The Sound Of Music is one of Hollywood’s Golden Age’s most iconic musical movies, with songs like “My Favorite Things,” “Do-Re-Mi,” “So Long Farewell,” and “Edelweiss” still echoing to this day. The 1965 movie featured Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer, whose unreleased songs for the film are being reproduced.
Plummer’s contribution is recognized in the new soundtrack with his 40 previously unreleased tracks, instrumentals of each song, and 11 never-before-heard alternate takes. Sadly, he died at 91 in February 2021, while his co-star, Julie, is still alive and turning 88 in October.
‘The Sound Of Music’ unreleased tracks are now seeing the light of day
An associate of director Robert Wise, Mike Matessino created and remastered the upcoming album, which also contains a brilliantly arranged underscore. “You will hear what you’ve heard before, famous songs with the mellifluous tones of Dame Julie Andrews leading the way,” he teased. “But the experience has been transformed beyond what the 1965 soundtrack album offered.”
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Mike also revealed there will be “extensions to the songs…and even some segments not used in the completed version of the film.” “I think everything started with being a fan, but it is actually ‘The Sound of Music’ that is responsible for me getting into that field,” he said, explaining how he took up the project. He praised the classic, saying he “gained a brand-new appreciation of it all over again.”
Mike also shared that he had a good time reworking the songs and “felt a renewed sense of awe at just how brilliant the music is. The orchestrations, what a genius Richard Rogers was,” he gushed. “The fact that you can get that, even if you worked on something, deconstructed it, and reverse-engineered it all the way down to its inception, says something about just how good it is.”
The idea of a deluxe edition was a recreation and arguably a tribute to Plummer, who played Captain George Von Trapp in the iconic film and a testimony of the classic’s longevity. “The screenwriter told me that he thinks that people will be watching this movie in 1,000 years— and I think he’s right,” Mike affirmed.