Hans Gal

Hans Gal was born on 5 August 1890 in Brunn am Gebirge near Vienna and died on 3 October 1987 in Edinburgh. The Austrian-British composer studied piano with Richard Robert and composition with Eusebius Mandyczewski, as well as musicology with Guido Adler at the Universität Wien, under whom he took his doctorate in 1913. In 1915 he was the first to receive the newly created Österreichischer Staatspreis für Komposition, for his first symphony; from 1919 to 1929 he taught at the Universität Wien and edited the complete Brahms edition together with Mandyczewski. In 1923 his opera “Die heilige Ente” was given its first performance under George Szell. From 1929 to 1933 he directed the Mainz Conservatory; after the National Socialist seizure of power he lost his position in 1933 and emigrated to Great Britain in 1938, where he was interned as an enemy alien in 1940. From 1945 Gal taught at the University of Edinburgh and was involved in the founding of the Edinburgh International Festival. His output comprises operas, symphonies, chamber, piano and choral music. In 2002 Cybele Records released the album New Chamber Music: Works by Hans Gal.