When I was nine, the Sound of Music film with Julie Andrews played for a whole year at the Odeon in Edinburgh. My family went three times to see it, as did many others!
‘My heart will be filled with the sound of music, and I’ll sing once more.
‘Nothing comes from nothing, nothing ever could, so somewhere is in my youth or childhood, I must have done something good.’’
‘Climb every Mountain, search every stream, follow every rainbow, until you find your dream.’
In a recent Bazaar article Kaitlyn Greenage on Icons, said she re-watched the Sound of Music, ”because she "wanted to watch something that looked nothing like our current reality,"
She wanted the "low hum of the Deluxe Colour Sky, and the smooth matte face of Julie Andrews, and the assurance that the voices of pyrotechnics can protect a family from fascism.”
The Sound of Music is set to a true story, against the backdrop of the Nazi occupation of Austria. Maria was brought up by an abusive uncle with mental health problems, before joining a convent.
Kaitlyn Greenage writes, “In part the film is about the triumph over the emptiness of nihilism, about how to believe in something outside your own fear and doubts. You cannot reach somewhere good without the foundation of some small steps in that direction.”
“You cannot create something that will endure without the practice of devotion. Devotion for the artist can be found in the purity of a brushstroke, for the musician the profound, floating notes that lift your soul to a higher place.”
“A fearless devolution to their work.”
I played the songs on the piano over and over. It all had a profound influence on me growing into my teenage years. My childhood wasn’t often a happy place, with my dad’s drinking issues, my mum often escaping to the garden. Music and songs were my father’s safe place. Music also became my safe and happy place. A place of hope.
