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My Favorite Things (song)

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"My Favorite Things"
Song

"My Favorite Things" is a popular show tune, originally from the 1959 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The Sound of Music.

The song was first sung as a duet between Maria (played by Mary Martin) and Mother Abbess (Patricia Neway) in the original 1959 Broadway production and by Julie Andrews in The Garry Moore Show's 1961 Christmas special and the 1965 film.

Background

In the musical, the lyrics to the song are a reference to things Maria loves, such as "Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens". These are the things she selects to fill her mind with when times are bad.

The original Broadway musical places this song in the Mother Abbess's office, just before she sends Maria to serve Captain von Trapp's family as governess to his seven children. However, Ernest Lehman, the screenwriter for the film adaptation, repositioned this song so that Maria would sing it with the children during the thunderstorm scene in her bedroom, replacing "The Lonely Goatherd", which had originally been sung at this point. Many stage productions also make this change, shifting "The Lonely Goatherd" to another scene.

The first section of the melody has the distinctive property of using only the notes 1, 2, and 5 (Do, Re, and So) of the scale. Rodgers then harmonized this same section of the melody differently in different stanzas, using a series of minor triads one time and major triads the next.

The happy, optimistic lyrics – "Cream-colored ponies and crisp apple strudel" – are just a counterpoint and cover up an undercurrent of fear. As noted above, the song was written to be sung by a young woman scared of facing new responsibilities outside the convent. In the film script the song is repositioned, with Maria singing it to the von Trapp children during the thunderstorm; but the terror contained in the melody is still the dominant emotion.

The song ends with a borrowed line of lyric and notes from Rodgers' earlier composition with Lorenz Hart, "Glad to Be Unhappy", a standard about finding peace in the midst of unrequited love. Using the same two notes for the phrasing of "so sad" in the original song, Rodgers brings the gloom of my "Favorite Things" to a similar upbeat ending – "and then I don't feel so bad."

In 2004 the movie version of "My Favorite Things" finished at No. 64 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs survey of top tunes in American cinema.

John Coltrane

Jazz artist John Coltrane did an extended, close to fourteen-minute version in E minor on his 1961 album taken from the title of the song. It became a jazz classic and a signature for Coltrane in concert, also appearing on Newport '63 in 1963, Live at the Half Note: One Down, One Up and New Thing at Newport in 1965, Live at the Village Vanguard Again! and Offering: Live at Temple University in 1966, and The Olatunji Concert: The Last Live Recording in 1967.

Other notable versions

The lyrics in 'My Favorite Things' compose mostly of Winter-time & Holiday Seasonal imagery (e.g. Snowflakes, Sleigh bells, Packages tied up with strings, Silver white winters, Geese flying at night, Warm woolen Mittens, crisp apple strudels, Bright copper kettle) which has made 'My Favorite Things' a popular selection during the Christmas & Holiday season. The song has appeared on numerous Christmas albums, including:

References

  1. ^ http://www.discogs.com/Jack-Jones-The-Jack-Jones-Christmas-Album/release/3597240
  2. ^ http://www.discogs.com/Eddie-Fisher-Mary-Christmas/release/7365665
  3. ^ http://www.discogs.com/Rick-Wilkins-And-The-Mutual-Understanding-Christmas-With-Rick-Wilkins-And-The-Mutual-Understanding/release/7453232
  4. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. p. 287. ISBN 0-89820-177-2.
  5. ^ http://www.discogs.com/Whispers-Christmas-Moments-Sampler/release/4661906
  6. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0446426/
  7. ^ http://www.discogs.com/Dionne-Warwick-My-Favorite-Time-Of-The-Year/release/7747286
  8. ^ http://www.discogs.com/Various-Sounds-Of-The-Season-The-NBC-Holiday-Collection/release/1065793
  9. ^ http://www.discogs.com/Deana-Martin-White-Christmas/release/3274047
  10. ^ http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-magic-of-christmas-mw0002585944
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