Hamilton Harty
Encyclopedia
Sir Hamilton Harty (4 December 1879 – 19 February 1941) was an Irish and British composer
, conductor
, pianist
and organist
. In his capacity as a conductor, he was particularly noted as an interpreter of the music of Berlioz and he was much respected as a piano accompanist of exceptional prowess. Harty still stands as one of the most significant musicians that Northern Ireland has ever produced.
, County Down
, Northern Ireland
, the fourth of ten children of church organist William Michael Harty (1852–1918) and his wife, Annie Elizabeth, the daughter of Joseph Hamilton Richards, a soldier from Bray
. Raised an Anglican
, Harty played viola, piano, and organ as a child. Initially following in his father's footsteps, he held positions as a church organist from age twelve. He moved to London in 1901 to pursue a musical career as accompanist, and accompanied an impressive list of soloists, among them John McCormack, W.H. Squire
, Joseph Szigeti
, Fritz Kreisler
, and soprano Agnes Nicholls
, whom he married on 15 July 1904. His considerable abilities as a performer were further highlighted when he appeared as the soloist in the premiere performance of his virtuosic "Piano Concerto", one of his finest works.
Nicholls' professional relationship with the Hungarian conductor Hans Richter
was of great importance to Harty. After performing in Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen under Richter in 1908, she approached him on her husband's behalf. It was through this connection that Harty secured his first important conducting engagement: a performance of his tone poem With the Wild Geese with the London Symphony Orchestra in March 1911. The performance was a success, and he was engaged to conduct the orchestra again during its 1912–13 season. Hoping to reinforce his status as a composer–conductor, Harty gave the first performance of his Variations on a Dublin Air with the same orchestra in February 1913. Unfortunately, neither the critics nor the public shared his enthusiasm for his music: his concerts made a loss and he was not invited back for the following season. Nevertheless, his reputation as a conductor continued to grow, and he was invited to perform Wagner's Tristan und Isolde and Bizet's Carmen at Covent Garden in 1913. But he had little sympathy with opera, preferring symphonic music instead. In January 1914 he conducted the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, and in April he made his début with the Hallé Orchestra of Manchester. His career was interrupted briefly by the First World War: in June 1916 he joined the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve
and was posted for duties in the North Sea
, and he rose to the rank of lieutenant in 1917 before leaving in June 1918. In December he substituted for an indisposed Sir Thomas Beecham
at a performance of Handel's Messiah
with the Hallé Orchestra, and on 27 March 1919 he again replaced Beecham at a performance of J. S. Bach's Mass in B minor.
Harty did most of his composing between 1901 and 1920, including his Irish Symphony, his tone poem With the Wild Geese, his Violin Concerto
, and his setting of Ode to a Nightingale for soprano and orchestra, premiered by Nicholls.
After short stints with the London Symphony Orchestra
and elsewhere in England, Harty became permanent conductor of the Hallé Orchestra
in 1920, a position that he held until 1933. Under his baton, the Hallé became one of the premier orchestras in England. He was knighted
in 1925. In 1926 he commissioned a symphony from Ernest John Moeran
. The Symphony in G minor
(1937) was the result, but by then Harty was too ill to conduct the premiere. He did, however, eventually accept the dedication of the work, after initially falling out with Moeran.
From 1931 to 1936, Harty toured in America and elsewhere, conducting in Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Rochester, and Sydney.
He still appeared as a pianist from time to time; such as the piano soloist at the first public performance of Constant Lambert
's The Rio Grande
on 12 December 1929 in Manchester. Lambert conducted the Hallé. The London premiere took place the following day, with the same forces.
Harty's health began to deteriorate sharply in 1936: a malignant brain tumour was discovered and surgery was required. After both the growth and his right eye were removed, Harty convalesced in Ireland and Jamaica
during 1937 and 1938. Unable to conduct, he returned to composing: he set five Irish songs and wrote his last original composition, the tone poem The Children of Lir, during his convalescence. Following two studio concerts with the BBC Symphony Orchestra in December 1938 and February 1939, Harty returned to the Queen's Hall on 1 March 1939, directing the première of The Children of Lir with the BBC Symphony Orchestra. After another period of convalescence in the summer of 1939 he undertook a full programme of concerts during the 1939–40 season. But his illness continued to trouble him, and he conducted for the last time on 1 December 1940. Because of Harty's estrangement from his wife, the conductor was nursed through his final illness by his secretary and intimate friend, Olive Elfreda Baguley. Harty died in Hove
; after cremation his ashes were placed in Hillsborough parish church.
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, conductor
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
, pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
and organist
Organist
An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists...
. In his capacity as a conductor, he was particularly noted as an interpreter of the music of Berlioz and he was much respected as a piano accompanist of exceptional prowess. Harty still stands as one of the most significant musicians that Northern Ireland has ever produced.
