Ralph Blane
Ralph Blane (1914–1995) was an American composer and lyricist whose stage and film songs became lasting standards. His best-known work includes the seasonal classic Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.
Born Ralph Uriah Hunsecker in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, he began as a radio and Broadway singer before turning to songwriting. Numbers written for the 1944 film musical Meet Me in St. Louis secured his reputation, among them The Trolley Song and The Boy Next Door. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1983.
On this label his writing is heard through Christmas programmes that include Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, such as Looking to the Light (MCD 365) and Christmas Around the Piano (MD 3409).
Compositions by Ralph Blane appear on
Christmas Around the Piano
Tony Gould offers reflective improvised solo-piano versions of familiar Christmas songs and carols. Played without hurry and coloured by personal memory, each tune is treated as living music rather than seasonal decoration alone.
A Golden Christmas: for Flute and Harp
Elizabeth Koch and Suzanne Handel. A superb collection of popular Christmas carols and songs, arranged for the charming combination of flute and harp.
Looking to the Light: Songs of Christmas
Looking to the Light is an easy-listening Christmas collection of favourites such as O Holy Night, The Little Drummer Boy, Ave Maria and Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, with Australian carols, lesser-known songs and children's numbers including All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth and I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas.