HAMILTON HARTY (1879-1941): Piano Quintet in F, Op. 12, String Quartets No. 1 in F, Op. 1 and No. 2 in A Minor, Op. 5.

Description: Although he was among the first British composers to appear when CD was new, Harty's had to wait a long time to see his chamber music recorded. All of these are youthful works, dating from 1900-04. The quintet is the latest of them and the biggest in scale (its four movements take up 33 minutes), orchestral in conception and with a piano part often concerto-like in its dealings with the strings. Irish flavor (although no actual folk tunes) is evident in both scherzo and slow movement while the finale advertises the young Harty's love of things Russian. The two quartets are on a true chamber scale and have most of the expected Classical and Romantic influences you'd expect for works from a youngster at this period; the second further offers a prominent viola part (one of the two instruments he grew up playing). 2 CDs for the price of 1. Goldner String Quartet, Piers Lane (piano).