Life and career
Harty was born in HillsboroughHillsborough, County Down
Hillsborough is a village and townland in County Down, Northern Ireland, situated from the city of Belfast. It is within the Lisburn City Council area....
, County Down
County Down
-Cities:*Belfast *Newry -Large towns:*Dundonald*Newtownards*Bangor-Medium towns:...
, Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
, the fourth of ten children of church organist William Michael Harty (1852–1918) and his wife, Annie Elizabeth, the daughter of Joseph Hamilton Richards, a soldier from Bray
Bray
Bray is a town in north County Wicklow, Ireland. It is a busy urban centre and seaside resort, with a population of 31,901 making it the fourth largest in Ireland as of the 2006 census...
. Raised an Anglican
Church of Ireland
The Church of Ireland is an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. The church operates in all parts of Ireland and is the second largest religious body on the island after the Roman Catholic Church...
, Harty played viola, piano, and organ as a child. Initially following in his father's footsteps, he held positions as a church organist from age twelve. He moved to London in 1901 to pursue a musical career as accompanist, and accompanied an impressive list of soloists, among them John McCormack, W.H. Squire
William Henry Squire
William Henry Squire was a composer and cellist. Pieces he wrote include Danse Rustique, Bouree, Tarantella, and Humoresque.Born in Ross-on-Wye, Squire was as well known as a cellist as he was a composer...
, Joseph Szigeti
Joseph Szigeti
Joseph Szigeti was a Hungarian violinist.Born into a musical family, he spent his early childhood in a small town in Transylvania. He quickly proved himself to be a child prodigy on the violin, and moved to Budapest with his father to study with the renowned pedagogue Jenő Hubay...
, Fritz Kreisler
Fritz Kreisler
Friedrich "Fritz" Kreisler was an Austrian-born violinist and composer. One of the most famous violin masters of his or any other day, he was known for his sweet tone and expressive phrasing. Like many great violinists of his generation, he produced a characteristic sound which was immediately...
, and soprano Agnes Nicholls
Agnes Nicholls
Agnes Nicholls was one of the greatest English sopranos of the 20th century, both in the concert hall and on the operatic stage....
, whom he married on 15 July 1904. His considerable abilities as a performer were further highlighted when he appeared as the soloist in the premiere performance of his virtuosic "Piano Concerto", one of his finest works.
Nicholls' professional relationship with the Hungarian conductor Hans Richter
Hans Richter (conductor)
Hans Richter was an Austrian orchestral and operatic conductor.-Biography:Richter was born in Raab , Kingdom of Hungary, Austro-Hungarian Empire. His mother was opera-singer Jozsefa Csazenszky. He studied at the Vienna Conservatory...
was of great importance to Harty. After performing in Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen under Richter in 1908, she approached him on her husband's behalf. It was through this connection that Harty secured his first important conducting engagement: a performance of his tone poem With the Wild Geese with the London Symphony Orchestra in March 1911. The performance was a success, and he was engaged to conduct the orchestra again during its 1912–13 season. Hoping to reinforce his status as a composer–conductor, Harty gave the first performance of his Variations on a Dublin Air with the same orchestra in February 1913. Unfortunately, neither the critics nor the public shared his enthusiasm for his music: his concerts made a loss and he was not invited back for the following season. Nevertheless, his reputation as a conductor continued to grow, and he was invited to perform Wagner's Tristan und Isolde and Bizet's Carmen at Covent Garden in 1913. But he had little sympathy with opera, preferring symphonic music instead. In January 1914 he conducted the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, and in April he made his début with the Hallé Orchestra of Manchester. His career was interrupted briefly by the First World War: in June 1916 he joined the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve
Royal Naval Reserve
The Royal Naval Reserve is the volunteer reserve force of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. The present Royal Naval Reserve was formed in 1958 by merging the original Royal Naval Reserve and the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve , a reserve of civilian volunteers founded in 1903...
and was posted for duties in the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
, and he rose to the rank of lieutenant in 1917 before leaving in June 1918. In December he substituted for an indisposed Sir Thomas Beecham
Thomas Beecham
Sir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet CH was an English conductor and impresario best known for his association with the London Philharmonic and the Royal Philharmonic orchestras. He was also closely associated with the Liverpool Philharmonic and Hallé orchestras...
at a performance of Handel's Messiah
Messiah (Handel)
Messiah is an English-language oratorio composed in 1741 by George Frideric Handel, with a scriptural text compiled by Charles Jennens from the King James Bible and the Book of Common Prayer. It was first performed in Dublin on 13 April 1742, and received its London premiere nearly a year later...
with the Hallé Orchestra, and on 27 March 1919 he again replaced Beecham at a performance of J. S. Bach's Mass in B minor.
