CONCERT FEATURES SADLY-NEGLECTED COMPOSER

A summer concert in Edinburgh's historic Canongate Kirk will have a seldom performed work by a Scottish-based composer as its centre piece.

The Edinburgh Quartet concert on July 2 will open with a Schubert String Quartet but it is thought the highlight will be a performance of Hans Gal's String Quintet, opus 106. The Edinburgh group will be joined by Jessica Beeston for the two-viola composition which, like Gal's Clarinet Quintet, was given its first performance by the long-established Edinburgh Quartet some years ago.

The Austrian-born Gal had a highly successful inter-war career in Europe until forced to flee Vienna when the Nazis moved in. He settled in Edinburgh, spending the rest of his long life in the Scottish capital -- a much loved teacher, performer (he was accompanist for Kathleen Ferrier for a performance at the first Edinburgh International Festival) and composer.

Advance tickets for the Canongate concert (£12) are obtainable from the Edinburgh Quartet, 119

Craigleith Rd, or the Hans Gal Society, 16 Blacket Place. They will also be on sale at the door.