Climb Ev'ry Mountain - wikipedia Climb Ev'ry Mountain For Judith Durham 's 1971 album of the same name, see Climb Ev'ry Mountain ( album ). `` Climb Ev'ry Mountain '' Song Released 1959 Genre Showtune Composer ( s ) Richard Rodgers Lyricist ( s ) Oscar Hammerstein II `` Climb Ev'ry Mountain '' is a show tune from the 1959 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The Sound of Music. It is sung at the close of the first act by the Mother Abbess. It is themed as an inspirational piece, to encourage people to take every step towards attaining their dreams. Background This song shares inspirational overtones with the song `` You 'll Never Walk Alone '' from Carousel. They are both sung by the female mentor characters in the shows, and are used to give strength to the protagonists in the story, and both are given powerful reprises at the end of their respective shows. As Oscar Hammerstein II was writing the lyrics, it developed its own inspirational overtones along the lines of an earlier Hammerstein song, `` There 's a Hill Beyond a Hill ''. He felt that the metaphors of climbing mountains and fording streams better fitted Maria 's quest for her spiritual compass. The muse behind the song was Sister Gregory, the head of Drama at Rosary College in Illinois. The letters that she sent to Hammerstein and to Mary Martin, the first Maria von Trapp on Broadway, described the parallels between a nun 's choice for a religious life and the choices that humans must make to find their purpose and direction in life. When she read the manuscript of the lyrics, she confessed that it `` drove ( her ) to the Chapel '' because the lyrics conveyed a `` yearning that... ordinary souls feel but can not communicate. '' Although this song has parallels with `` You 'll Never Walk Alone, '' the song shares musical similarities with the song `` Something Wonderful '' from The King and I. Both songs are played at a similar broad tempo, and both songs have accompaniments punctuated by heavy chords in the orchestral score. The song has often been sung by operatically trained voices in professional stage productions. In the original Broadway production it was sung by Patricia Neway, in the original London production it was sung by Constance Shacklock, and in the original Australian production it was sung by Rosina Raisbeck. In the original stage play, the Mother Abbess sings the song at the end of the first act. When Ernest Lehman wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation, he shifted the scene so that this song would be the first major song of the second act. When Robert Wise and his film crew were filming this scene, Peggy Wood had some reservations about the words, which she felt were too `` pretentious. '' So they filmed Peggy Wood in silhouette, against the wall of the set for the Mother Abbess ' office. Peggy Wood 's singing voice is dubbed by Margery MacKay, the wife of the rehearsal pianist Harper MacKay, as Wood was not able to sing the high notes of the song. The last note that the Mother Abbess sings in the film is an F - sharp ( F # 5 ). Other versions This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( December 2015 ) `` Climb Ev'ry Mountain '' Single by Shirley Bassey from the album Shirley Bassey B - side `` Reach for the Stars '' Released July 1960 Format 7 - inch single Recorded 1959 Length 3 : 10 Label Columbia Songwriter ( s ) Rodgers and Hammerstein Shirley Bassey singles chronology `` You 'll Never Know '' ( 1961 ) `` Climb Ev'ry Mountain '' ( 1960 ) `` I 'll Get By '' ( 1961 ) `` You 'll Never Know '' ( 1961 ) `` Climb Ev'ry Mountain '' ( 1960 ) `` I 'll Get By '' ( 1961 ) 1959 : Tony Bennett had a minor hit single ( # 74 ) of the song 1960 : Andy Williams on his album The Village of St. Bernadette 1990 : The Fleetwoods on their album, The Best of The Fleetwoods 1961 : Welsh singer Shirley Bassey, as part of a double A-sided single with `` Reach for the Stars '', which reached # 1 in the UK and remained on the charts for 18 weeks 1971 : Judith Durham recorded and released a version as the first single from her album, Climb Ev'ry Mountain 1989 : Sissel Kyrkjebø sang a Norwegian version, `` Se Over Fjellet '' on the album Soria Moria 1992 : Alex Burrall 's version in the movie The Jacksons : An American Dream, portraying Michael Jackson ( 6 -- 8 years of age ) at a school pageant show 2000 : Christina Aguilera on her concert DVD My Reflection 2003 : Guy Sebastian 's interpretation on Australian Idol season 1 when he performed it on the 1960s theme night ( recorded it for the B - side of his # 1 single `` All I Need Is You '' ) 2013 : Australian operatic mezzo - soprano Jacqui Dark for ABC Classics as part of a compilation