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HANS GÁL: CHAMBER MUSIC, VOLUME THREE – THE PIANO QUARTET AND FOUR SONATINAS FOR VIOLIN by Eva Fox-Gál Te three works recorded here come from three very diferent phases of Hans Gál’s life, a life punctuated by the major upheavals of the twentieth century in Europe. But each has a personal relationship to the composer and his family. Te Piano Quartet belongs to Gál’s earliest period, when he was living in his native Vienna. Te opening paragraph of Te Golden Age of Vienna, the frst of the ten books he wrote or edited in British exile, gives the background to the musical culture into which he was born: Tere is hardly a place in the world so deeply imbued with the spirit of a musical past as Vienna. As the result of a unique constellation in the astral system of genius, this town was the focal point in the history of music for more than half a century, when Gluck, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert lived there in a continuous succession. In their diferent ways, Brahms, Bruckner, Wolf, Mahler took up the tradition. Lanner and three members of the Strauss family conquered the world with their dance tunes.1 He describes the impact of Vienna’s specifc geographical location and its historical position as ‘the dominating centre of a dozen provinces and nationalities’ on the development of a distinctive musical style. Gál’s own musical education connected him deeply with the musical tradition and values which had become so closely associated with Vienna before the First World War. From the age of ffeen he became a pupil of one of the foremost piano- teachers in the city, Richard Robert (1861–1924), who himself had been a student of Bruckner. Gál’s fellow pupils included Rudolf Serkin, Clara Haskil and Georg Szell. In 1909 Gál obtained a piano-teaching diploma and in that same year was appointed 1 Hans Gál, Te Golden Age of Vienna, Max Parrish, London, 1948, p. 9. 2 as a teacher of harmony and piano at the New Vienna Conservatoire, where Robert was Director. It was also through Robert that Gál was to fnd his ideal mentor in Eusebius Mandyczewski (1857–1929), with whom he took composition classes during two years of intensive private study of form and counterpoint – made possible by a Rothschild scholarship. Mandyczewski, a close friend of Brahms in his later years in Vienna, had been a principal editor of the frst complete edition of Schubert’s work (1887–97), and was to choose Gál as his collaborator in the frst Complete Edition of Brahms, which was published in 1926–27. Mandyczewski was like a spiritual father to Gál and they remained in close contact until the former’s death in 1929. At the behest of his real father to get a ‘genuine’ qualifcation, Gál also studied at the University of Vienna from 1911, under the eminent music historian (and friend of Mahler), Guido Adler, known as ‘the father of musicology’; Gál graduated in 1913 with a doctoral dissertation, ‘On the stylistic characteristics of the young Beethoven and their relationship to the style of his maturity’, which was accorded the rare distinction of publication in Adler’s own series, Studien zur Musikwissenschaf. Gál also edited volumes of Johann Strauss (Father and Son) in the same series. As a rule, Gál dated every completed movement in his manuscripts, but in the absence of an autograph score of the Piano Quartet, a precise date of composition has not yet been established. Even so, internal evidence suggests that the work almost certainly originates from 1914, when Gál was beginning to make a career for himself as a composer, culminating in the award of the Austrian State Prize for composition in 1915. Te Quartet has marked stylistic afnities with his Five Intermezzi for String Quartet from 1914, as well as the Variations on a Viennese Heurigen Melody, which was completed in July 1914, immediately before the declaration of war. Te First World War marked the frst major break in his life, and put the rest of his life on hold for fve years. From spring 1915 until autumn 1918 Gál had to serve in the Austrian army, frst in Belgrade, then in the Polish Carpathians and fnally in northern Italy. Te War brought about the complete collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and all the structures that had previously sustained it, leaving Austria politically and materially destitute. But 3 unlike so many others, Gál was able to return to Vienna in November 1918 alive and intact – even with a completed opera, Der Arzt der Sobeide, in his rucksack; it was duly premiered in 1919 in Breslau. Te frst documented performance of the Piano Quartet took place in Vienna, on 7 February 1920, with the composer himself at the keyboard, in the Kammermusiksaal of the