Entertainment

By Mary Therese Biebel mbiebel@timesleader.com
Features Writer
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When Elisabeth Von Trapp was growing up in Vermont, her family suspended an Advent wreath above the dining-room table each December.

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Elisabeth Von Trapp will perform in concert on Friday evening at Misericordia University.

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Elisabeth Von Trapp will accompany herself on guitar on Friday evening at Misericordia University.

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IF YOU GO

Who: Elisabeth Von Trapp

What: A Von Trapp Christmas

Where: Lemmond Theater, Walsh Hall, Misericordia University, 301 Lake St., Dallas Township

When: 8 p.m. Friday

Cost: $10

More info: 674-6719

They lit purple and pink candles amid the greenery, one for each of the four weeks before Christmas, and they sang.

Of course, they sang. How could they not sing?

They were Von Trapps — a new generation of the Austrian family that had been immortalized in the movie “The Sound of Music.”

One of Elisabeth Von Trapp’s favorite memories from those family gatherings around the table is a haunting, medieval carol — “almost like a Gregorian chant” — called “Maria durch ein Dornwald Ging.”

The carol, which translates to “Mary Through a Thorn Wood Walked,” retells a legend of the Blessed Mother, pregnant with the Baby Jesus, entering a forest of thorns and watching roses miraculously bloom.

“That song captures for me the essence of the beauty my parents surrounded us with,” said Von Trapp, who will be sure to sing it Friday evening when she presents “Elisabeth Von Trapp: A Von Trapp Christmas” at Misericordia University.

Other numbers on the concert program are an English carol called “In the Bleak Mid-Winter,” a Basque carol called “Gabriel’s Message,” and a French carol called “Ding Dong, Merrily On High.”

“It’s quite a mix,” the performer said, adding she will sing the English translation, “Silent Night,” along with the original “Stille Nacht,” which a pastor wrote for an 1818 Christmas Eve service in the land of her ancestors.

Elisabeth Von Trapp is the daughter of Werner Von Trapp, who was born in Austria in 1915 to Georg Von Trapp and his first wife, Agathe.

In case you’re wondering why you don’t remember a Werner from the movie, it’s because he was represented by the character Kurt.

For the 1965 movie, all seven of the Von Trapp children’s names were changed. In real life their names were Rupert, Agathe, Maria, Werner, Hedwig, Johanna and Martina.

After his first wife died of scarlet fever and Georg married Maria — who in real life did change her plans about entering a convent — the couple had three more children: Rosemarie, Eleanore and Johannes.

Only the youngest, Johannes, was born in the United States, where the family of singers immigrated to escape the influence of the Nazi Party.

“The way I heard it, my grandfather asked all the children to vote, and it was unanimous,” Von Trapp said. “They would give up material wealth but maintain their spiritual health.”

In their new country, the Von Trapps continued to enjoy Austrian Christmas traditions as they raised a new generation.

Elisabeth Von Trapp remembers her mother, Erika, spending “days, actually weeks, baking the most incredible cookies.”

The children weren’t supposed to enter “the Christmas room” until Christmas Eve — that’s when they’d see the decorated tree for the first time.

But, best of all, Von Trapp said, was the music.

“The most beautiful aspect was watching my parents sing,” she said.

Now a highly regarded singer in her own right, Von Trapp has been described as “ethereal yet earthy, delicate yet powerful.”

She will accompany herself on guitar, while Erich Kory will accompany her on cello.