Viola in Exile
Julia Rebekka Adler (Viola)
Axel Gremmelspacher (Piano)
Hans Gál: Sonata for Viola and Piano op. 101 (1941)
Eric Zeisl: Sonata for Viola and Piano (1950)
Karl Weigl: Sonata for Viola and Piano (1940)
Fritz Kreisler: Schön Rosmarin (1905), arr. Adler
Gramola 99026
2014
Where to buy or listen
Viola in Exile – Gál, Zeisl & Weigl
Julia Rebekka Adler (viola) & Axel Gremmelspacher (piano)
About this release
Three Austrian‑Jewish composers – Hans Gál, Eric Zeisl and Karl Weigl – were forced into exile by the Nazi regime. This recital brings together their viola sonatas alongside Fritz Kreisler’s arrangement of “Schön Rosmarin.” The music blends the viola’s somber tone with the composers’ deep sense of loss and hope: Gál’s Sonata sings with lyrical grace reminiscent of Schubert and noble counterpoint worthy of Bach; Zeisl’s sonata is intense and direct; Weigl’s is romantic and inward‑looking【519408226008219†L101-L106】.
Where to buy or listen
- Presto Music product page (CD/download)
- Presto Music streaming (subscription)
What critics said
Further context
All three sonatas were written after the composers fled Austria and Germany in the 1930s and ’40s. Their rediscovery offers a poignant portrait of émigré music and the expressive possibilities of the viola.
