Hugh Martin (August 11, 1914 – March 11, 2011) was an American
musical theater
Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, moveme ...
and
film
A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...
composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and def ...
,
arranger,
vocal coach
A vocal coach, also known as a voice coach (though this term often applies to those working with speech and communication rather than singing), is a music teacher, usually a piano accompanist, who helps singers prepare for a performance, often al ...
, and
playwright
A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just
Readin ...
. He was best known for his score for the 1944
MGM
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...
musical ''
Meet Me in St. Louis'', in which
Judy Garland sang three Martin songs, "
The Boy Next Door", "
The Trolley Song", and "
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas". The last of these has become a
Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...
season standard in the United States and around the English-speaking world. Martin became a close friend of Garland and was her accompanist at many of her concert performances in the 1950s, including her appearances at the
Palace Theater.
Early life
Martin was born in
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...
, the son of Ellie Gordon (Robinson) and
Hugh Martin, an architect. He attended
Birmingham-Southern College, where he studied music.
He was a member of the Beta Beta chapter of the
Alpha Tau Omega fraternity.
Career
Martin wrote the music, and in some cases the lyrics, for five
Broadway musicals: ''
Best Foot Forward'' (1941); ''
Look, Ma, I'm Dancin'!'' (1948); ''
Make a Wish'' (1951); ''
High Spirits'' (1964) (music and lyrics, with
Timothy Gray); and ''
Meet Me In St. Louis'' (1989), a stage version of the film with an expanded score by Martin and
Ralph Blane.
["Hugh Martin Broadway"]
Playbill Vault, retrieved October 24, 2018 He composed the songs for the
West End musical ''
Love from Judy'' (1952).
[Simonson, Robert]
"Hugh Martin, Composer of 'Meet Me in St. Louis', Dies at 96"
Playbill, March 12, 2011
Martin's first Broadway credit was as an arranger for the 1937 musical ''
Hooray for What!''
[''Hooray for What!'']
ibdb.com, retrieved October 24, 2018 and was a vocal or choral arranger for such later Broadway musicals as ''
The Boys From Syracuse
''The Boys from Syracuse'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Lorenz Hart, based on William Shakespeare's play '' The Comedy of Errors'', as adapted by librettist George Abbott. The score includes swing and other contemp ...
'' (1938–39), ''
Too Many Girls'' (1939–40), ''
DuBarry Was a Lady'' (1939–40), ''
Cabin in the Sky'' (1940–41), and ''
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes'' (1949–51), ''
Top Banana'' (1951–52), and ''
Lorelei'' (1974). He was a vocal arranger for ''
Sugar Babies'' (1979–82).
[
As a performer, Martin appeared on Broadway in '' Hooray for What!'' (1937),][ '' Where Do We Go From Here'' (1938), and '']Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase () was the acquisition of the Louisiana (New France), territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic in 1803. This consisted of most of the land in the Mississippi River#Watershed, Mississipp ...
'' (1940–41).[
Ralph Blane was Martin's songwriting partner for most of his work, and the two recorded an album of their songs entitled '' Martin and Blane Sing Martin and Blane'' with the Ralph Burns Orchestra in 1956. Martin and Blane were twice nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song, for " The Trolley Song" in 1944, and for "Pass That Peace Pipe" (co-written by Roger Edens) from '' Good News'' in 1947.][
Martin received four ]Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...
nominations, three for ''High Spirits'' (Best Musical, Best Book Author of a Musical, Best Composer and Lyricist) and one for the 1990 ''Meet Me in St. Louis'' (Best Original Score).[
Martin's other film work included songs for the films '']Athena
Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretism, syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarde ...
'' (1954) starring Jane Powell, Debbie Reynolds, and Vic Damone, and '' The Girl Most Likely'' (1957) starring Jane Powell as well as the film version of his Broadway hit '' Best Foot Forward'' (1943) which starred Lucille Ball
Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was an American actress, comedian, producer, and studio executive. She was recognized by ''Time (magazine), Time'' in 2020 as one of the most influential women of the 20th century for h ...
.[
Martin collaborated with vocalist ]Michael Feinstein
Michael Jay Feinstein (born September 7, 1956) is an American singer, pianist, and music Revivalist artist, revivalist. He is an archivist and interpreter for the repertoire known as the Great American Songbook. In 1988, he won a Drama Desk Spec ...
for a 1995 CD ''Michael Feinstein Sings The Hugh Martin Songbook'', an album on which the then 80-year-old songwriter accompanied Feinstein on piano and sang a duet. On an earlier CD Feinstein recorded the Martin composition, "On Such a Night as This". In 2006, Martin released an album of his music called ''Hugh Sings Martin'' on the record label PS Classics, which drew from his catalog as a composer, lyricist, arranger and singer. The album was released in conjunction with the Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...
.
Martin became a Seventh-day Adventist and spent much of the 1980s as an accompanist for the female gospel vocalist Del Delker on her revival tours; in 2001 he rewrote his most famous song (with the assistance of Garland biographer John Fricke) as a more specifically religious number, "Have Yourself A Blessed Little Christmas",[Bergan, Ronald]
"Hugh Martin obituary"
''The Guardian'', March 14, 2011[ which was recorded that year by Delker with the 86-year-old songwriter playing piano on the recording.
]
Songwriting collaboration controversy
Although Ralph Blane is credited with writing the music for many of Martin's songs, Martin claimed in his autobiography that he wrote both music and lyrics to all of the songs in '' Meet Me In St. Louis'' and that "all of the so-called Martin and Blane songs, (except for "Buckle Down, Winsocki" in '' Best Foot Forward''), were written entirely by me (solo) without help from Ralph or anybody else." His explanation for allowing Blane equal credit for the songs was explained, "I was reasonably content to let him receive equal screen credit, sheet music credit, ASCAP royalties, etc., mainly because this bizarre situation was caused by my naive and atrocious lack of business acumen."
Other
His autobiography ''Hugh Martin - The Boy Next Door'' was published in October 2010.["Hugh Martin"](_blank)
masterworksbroadway.com, retrieved October 23, 2018 Martin was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1983 and was a member of the Alabama Music Hall of Fame.[
]
Death
Martin died on March 11, 2011, in Encinitas, California at age ninety-six.[Noland, Claire]
"Hugh Martin Jr. dies at 96; 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas' songwriter"
''Los Angeles Times'', March 13, 2011[
]
References
External links
Retrieved March 21, 2011
*
*
*
* ttps://www.namm.org/library/oral-history/hugh-martin Hugh Martin interviewfor the NAMM Oral History Program February 3, 2005
{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Hugh
1914 births
2011 deaths
American musical theatre composers
American male musical theatre composers
American musical theatre lyricists
American Seventh-day Adventists
Broadway composers and lyricists
Musicians from Birmingham, Alabama
Songwriters from Alabama