After
the 1950s the number of Gál's larger orchestral works diminished.
In the 60s he wrote two Sinfoniettas for mandolin orchestra (Op.81,
Op.86) for his Viennese
friend Vinzenz Hladky, who directed a mandolin orchestra at the Vienna
Academy (he had previously written for Hladky's mandolins the Improvisation,
Variations and Finale on a Theme by Mozart, and the Capriccio
for Mandolin Orchestra), and the Cello
Concertino (Op.87). In the 70s there appeared an orchestral
suite, Triptych
(Op.100) and his fourth symphony: Sinfonia
Concertante for flute, clarinet, violin, violoncello and orchestra
(Op.105). But what is characteristic of his last 25 years is above all
the concentration on chamber music for a variety of different instruments
and combinations, among them the Concertino
for Recorder and String Quartet (Op.82), sonatas for clarinet
(Op.84) and oboe (Op.85),
the third and fourth String Quartet (Op.95
and Op.99), three
Duos (Op.90(1),
Op.90(2), Op.90(3)),
Trios (Op.88
and Op.104), the String
Quintet (Op.106) and the Clarinet
Quintet (Op.107), the last two both from the year 1977, when
the composer was already 87.
It
remains to mention Gál's main piano work, the 24
Preludes (Op.83), which owe their origin to a fortnight's stay
in hospital in 1960, during which time he wrote one prelude every day,
"so as not to get out of practice", as he jokingly put it.
"What
was begun under such unusual circumstances was continued in the following
months, developed and revised. Several pieces were replaced by others,
so that few of the 'hospital pieces' are contained in the final version.
After completing the whole work, the composer expressed the view that,
if Bach had in his day composed the Well-Tempered Clavier in order
to demonstrate that one could compose in all keys (which was by no
means taken for granted at that time), then it was time to demonstrate
that one could still compose in all keys today." [Otto Schmidtgen:
'Hans Gál's neues Klavierwerk', Das Podium 1/2, 1961.
Monatliche Mitteilungen der Mainzer Liedertafel und Damengesangsverein,
Mainz]
Of
the work itself Gál himself said:
"The
Preludes were a birthday present for myself. They are studies in piano
sound, piano technique and concentrated miniature form. Each of these
three elements is for me an area of inexhaustible possibilities, and
as I wrote the pieces I had the feeling that I could have written
24 more without repeating myself, in view of the unbelievable variety
of what can take place between the black and white keys. All the Preludes
are as concise as possible in order to shape a thought with precision".
[Quoted from Waldstein, op. cit., p. 38]
Also
a birthday present - but this time for his ninetieth birthday
- Gál wrote 24
Fugues for piano (Op.108) and even performed them several times
in public, in Britain and in Germany. In 1982 he wrote two works for
solo cello (Op.109a
and Op.109b ); in
the following year there appeared
Four Bagatelles and a Sonatina
for Recorder (Op.110a and b), although he had for years maintained
that his "workshop was closed". His predominantly turning
to chamber music in old age no doubt reflects the more personal, more
inwardly oriented situation of a composer who now lived far from public
life and in increasing isolation, and it is doubtless significant that
his very last works are all for solo instruments. But in addition there
was his ever-increasing experience and mastery. He said with reference
to his Duo for Bassoon
and Cello (Op. 90, no. 1): "I was 40 before I learnt to
write for 3 parts - and 60 before I learnt to write for 2" [quoted
from Waldstein, op. cit., p. 38].