By Steven Suskin
12 Dec 2011

	Cover art for "Hugh Martin: Hidden Treasures"

Hugh Martin: Hidden Treasures [Harbinger HCD-2702] What do Stephen Sondheim, Sheldon Harnick and Michael Feinstein have in common? Plenty, I suppose. But what brings them together here is their mutual appreciation for the late Hugh Martin, purveyor of specialized songs that are in some cases eerily ethereal. The above-named gentlemen meet in the liner notes for "Hugh Martin: Hidden Treasures."

This is not an introductory Best of Hugh Martin CD for folks wishing to hear what some of us have been raving about all these years. ("Hugh Sings Martin," a 2006 CD from PS Classics, serves that purpose.) There is no "Boy Next Door," "Trolley Song," or "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." Just twenty-nine nonprofessional recordings, demos and such. Songs from Best Foot Forward, Look Ma, I'm Dancin', Make a Wish, and High Spirits, as well as unfinished musicals Here Come the Dreamers, Tattered Tom and Wedding Day (from Carson McCullers' "Member of the Wedding"). Several film scores, too. And "I Can't Get Used to These Clothes," a 1953 song for Eddie Fisher's nightclub act to which Martin invited young lyricist Harnick to contribute.

Which is why Harnick is present, although he has provided not a mere anecdote but a comprehensive 13-page appreciation of Martin-as-lyricist. This in an 84-page booklet which accompanies the CD. Sondheim writes a brief-but-admiring introduction; Mark Eden Horowitz of the Library of Congress discusses Martin the composer; Feinstein describes Martin's vocal style — and he was quite a singer/arranger; Ted Chapin discusses the relationship with Richard Rodgers. (Rodgers immediately recognized Martin's talents as a vocal arranger, and got him his first assignment as a composer, on the musical Best Foot Forward.) And there's plenty more, including a song-by-song description of the contents. Photos, too.

Martin, who died in March at the age of 96, was closely involved in the creation of this CD. His enthusiastic zest for everything in life, most especially music, is much apparent. For fans of Hugh — old fans and brand new ones — "Hugh Martin: Hidden Treasures" is a deluxe candy box, crammed with savory delights.

(Steven Suskin is author of the recently released updated and expanded Fourth Edition of "Show Tunes" as well as "The Sound of Broadway Music: A Book of Orchestrators and Orchestrations," "Second Act Trouble" and the "Opening Night on Broadway" books. He also pens Playbill.com's Book Shelf and DVD Shelf columns. He can be reached at Ssuskin@aol.com.)

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