There will have been some older members of the audience who remember Hans Gál, who was born 125 years ago in Austria. Fleeing from Nazi Germany he and and family arrived in Edinburgh in 1939. Not many years later he was one of the influential musicians who helped create the Edinburgh International Festival. A composer all his life his work is only now receiving the recognition it deserves, such is fashion in music. He died in 1987 but The Hans Gál Society works hard in his memory. He was often in The Queen's Hall and involved in the early life of the Edinburgh Quartet which made this Sunday afternoon concert so much more special.
In the first half we heard three works composed before Hans Gál came to Edinburgh. The first Lyrical Suite (1935) has three versions but the one with flute and string quartet had not been performed since 1987, just before the composer's death - and by the Edinburgh Quartet. Juliette Bauser was our flautist. The Motette (1924) for all the voices of the Glasgow Chamber Choir has been described as one of his most ambitious and demanding a cappella works.
It was a thrill to hear soprano Patricia Rozario sing Nachtmusik (1933) where she was accompanied by the thirteen men of the Choir with Michael Bawtree and the flute of Juliette Bauser and cello of Mark Bailey.
After the interval as if by way of party pieces the Choir showed us their best with Schubert's Gott im Ungewitter whilst Patricia Rozario sang two well known Mendelssohn songs accompanied on the piano to the delight of us all.
The ladies of the Glasgow Chamber Choir joined Patricia Rozario, and the Edinburgh Quartet was joined by the double bass of Nikita Naumov for Hans Gál's Of a Summer Day. This was composed in Edinburgh in 1951 and after a short instrumental Prelude the nine songs, sung in English, pass from morning to night. Based on predominantly nineteenth century poems it is Hans Gál's most extensive choral work in English and the only one with orchestra. It was an intriguing and exhilarating end to a fascinating concert.
Performance: Sunday 7th June 2015 at 3.30pm