Sir Hamilton Harty (1879-1941)

[Albion]

Harty was not only a great pianist and conductor but a superb composer. We have to be grateful to Bryden Thomson and Chandos for giving us (what have subsequently been repackaged as) three great discs covering most of his major works (CHAN 7035-3).



Here you get the Piano Concerto, the Violin Concerto, The Children of Lir, Variations on a Dublin Air, The Londonderry Air, Ode to a Nightingale, A Comedy Overture, An Irish Symphony, In Ireland and With the Wild Geese.

The price of entry is worth it alone for the Ode to a Nightingale (1907) which has to be simply one of the most truly sublime vocal works (in this case for soprano and orchestra) in existence. Then you can supplement it with his large-scale choral piece The Mystic Trumpeter (1913). Here are two broadcasts...

https://www.mediafire.com/file/m9krn3op8fj0idk/Harty_-_The_Mystic_Trumpeter_%25281913%2529.mp3/file

https://www.mediafire.com/file/6b1y8ywzkpjwzxg/Harty_-_The_Mystic_Trumpeter_%25281913%2529_-_Poole.mp3/file

Harty was a supreme craftsman with a generous melodic gift and a sure sense of structure and orchestration. It would indeed be a pity if he was overlooked - his Handel arrangements are great fun but there is a lot more to his music that just arrangements.

 

[Roasted Swan]

As I recall the Thmoson/Ulster/Irish Symphony was Chandos' 1st recording in Northern Ireland and the 1st disc made by the orchestra as the Ulster after they had metamorphosised from being the BBC Northern Ireleand Orchestra (or some-such).  They still sound technically and musically tremendously good - the Ulster Hall in Belfast is an ideal recording venue with warmth and richness but not excessive resonance.  For me those discs and some of the early Jarvi/SNO recordings remain the very best that Chandos have achieved.

[Albion]

As I recall the Thmoson/Ulster/Irish Symphony was Chandos' 1st recording in Northern Ireland and the 1st disc made by the orchestra as the Ulster after they had metamorphosised from being the BBC Northern Ireleand Orchestra (or some-such).  They still sound technically and musically tremendously good - the Ulster Hall in Belfast is an ideal recording venue with warmth and richness but not excessive resonance.  For me those discs and some of the early Jarvi/SNO recordings remain the very best that Chandos have achieved.

Yep, Chandos got the engineering one hundred percent right for their Harty discs and the transfers from LP were excellently done. Their Jarvi recordings as well were generally great-sounding (especially the Prokofiev Symphonies, the Glazunov disc with "Stenka Razin", the Rimsky-Korsakov Suites plus the Respighi disc with "Metamorphosen" and "Belkis" under Geoffrey Simon and MOST of their Bax), but they could be wildly inconsistent depending on the venue where in spite of great performances the acoustic turns the result to mush.

[kyjo]

Yes, Harty certainly deserves more attention as a composer. His richly romantic and tuneful Piano Concerto is a great favorite of mine which could be summed up by the phrase "Rachmaninoff goes to Ireland". Also, his tone poem With the Wild Geese is a superbly passionate and melodious work which can easily rank with any of the great tone poems of the era. I've yet to explore most of his other works, but they sound quite promising! I'm intrigued by this Hyperion CD of his string quartets and Piano Quintet - anyone heard it?

[Albion]

Yes, Harty certainly deserves more attention as a composer. His richly romantic and tuneful Piano Concerto is a great favorite of mine which could be summed up by the phrase "Rachmaninoff goes to Ireland". Also, his tone poem With the Wild Geese is a superbly passionate and melodious work which can easily rank with any of the great tone poems of the era. I've yet to explore most of his other works, but they sound quite promising! I'm intrigued by this Hyperion CD of his string quartets and Piano Quintet - anyone heard it?

There's plenty of Harty on Youtube

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHxzuXilW2AJ4MOBiNDcbCdN_rbIynuM3

but not the string chamber music.

[vandermolen]

The Children of Lir is arguably his finest work, although I greatly enjoy the Piano Concerto, With the Wild Geese and 'In Ireland'. I originally thought that this was a single work called 'With the Wild Geese in Ireland' 

[Albion]

The Children of Lir is arguably his finest work, although I greatly enjoy the Piano Concerto, With the Wild Geese and 'In Ireland'. I originally thought that this was a single work called 'With the Wild Geese in Ireland' 

I'd plump for the Ode as his finest score, but then I've never heard a duff piece by Harty - he was remarkably consistent and sensibly kept his output to manageable proportions with one major vocal work (Ode to a Nightingale), one major choral work (The Mystic Trumpeter), one major tone poem with voice and orchestra (The Children of Lir), one without voice (With the Wild Geese), one Symphony, one Violin Concerto, one Piano Concerto and one overture (Comedy Overture). All top-drawer scribbles...

[vandermolen]

I'd plump for the Ode as his finest score, but then I've never heard a duff piece by Harty - he was remarkably consistent and sensibly kept his output to manageable proportions with one major vocal work (Ode to a Nightingale), one major choral work (The Mystic Trumpeter), one major tone poem with voice and orchestra (The Children of Lir), one without voice (With the Wild Geese), one Symphony, one Violin Concerto, one Piano Concerto and one overture (Comedy Overture). All top-drawer scribbles...

I'm just listening to his sensational premiere recording of Walton's First Symphony, recorded in freezing cold conditions in a warehouse near Canon Street station in 1935.

[Albion]

I'm just listening to his sensational premiere recording of Walton's First Symphony, recorded in freezing cold conditions in a warehouse near Canon Street station in 1935.

Luckily for us, Harty recorded a reasonable amount although nowhere near as much as he could have done. His death in 1941 was a great loss and largely went unnoticed in the chaos of WWII...

[Roasted Swan]

Yes, Harty certainly deserves more attention as a composer. His richly romantic and tuneful Piano Concerto is a great favorite of mine which could be summed up by the phrase "Rachmaninoff goes to Ireland". Also, his tone poem With the Wild Geese is a superbly passionate and melodious work which can easily rank with any of the great tone poems of the era. I've yet to explore most of his other works, but they sound quite promising! I'm intrigued by this Hyperion CD of his string quartets and Piano Quintet - anyone heard it?

Positively reviewed here;

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2012/May12/Harty_Quintet_CDA67927.htm

[Symphonic Addict]

I'm intrigued by this Hyperion CD of his string quartets and Piano Quintet - anyone heard it?

The Piano Quintet is the clear highlight of the CD, a fabulous memorable work. On the other hand, I found the SQ 2 the least attractive piece on the CD.

[kyjo]

The Piano Quintet is the clear highlight of the CD, a fabulous memorable work. On the other hand, I found the SQ 2 the least attractive piece on the CD.

Thanks, Cesar. That doesn't surprise me, as many composers of the late-romantic era were more successful writing piano chamber music than SQs, IMO. I see there's another performance of the Piano Quintet on YT; sounds very attractive!

https://youtu.be/lSGRyyf4xEE

[Scion7]

Apparently, his soprano-wife and he became discomfabulated when he became ill.

[Symphonic Addict]

The Hyperion CD containing his two string quartets and piano quintet is already available on streaming services.

[Scion7]

We have to be grateful to Bryden Thomson and Chandos for giving us (what have subsequently been repackaged as) three great discs covering most of his major works (CHAN 7035-3).

Your post fell victim to the hobgoblin of internet forums,
the rotting of links: