The Trapp Family | |
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![]() The Trapp Family in January 1946. Photograph by Conrad Poirier. | |
Background information | |
Also known as | The von Trapp Family; The Trapp Family Singers; The Trapp Family Choir |
Origin | Salzburg, Austria |
Genres | Vocal music, religious music, instrumental music |
Years active | 1935–1957 |
Labels | Victor, Decca, Deutsche Grammophon |
Past members | Georg von Trapp Maria von Trapp Rupert von Trapp Agathe von Trapp Maria Franziska von Trapp Werner von Trapp Hedwig von Trapp Johanna von Trapp Martina von Trapp Rosmarie Trapp |
The Trapp Family (also known as the von Trapp Family) was a singing group formed from the family of former Austrian naval commander Georg von Trapp. The family achieved fame in their original singing career in their native Austria during the interwar period. They also performed in the United States before emigrating there permanently to escape the deteriorating situation in Austria leading up to World War II. In the United States, they became well known as the "Trapp Family Singers" until they ceased to perform as a unit in 1957. The family's story later served as the basis for a memoir, two German films, and the Rodgers and Hammerstein Broadway musical The Sound of Music. The last surviving of the original seven (born to Captain von Trapp and his wife Agathe Whitehead), Maria Franziska, died in 2014 at the age of 99. The youngest and last surviving member of the Trapp Family Singers (born to the Captain von Trapp and Maria von Trapp) is Johannes von Trapp.