Edelweiss and Roses: Oscar Hammerstein II’s Floral Inspirations
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast:
July 12, 1895
On this day, dear readers, we celebrate the birth of a most remarkable cultivator of the musical arts, one Oscar Hammerstein II.
While not a gardener in the traditional sense, this American lyricist, librettist, theatrical producer, and director certainly knew how to plant seeds of creativity and nurture them into full-blown theatrical spectacles.
Born into a family where the stage was as familiar as a well-tended garden, young Oscar was destined for greatness. His father and uncle, Willie and Arthur Hammerstein, were successful theater managers, while his grandfather, Oscar Hammerstein I, was a renowned opera impresario.
One might say the theatrical soil from which Oscar II sprung was rich indeed!
For nearly four decades, Hammerstein tended to his craft with the dedication of a master gardener, reaping a bountiful harvest of eight Tony Awards and two Academy Awards for Best Original Song.
Such accolades are not unlike the blue ribbons we gardeners covet at our local horticultural shows, wouldn't you agree?
Now, let us turn our attention to a particular bloom in Hammerstein's musical garden.
For the musical Carousel, he penned what would become his most famous lyric:
June is bustin' out all over.
Can you picture it, dear readers?
The exuberance of early summer, when every bud seems ready to burst forth in glorious color! It's a sentiment we gardeners know all too well, is it not?
But let us not forget the delicate alpine flower that starred in Hammerstein's final composition.
Edelweiss, the last song Rodgers and Hammerstein wrote together before Oscar's untimely departure in August 1960, serves as Captain von Trapp's poignant farewell to his beloved homeland in The Sound of Music.
How clever of Hammerstein to use this humble yet resilient flower to symbolize the Captain's unwavering loyalty to Austria!
Alas, much like a garden that must endure the changing seasons, the world of musical theater faced a great loss.
A mere nine months after The Sound of Music opened its doors on Broadway, Oscar Hammerstein II succumbed to stomach cancer, leaving behind a legacy as enduring as the perennials we so cherish in our gardens.
As we tend to our plots this day, let us remember Oscar Hammerstein II.
May we cultivate our passions with the same fervor he brought to his craft, always striving to create beauty that will outlast us, be it in song or in the gentle unfurling of a perfect rose.
