Onslow: Piano Trios, Vol. 1

George Onslow was of English descent, was trained by Bohemian-Austrian composers (Reicha and Dussek), and worked for most of his life in France. The second of these three nationalities is the most audible in his music, which has few French traits. Indeed, in the opera-dominated French musical world of the early nineteenth century, he would have had few local models. For a time, Onslow's name showed up on musical monuments with Beethoven's and Mendelssohn's, but he later fell out of favor and was almost forgotten. One can ... Read More

George Onslow was of English descent, was trained by Bohemian-Austrian composers (Reicha and Dussek), and worked for most of his life in France. The second of these three nationalities is the most audible in his music, which has few French traits. Indeed, in the opera-dominated French musical world of the early nineteenth century, he would have had few local models. For a time, Onslow's name showed up on musical monuments with Beethoven's and Mendelssohn's, but he later fell out of favor and was almost forgotten. One can understand both these developments; Onslow's craftsmanship, as revealed in these two piano trios from 1818 and 1824, is superb, and to audiences freshly immersed in Beethoven's expansion of the language of music he must have seemed nearly Beethoven's equal. It wasn't until later that audiences realized how Beethoven's personal struggles, writ large, became the ideas of nineteenth century culture, whereas Onslow's music signified little of a personal nature. Onslow's two trios are... Read Less