In The Sound of Music, what does Maria say the hills are alive with?

In The Sound of Music, Maria says the hills are alive with “the sound of music.”

The phrase begins the film’s title song, performed by Maria as she runs through the Austrian landscape before arriving at the von Trapp family home. Julie Andrews plays Maria, a postulant who becomes governess to the children and later marries their father, Captain Georg von Trapp.

The 1965 film was directed by Robert Wise and adapted from the 1959 stage musical. Its songs were written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, and the story was inspired by the real von Trapp Family Singers. The film won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

The opening sequence is often remembered as a standalone musical image, but it also introduces Maria’s strong connection to music and nature. The title phrase refers specifically to “the sound of music,” not simply singing or birdsong. The movie was filmed partly on location in and around Salzburg, Austria.