Hans Gál: Violin Concerto; Violin Concertino; Triptych

Hans Gál • Annette‑Barbara Vogel (violin); Northern Sinfonia; Kenneth Woods (conductor)

About this release

This disc brings together three concertante works from across Hans Gál’s long creative life. The expansive Violin Concerto (1931–32) crowns his pre‑war career with a rhapsodic first movement, a wistful aria‑like slow movement and a finale full of fleet Viennese charm. The concise Violin Concertino (1939) was written shortly after the composer fled Nazi Germany; its singing lines and neoclassical clarity belie the turmoil of exile. Completing the programme is Triptych, a vibrant orchestral set from 1970 written in just five weeks when Gál was 80 years old. Canadian violinist Annette‑Barbara Vogel gives the premiere recordings of all three works with Kenneth Woods directing the Northern Sinfonia.

Where to buy or listen

• Presto Music product page (CD/download)
• Avie Records release page (CD)
• Qobuz (streaming/download)

What critics said

— MusicWeb International review Read the full review

Further context

The violin concerto and concertino lay dormant for decades until this premiere recording, a testament to Gál’s distinct voice and the commitment of the performers. Written at different stages of the composer’s life—during his Vienna years, in exile in England and in his later Edinburgh retirement—the three works reveal a consistent gift for melody, classical poise and orchestral colour. This disc helped spark renewed interest in Gál’s orchestral music and paved the way for further recordings of his symphonies and concertos.

Classical CD Review by Gavin Dixon -

….Gál’s aesthetic is inherited directly from the tail-end of the Austro-German Romantic tradition. His musicbears many similarities with that of Franz Schmidt, although not the long, lyrical melodic lines that characterise so much of Schmidt’s orchestral music. Franz Schreker is another similar Viennese voice, although Gál (thankfully) avoids the excesses of Schreker’s neurotic Expressionism. In fact, it is difficult to deduce much about Gál’s personality or temperament from this music. He was presumably a very calm, centred man, for whom music came from within, rather than through conscious reactions to external stimuli. How else to explain the stylistic similarities of these three works, the Concerto written before his flight from the Nazi’s, the Concertino written in London during the war, and the Triptych written towards the end of his life, in Edinburgh in 1970….

….the lightness of the composer’s touch combines yet again with a rock-solid compositional technique, with very listenable results. The performances and the recording are of a consistently high standard. The Northern Sinfonia …… are probably better than anything he ever heard in this country. But most importantly, both orchestra and conductor Kenneth Woods are sensitive to the lightness of the textures and always elegantly balance the soloist. Annette-Barbara Vogel is about the most ideal exponent a composer could hope to have. She, too, maintains that delicate balance between thematic rigour and lightness of touch, often through very gradual changes of tone colour and a coherent approach to phrasing. Her low register is particularly impressive, a rich, immediate sound, but never overpowering or unduly woody. These works all border on the textures of chamber music at times, and the intimacy that Vogel achieves brings those quiet textures up close. This is her second Hans Gál project; her first was a disc of Violin Sonatas, also on Avie (AV2182). If you’ve heard that and were impressed, and I understand most were, then buy this. You won’t be disappointed.