Henry Smart (violinist)

Henry Smart (* 1778 , † March 16, 1824 in Dublin ) was an English violinist, violist and composer.

The son of music publisher George Smart , like his siblings Charles Frederick and George Thomas Smart , embarked on a musical career. He had his first violin lessons with William Cramer . Around 1794 he was a musician in the opera orchestra of the King's Theater . Around the same time he also played in concerts at the Academy of Ancient Music .

From 1809 he was director of the orchestra of the English Opera House and from 1812 to 1821 orchestra director of the Drury Lane Theater . He was also a member and occasional director of the Philharmonic Society orchestra . In 1821 he founded a piano factory in London. On a trip to Dublin he became infected with typhoid and died.

Two pieces of ballet are known of Smart's compositions, Laurette and L'amitié à l'épreuve , both premiered in 1803, as well as several duos for violin and viola. A number of songs that are ascribed to him in the Catalog of Printed Music in the British Museum were written so early that they are more likely to come from his father. Smart had two children: Henry Smart , who became known as an organist and composer, and Harriet Anne Smart, who married the painter William Callow .

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• Philip H Highfill, Kalman A Burnim, Edward A. Langhans: "A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Volume 14, S. Siddons to Thynne: Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers, and Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660-1800" , SIU Press, 1991, ISBN 978-0-8093-1526-0 , p. 125
• "The Georgian Era: Political and Rural Economists. Painters, sculptors, architects, and engravers. Composers. Vocal, instrumental and dramatic performers " Vizetelly, Branston and co., 1834, p. 549