Something Good" The Sound of Music The Sound of Music: Music from the NBC Television Event

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