Sir Hamilton Harty, the composer, was born in Hillsborough, County Down, Northern Ireland, in 1879, the fourth of ten children.
Compositional Technique
Harty's Piano Quintet is described as a bold, passionate work of symphonic proportions, giving full prominence to the piano, making it compete with the strings like a concerto soloist.
Instruments
Ada Lewis-Hill, the patron who sponsored the prize for Harty's Piano Quintet, owned several valuable pianos and stringed instruments, including numerous Stradivari.
Composition History
Harty's String Quartet No. 1 in F major, Op. 1, won a composition prize at the Feis Ceoil, a national competitive music festival in Dublin, in 1900.
Composer Biography
Harty's father, William Harty, was the organist of St Malachy's, Hillsborough, and a highly regarded musician in Ulster, who ran the local music scene.
Composition History
Harty's Piano Quintet in F major, Op. 12, won a prize of fifty guineas in a competition sponsored by Ada Lewis-Hill, a wealthy philanthropist and patron of the arts.
Composer Biography
Harty developed his musicianship playing the organ for services at St Malachy's church from around age twelve and learned piano and viola at home.
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