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Christopher Plummer was dubbed in the released film, but here's his own vocal track, with Charmian Carr.

From his autobiography, "In Spite of Myself":

"To further shake me up, our first recording session was upon us. Daunting is not a strong enough word to describe it. Julie and I stood side by side in a small glassed-in cubicle facing two microphones. Surrounding our prison cage sat 75 musicians like hungry jackals waiting to pounce, led by their keeper, Irwin Kostal.

Warbling softly into a mike is far more difficult than singing full out in a theatre as I was later to discover. One is much more likely to catch and collect "frogs" in the throat, whereas projecting usually gets rid of them. I tried so hard not to look like a complete basket case. Julie, sensing my nerves, took hold of my hand and held it throughout the session. It must have taken her days to recover the use of it afterwards, I had squeezed it so hard.

No matter how diligently I'd slugged away at my lessons, I was still untrained as a singer. To stay on a long-sustained note was, for me, akin to a drunk trying to walk the straight white line, whereas you can bet the very first cry that Julie let forth as she emerged from her mother's womb was in perfect pitch! Listening to the playback, there was no disputing we were on separate planets. In the end, Robert Wise managed to hire someone to take care of my elongated passages, and the balance was somewhat restored."

Bill Lee was the "someone" who was hired, and he replaced all of Plummer's singing, not just the long notes.

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  • John Gannatti 2 years ago
    Well, it's not the worst rendition of Edelweiss I've ever heard, but it's understandable that they had studio vocalist BILL LEE come in and re-do his vocals, and he
    (Mr Lee) managed to match the timbre of Christopher Plummer's voice - great job Mark - this is the first time I've heard it sung all the way through by Christopher Plummer!
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  • Emi Thresh 2 years ago
    I think he sounds good. I can't really tell the difference, its like they didn't even dub his voice in the movie.
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  • Heather Li 2 years ago
    Even though Plummer doesn't sound terrible, he's definitely an amateur, especially next to Julie Andrews! You can compare with the original dub here: youtube.com/watch?v=VcTAEhweey8
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  • Marissa 2 years ago
    This is beautiful. I would have actually liked it if they kept his voice in the movie. He sounds quite good.
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  • Tammy Harris 1 year ago
    You just can't be the sincerity and innocent authenticity of Christopher Plummer's interpretation. It is quite moving. How and where were you able to obtain this. I would love to have this myself.
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  • karen chapman 1 year ago
    I think that Christopher Plummer's voice sounds wonderful. However, this takes me back to childhood when I found out about Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy. They should have let him use his own voice.
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  • Jane LIE 1 year ago
    The very BEST and the most BEAUTIFUL version of EDELWEISS ! Simply, naturally and Tenderly sung by Christopher Plummer makes it magic. Warmth voice with the simply text enough to move me into tears each time I listen to it. Thank you Mark for sharing.
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  • Thomas Casey 1 year ago
    That sounds exactly like Christopher Plummer, good job sound man.
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  • Athanasius C. Catalan 8 months ago
    Will post this with the youtube entourage of Rev. & Mrs. Sun Myung Moon in Switzerland. It's True Mother or Mrs. Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon's favorite.
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  • Tala Al-Khudhairi 7 months ago
    never gets old! Just LOVE it! thanks for sharing~
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  • Loafing Oaf 7 months ago
    Though not as polished as Bill Lee's dub, this is still charming and wonderful. Thank you for sharing this, I had no idea there would still be new things to love about The Sound of Music after all this time.
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  • Aive Alliksaar 3 months ago
    *Oh...What beauty...And simple*
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  • pmwfotos 2 months ago
    happy thanks giving sweethearts, bless our homeland forever twitter.com/#!/pmwfotos/status/139754879949344769
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