album, I Dreamed a Dream : The Hit Songs of Broadway 2015 : Jordan Smith on the season nine finale of The Voice 2016 : Barbra Streisand recorded the song as a duet with Jamie Foxx for her 2016 album Encore : Movie Partners Sing Broadway. References Jump up ^ Maslon, Laurence ( 2006 ). The Sound of Music Companion. London : Pavilion Books. Jump up ^ Fordin, Hugh ( 1995 ). Getting to Know Him : A Biography of Oscar Hammerstein II. New York : Da Capo Press. Jump up ^ Hirsch, Julia Antopol Hirsch ( 1993 ). The Sound of Music : The Making of America 's Favourite Movie. Chicago : Contemporary Books. Jump up ^ Chartstats - `` Climb Ev'ry Mountain '', UK chart run Jump up ^ `` Soria Moria ''. Discogs.com. Retrieved 5 December 2014. Jump up ^ `` I Dreamed A Dream -- Songs of Broadway ''. ABC. Retrieved 14 June 2013. Preceded by `` Johnny Remember Me '' by John Leyton UK number one single `` Reach for the Stars '' / `` Climb Ev'ry Mountain '' by Shirley Bassey 21 September 1961 ( one week ) Succeeded by `` Johnny Remember Me '' by John Leyton Rodgers and Hammerstein Stage musicals Oklahoma ! Carousel Allegro South Pacific The King and I Me and Juliet Pipe Dream Flower Drum Song The Sound of Music A Grand Night for Singing State Fair Cinderella Productions I Remember Mama Annie Get Your Gun Happy Birthday John Loves Mary Show Boat The Happy Time Burning Bright Films State Fair ( 1945 ) Oklahoma ! Carousel The King and I South Pacific Flower Drum Song State Fair ( 1962 ) The Sound of Music Cinderella Television Cinderella The Sound of Music Live ! Songs `` Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin ' '' `` The Surrey with the Fringe on Top '' `` Kansas City '' `` I Cai n't Say No '' `` Many a New Day '' `` It 's a Scandal ! It 's a Outrage ! '' `` People Will Say We 're in Love '' `` Lonely Room '' `` The Farmer and the Cowman '' `` All Er Nuthin ' '' `` Oklahoma '' `` If I Loved You '' `` Soliloquy '' `` You 'll Never Walk Alone '' `` It Might as Well Be Spring '' `` That 's for Me '' `` A Fellow Needs a Girl '' `` So Far '' `` Some Enchanted Evening '' `` There Is Nothing Like a Dame '' `` Bali Ha'i '' `` I 'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair '' `` I 'm in Love with a Wonderful Guy '' `` Younger Than Springtime '' `` Happy Talk '' `` You 've Got to Be Carefully Taught '' `` I Whistle a Happy Tune '' `` Hello, Young Lovers '' `` Getting to Know You '' `` We Kiss in a Shadow '' `` Something Wonderful '' `` I Have Dreamed '' `` Shall We Dance ? '' `` No Other Love '' `` I Enjoy Being a Girl '' `` The Sound of Music '' `` Maria '' `` My Favorite Things '' `` Do - Re-Mi '' `` Sixteen Going on Seventeen '' `` The Lonely Goatherd '' `` Climb Ev'ry Mountain '' `` So Long, Farewell '' `` No Way to Stop It '' `` Edelweiss '' Related articles `` Something Good '' The Sound of Music ( 1965 soundtrack ) The Sound of Music : Music from the NBC Television Event Trapp Family Singers Members Maria von Trapp Georg von Trapp Rupert Agathe Maria Franziska Werner Hedwig Johanna Martina Johannes Memoir The Story of the Trapp Family Singers Films The Trapp Family ( 1956 ) The Trapp Family in America ( 1958 ) The Sound of Music ( 1965 ) The von Trapp Family : A Life of Music ( 2015 ) Other adaptations The Sound of Music ( 1959 musical ) Trapp Family Story ( 1991 anime ) The Sound of Music Live ! ( 2013 ) The Sound of Music Live ( 2015 ) Songs `` The Sound of Music '' `` Maria '' `` My Favorite Things '' `` Do - Re-Mi '' `` Sixteen Going on Seventeen '' `` The Lonely Goatherd '' `` Climb Ev'ry Mountain '' `` No Way to Stop It '' `` So Long, Farewell '' `` Edelweiss '' `` Something Good '' Albums The Groovy Sound of Music ( 1964 ) The Sound of Music ( 1965 soundtrack ) The Sound of Music : Music from the NBC Television Event ( 2013 ) Related Elisabeth von Trapp The von Trapps Trapp Family Lodge Trapp Family Austrian Relief Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Climb_Ev%27ry_Mountain&oldid=824940556 '' Categories : 1959 songs Andy Williams songs Columbia Records singles The Fleetwoods songs Guy Sebastian songs Shirley Bassey songs Songs from The Sound of Music Songs with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II Songs with music by Richard Rodgers Tony Bennett songs UK Singles Chart number - one singles Hidden categories : Articles needing additional references from December 2015 All articles needing additional references Articles with hAudio microformats Talk About Wikipedia Français Italiano Norsk Türkçe Edit links This page was last edited on 10 February 2018, at 14 : 12. 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Question: who sang climb every mountain in the sound of music
Answer: the Mother Abbess