The Music of Hans Gál A Thesis Recital

Esber Recital Hall Music Building I

Penn State University

March 15, 2015 2:00pm

Introduction

I was introduced to Hans Gál’s music two years ago while I was studying in

Vienna, Austria. I played the Huyton Suite in a performance workshop and had to write

program notes as a requirement for the workshop. The research became fascinating

and stayed with me long after my time in Vienna had ended. I revisited Hans Gál and

his life as an honors thesis topic and became completely intrigued by the history of his

life.

Today, we present to you a very small portion of the musical repertoire that

Hans Gál produced during his lifetime. The music on today’s program focuses around

the time period of World War II with a few selections being from before and after that

time as well. You might notice as you listen that a large majority of the music is upbeat,

major, and lively- the opposite of what one might expect of music from this time. While

this has been a subject of debate among my colleagues and myself, I believe, if

nothing else, it is a testament to his state of mind, personality, and morals- all of which

were heavily tested during World War II.

I encourage the audience members to read the program notes that correspond

to the pieces, as they will give a brief backdrop as to when, where, and under what

circumstances each piece was written. The program will also include excerpts from

Hans Gál’s published journal, Music Behind Barbed Wire: A Diary of Summer 1940.

Hopefully, the presented information will leave the audience with a better

understanding of Hans Gáls’ life.

If you are interested in further information on Hans Gál, please visit

www.hansgal.com, which has an extensive account of his life’s work as well as a list of

publications by and about him.

Finally, I wish to thank Eva Fox- Gál (daughter of Hans), Simon Fox (grandson of

Hans), their families, Norbert Meyn (Professor at the Royal College of Music) as well as

many others in their support of this recital and my continuing research. The access to

scripts, stage plans, information, and unpublished works, including What a Life, which

you will hear today, have been invaluable and a pleasure to interact with.

-Marissa Guarriello

Program Suite for Violin and Piano Op. 52 …………………………………..…………..………1942

I- Preambulo III- Aria

Marissa Guarriello- Violin Svetlana Rodionova- Piano

Suite for Alto Saxophone and Piano Op. 102 …………….............…………...……. 1949

I - Cantabile II- Furioso

Danna Cheung- Saxophone Svetlana Rodionova- Piano

Huyton Suite Op. 92 ……………………………………………………………………. 1940

I- Alla Marcia IV- Fanfaronata

Alex Burdette- Flute Walker Konkle, Marissa Guarriello- Violin

Sonata for Two Violins and Piano Op. 96……………………………………………… 1941

III- Valse Élégiaque I- Cantabile

Walker Konkle, Marissa Guarriello- Violin Svetalana Rodionova- Piano

-Intermission-

What A Life! ……………………………………………………………………………….. 1940

I- Entrance March VII- Keep Fit II-Barbed-Wire Song VIII- Quodlibet III-Women’s Song IX- Broom Song IV- The Ballad of the German Refugee X- Song of the Double Bed V-Entr’acte XI- Serenade VI-Cleaning Up Song XII- Finale

R.J. Beck, William Broaddus, Ryan Ordnung- Voice Alex Burdette- Flute

Julia Grossmann- Clarinet Marissa Guarriello, Christina Dietz- Violin

Matthew Brown- Viola Mike Klucker- Cello

Svetlana Rodionova- Piano Jake Russo- Narrator

Script by Norbert Meyn- Professor at the Royal College of Music; London, England

Biography1

Born in Brunn am Gebirge, now a suburb of Vienna, on August 5, 1890, Gál was the second of four children to Jewish parents Josef and Ilka. The last name ‘Gál is Hungarian as both sides of his family came to Vienna from the east side of the Habsburg Empire. Hans and his sisters were recognized for their musical abilities; Hans received lessons at a young age from the well-known piano teacher Richard Robert. He later attended Vienna’s New Conservatory where he studied form and counterpoint and later musicology with Guido Adler. While attending school, he worked on a series of compositions, including a symphony that won the Austrian State prize for Composition in 1915, which were later destroyed. For some time, his compositions stopped being published while he served in the Austrian army during World War I. He did compose during this time and published some of his works after the war. He was then appointed to be the Director of the Mainz Conservatory in Germany where he established himself as one of the most prominent musical figures of the time. However, with Hitler’s rise to power, Gál was forced to leave his position in Mainz and return to Vienna. Mainz was first occupied by National Socialists (Nazis) in March 1933. They put swastikas on public buildings including the conservatory. One of the swastika signs on the conservatory had ‘Away with Jew Gál. Mainz Conservatory for German Art!’ written across the bottom. On March 29th, Gál was immediately removed from his post. However, that is not the only loss for Gál. Public performances of his works were suspended as they were “henceforth forbidden in Germany, depriving him at a stroke of his livelihood.” 2

Upon returning to Vienna, it became increasingly clear that the Gáls could not stay in Vienna due to the ever-nearing Nazi annexation of Austria. The family began their escape to Switzerland and later ended in England. While the Gáls had American visas, they had enjoyed the United Kingdom so much that they let their visas expire.

Shortly after they settled, in the U.K., all German and Austrian immigrants were to be put into interment camps. This happened to Gál and some of his family members in 1940. They were initially placed in the Huyton Camp that was near Liverpool. They were then moved to Central Internment Camp on the Isle of Man. The camps were filled with intellectuals of all kinds who established a camp ‘government’, schools for the children, and structured activities. Gál did produce music during his time in the camps which you will hear on today’s program.

“For the first and only time in his life Gál kept a diary during this period, with the title Music Behind Barbed-Wire: A Diary of Summer 1940. It records in some detail his observations on life as an internee, and his

                                                                                                               1  Fox-Gal, Eva, The Hans Gal Website: Music for Generations, hansgal.org, 2014, http://www.hansgal.com; The information presented in the program is courtesy of this source. Any other sources or direct quotes will be cited separately. 2  Fox-Gal, Eva, The Hans Gal Website: Music for Generations, hansgal.org, 2014, http://www.hansgal.com/hansgal/45

reactions to them - the discomforts, the pettiness and incompetence of the authorities, the anxieties and frustrations; but also the human values which, in spite of - and perhaps because of - all the hardships, continued to assert themselves.”3 Gál was released less than one year after he was interned but never fully

reestablished himself as a composer in the United Kingdom. He was however a professor of music at the University of Edinburgh and received many awards for his work. Hans Gál passed away in 1987 at the age of ninety-seven.

                                                                                                               3  Fox-Gal, Eva, The Hans Gal Website: Music for Generations, hansgal.org, 2014, http://www.hansgal.com/hansgal/49  

All  photos  are  courtesy  of  www.hansgal.com

Suite for Violin and Piano Op. 52- 1942

While not much is known about this piece, it is agreed that it was written in

1942, which would have placed Hans Gál out of internment and living in Edinburgh.

However, the year 1942 was not easy for Gál and his family. Gál lost his mother on

March 4th, followed by the suicide of his sister Edith and Aunt Jenny who were living in

Weimar, Germany. They committed suicide to avoid being sent to a concentration

camp. Gál’s Aunt Jenny, a siner who had worked with Richard Strauss, had encouraged

him to pursue music. Later that year, his son, Peter, took his own life being unable to

cope with the stresses of unemployment and unclear prospects that followed their

internment.

This piece was premiered in October of 1942 and despite the terrible losses of

that year, the piece begins surprisingly upbeat and free spirited. The Aria, although

more thought provoking, still seems to radiate a calm content while perhaps

reminiscing about times that once were. The piece is based on the Divermento, Op.

56a for Mandolin and Piano. The Marcia and Gig were replaced with the Rondo that

was written in 1950.

Suite for Alto Saxophone and Piano Op. 102- 1949

This piece was written in 1949 but it was published at a much later date as

shown by the opus number. Many of Gáls pieces faced this issue as he wrote them

during a time that he could not have them published. Consequently, they were later

rediscovered and published with an opus number that did not match date including

the Huyton Suite Op. 92 and the Sonata for Two Violins and Piano Op. 96. However,

you can hear the ties to Gál’s Viennese culture in this piece with the use of a wide

range of dynamics, radiant melodies, and lush textures. The piece was originally written

for Viola (Op. 102a) and was later transcribed for saxophone. In 1949, Gál was living in

Edinburgh and was a lecturer at the University of Edinburgh where he had also

received his honorary doctorate.

Huyton Suite- 1940

The Huyton Suite is one of the most notable pieces that Gál wrote while he was

interned. He wrote the suite in 1940 in the Huyton Camp near Liverpool. The

instrumentation, two violins and flute, were the only instruments available at the camp.

While we don’t know much about the original performance, we can assume that

fellow prisoners performed it; its first official performance was in London 1941. Despite

the circumstances under which it was written, the suite is rather upbeat with a satirical

amount of liveliness. While parts of the piece show the true emotions of Gál and the

other internees, the music itself depicts a rather comical view of their experience in the

camps, a very telling sign about Gál and his attitude towards life. A unique aspect of

this piece is that the fanfare, used to wake up the prisoners, is written into the suite. He

states in his journal on May 19, 1940 “Gradually, everything begins to stir and at half

past six there is a trumpet call, the reveille. The chap blows it like a pig, he has to try

three times to squeeze out the final phrase. But in the next street, at the second

attempt, he manages it. It is an attractive, characterful phrase. Perhaps I’ll be able to

make use of it?” Gál did make use of the fanfare, mocking it in the first movement of

the suite where, in this case, the flute serves as the trumpet. On June 4th, 1940, Gál

excitedly writes, “[…] I sat down and started a quite decent piece of music. A flute and

two violins, these are the only available instruments that are seriously worth

considering. A problem to create a trio out of them! The idea gripped me as soon as it

entered my head. At first a quite unassuming, march-like piece came. I had to see if I

could still write music at all. But it developed delightfully and today I finished it. The

reveille fanfare made a nice coda for it. One little movement is ready!”

Sonata for Two Violins and Piano Op. 96- 1941

The year 1941 was the year when the Gál family worked to put their lives back

together. Hans was released from internment in September of 1940 and could not find

work, housing, or a source of income. He eventually was able to find a position at an

evacuated girl’s school as a caretaker and fire warden. He would often invite people to

this institution to hear music at what he called ‘Collegium Musicum’, which were small

recitals of music that he would organize.

The year 1941 saw Gál producing two pieces of music- the Sonata for Two

Violins and Piano and a Trio of Violin, Viola, and Oboe (Op. 94), which was supposed

to be a partner piece to the Huyton Suite.

Today, the piece will be performed with the third movement first followed by

the first movement. The third movement presents an eerier, darker sound to the rather

pleasant overarching theme of the piece. The dissonant weaving of lines between the

violins creates the illusion of spinning accompanied a calm waltz rhythm and

arpeggiated chords played by the piano.

The movement ends unresolved on a dissonant augmented chord. The first

movement suggests a much more solidified sense of emotion. Beginning in a major

key, the movement stages a calm and content feel only turning ominous for a brief

time towards the middle of the movement before it returns to the original theme and

ending as calm and resolved as it had begun.

What A Life!- 1940

This piece was written during Gál’s time in Central Internment Camp on the Isle

of Man. Along with many of his talent colleagues, this piece was performed as part of a

camp revue. Gál had written most of the music from his bed in the camp hospital

where he was being treated for a skin ailment. Fellow Austrian internee Georg

Höllinger who was a “pioneer in German film making” organized the revue and asked

Gál to write the incidental music. Sir Alan Peacock writes “As the title suggests, the

revue offers ironic commentary on camp life, but although, reminiscent of the famous

Bertolt Brecht-Kurt Weill satirical cabaret, it exercises its appeal in a different way, with

a ton of resignation in both the fine music and lyrics.”4

Gál had finished the music for the revue and was to be released from the

internment camp one day before the performance. However, he requested that he be

allowed to stay that extra day to see the revue.

The writing of What a Life! is the overarching backdrop for his journal. Today, in

between movements, you will hear excerpts from Gál’s journal that talk not only of the

music but also about camp life and offers further insight to life at Central Internment

Camp. In addition, the lyrics to the music, written by Richard Hutter and others, present

a more direct but facetious take on camp life.

                                                                                                               4  Hans Gal, Music Behind Barbed Wire: A Diary of the Summer 1940 (Great Britain: Toccata Press, 2014), 7 quoted from Sir Alan Peacock, “Forward”.  

What a Life! lyrics and translations

The lyrics for What a Life! were written in both German and English because it was a bilingual camp

revue. Any German will be presented on the left in its original form with a translation on the right. The

English will be shown on the left in its original form without a translation on the right.

The Barbed Wire Song Der Song vom Stacheldracht

Original Translation Die Möwen sehen den Stacheldraht, den man in Douglas errichtet hat und weil kein Draht hier früher war ist ihnen der Sinn des Drahtes nicht klar. Sie debattieren mit viel Geschrei, was wohl der Sinn des Drahtes sei und kommen zu keinem Resultat. Warum lebt der Mensch hinter Stacheldraht? The seagulls are in a curious mood Maybe they are getting too much food. One thing they all very much deplore Is the ugly barbed wire that grows up the shore. So in the seagulls parliament There was a great debate on that end And many of them did then enquire: Why are human beings behind a wire?

The seagulls see the barbed wire Which has been erected in Douglas And since no wire was there before To them the meaning of the wire is not clear. They debate with much shouting What the meaning of the wire could be But they come to no conclusion Why do humans live behind barbed wire?

Women’s Song Frauen-Song

Original Translation Die Frauen gehen außen vorbei, die Männer innen herum. Es könnte auch sein dass es umgekehrt sei, dann wär es genauso dumm.

The women go round the outside The men round the inside. It could be the other way round, But then it would be equally stupid.

The Ballad of the German Refugee Die Ballade vom deutschen Refugee

Original Translation Am Pfingstsonntag, in strahlenden Morgenschein, Nach des Frühstücks bescheidenem Schmaus, Fanden sich zwei sehr freundliche Herrn bei uns ein, Mit dem Auto bereit vor dem Haus Und im Rathaus, da traf ich noch andere dann, Die so freundlich geholt worden warn, Und dort sagte uns ein viel höherer Mann Dass wir bald über Land sollten fahrn. Hier ist die Ballad’ vom deutschen Refugee Wer sie nicht erlebt hat, der begreift sie nie, nein, der begreif nie. Lieber, guter, braver deutscher Refugee Leider müssen wir Dein Wochenende stören, kleiner Refugee.

On Whitsunday the sun shone as bright as could be, After breakfast’s quite modest treat, When two friendly gentlemen visited me, With a car waiting out in the street. And then in the Town Hall I met others, too, Who had kindly been brought there that day, And there we were met by a higher man, who Told us we’d soon be going away. This is the Ballad of the German Refugee If you haven’t been one you never will see, no, you’ll never see Dear, good, honest German Refugee, Sorry but we must disturb your weekend, little refugee.

The Cleaning up Song

Aufraeume Song Original Translation

Jede Hausfrau pflegt zu sagen: Gott muss ich mich schrecklich plagen! Kann den ganzen Tag nicht ruhn, hab bis in die Nacht zu tun! Dass ich‘s kaum noch aushalt, der verfluchte Haushalt! Arbeit macht mich lahm und krumm, die Wirtschaft bringt mich um! Doch seit ich im Camp gewesen, Führe selber ich den Besen; Mir kann keine imponiern Mit dem bisschen Wirtschaft führn! Was ich jetzt nicht aushalt: Das Getu mit Haushalt! Denn nun weiß ich ganz genau, es geht auch ohne Frau!

