Composer: Hans Gál
Performer: Katalin Kertész, Nichola Blakey, Cressida Nash, Sarah Beth Briggs
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Toccata
Catalogue: TOCC0433
Release: 2018
Size: 1.24 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Piano Quartet in B-Flat Major, Op. 13
01. I. Allegro energico un poco sostenuto
02. II. Andante con moto
03. III. Agitato
04. IV. Allegro vivace
Violin Sonatina No. 1 in G Major, Op. 71 No. 1
05. I. Allegretto
06. II. Tema con variazioni
Violin Sonatina No. 2 in B-Flat Major, Op. 71 No. 2
07. I. Allegro
08. II. Cavatina
09. III. Alla Marcia
Violin Sonatina No. 3 in F Major, Op. 71 No. 3
10. I. Andantino
11. II. Alla serenata
12. III. Rondo
Violin Sonatina in F Major
13. I. Allegro moderato
14. II. Lento cantabile
15. III. Allegretto giocoso
These five works, from three different stages of Hans Gal’s long life (1890–1987), all show his consummate craftsmanship but are otherwise quite different in character. The passionate Piano Quartet (1914), downstream from Brahms and Dvorak, brings the grand gestures of Romanticism into the early twentieth century. The 1935 Sonatina in F major for violin and piano, recently rediscovered, and the three Sonatinas from 1956 put a premium on textural clarity and lyrical approachability; here the contrapuntal ingenuity, ceaseless thematic development, harmonic freedom and rhythmic unpredictability of Gal’s language animate the music from within.