Philip Hart has been hitherto not so much underrated as overlooked. Indeed, if one were to compile an anthology of Hart criticism prior to 1965, when I published what I would now describe as a preliminary survey of the Hart corpus, one would be hard pressed to enlarge upon the one sentence written by Louisa M. Middleton in 1891: ‘As a composer, Hart was no more than respectable’. A few words of Hawkins might find a place, though they are more historical than critical. They refer to Hart's last published composition:
… the Morning Hymn from the fifth book of the Paradise Lost, which latter work he published in March, 1728–9. Mr. Galliard had set this hymn, and published it by subscription in 1728; and it is said that Mr. Hart meant to emulate him by a composition to the same words; but if he did, he failed in the attempt, for Mr. Galliard's hymn is a fine and elegant composition, admired at this day, whereas that of Mr. Hart is forgotten.