What is Hamilton Harty?
[[Knight Bachelor|Sir]] '''Hamilton Harty''' (born Hillsborough, [[Co. Down]], [[Ireland]], 4 December 1879; died [[Brighton]], 19 February 1941) was an [[Ireland|Irish]] [[composer]], [[conducting|conductor]] and [[accompanist]]. He is particularly remembered for his work in [[Manchester]] with the orchestra called [[The Hallé]]. ==Life and work== Harty was born in Northern Ireland, the fourth of ten children. His father was a church [[pipe organ|organist]]. He learned to play the [[viola]], [[piano]], and [[pipe organ|organ]]. When he was twelve he was organist at Magheracoll Church, [[County Antrim]]. He also had organist jobs at [[Belfast]] and [[Dublin]]. In [[1900]] he went to [[London]] where he was soon known as a composer and an excellent piano [[accompanist]]. In [[1904]] he married the singer [[Agnes Nicholls]]. For her he wrote a piece for [[soprano]] and orchestra called ''Ode to a Nightingale''. He soon became known as a conductor, conducting the [[London Symphony Orchestra]] and, from [[1920]], The Hallé, which he made into one of the best orchestras in England. He conducted works by many composers, some of whom were little known at the time: they included [[Bax]], [[Sibelius]], [[Berlioz]], [[Moeran]], [[William Walton|Walton]] and [[Richard Strauss]]. He gave the first performance in England of [[Mahler]]’s Ninth Symphony. Harty was [[knighted]] in [[1925]]. He resigned from The Hallé in [[1933]] after there had been a lot of arguments. After that he mainly conducted in [[London]], as well as in [[United States]] and [[Australia]]. Harty composed many pieces during his early years, including ''An Irish Symphony'', a [[tone poem]] ''With the Wild Geese'', a ''[[Violin]] [[Concerto]]'', and ''Ode to a Nightingale''. Harty was ill for the last five years of his life. He had a [[brain]] [[tumour]]. He was looked after by his secretary Olive Baguley, because he had separated from his wife. He died in Hove near [[Brighton]]. ==References== * The New Grove Dictionary of Music and M