Part II of Jacob Stockinger’s interview with me about the music of Hans Gal is now available at the Well-Tempered Ear. Read the whole thing there, but here is a sample of our discussion:
“JS: Why is Gal worth rediscovering and performing?
KW: The music has its own powerful intrinsic value. It’s worth hearing for the pleasure and transcendence it offers.
Beyond that, I think today we can see that one of the many tragedies of World War II was the extinguishing of this great, unbroken and unequaled line of musical tradition from Bach toRichard Strauss and Mahler. Most of the musicians who would have continued that tradition were executed in Auschwitz – Krasa, Ullmann, Klein and Haas would have been the next generation. Gál (below) survived, and in spite of his obscurity, thrived and developed as an artist, who found a very personal way of responding to the events of his time.”
Recent Comments