Recently the Emmaus Public Library hosted a concert and talk by pianist Patrick Kerssen. The music and talk was about the movie “The Sound of Music.”

This movie is celebrating the 60th year of its premier’s release.

Kerssen spoke about changes in theater music. One particular change was about new keys and how these sometimes occurred without notice.

Kerssen also gave a little history of the story of movie.

The story is based on a memoir by Maria Von Trapp. It became a stage musical in 1959 with music composed by Richard Rodgers with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It was a fictional retelling of her experiences as the governess to seven children and her eventual marriage to Georg von Trapp. It was set in Salzburg, Austria and led up to the family’s escape in 1938.

The movie won five Oscars and two Golden Globes.

It spent approximately four and a half years in theaters, surpassing “Gone with the Wind” and was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.

An interesting fact about Austria is the national flower is the edelweiss, a small white flower. According to the lecture, Austrians do not like the song “Edelweiss” from the movie and Germans and Austrians do not like “The Sound of Music.” Tourism in Salzburg exploded as a result of the movie.

Austrians favors folk music. Yodeling was used to comfort children.

Yodeling was brought to this country by the Pennsylvania Dutch.

Music performed on the keyboard by Kerssen included “My Favorite Things,” “Sixteen Going on Seventeen, “The Lonely Goatherd,” “Something Good,” “So Long, Farewell” among others.