<Tr> <Th> Composer (s) </Th> <Td> Richard Rodgers </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Lyricist (s) </Th> <Td> Oscar Hammerstein II </Td> </Tr> <P> "Edelweiss" is a show tune from the 1959 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The Sound of Music . It is named after the edelweiss, a white flower found high in the Alps (Leontopodium alpinum). It was created for the 1959 Broadway production of The Sound of Music in the role originated by performer Theodore Bikel as a song for the character of Captain Georg Ludwig von Trapp . In the musical, Captain von Trapp and his family sing this song during the concert near the end of Act II as a statement of Austrian patriotism in the face of the pressure put upon him to join the navy of Nazi Germany following the Anschluss . It is also Captain von Trapp's subliminal goodbye to his beloved homeland, using the flower as a symbol of his loyalty to Austria . In the 1965 film adaptation, the song is also sung by the Captain earlier in the film when he rediscovers music with his children . </P> <P> While The Sound of Music was in tryouts in Boston, Richard Rodgers felt Captain von Trapp should have a song with which he would bid farewell to the Austria he knew and loved . Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II decided to write an extra song that Captain von Trapp would sing in the festival concert sequence towards the end of the show . As they were writing it, they felt that this song could also utilize the guitar - playing and folk - singing talents of Theodore Bikel, who had been cast as the Captain . The Lindsay and Crouse script provides the metaphor of the simple edelweiss wildflower as a symbol of the Austria that Captain von Trapp, Maria, and their children knew would live on, in their hearts, despite the Nazi annexation of their homeland . The metaphor of this song builds on an earlier scene when Gretl presents a bouquet of edelweiss flowers to Baroness Elsa Schräder during her visit to the von Trapp household . Rodgers provided a simple, yet haunting and affecting waltz - time melody, to the simple Italian style ritornello lyric that Hammerstein wrote about the appearance of the edelweiss flower . This song turned out to be one of the most beloved songs in the musical, and also one of the best - loved songs of Rodgers and Hammerstein . </P>

When is edelweiss sung in the sound of music
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