Hamilton Harty

Sir Herbert Hamilton Harty MBE ( born December 4, 1879 in Hillsborough, Northern Ireland, † February 19, 1941 in Hove, England) was an Irish composer, conductor and accompanist.

Although best known for his compositions with many Irish accent, Harty was a respected and admired conductor and was temporarily as the best accompanist in London.

Hamilton Harty was the son of organist William Harty and played as a child, viola, piano and organ. First, in the footsteps of his father kicking, he was employed as a church organist from the age of 12 years. In 1900 he moved to London to pursue a musical career as a piano accompanist. There he held a number of known soloists, among them John McCormack, William Henry Squire, Joseph Szigeti, Fritz Kreisler, and soprano Agnes Nicholls, whom he married in 1904.

Harty wrote most of his compositions, 1901-1920; a 1901 and a 1904 arisen trio composed Piano Quintet were awarded prizes. In the same year the Irish Symphony was, the other works with orchestra followed, such as the Ode to a Nightingale for Soprano and Orchestra (1907, premiered by Agnes Nicholls ), the Violin Concerto (1909 ) and the symphonic poem With the Wild Geese (1910 ). After he had retired in 1936 from the conducting, he completed in 1938 another tone poem, The Children of Lir.

After a short time with the London Symphony Orchestra and other local Harty in England in 1920 was permanent conductor of the Hallé Orchestra, a position which he held until 1933. Under his baton, the Hallé Orchestra was one of the leading orchestra in the UK. Harty initiated in this period the English premieres of the 9th Symphony by Gustav Mahler and the Symphony No. 1 by Dmitri Shostakovich. In 1925 he was elevated to knighthood. 1931-1936 tours led him among other things to America, so he conducted, for example, in Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Rochester, but also in Sydney ( Australia). 1932-1935 Harty was principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra. In 1934, he brought with this orchestra, the Symphony No. 1 by William Walton premiered. In 1936 he was diagnosed with a brain tumor, where he died in 1941.

Works (selection)

  • String Quartet in F major op.1 (1900)
  • String Quartet in A minor, Opus 5 (1902 )
  • An Irish Symphony (1904 )
  • Piano Quintet in F major, Op 12 (1904 )
  • A Comedy Overture, for orchestra ( 1906)
  • Ode to a Nightingale, for soprano and orchestra (1907 )
  • Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D minor (1909 )
  • With the Wild Geese, tone poem for orchestra ( 1910)
  • Variations on a Dublin Air ( 1912)
  • The Mystic Trumpeter, cantata for baritone and orchestra by Walt Whitman (1913 )
  • Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in B Minor ( 1922)
  • In Ireland, for Flute, Harp and Orchestra ( 1935), based on the version for flute and piano (1918 )
  • The Children of Lir, tone poem for orchestra ( 1938)
  • Five Irish Songs
  • Fantasy Scenes for Orchestra
John McCormack (Tenor) Symphony No. 9 (Mahler) Symphony No. 1 (Shostakovich) Integrated Authority File
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