Hans Gál

The composer and musicologist Hans Gál (1890–1987) was born on 5th August 1890, near Vienna. From December 1929 until March 1933 he was Director of the Music Conservatoire in Mainz, but was dismissed from his post after Hitler came to power. He returned to Vienna, but following the annexation of Austria by the Nazis in 1938 he fled to Britain, where, together with other refugees, he was interned as an ‘enemy alien’. After his release he settled in Edinburgh, where he remained a much-loved and active composer, teacher, performer and writer. Before 1933 he had enjoyed considerable success as a composer, particularly with his operas. After the War, his music became increasingly neglected and forgotten. In recent years, however, his substantial oeuvre has begun to be rediscovered.