Hans Gál

Hans Gál (August 5 1890 - October 3 1987) was an Austrian composer, teacher and pianist.

Hans Gál was born in the small village of Brunn am Gebirge, just outside Vienna. He was trained in that metropolis at the New Vienna Conservatory where he taught for some time. While a student he won the K. und K. (Royal and Imperial) State Prize for composition. In 1928, he won the Columbia Schubert Centenniary Prize for his Sinfonietta. The next year, with the support of such important musicians as Wilhelm Furtwängler, Richard Strauss and others, he obtained the directorship of the Mainz Conservatory. Gál composed in nearly every genre and his operas, which included "Der Artz der Sobeide", "Die Heilige Ente" and "Das Lied der Nacht",were particularly popular during the 1920s. When Hitler rose to power, Gál was forced to leave Germany and eventually emigrated to Britain, teaching at the Edinburgh Music Conservatory for many years.

Gál's style, not surprisingly, was rooted in the Austro-German musical tradition of the late 19th century and in his early years, he was influenced by Brahms. However by the end of the First World War, he developed his own musical language. He did not embrace the Second Vienna School or twelve tone music. His later music generally is polyphonic in structure but does not eschew traditional melody. Many of his works are tonally complex while at the same time offer lyric episodes of great beauty.

Beside opera, Gál wrote many orchestral as well as chamber music works, which many regard among his finest efforts. Wilhelm Altmann, the eminent chamber music critic, writes about Gál's first string quartet, composed in 1916, in his "Handbuch für Streichquartettspieler" (Handbook for String Quartet Players) as follows: "Those who enjoy Brahms' music should pay great attention to this work although this is not to say that it is merely a copy of Brahms' style. While the Quartet is somewhat in the style of Brahms, it is also indebted to Schubert and to the general musical milieu of 19th century Vienna... the entire work is very finely written and shows good understanding of quartet style."

References

*Sadie, Stanley, ed. The New Grove Dictionary of Music & Musicians. London: Macmillan 1980. ISBN 0-333-23111-2.
*Cobbett, Walter Willson. Cobbett's Cyclopedic Survey of Chamber Music, London: Oxford University Press. With a preface by W. H. Hadow. 1963 2nd edition.
*Altmann, Wilhelm. Handbuch für Streichquartettspieler. Wilhemshaven : Heinrichshofen’s Verlag. 1972-1974.
*Some of the information on this page appears on the website of Edition Silvertrust but permission has been granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.

External links

* [http://www.hansgal.com Hans Gál official site]
* [http://www.editionsilvertrust.com/gal-string-qt1.htm Hans Gál sound-bites from String Quartet No.1 and short biography]
* [http://www.jmw.at/en/hans_gal_and_egon_wellesz.html Notes to an Exposition of Music by Gál and Wellesz]
* [http://www.musicweb.uk.net/classrev/2003/Mar03/gal.htm Personal tribute]