A Plea for Hans Gal

[petershott@btinternet.com]

If record producers eavesdrop this forum may I make a special plea for the orchestral works of Hans Gal? I believe it would be quite tragic if his compositions fell into complete oblivion.

True, there has been some limited revival of interest in Gal in the last two years with a quite stunning set of discs of the piano works by Leon McCawley. I have found these works, variously, wonderfully lyrical, suffused with wit, often charming, and always written with sharp precision. They are clearly written by a composer who himself was a highly accomplished pianist. Fascinating stuff. Then, and to my mind even more satisfying, are the recordings of the quartets by the Edinburgh Quartet. They each form splendid, life-affirming music, much in the Austro-German late Romantic tradition. I have yet to hear a disc of the Piano Trios on Camerata.

But the orchestral music? There are four symphonies dating from 1927, 1943, 1951, and 1975. The first was last performed (to my belief) by the BBCSO in 1970, as part of the 80th birthday concert. I would guess it to be a distinguished work, for it was awarded second place by CBC in 1928 to mark the centenary of Schubert's death - the first place being occupied by Schmidt's Symphony 3, exalted company indeed! As far as I know the other symphonies have been slowly gathering dust since the 1950s. Amongst other things, there are also concertos for Violin (1932), Piano (1948), and Cello (1949). There are also three early operas, but maybe I should reconcile myself to eventually sliding into deafness, gaga-land or the final resting place without the chance to hear them.

Deprived of performances or recordings I have obviously not heard any of the orchestral works. Yet judged by the chamber music, and the reputation Gal had gained by the time of his death, I would guess they are works we would treasure if given the opportunity to do so. We've heard this refrain many times on the forum, but how awful it is that some music is allowed to fall by the wayside whilst other merely 'interesting' or sometimes near worthless works get star treatment (hardly an original thought!) Maybe my high expectation of Gal's orchestral works is misplaced, but I somehow doubt it. Anyone familiar with them?

Peter

[eschiss1]

The only orchestral work I've seen broadcast is a serenade for strings on BBC.  What you describe is intriguing.
Eric

[Alan Howe]

jpc lists a number of CDs of his music...


http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/home/search?fastsearch=hans%20gal&rubric=classic&pd_orderby=score

[Mark Thomas]

I have old recordings of his Caledonian Suite for orchestra and a Piano Concertino. Both very pleasant, indeed charming, to use Peter's word, in a "British Light Music" sort of way. Presumably the four Symphonies have more meat on the bone, though?

[jimmosk]

Peter, I have some very happy news for you: http://kennethwoods.net/blog1/2009/08/31/who-is-hans-gal-and-why-are-you-recording-his-music/

While we wait, this disc http://www.classicsonline.com/catalogue/product.aspx?pid=766430 has some very pretty works for plucked orchestra (and, I must say, a very unfortunate cover photo). Try the Sinfonietta, almost a sequel to Britten's Simple Symphony!

Your fellow Gal fan,
Jim

--
Jim Moskowitz
The Unknown Composers Page:  http://kith.org/jimmosk/TOC.html
My latest list of unusual classical CDs for auction:  http://tinyurl.com/jimmosk

[mbhaub]

I've played the Sinfonietta; very beautiful and lots of fun to play. Given time, I'm sure attention will be given to the orchestral music. There's just so much music to discover! When I first played the Sinfonietta, his music was totally unknown, but the name wasn't. My Dover editions of much of Brahms' music was edited by Gal.

[kenwoodscc]

Hi everyone

I want to thank Jim for commenting on my blog post about Gal, and calling my attention to your discussion.

The CD of the Gal Violin Concerti and Triptych for Orchestra (a wonderful and insanely virtuosic mini-symphony in three movements) is now done, edited and mastered, and in pre-production. It will be released in late May or June on the Avie label. I'm pleased with how it has turned out, and delighted that it is the first complete disc of Gal's orchestral music to date.

Meanwhile, my colleague on that disc, the violinist Annette-Barbara Vogel, has also recorded the Gal music for Violin and Piano, also on Avie, and that disc has just been released. It is easily available through all the usual outlets.

There is more in the pipeline- I'm doing a disc of Gal symphonies with my new band, Orchestra of the Swan, to be recorded in December, and my trio, Ensemble Epomeo, is recording the 2 string trios in 2011. We just gave the American premiere of the Serenade for String Trio, op 41, last week in Philadelphia. We're playing the piece again at the Two Rivers Festival on April 16, and will be touring with it and later Trio in the summer and fall. If you are in the region, please join us for the April show-
http://www.tworiversfestival.co.uk/

I also believe that Antonio Meneses is recording the Cello Concerto for Avie soon.

It's wonderful and very rich, sophisticated and unique music. Incredibly demanding and unforgiving in spite of the lyrical surface- Gal was a great contrpuntalist with a very unusual sense of harmony, so one has to work very hard to balance the parts and to get everything to ring, but it is worth the effort.

I hope many of you will track down the new discs as they come out and look forward to hearing your reactions.

Kenneth Woods

www.kennnethwoods.net

[petershott@btinternet.com]

Many thanks indeed to forum friends for these immediate responses.

And especial thanks to Jim for notifying Kenneth Woods to our discussion of Gal.

And to Kenneth himself: now I'm just a mere member of this Forum, and a relative newcomer at that. So I certainly can't speak on behalf of the Forum itself. But I would very much like to express my personal thanks to you for joining us. I've often dipped into your blog, and have found much there to amuse me, instruct me, and, very often, halt me in my tracks with some observation on a piece I thought I knew quite well or some sharp perception from the man on the podium.

What wonderful news about Avie taking on board many of Gal's works. The clouds part and the sun peeps out! Avie got off to a terrific start with the Leon McCawley discs of the piano music. I've already got on order the new Avie disc of Annette-Barbara Vogel performing the B minor Vn sonata. I've already got her earlier performance of the piece on a Cybele CD, and it will be interesting to hear what happens second time around.

But best of all you tell us of a forthcoming disc of the Vn Concerto and the Triptych for Orchestra. Great news! And if that is not enough you tell us of your plans for the Symphonies (all or some of them?) and the Pf Trios. I'm proper pepped up!! I hope these projects are successful and the discs themselves gain widespread appreciation.

So again: many thanks for the news and joining the Forum. You'll find abundant interest here in all the unjustifiably neglected areas of music, and I hope we can look forward to more contributions from you.

Warm regards,

Peter

[Alan Howe]

Yes, welcome, Kenneth! I'm certainly looking forward to the CD which includes the VC - sounds extremely interesting indeed, and very approachable.

[Mark Thomas]

Let me join the chorus of welcome too and also add my thanks for the forthcoming CDs of Gal's orchestral music. Really excellent news, guaranteed  to raise a smile on a grey morning.

[kenwoodscc]

Hi all

The disc of the Violin Concerto, Concertino and Triptych is now out. Available from Amazon here-
http://www.amazon.com/Violin-Concerto-Gal/dp/B003INBNR0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1278204847&sr=8-1

In the UK-
http://www.amazon.com/Violin-Concerto-Gal/dp/B003INBNR0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1278204847&sr=8-1

There is an early review up here-
http://www.classicalsource.com/db_control/db_cd_review.php?id=8295

I hope some of you will have a listen and let us know your reactions

KW