HARTY, SIR HERBERT HAMILTON (188o— ), Irish conductor and composer, was born at Hillsborough, Co. Down, Ireland, on Dec. 4, 1880. He was an organist in Belfast and in Dublin before he came to London in 1900. As an accompanist he was soon in great demand and his compositions also received recognition. His Comedy Overture was played at a promenade concert at Queen's Hall in 1907 and in the same year his Ode to a Nightingale was produced at the Cardiff festival with Madame Agnes Nicholls, his wife, in the solo part. In 1920, after gaining considerable experience by conducting the London Symphony orchestra, he was appointed permanent conductor of the Halle orchestra in Manchester. In 1925 he was knighted, and also re ceived the degree of Mus.D. from Dublin university. In January 1927 he visited London with the Halle orchestra and chorus and gave a notable performance of Berlioz's Requiem at a British Broadcasting Corporation's Albert Hall concert. His compositions include a violin concerto; With the Wild Geese, tone poem for orchestra; The Mystic Trumpeter for voices and orchestra; an "Irish" symphony ; a transcription of Handel's Water-Music for modern orchestra ; songs and settings of folk-songs.