The Story of the Trapp Family Singers [Paperback]

Maria Augusta Trapp (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1990

In her own, beautiful, simple words, the Baroness Maria Augusta Trapp tells the dramatic story that inspired the classic American musical The Sound of Music.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

In her own, beautiful, simple words, the Baroness Maria Augusta Trapp tells the dramatic story that inspired the classic American musical The Sound Of Music.

From the Inside Flap

In her own, beautiful, simple words, the Baroness Maria Augusta Trapp tells the dramatic story that inspired the classic American musical The Sound of Music.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Image (June 1, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385028962
• ISBN-13: 978-0385028967
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (63 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #865,850 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

98 of 102 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Curiosity satisfied, May 11, 2004

By 

Erika Mitchell (E. Calais, VT USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Story of the Trapp Family Singers (Paperback)

This book is a personal family history of the Trapp Family Singers. It begins with Maria's days in the convent, traces the migrations of the family during the War years, and finishes in their family home in Vermont.

Ever since seeing The Sound of Music for the first time, I have always been curious about what happened next- -did the entire family manage to safely climb the Alps to freedom? How did they pay for their journey to the US? And what connection do they have to the Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, Vermont? Maria Trapp answers all of these questions in this book. While the musical version of their life did convey many of the main episodes, the storyline of the musical compressed these episodes so that they seemed to happen one after the other: Maria leaves the convent, teaches the children how to sing, marries their father, and they flee the country at the outbreak of the war, all within 2 hours. Phew! Like the musical, this book also starts with Maria's last day in the convent, but more than a year passed before she and the Baron were married, in 1927. They were married some 12 years and had 2 additional children along the way before leaving Austria. Yes, as unknowns, the family did win a song festival, but that was in 1936, and by the time they fled Austria, they were already quite well-known and had toured Europe as a family singing group. Indeed, one additional reason for leaving the country when they did was that they had been invited to sing at Hitler's birthday.

When driving past the Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, I have always thought of it as a ritzy place, and assumed that the money to purchase it and develop it had come from the Baron's family fortune. In reading this book, I found that that was not the case at all. The Baron's fortune was lost before the family left Austria, and they arrived in the US on borrowed money. In their new American lives, they had to restart from the very bottom of the social ladder, digging themselves out of debt before they could even begin to think of buying new clothes or a home. For years they dressed in the same simple clothes they had arrived in, and they built their first house in Vermont from the foundation up with their bare hands. That is, the girls did, since the two boys had been drafted into the US army and were fighting in Europe at the time.

This book relates all of these details and many more, with a considerable sprinkling of humor. Maria comes across as a determined optimist, a young girl barely out of her teens who arrived on the doorstep of a house filled with grief and dissension. Through her personal character and upbringing, she created a family with strong bonds to each other that was able to withstand remarriage, loss of fortune, becoming refugees, and establishing a home and a livelihood in a distant foreign land. The two elements that were her constant guidance and source of inspiration were her faith and the music. This book is peppered with remarks that ring true even today: "The family that sings together, plays together, prays together, and usually stays together." "Our age has become so mechanical that this has also affected our recreation. People have gotten used to sitting down and watching a movie, a ball game, a television set. It may be good once in a while, but it certainly is not good all the time. Our own faculties, our imagination, our memory, the ability to do things with our mind and our hands- -they need to be exercised. If we become too passive, we get dissatisfied." The Sound of Music is a great story, but the story presented in this book is much better.

92 of 98 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An uplifting story of a family who loved God and one another, August 23, 1998

By 

"mamabookworm" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Story of the Trapp Family Singers (Paperback)

This is simply one the most uplifting books I have ever read! I adore the movie "The Sound of Music" but this book is even more amazing. The von Trapp family went from immense wealth to poverty in a very short time, but throughout their trials they never lost their faith that God would provide. I was also impressed that they were so easily able to recognize the evil around them (Hitler, etc.) for what it was. My favorite part of the book is when Georg gathers his family together and tells them, "Children, we have a choice now: do we want to keep the material goods we still have. . .our friends, and all the things we are fond of?--then we shall have to give up the spiritual goods: our faith and honor. We can't have both any more." The family chooses to relinquish their wealth and retain their honor. This is the best example I know of a family that stuck together through thick and thin.

167 of 186 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 5 stars for storytelling, 3 for probity, average 4!, December 22, 1999

By 

. "Adelie" (Grass Valley, CA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Story of the Trapp Family Singers (Paperback)

My mother ran the gift shop at the Trapp Family summer camps in Stowe in the late '40s, and I spent my summers with her when I was three and four, the youngest child there. Agatha, the oldest daughter, appointed herself as my caretaker during those two summers, and I have many clear and wonderful memories of those times - Cor Unum, their home which later became the original Lodge, just completed; singing and dancing all day and evening, indoors and out; hiking Pico Peak singing; the family with their dirndls and braided crowns; and always, the figure of Maria, the Baroness, looming over all, larger than life, laughing and singing and leading the fun.

That said, this book was one of my earliest attempts to read a "big people's" book. I loved it - still do! - and the way it captured the characters of the people I knew. But I also recall my mother telling me that while the Baroness was a wonderful raconteur, her book, like all memoirs, was somewhat skewed and biased. She was not the holy innocent who had no idea that the Captain was in love with her and who meekly married him only because it was the will of God. She was an immensely strong-willed woman who knew exactly what was going on and also knew that she was entirely ill-suited to contemplative convent life. Which isn't to say that her account is untrue; light that passes through a prism is still light, although bent, and her account, while similarly bent, is still fundamentally true. There is some truth in all she says, but some of the details have been fluffed up a bit.

The family probably wouldn't have survived without her strength, will, and humor, and there is no doubt of her religiousity - she turned to charismatic Catholicism in her later years and was speaking in tongues. As is the case with all strong people, some people, including some in her family, had difficulties with her. And of course, the play and film bear very little resemblance to reality - the very fact that the family names weren't flossy enough for Hollywood tells you that the producers felt a need to tart up the story.

But I've always loved this book, and will continue to recommend it - forget the movie!