Sir Hamilton Harty (1879-1941)

Started by Albion, December 28, 2022, 01:56:36 PM

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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.

 :)
A piece is worth your attention, and is itself for you praiseworthy, if it makes you feel you have not wasted your time over it. (SG, 1922)

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

#2
Quote from: Roasted Swan on December 28, 2022, 11:20:02 PMAs 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.
A piece is worth your attention, and is itself for you praiseworthy, if it makes you feel you have not wasted your time over it. (SG, 1922)

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?

"Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music" - Sergei Rachmaninoff

Albion

Quote from: kyjo on December 29, 2022, 07:03:34 AMYes, 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.
A piece is worth your attention, and is itself for you praiseworthy, if it makes you feel you have not wasted your time over it. (SG, 1922)

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'  ::)
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Albion

#6
Quote from: vandermolen on December 29, 2022, 07:35:00 AMThe 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...
A piece is worth your attention, and is itself for you praiseworthy, if it makes you feel you have not wasted your time over it. (SG, 1922)

vandermolen

Quote from: Albion on December 29, 2022, 07:40:48 AMI'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.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Albion

Quote from: vandermolen on December 29, 2022, 08:47:37 AMI'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...
A piece is worth your attention, and is itself for you praiseworthy, if it makes you feel you have not wasted your time over it. (SG, 1922)

Roasted Swan

Quote from: kyjo on December 29, 2022, 07:03:34 AMYes, 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

Quote from: kyjo on December 29, 2022, 07:03:34 AMI'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.
Part of the tragedy of the Palestinians is that they have essentially no international support for a good reason: they've no wealth, they've no power, so they've no rights.

Noam Chomsky

kyjo

Quote from: Symphonic Addict on December 29, 2022, 11:49:55 AMThe 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
"Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music" - Sergei Rachmaninoff

Scion7

Apparently, his soprano-wife and he became discomfabulated when he became ill.
When, a few months before his death, Rachmaninov lamented that he no longer had the "strength and fire" to compose, friends reminded him of the Symphonic Dances, so charged with fire and strength. "Yes," he admitted. "I don't know how that happened. That was probably my last flicker."

Symphonic Addict

The Hyperion CD containing his two string quartets and piano quintet is already available on streaming services.
Part of the tragedy of the Palestinians is that they have essentially no international support for a good reason: they've no wealth, they've no power, so they've no rights.

Noam Chomsky

Scion7

Quote from: Albion on December 28, 2022, 01:56:36 PMWe 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:
When, a few months before his death, Rachmaninov lamented that he no longer had the "strength and fire" to compose, friends reminded him of the Symphonic Dances, so charged with fire and strength. "Yes," he admitted. "I don't know how that happened. That was probably my last flicker."