Hans Gál Piano Music
Piano Sonata op. 28
Piano Suite op. 24
Two Sonatinas op. 58,
Three Sketches op. 7
Three Small Pieces op. 64
24 Preludes op. 83
Three Preludes op. 65

Martin Jones

Nimbus NI 5751/2 2007

www.wyastone.co.uk

24 Preludes for Piano op. 83

Aladár Rácz (piano)

Pan Classics PC510141)
2001

"The Viennese-born composer Hans Gál (1890-1987) was once regarded as one of the leading composers of his generation. Through his operas especially, he achieved international successes that placed his music among the core repertoire of the time. With the advent of Nazis in 1933, all publication and performance of music by Jewish composers was banned, and his music suffered a blow from which it never recovered.

Pan Classics brings you the world première recording of Hans Gál's "24 Preludes for Piano" Op.83, a wonderfully moving account by the Hungarian pianist Aladár Rácz. The work represents a distillation of a lifetime of writing for the piano, and stands as a testimony to Gál's creative imagination. No one prelude is like another, and each contains the composer's characteristic wit and overwhelming beauty."

"Vingt-quatre gemmes jaculatoires d'une élévation de pensée brucknéro-bachienne. . . . Aladár Rácz épouse avec spontanéité et naturel tous les styles de ces pièces. Fantastique, mélancolique, songeur, burlesques. . . L'un des jalons majeurs de la littérature pianistique." (Étienne Müller)

Hans Gál. The Complete Works for Solo Piano
Leon McCawley

CD1:
Sonata op. 28;
Suite op. 24;
Two Sonatinas op. 58;
Three Sketches op. 7;
Three Small Pieces op. 64;
Three Preludes op.65

CD2: Twenty-four Preludes op. 83

CD3: Twenty-four Fugues op. 108

3-CD set
Avie 2064, 2005

www.avierecords.com

Record Company's Sales note:
Hans Gál penned scores of effortlessly pleasing and melodic music which is rarely heard today. A “continental Briton”, he fled the Nazi regime and settled in Edinburgh in 1939 where he lived until his death at the age of 97. In Germany and Austria he achieved early recognition as a composer, his work championed by Georg Szell. After emigrating, his life was devoted mainly to academia and authoring numerous books on music. There has been a recent upsurge of interest in his work, and this 3-CD set of his complete works for solo piano, including numerous world-premiere recordings, champions the cause. Exquisitely performed by pianist Leon McCawley – his second recording for Avie following his Gramophone Editor’s Choice recording of Schumann Piano Works (AV 0029) – this collection carries the endorsement of Hans Gál’s estate.

CD 1
1. - 4. Sonata, Op. 28 (1927) * (18:20)
5. - 9. Suite, Op. 24 (1922) * (14:16)
10. - 12. Sonatina No. 1 Op. 58 (1951) * (10:26)
13. - 16. Sonatina No. 2 Op. 58 (1949) * (11:48)
17. - 19. Three Sketches Op. 7 (1910-11) * (6:18)
20. - 22. Three Small Pieces Op. 64 (1933) * (8:55)
23. - 25. Three Preludes for Piano Op. 65 (1944) * (8:38)
Total time CD 1: 78:47
CD 2
1. - 24. Twenty-four Preludes Op. 83 (1960) (50:02)
CD 3
1. - 24. Twenty-four Fugues Op. 108 (1980) * (59:54)
Total time: 3:08:43

* world premiere recordings
Recorded 10 - 13 November 2004 and 26 - 28 March 2005, at Potton Hall, Suffolk
Recording producer: Simon Fox-Gál