Musikverein, followed by another performance on 17 April in the Vienna Konzerthaus. In 1922 the Quartet was published by Simrock, as Gál’s Op. 13.2 It was subsequently performed frequently, particularly in the 1920s, all over Germany, sometimes with Gál himself on the piano, and he continued to perform it in his earlier years in Britain, though not in later life when, afer a series of hand operations for hardened tendons, he could no longer manage the considerable stretches required for the piano part. Gál can hardly have imagined the importance the Piano Quartet would play in his personal life. His wife, Hanna (my mother), told the story in an interview: I got to know my husband later than his music. I had taken a particular interest in his music and went to all performances which took place in Vienna, but I didn’t know him personally. Ten in 1920 [she was eighteen at the time] I was abroad during the summer and a pianist [...] was staying with my parents at the time and spent her summer holidays there. Hans Gál, a friend of hers, ofen came to visit. When the pianist asked me what chamber music I would like to welcome me back, I said, amongst other things, the Piano Quartet by Hans Gál. On this occasion he was playing cello – well, six months later we were engaged!3 Stylistically the Piano Quartet, particularly in its quieter passages, has an idiomatic Viennese favour which stems from the infux of styles that fowed into the city, particularly from its eastern border, and had entered the language, so to speak, through such works as Brahms’ Hungarian Dances and Dvořák’s Slavonic Dances. Tat is particularly true of his Five Intermezzi and the Variations on a Viennese Heurigen 2 Gál’s opus numbers refer to the order of publication, not to that of composition. 3 From an interview in ‘Der Komponist Hans Gál zu seinem 96. Geburtstag. Ein Porträt in zwei Teilen’, Südwestfunk, August 1986. 4 unlike so many others, Gál was able to return to Vienna in November 1918 alive and Melody, and similarly in his Serbische Weisen (for piano four hands) from 1916, based intact – even with a completed opera, Der Arzt der Sobeide, in his rucksack; it was duly on melodies he heard in a café in Belgrade, where he was serving in the Austrian army premiered in 1919 in Breslau. during the First World War. Te characteristic harmonies and modal elements, as well Te frst documented performance of the Piano Quartet took place in Vienna, on as the alternations of diferent speeds and pulses integral to the Serbische Weisen, are 7 February 1920, with the composer himself at the keyboard, in the Kammermusiksaal already clearly present in the Five Intermezzi, his frst published work for string quartet, of the Musikverein, followed by another performance on 17 April in the Vienna which was dedicated to his revered teacher, Mandyczewski, and they are similarly Konzerthaus. In 1922 the Quartet was published by Simrock, as Gál’s Op. 13.2 It was features of the Piano Quartet. subsequently performed frequently, particularly in the 1920s, all over Germany, Te Quartet is a youthful work that shows Gál’s stylistic inheritance, and has sometimes with Gál himself on the piano, and he continued to perform it in his earlier particular afnities with the music of Brahms and Dvořák. But it also has many features years in Britain, though not in later life when, afer a series of hand operations for that indicate where he is going and that are characteristic of his individual voice. Cast hardened tendons, he could no longer manage the considerable stretches required for on a large scale, it has four highly contrasted movements, each with its own distinct the piano part. character and soundworld, but all bound together in a clear overarching structure, not Gál can hardly have imagined the importance the Piano Quartet would play in his least because of the organic unity of the work – the 24-year-old Gál was clearly already a personal life. His wife, Hanna (my mother), told the story in an interview: master of form. Te general character of the piece is extrovert, exuberant, expansive, with I got to know my husband later than his music. I had taken a particular interest in his a youthful energy and momentum. It is full of dramatic contrasts, primarily through the music and went to all performances which took place in Vienna, but I didn’t know him highlighting of the diferent sonorities of the piano and the strings, especially when the personally. Ten in 1920 [she was eighteen at the time] I was abroad during the summer strings are used in an antiphonal relationship to the piano, working together en bloc, as and a pianist [...] was staying with my parents at the time and spent her summer holidays in the arresting opening of the frst movement.