“To me as a musician the main proof of Haydn’s authorship lies in the music itself. Nevertheless, untangling a number of erroneous readings and attributions, he concluded. Perger had attributed the work to Michael Haydn.

After having scored the first movement, I no longer had any doubt about the authenticity of the music.” Previous scholarship had assigned this symphony as number two in a set of “Three symphonies by Giuseppe Haydn, Op.

Gál writes, “My curiosity was aroused by a few bars that bore familiar and unmistakable features of Haydn’s invention. Working at the Reid Library in Edinburgh, he found a set of parts of an unknown symphony in B flat, bearing the name G. Gál was invited by the distinguished musician and scholar Sir Donald Tovey to catalogue the library of the Music Faculty at the University of Edinburgh. However, when Adolf Hitler seized power in 1933, Gál and his family were forced to leave Vienna, eventually settling in Edinburgh, Scotland. His operas were successfully performed around Europe, he was appointed Director of the Conservatory in Mainz, and he was called upon to work on the complete edition of the works of Johannes Brahms. In the 1920’s, Hans Gál was the rising star of the Austro-German music scene. “Minors of the Majors” invites you to discover compositions by the great classical composers that for one reason or another have not reached the musical mainstream.

Michael haydn concerto in b flat major