HANS GÁL (1890 - 1987)

Piano Music

 

CD 1

Sonatine No.1 Op.58 No.1

Sonatine No.2 Op.58 No.2

Drei Skizzen Op.7

suite für clavier Op.24

Sonate Op.28

 

CD 2

Drei Kleine Stücke Op.64

Three Preludes Op.65

24 Preludes Op.83

 

Martin Jones

 

Composer, scholar, writer, teacher and performer, Hans Gál was the complete musician in the very best sense of the word. Born in 1890 in the village of Brunn an Gebirge just outside Vienna to parents of Hungarian-Jewish origin, his musical talent blossomed under the encouragement of his Aunt Jenny, who was an established opera singer in Weimar, and he began piano lessons at the age of eight. Gál became sufficiently proficient on the instrument to have been admitted to the class of Richard Robert, (1861-1924) one of the most outstanding piano pedagogues in Vienna and the teacher of Clara Haskil, Rudolf Serkin and George Szell.

 

Gál and his family spent less than five years in Vienna before they were compelled once again to leave in 1938 after the Nazis occupied Austria. Initially intending to emigrate to the United States, Gál found his way to London and ultimately to Edinburgh. Like many Austro-German musical émigrés, Gál found it difficult to adjust to the very different cultural environment of the United Kingdom and never really became part of its music establishment. Nonetheless, he was a much revered figure, contributing a great deal to the musical life of Scotland’s capital city, particularly in connection with the founding and development of the Edinburgh International Music Festival.

 

The piano music provides perhaps one of the finest testaments to his achievement. Gál composed frequently for the instrument throughout his long career and appears from the very outset to have been able to create music that is both idiomatic and inventive.

 

Nimbus 2cds NI5751-2