Johnny Marks
Johnny Marks wrote Christmas songs that settled into the seasonal repertoire as standards, led by Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and including A Holly Jolly Christmas, Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree and Silver and Gold.
Rudolph grew from a story by his brother-in-law Robert L. May; Marks later scored the 1964 television film built around it. He also set Longfellow's Christmas Bells as I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day, the song he thought his finest. The writing is plain-spoken and singable, built for easy arrangement, so the same numbers sit as happily in intimate chamber and domestic programmes as they once did on the hit parade.
Compositions by Johnny Marks appear on
Merry Christmas
Elizabeth Anderson and friends put a fresh twist on Christmas carols: eight tracks packaged as a Christmas card, with a vibrant cover and space for a personal inscription.
Mandolin Christmas
Christmas songs for mandolin orchestra. Arguably Australia’s most acclaimed mandolinist, Kurt Jensen leads an international programme of sparkling carols, from mediaeval favourites to modern classics.