HERE WAS MUCH I didn’t know about the Von Trapp family. I’m talking about the real family, not the “film family” depicted in the 1965 movie (The Sound Of Music) with Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. For instance, I never knew the conductor of their traveling singing group was their personal chaplain: Father Franz Wasner (d. 1992). More importantly, I never realized their singing group was insanely talented—even by today’s standards. For example, listen to them singing Senex Puerum Portabat by Palestrina. When they sing GREGORIAN CHANT, they ‘stack’ men and women in octaves. I find that practice monstrous, although the choir at Westminster Cathedral always sang plainsong in that way. But the way the Von Trapp singers tune is beyond impressive. I’ve never heard more spectacular tuning. Listen to them sing PUER NATUS (the Introit for Christmas day).
Christmas Song-Book • Yesterday, a friend of mine showed me a book assembled in the late 1940s: THE TRAPP FAMILY BOOK OF CHRISTMAS SONGS. The harmonizations were done (as far as I can tell) by Father Franz Wasner. Some of them are splendid. For instance, the way he harmonizes “What Child Is This” is really clever. It can be found on page 40:
* PDF Download • CHRISTMAS BOOK (Harmonized)—129 pages
—Title: “The Trapp Family Book of Christmas Songs” • Arr. by Father Franz Wasner
Quaint Drawings • If you download that PDF file, you’ll notice that one of the Von Trapp daughters provided wonderful illustrations for each page:
