Violin concerto of a forgotten man

Hans Gál (1890-1987) was an important man as director of the Mainz Academy of Music and with his compositions (operas, a symphony, songs, chamber music), which were performed everywhere. However, when Hitler came to power, he was banned from working as a Jew in Germany and fled to Vienna, then to Edinburgh when Austria was annexed in 1938, where he worked as a music lecturer until his death. His tonal music, based on Brahms, fell into oblivion as "anachronistic".

His enchanting violin concerto, composed in 1932 and published by Breitkopf, was premiered in Dresden in February 1933 with Georg Kulenkampff under Fritz Busch. Gál added three cadenzas to the concerto, all of which are also available in the piano reduction. The solo part is closely interwoven with the orchestral parts in a chamber music style, and the music flickers with melodic and harmonic ideas. The concerto was not performed again until 2005. The careful new edition of 2023 compares all existing sources and corrects minor inconsistencies, justified in the critical commentary. The performance material is available for hire. 

Hans Gál: Concerto for violin and small orchestra op. 39, edited by Anthony Fox and Eva Fox-Gál, piano reduction by the composer and violin part, EB 9457, € 33.90, Breitkopf & Härtel