Hans Gál - Concertinos for Violin, Cello and Piano; String Serenade

Hans GAL (1890-1987)

Concertino for Cello and String Orchestra, Op.87 (1965)

Concertino for Piano and String orchestra, Op.43 (1934)

Concertino for Violin and String Orchestra, Op.52 (1939)

Serenade for String Orchestra, Op.46 (1946)

Nina Karmon (Violin)

Justus Grimm (Cello)

Oliver Triendl (Piano)

Sinfonietta Riga

Normunds Šnē

Recorded: 12-14 April 2023, Reformation Church, Riga (Latvia)

As a young man, the composer Hans Gál witnessed an artistic turning point, for it was during

the First World War that late Romanticism met the modern musical era. Everything was in

motion. He himself was however critical of many musical initiatives and admitted: “I had too little

in common with my contemporaries”. Indeed, the orchestral surges of the Wagnerites were just

as alien to him as the atonality of the Second Viennese School championed by Alban Berg and

Anton Webern. The pared-down sounds of Neoclassicism and the “new objectivity” of the likes of

Paul Hindemith were likewise of little use to Gál.Therefore, in his adherence to tonality and use

of sophisticated formal progressions, he created a distinctive style of his own that he steadfastly

embraced throughout his life.