Hugh Martin, born on August 11, 1914 in Birmingham, Alabama is an American theatre and film composer. He is best remembered for his score for the classic 1944 MGM musical film 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 season standard in the United States and around the English-speaking world and is widely considered one of the ten or so classic Christmas songs of alltime. Martin became a close friend of Garland and was her accompanist at many of her concert performances in the 1950's including her legendary stint at the Palace. August 11 is the 223rd day of the year (224th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1914 (MCMXIV) is a common year starting on Thursday. ... The city from above Centenary Square. ... Official language(s) English Capital Montgomery Largest city Birmingham Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 30th 52,423 mi²/135,775 km² 190 mi/306 km 330 mi/531 km 3. ... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... MGM logo Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer or MGM, is a large media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of cinema and television programs. ... Meet Me in St. ... Judy Garland, circa 1943. ... Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas is a Christmas song written by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane and made famous by Judy Garland in the 1944 film Meet Me in St. ... Christmas (literally, the Mass of Jesus Christ) is a traditional holiday observed on 25 December. ... The quintessential medieval European palace: Palais de la Cité, in Paris, the royal palace of France. ...

Martin also 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. Broadway theatre is often considered the highest professional form of theatre in the United States. ... See also: 1940 in music, other events of 1941, 1942 in music and the list of years in music. Events January 5 - Ernesto Bonino debuts on Italian radio January 15 - Olivier Messiaens Quatuor pour la fin du temps is premiered in Stalag VIIIA in Silesia. ... See also: 1947 in music, other events of 1948, 1949 in music and the list of years in music. // Events Aldeburgh Festival is founded by Benjamin Britten, Eric Crozier and Peter Pears. ... See also: 1950 in music, other events of 1951, 1952 in music, 1950s in music and the list of years in music // Events Johnnie Ray has his first hit record with Cry. ... High Spirits is a Broadway musical with book, music, and lyrics by Hugh Martin and Timothy Gray, based on the play Blithe Spirit by Noel Coward. ... See also: 1963 in music, other events of 1964, 1965 in music, 1960s in music and the list of years in music // Events January 1 - Top of the Pops premieres on BBC television. ... Meet Me in St. ... See also: 1988 in music, other events of 1989, 1990 in music, 1980s in music and the list of years in music if (window. ...

Ralph Blane was Martin's partner for most of this work, and the two recorded an album of their best songs entitled "Martin and Blane Sing Martin and Blane" with the Ralph Burns Orchestra in 1956. (Available now on CD).

Martin and Blane were twice nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song, for "The Trolley Song" in 1944, and for "Pass the Peace Pipe" (also co-written by Roger Edens) from Good News in 1947. Although he never won an Oscar for any of his movie performances, the comedian Bob Hope received two honorary Oscars for his contributions to cinema. ... Roger Edens(9 November 1905, Hillsboro, Texas, -- 13 July 1970, Hollywood) was a Hollywood composer and arranger. ... Good News is the original meaning of the word gospel in both English and Greek. ...

Martin collaborated with vocalist Michael Feinstein for a 1995 CD "Michael Feinstein Sings The Hugh Martin Songbook", an album on which the then 80-year-old songwriter accompied Feinstein on piano and sang a duet. Martin, a Seventh-day Adventist, spent much of the 1980's as an accompanist for gospel female vocalist Del Delker on her revival tours and in 2001 rewrote his most famous song (with the assistance of John Fricke) as a more specifically religious number, "Have Your A Blessed Little Christmas" which was recorded that year by Delker with the 86-year-old songwriter playing piano on the recording. Categories: Possible copyright violations ... The Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA), colloquially referred to as the Adventists, is an evangelical Protestant Christian denomination that grew out of the prophetic Millerite movement in the United States during the middle part of the 19th century. ...

Hugh Martin is a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame and Alabama Music Hall of Fame. The Songwriters Hall of Fame is an arm of the National Academy of Popular Music. ...

External link

• Hugh Martin's IMDB page