Christian Immler & Helmut Deutsch – Hidden Treasure (2021) [Official Digital Download 24bit/88,2kHz]

Growing up in Vienna, with its great Lied tradition, Hans Gál had written about 100 songs before leaving secondary school. He later destroyed them, along with all his other works composed prior to 1910, but between 1910 and 1921 he wrote many more. Except for the five songs of Op. 33, these were never published, and Gál himself would later refer to them as ‘laid aside’. Many of these songs were publicly performed at the time, however, often with the composer at the piano.

Through the initiative of Christian Immler and Helmut Deutsch, 26 of the ‘laid-aside’ songs are now being made available to a modern audience. A labour of love for the performers, the project has had the support of the composer’s family – in fact the recording was produced by Hans Gál’s grandson, Simon Fox-Gál.

The songs provide a missing link in Gál’s creative development, and show him engaging with a wide variety of poets, extending back from the twelfth-century (Walther von der Vogelweide) to contemporaries, such as Hermann Hesse and Richard Dehmel, by way of the classics (Heine, Mörike). Reflecting a taste for the exotic which was fashionable at the time, the selection also includes settings of poems by Rabindranath Tagore. The performers close their recital with the Op. 33 set, the only songs that Hans Gál did publish during his long career.

Tracklist:
01. Christian Immler & Helmut Deutsch – Gál: Lady Rosa (01:58)
02. Christian Immler & Helmut Deutsch – Gál: Nacht (02:47)
03. Christian Immler & Helmut Deutsch – Gál: Nachts in der Kajüte No. 1 (02:31)
04. Christian Immler & Helmut Deutsch – Gál: Nachts in der Kajüte No. 2 (02:10)
05. Christian Immler & Helmut Deutsch – Gál: Nachts in der Kajüte No. 3 (02:38)
06. Christian Immler & Helmut Deutsch – Gál: Sternenzwiesprach (01:17)
07. Christian Immler & Helmut Deutsch – Gál: Denk’ es o Seele (01:48)
08. Christian Immler & Helmut Deutsch – Gál: Maimond (02:41)
09. Christian Immler & Helmut Deutsch – Gál: Minnelied (01:45)
10. Christian Immler & Helmut Deutsch – Gál: Morgengebet (02:44)
11. Christian Immler & Helmut Deutsch – Gál: Dämmerstunde (02:41)
12. Christian Immler & Helmut Deutsch – Gál: Glaube nur! (01:34)
13. Christian Immler & Helmut Deutsch – Gál: Liebesmüde (02:52)
14. Christian Immler & Helmut Deutsch – Gál: Eine gantz neu Schelmweys (03:17)
15. Christian Immler & Helmut Deutsch – Gál: Waldseligkeit (01:56)
16. Christian Immler & Helmut Deutsch – Gál: Der Wolkenbaum (02:09)
17. Christian Immler & Helmut Deutsch – Gál: Novembertag (02:35)
18. Christian Immler & Helmut Deutsch – Gál: Welch ein Schweigen (03:02)
19. Christian Immler & Helmut Deutsch – Gál: Nachtstürme (01:28)
20. Christian Immler & Helmut Deutsch – Gál: Blumenlied (02:50)
21. Christian Immler & Helmut Deutsch – Gál: Schäferlied (01:36)
22. Christian Immler & Helmut Deutsch – Gál: Abendlied (02:23)
23. Christian Immler & Helmut Deutsch – Gál: Der böse tag (01:31)
24. Christian Immler & Helmut Deutsch – Gál: Frag nicht! (02:22)
25. Christian Immler & Helmut Deutsch – Gál: Rücknahme (02:10)
26. Christian Immler & Helmut Deutsch – Gál: Abendgespräch (01:55)
27. Christian Immler & Helmut Deutsch – Gál: 5 Songs, Op. 33: No. 1, Vergängliches (02:28)
28. Christian Immler & Helmut Deutsch – Gál: 5 Songs, Op. 33: No. 2, Der Wiesenbach (01:40)
29. Christian Immler & Helmut Deutsch – Gál: 5 Songs, Op. 33: No. 3, Vöglein Schwermut (03:57)
30. Christian Immler & Helmut Deutsch – Gál: 5 Songs, Op. 33: No. 4, Drei Prinzessinnen (Version for Voice & Piano) (02:53)
31. Christian Immler & Helmut Deutsch – Gál: 5 Songs, Op. 33: No. 5, Abend auf dem Fluss (Version for Voice & Piano) (02:33)