Gál destroyed all works composed before 1910, including about 100 songs and four operatic fragments, considering them part of his 'apprentice years'.
Performer Biography
Christian Immler, the bass-baritone on this recording, was a boy alto soloist with the Tölzer Knabenchor and has performed with renowned conductors like Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Marc Minkowski.
Historical Context
Gál was forced to leave Vienna in 1938 by Hitler's annexation of Austria to the Third Reich and fled to Britain, where he became a lecturer at the University of Edinburgh.
Performer Biography
Helmut Deutsch, the pianist, is a highly sought-after song recital accompanist who was appointed professor at the age of twenty-four and has recorded over a hundred CDs.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Gál believed the German Lied genre had reached such perfection by his time that he felt no urge to add to it, which is why he published only one set of his solo Lieder.
Compositional Technique
Gál's Lieder demonstrate a wide range of poetic choices, from medieval texts by Walther von der Vogelweide to contemporary poets like Hermann Hesse and Rabindranath Tagore.
Composer Biography
Hans Gál, born near Vienna in 1890, was appointed director of the Conservatory in Mainz in 1929, but was dismissed in 1933 due to the Nazi accession to power.
You might also enjoy...
Linien des Lebens
Go, Lovely Rose: Songs of Roger Quilter
Barber: The Complete Songs
Så kort ein sommar menneska har - Songs by Gisle Kverndokk