Every housewife keeps saying: God, I have to work terribly hard! The whole day I cannot rest, I have to work into the night! That I can hardly bear it, The cursed household! Work makes me lame and bent , The household is killing me! But since I have been in the camp, I can use a broom myself, No woman can impress me With this bit of household work! What I now cannot stand, Is the fuss about the household! Because now I know for sure, I can survive without a woman!

Keep Fit

Original

Every morning in the street, You can hear the pitter pat of feet

There are rows of people doing gym, To keep them beautiful and slim.

Each one tries his best,

They´re throwing out their chest Its beauty culture don´t forget,

And brings down weight and fat.

Trying hard to keep in shape, For times to come outside the gate, Also for the time which is quite near

To join the British Pioneer.

Each one tries his best, They´re throwing out their chest Its beauty culture don´t forget,

And brings down weight and fat.

Quodlibet A Quodlibet, according to dictionary.com is “a humorous composition consisting of two or more

independent and harmonically complementary melodies, usually quotations of well-known tunes, played or sung together, usually to different texts, in a polyphonic arrangement.”

Original

Translation

Auch ich war ein Jüngling mit lockigem Haar, An Mut und an Hoffnungen reich, Am Amboss seit jeher ein Meister fürwahr, Am Fleisse kam keiner mir gleich. Ich leibte den Frohsinn, den Tanz, den Gesang, Ich küsste manch DIrnlein mit rosiger Wang Ihr Herz hat mir manche geweiht. Köstliche Zeit, das war eine köstliche Zeit. Etc.

I, too, was a young man with long curly hair, With courage and hope was replete, With me on the anvil no-one could compare, In labor no one could compete, To dance and to sing I just could not resist, And many a rosy- cheeked maiden I’ve kissed, And many girls would have wed. Oh then what a great life I led. Etc.

Broom Song

Besen-Song Original Translation

Der Besen macht die Stube rein, doch tut er das nicht von sich selber allein. Er hat keinen Sinn für Wohnungskultur, ist hölzern und stumm und gleichgültig nur. Es muss einer sein der sich da regt, es muss einer sein der ihn bewegt. Es ist der Mensch, nicht der Besen der fegt.

The broom makes the room clean, But he does not to this by himself alone. He has no sense of culture of living, Is wooden and silent and indifferent only. There must be someone who moves There must be someone who propels is. It is man, not the broom, who cleans.

The Song of the Double Bed

Der Song vom Doppelbett Original Translation

Das Doppelbett hat ein Tischler gemacht Der hat sich dabei was ganz andres gedacht. Denn dass zwei Männer hier drinnen liegen, I´m sorry, davon hat keiner Vergnügen. The most delightful thing of all Is a wife not too tall and a bed not too small But put two men in a bed together, I´m sorry, it is for neither a pleasure.

The double bed was made by a carpenter Who had intended it for something different Than that two men should lie in it. I´m sorry, this gives no one pleasure.

Serenade

Original Translation Jeden Abend, wenn es dunkelt, und das Meer schon nächtlich funkelt, klagen laut im Mondenstrahl tolle Kater ihre Qual. Wenn in unserm stillen Campe Leser sitzen bei der Lampe, Da ertönt mit süßem Klang Serenadig ein Gesang. Put that light out, put that light out, Hurry up, hurry up, put it right out! In the window on the right I still see a little light! What a nuisance, what a nuisance every night

Every evening, when it darkens, And the sea already sparkles in the night, moan loudly in the moonbeam Strange cats about their torment. When in our quiet camp Readers sit by the lamp, Then resounds, with sweet melody Like a serenade, a song.