So Long, Farewell

"So Long, Farewell" is a song from Richard Rodgers and Oscar 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. It 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 nine months after the opening of The Sound of Music.

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