Hanna Pakkala (viola), Reijo Tunkkari (violin), Lauri Pulakka (cello), Niamh McKenna (flute), Päivi Severeide (harp), Irina Zahharenkova (piano)

Trio for Violin, Viola & Piano, Op. 97b
Serenade for Violin, Viola & Cello, Op. 41
Divertimento for Flute, Viola & Harp, Op. 80b
Impromptu for Viola & Piano
Trio for Violin, Viola & Cello, Op. 104

Hans Gál (1890–1987) wrote extensively for the viola, first as a major composer in the German-speaking world in the 1920s and ’30s, and then as a leading cultural figure in post-War Edinburgh, where he had taken refuge after the Nazis seized power in his native Austria. This second volume of his music for viola spans four decades, with four trios from before and after that dislocation, each with its own background, sound-world and personality, although they are unified by Gál’s gift for melody, counterpoint and poised, elegant chamber writing.