Harty did most of his composing between 1901 and 1920, including his Irish Symphony, his tone poem With the Wild Geese, his Violin Concerto
Violin concerto
A violin concerto is a concerto for solo violin and instrumental ensemble, customarily orchestra. Such works have been written since the Baroque period, when the solo concerto form was first developed, up through the present day...
, and his setting of Ode to a Nightingale for soprano and orchestra, premiered by Nicholls.
After short stints with the London Symphony Orchestra
London Symphony Orchestra
The London Symphony Orchestra is a major orchestra of the United Kingdom, as well as one of the best-known orchestras in the world. Since 1982, the LSO has been based in London's Barbican Centre.-History:...
and elsewhere in England, Harty became permanent conductor of the Hallé Orchestra
The Hallé
The Hallé is a symphony orchestra based in Manchester, England. It is the UK's oldest extant symphony orchestra , supports a choir, youth choir and a youth orchestra, and releases its recordings on its own record label, though it has occasionally released recordings on Angel Records and EMI...
in 1920, a position that he held until 1933. Under his baton, the Hallé became one of the premier orchestras in England. He was knighted
British honours system
The British honours system is a means of rewarding individuals' personal bravery, achievement, or service to the United Kingdom and the British Overseas Territories...
in 1925. In 1926 he commissioned a symphony from Ernest John Moeran
Ernest John Moeran
Ernest John Moeran was an English composer who had strong associations with Ireland .-Early life:...
. The Symphony in G minor
Symphony in G minor (Moeran)
The Symphony in G minor was the only completed symphony written by Ernest John Moeran. He wrote it in 1934-37. It is in four movements.In 1926, the conductor of the Hallé Orchestra, Sir Hamilton Harty, commissioned a symphony from Moeran. He had already been working on a symphony since 1924, and...
(1937) was the result, but by then Harty was too ill to conduct the premiere. He did, however, eventually accept the dedication of the work, after initially falling out with Moeran.
From 1931 to 1936, Harty toured in America and elsewhere, conducting in Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Rochester, and Sydney.
He still appeared as a pianist from time to time; such as the piano soloist at the first public performance of Constant Lambert
Constant Lambert
Leonard Constant Lambert was a British composer and conductor.-Early life:Lambert, the son of Russian-born Australian painter George Lambert, was educated at Christ's Hospital and the Royal College of Music...
's The Rio Grande
The Rio Grande (Lambert)
The Rio Grande is a work by Constant Lambert, for alto, choir, piano, brass, strings and a percussion section of 15 instruments, needing five players. It was written in 1927, and achieved instant and long-lasting popularity on its appearance on the concert stage in 1929...
on 12 December 1929 in Manchester. Lambert conducted the Hallé. The London premiere took place the following day, with the same forces.
Harty's health began to deteriorate sharply in 1936: a malignant brain tumour was discovered and surgery was required. After both the growth and his right eye were removed, Harty convalesced in Ireland and Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
during 1937 and 1938. Unable to conduct, he returned to composing: he set five Irish songs and wrote his last original composition, the tone poem The Children of Lir, during his convalescence. Following two studio concerts with the BBC Symphony Orchestra in December 1938 and February 1939, Harty returned to the Queen's Hall on 1 March 1939, directing the première of The Children of Lir with the BBC Symphony Orchestra. After another period of convalescence in the summer of 1939 he undertook a full programme of concerts during the 1939–40 season. But his illness continued to trouble him, and he conducted for the last time on 1 December 1940. Because of Harty's estrangement from his wife, the conductor was nursed through his final illness by his secretary and intimate friend, Olive Elfreda Baguley. Harty died in Hove
Hove
Hove is a town on the south coast of England, immediately to the west of its larger neighbour Brighton, with which it forms the unitary authority Brighton and Hove. It forms a single conurbation together with Brighton and some smaller towns and villages running along the coast...
; after cremation his ashes were placed in Hillsborough parish church.
Works
- With the Wild Geese, tone poem for orchestra
- Variations on a Dublin Air
- An Irish Symphony
- In Ireland, (Fantasy for flute and piano, later rewritten for flute, harp and orchestra)
- Fantasy Scenes, for orchestra
- A Comedy Overture, for orchestra
- Violin Concerto
- Piano Concerto in B Minor
- Fantasia for two Pianos
- Ode to a Nightingale, for soprano and orchestra
- Five Irish Songs
- The Children of Lir, tone poem for orchestra
- The Londonderry Air"
- A John Field Suite (orchestrations of piano works by Field)
- Suite from Handel's Water MusicWater Music (Handel)The Water Music is a collection of orchestral movements, often considered three suites, composed by George Frideric Handel. It premiered on 17 July 1717 after King George I had requested a concert on the River Thames...
(arrangement for Romantic orchestra of Handel's original score) - Various solo piano pieces