Gift of the Irish

While I have reviewed each of the individual portions of this collection, this is the one I held onto.

 Not every work is a winner, for example the Piano Concerto is more Rachmaninov than Harty, and Naxos does it better. Aside from that aspect, everything else here is a winner, with a nice variety of vocal, concertante, and purely orchestral works.

Each disc is filled to the brim, yet a few were left off of the original recordings. This set does not have A John Field Suite or Harty's orchestration of Handel's Water Music Suite. Naxos also offers the four-movement Fantasy Scenes, so this set is not the last word.

Otherwise, Bryden Thomson and Chandos are to be congratulated for assembling Harty's works in the late 70's and early 80's. Not many have gone back to the well, though; a shame since this is all fine music.

A review from 2023

Irish conductor/composer Hamilton Harty is not heard much on record or in the concert hall, and it is a shame. Luckily these performances from 1979-1983 are excellent, and aside from dropping one or two items from their original albums, is a wonderful set with nearly four hours of music.

Harty’s music is brash and heroic, as in the militaristic battles of When the Wild Geese, as much as it can be lyrically sumptuous, akin to the In Ireland Fantasy. His strength is writing for the orchestra with vivid color; gifting the sections of the orchestra, strings, winds, and brass, with their moments to shine in the spotlight. He writes a fair bit for soloists here too, and Harty is a sympathetic composer.

While the concertos don’t overtly showcase Harty’s Irish background, much of his orchestral music does. He frequently borrows tunes, but he is just as adept as writing original melodies in that flavour, sometimes touched with an energetic jig or sassy scotch snap.

There really aren’t any low points in this collection. I love the Irish Symphony, and I consider it his masterpiece of symphonic structure and development. He sets Irish sagas and literature to the orchestra with imagination, and his adaptation of folk tunes are tastefully rendered.

Only the Piano Concerto seems out of place, bringing the syrupy sound of Rachmaninov to the fore, magnified by Macolm Binns’ microscopic attention to detail-dwelling. The exquisite Violin Concerto more than makes up for it!

As far as other dedicated recordings of Hamilton Harty, the Irish Symphony on Naxos, and a much better performance of the Piano Concerto, also on Naxos, exist. The Ulster Orchestra is beautifully captured by Chandos though, and Bryden Thomson is a loving advocate of this music.

Otherwise, this is the only place to explore the worthwhile orchestral music of Harty, released earlier on Chandos, but remastered here.

Listen on YouTube

Works
Violin Concerto (33.13)
Piano Concerto (37.42)
Children of Lir (31.48)
Variations on a Dublin Air (18.19)
Londonderry Air (5.27)
Ode to a Nightingale (22.30)
A Comedy Overture (14.12)
An Irish Symphony (34.00)
In Ireland (9.13)
With the Wild Geese (20.12)

Soloists
Heather Harper, soprano
Ralph Holmes, violin
Malcolm Binns, piano

Ensemble
Ulster Orchestra
Bryden Thomson, conductor

Label: Chandos
Year: 2004
Total Timing: 3.45.53

 

Who can fault a project like this?

Harty is great for those who like every hidey-hole of musical Britain. That's me!

Find more Harty recordings HERE!