1920-1954
Alfred Burt
1920-1954
Alfred Burt
Alfred Burt was an American jazz musician and songwriter who is best known for composing the music for fifteen Christmas carols between 1942 and 1954. He was born Alfred Shaddick Burton April 22, 1920,in Marquette, Michigan. His family moved to Pontiac, Michigan when he was two after his father, self-taught musician, and songwriter Bates G. Burt became rector of All Saints Pontiac, an Episcopal church. Al’s childhood was centered around the church calendar ,he attended Sunday school, sang in the choir, served as an acolyte, and used the church gymnasium as his playground. At age 10, Alfred received his first musical instrument, a cornet,a brass instrument similar to the trumpet, as a bribe from his parents to enter the hospital for an appendectomy. This horn would take him into bands, orchestras, and state competitions where he won many awards and became known as a child prodigy. His first compositions were for the church festivals of Easter and Christmas. During high school, Burt became fascinated by jazz and formed a dance band. He attended the University of Michigan where he was the first freshman to qualify for cornet first chair in the marching band and participated in both the symphony and jazz orchestras. Burt graduated as an outstanding music theory student with a Bachelor of Music degree in 1942. He would go on to study and play several instruments, including the piano, and spend his adult life playing cornet and trumpet in jazz bands and orchestras.
When Burt’s father Reverend Bates Burt first moved to Pontiac, Michigan in 1922 he began the tradition of sending carols in his Christmas cards which he sent to family members and parishioners. Rev. Burt wrote both the words and music to the Burt family’s annual Christmas cards until 1942when Alfred Burt graduated from college, his father asked him to take over as composer and write the music for the annual family Christmas card. During World War II, Burt served as an officer in the United States Army, and served with the Army Air Force Band. While deployed, Burt continued to produce the music for the Burt Family Christmas cards, his father sent him the lyrics for the carols from Michigan, first in 1943 for "Jesu Parvule", and then in1944 for "What Are The Signs". On October 13, 1945, Alfred Burt married his childhood sweetheart, Anne Shortt, and was discharged from the army in 1946. Burt returned to Michigan to spend time with his father, their 1947 Christmas carol, "Nigh Bethlehem," would be their last collaboration. Reverend Burt died of a heart attack in 1948, but Alfred and his wife Anne continued the annual family Christmas card in his honor.
AlfredBurt
Burt resumed his career in New York as a musician and arranger/composer, he worked as a teacher at The American Theatre Wing professional school and joined the Alvino Rey Orchestra in 1949. His wife Anne remained in Michigan, where the Burts' only child, Diane Bates Burt, was born on March 8, 1950. While Anne was pregnant she asked an old family friend, Wihla Hutson, the organist at Rev. Bates Burt's church, to write the lyrics for the annual Christmas card. This melody, "Sleep, Baby Mine" or "Carol of the Mother" was a lullaby for the Burts’ unborn child, and a new musical collaboration was struck. In the spring of 1950, the Burt family moved to Los Angeles, California. Alfred continued his professional career as an arranger and musician for bands like Hal Richards, Horace Heidt, and Alvino Rey. Over the next several years the Burts' circle of friends grew, and their Christmas card list grew from 50 to 450 people, but the Alfred Burt Carols remained unknown outside their mailing list. But the 1952 carol, "Come, Dear Children", changed that. Burt finished writing the music for the carol during a rehearsal with the Blue Reys, the vocal group with Alvino Rey's orchestra, he asked them to sing it so he could listen for the harmonies. The group enjoyed the song so much that they asked Burt if they could sing it at The King Sisters' annual Christmas party. It became a hit among the party guests and introduced Burt's carols to the public. During this time Alfred Burt and Wihla Hutson continued their collaboration on the Burt Family Christmas cards, but in early 1953 Burt had fallen ill. He had been working long hours on a television show with Alvino Rey and the King Sisters and had just returned from assisting on the Horace Heidt Orchestra road tour. He complained of a persistent virus and fatigue, and at his family’s behest saw a medical professional, where he was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. His wife Anne had a nursing background and aided him during this time. Together they worked on music; and shared moments with their daughter Diane.
Following this crushing news, Burt’s family and friends rallied around them. James Conkling, husband of Donna King Conkling, and, at that time, the president of Columbia Records, was informed of Burt's health and organized a project in his honor. He assembled a choir of Hollywood singers to perform Burt's four-part harmonies and began recording sessions in late1953 where Burt was present to conduct from his wheelchair. Al reviewed the session, and remarked "this is the happiest day of my life." To finish the album, Burt was tasked with writing four new carols, "O Hearken Ye", was sent as the 1953 family Christmas card, "Caroling, Caroling" and "The Star Carol" were both composed during the last months of Al Burt's life. Burt’s final carol was composed on February 5, 1954, and he died on February 6, 1954, at just thirty-three years old. "The Star Carol" was used on the final Burt family Christmas card that year, and was sent with a note explaining the end of Burt’s Christmas carol tradition following the death of Alfred Burt, and the release of his music for all to enjoy. Twelve of Burt's carols were released in time for the holiday season of 1954 on a 10-inch vinyl album called The Christmas Mood. The album remained in print for several Christmas seasons and was reissued multiple times. The carols went on to be recorded by hit artists like Tennessee Ernie Ford, Fred Waring and His Pennsylvanians, Andy Williams, James Taylor, Simon and Garfunkel, Julie Andrews, Nat King Cole, and more. The first recording of all 15 of The Alfred Burt Carols was released in 1964 by the Voices of Jimmy Joyce called This Is Christmas: A Complete Collection of the Alfred S. Burt Carols. The recording was produced by Anne S. Burt, Alfred's wife, and James Conkling, president of Warner Bros. Records. The recording was nominated for a Grammy in 1964 in the category of Best Pop Instrumental Performance.
Diane, an actress-singer and musical director, finds her father in his music. In 1980, she started an eight-voice acappella ensemble called The Caroling Company to represent the carols. The Caroling Company included eight of the Alfred Burt Carols on their Grammy-listed CD, "A Christmas Present From The Caroling Company" in 2003. And in 2001, Burt's grandniece, composer Abbie Betinis, revived the family tradition of sending Christmas cards with an original carol each holiday season, which she also introduces each year on Minnesota Public Radio.
