Hans Gál – Serenade for Strings
Symphony Nova Scotia. Conductor: Georg Tintner.
5 April 2013, 02:31, BBC Radio 3 'Through the Night'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01rl343Born in Vienna in 1890, Hans Gál won early recognition and
enjoyed rising success in the 1920s, particularly with his operas. In 1929 he
was appointed Director of the Conservatory in Mainz, but Hitler's accession to
power in 1933 brought instant dismissal and the banning of his works. He
returned to Vienna, but in 1938, following Hitler's annexation of Austria, he fled
to Britain, settling in Edinburgh, where he remained until his death in 1987. Gál's
music is tuneful and apparently straightforward, supreme in its clarity and formal
mastery, but at the same time it is immensely intricate and subtle. His style has
deep roots in the Austro-German tradition, but the voice is essentially his own and
is unmistakable to anyone who has the opportunity to get to know it.
His Serenade for Strings is one of his lighter works, and arguably the most charming!
