The hills are alive again!

On March 10, Legacy Recordings will reissue RCA Victor’s chart-topping 1965 soundtrack to Rodgers and Hammerstein’s five-time Academy Award-winning The Sound of Music in a new 50th anniversary edition to coincide with the golden anniversary release on Blu-ray.  Collectors will note that expanded CD reissues of the classic musical soundtrack starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer are as inevitable as raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens; editions have arrived in time for the beloved film’s 35th, 40th and 45th anniversaries.  But this 50th anniversary release – which promises “previously unreleased orchestral cues from the Academy Award-winning score [under the supervision of the great Irwin Kostal] and all vocal performances on one CD for the first time” – will be joined by a host of other Sound of Music titles.

Razor and Tie's new audiophile label Analog Spark will issue the newly expanded 27-track Sound of Music as a double-LP set on 180-gram heavyweight vinyl, and will also premiere the original 1965 16-track album on stereo SACD and 180-gram vinyl.

That's still not all.  20th Century Fox Home Entertainment follows up its last, lavish Blu-ray box set with a new 5-disc BD/DVD/Digital HD Ultimate Collector’s Edition celebrating the film that once was the highest-grossing movie of all time.  Included in the package will be an exclusive 50th Anniversary compact disc  featuring the original soundtrack album expanded plus eight international bonus tracks from the Spanish, French and Italian-language versions of the soundtrack and never-before-released in the United States.

What sets the new release apart?  It’s hard to say at this point.  Some tracks noted as previously unreleased – such as “The Grand Waltz” and “The Processional Waltz” – have appeared on past editions; it’s unclear whether these tracks include new material.  Others, such as “End Titles” and the “How Can Love Survive Waltz,” are said to be making their first appearance on disc.  Five tracks are noted as including newly-released material including the opening “Prelude/The Sound of Music,” “Sixteen Going on Seventeen,” “My Favorite Things/Salzburg Montage,” “Something Good” and “Climb Ev’ry Mountain.”  Some tracks have been combined here from past releases; “Overture / Preludium (Dixit Dominus) / Morning Hymn / Alleluia” is one track here; it’s traditionally been split into two tracks.  For the record, this release features 27 tracks.  The 35th anniversary set had 31, including an interview with composer Richard Rodgers.  The 40th had 27, including interviews with Rodgers, Charmian Carr and director Robert Wise.  The 45th offered 25, including a Lea Michele performance of “My Favorite Things.”  (A Barnes and Noble exclusive version of that release added four “karaoke” instrumentals.)

In addition to the previously unreleased material, the 50th anniversary soundtrack will also include new introductory liner notes from Julie Andrews and Theodore S. Chapin, president and executive director of the Rodgers & Hammerstein organization; and a new essay by historian Laurence Maslon, author of The Sound of Music Companion.  Rare photographs and illustrations from the film round out the booklet.

Legacy’s newly expanded reissue of The Sound of Music hits stores on March 10, the same date as Analog Spark's SACD and vinyl releases as well as the new Blu-ray Ultimate Collector's Edition featuring its own, exclusive expanded reissue of the soundtrack.  You can pre-order below!

The Sound of Music: 50th Anniversary Edition CD (RCA Victor LSOD-2005, 1965 - reissued Legacy Recordings 88875 05699 2 9, 2015) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Also available on 180-gram 2-LP vinyl: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Links TBD

1. Prelude and The Sound Of Music (**)
2. Overture / Praeludium / Dixit Dominus / Morning Hymn / Alleluia (*)
3. Maria
4. I Have Confidence
5. Sixteen Going On Seventeen (**)
6. My Favorite Things / Salzburg Montage (**)
7. Do-Re-Mi
8. The Sound Of Music
9. The Lonely Goatherd
10. Edelweiss
11. Grand Waltz (*)
12. Laendler
13. So Long, Farewell
14. Processional Waltz (*)
15. Goodbye Maria / How Can Love Survive Waltz (*)
16. Edelweiss Waltz (*)
17. Entr’acte
18. Climb Ev’ry Mountain (**)
19. My Favorite Things (Reprise)
20. Something Good (**)
21. Processional and Maria (The Wedding)
22. Sixteen Going On Seventeen (Reprise)
23. Do-Re-Mi (Reprise)
24. Edelweiss (Reprise)
25. So Long, Farewell (Reprise)
26. Nuns And Nazis / Escape / Climb Ev’ry Mountain (reprise) / Finale (**)
27. End Titles (*)

(*) denotes previously unreleased track
(**) track contains previously unreleased material

SACD / 180-gram vinyl editions (RCA Victor LSOD-2005, 1965 – reissued Analog Spark, 2015)

SACD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Links TBD

1. Prelude / The Sound of Music
2. Overture / Preludium (Dixit Dominus)
3. Morning Hymn / Alleluia
4. Maria
5. I Have Confidence
6. Sixteen Going on Seventeen
7. My Favorite Things
8. Climb Ev’ry Mountain
9. The Lonely Goatherd
10. The Sound of Music
11. Do-Re-Mi
12. Something Good
13. Processional / Maria
14. Edelweiss (Reprise)
15. So Long, Farewell
16. Climb Ev’ry Mountain (Reprise)

The Sound of Music: Ultimate Collector’s Edition Blu-ray/DVD/Digital HD (5 discs) (20th Century Fox Home Entertainment) – contains soundtrack with international versions of eight songs

Amazon U.S.