Oscar Hammerstein II, one of America’s great lyricists, wrote songs that sounded effortless. But, as every athlete, musician, and safe cracker knows, it takes a lot of work to make something look easy. Hammerstein, like any other writer, needed to chisel his way through many drafts in order arrive at seamless perfection. The phrase“Oh, what a beautiful mornin’!” became an instant classic, once performed in the revolutionary Oklahoma! (1943). Few fans of the musical are aware, however, that Hammerstein labored on the lyric to that song for 129 years.
This scrap of paper, found among the writer’s effects in the Oscar Hammerstein Memorial Library in Oologah, Oklahoma, shows the master struggling with another word puzzle—this, from the sprightly “Do, Re, Me” from his 1959 musical The Sound Of Music. His challenge: six syllables to define—amusingly, charmingly, unforgettably, and appropriate to the character of Maria—a certain musical note.
