a young austrian woman named maria rainer becomes the governess to the children of captain georg von trapp, a widow. the children included liesl (16), fredrich (14), louisa (13), kurt (10 or 11), brigitta (9), marta (7) and gretl (5). maria teaches the children how to sing, during the famous song "do re mi". the captain and maria fall in love and marry. von trapp refuses to join the nazis and escapes from the salzburg festival, where his family performed. the story ends with maria and her family leaving from austria to switzerland.