In the Sàlon or the Parlour Room?

If I have a problem with Hamilton Harty's chamber music, it is the music sounds as if he is wooing the tenderest of hearts akin to a fluttery-toned lyric tenor. After all, we wouldn't want our audience to faint from the vapours!

Otherwise, these are enjoyable works. The earliest string quartet is full of tunes, and I love it! The second shows a compositional growth, even if it is generally more pastoral in tone and complex of texture.

The Piano Quintet, on the other hand, has a muscly, ripped piano part. Lots of ham-fisted, blocky chords set it apart from the string quartet players.

The Goldner Quartet have some wonderful offerings on Hyperion, and it is no different here!

A review from 2024

Around the late 70’s and early 80’s, the orchestral works of Irish composer Hamilton Harty were given an airing out. Those gems continued to be released into sets, music that ranged from high Romanticism ala Rachmaninov, to Harty’s own flavor of musical Irish Nationalism.

The two string quartets of Hamilton Harty are early works. The first is unusually tuneful; perhaps it lays a little on the simplistic side, but it remains full of sunshine and daisies. The second is more complex, appreciably so, yet Harty’s beautiful lyricism is at a precipice throughout the work.

The Piano Quintet is the most convincing of the works. It is big, bold, and brash. This is abetted by the blocky piano part which stumbles through the string quartet like a bull in a China Shop. Subtle it is not, but stirring and yearning fervors are definite qualities of the music.

I would hardly call any of this essential music, but it is all extremely pleasing. If there is a detriment to Harty’s compositions, it is that some of it sounds of sàlon or parlour music, mere trifles to satisfy the tenderest of hearts. I wouldn’t call any of these particularly Irish sounding either, but there is a hint of pastoral folksiness.

Listen on YouTube

Works
String Quartet 1 (23.45)
String Quartet 2 (26.24)
Piano Quintet (32.43)

Ensemble
Goldner Quartet

Label: Hyperion
Year: 2012
Total Timing: 82.55

 

 

 

A complement to Harty's orchestral works.

These are all early, so I doubt I would call any great. Still, a peek into the genesis of the composer is worthwhile.

Find more Harty recordings HERE!