* George Onslow : The "French Beethoven"



George Onslow is a very special figure in the history of music : 

largely and unanimously acknowledged when he was alive, he is now 

nearly forgotten and his works, mainly devoted to string chamber music, 

are almost missing from the repertoire, partly due to the fact that 

they haven't been available in a modern edition for more than a century.



Stemming from an old aristocratic British family, several members of 

whom played an important part in British political life (his grand-father,

first Earl of Onslow, was the Speaker at the Chamber of Commons), 

George Onslow was born in Clermont-Ferrand (center of France) 

in 1784. His father, Edward, had settled there after a family scandal 

which pushed him to leave his mother country.

Quickly integrated into the Clermont nobility, the Onslows led a 

peaceful life until the Revolution of 1789 which endangered their 

safety. Jailed in 1793 because of his nationality and in spite of his 

friendship with Couthon, whose freemason brother he was, Edward Onslow 

was forced into exile in 1797. His first stages were Rotterdam and 

Hambourg. His older son, George, joined him into what is going to be a 

grand study tour for him. Between 1798 and 1806 he studied the piano 

with several masters, especially Cramer, Dussek and Hüllmandel who were 

teaching in London. Stays in Germany and Austria enabled him to improve 

his training as an instrumentalist. His father's exile ended in 1804.



Onslow did not mean to become an artist, even less a composer : 

studying the piano was only part of his education, as well as 

mathematics, history, fencing, horse riding, drawing (two of his 

brothers devoted themselves to painting), etc. In his parent's opinion, 

it was more a drawing-room gift than a professional ability. Onslow 

never gave a recital as a pianist.  He only accepted to show in the 

provincial town of Clermont how he could improvise (which he never did 

in Paris), and he also practised the cello as an amateur in order to be 

part of a quartet of friends with whom he played the masters' 

repertoire (Mozart, Haydn, and young Beethoven).



Onslow discovered his vocation as a composer while listening to the 

Overture of an opera by Méhul, called Stratonice. He was then 22 years 

of age. His first attempt, a set of three string quintets, was so 

successful that his friends, Pleyel, his publisher, and his 

interpreters induced him to persevere. Many other chamber pieces follow, 

but soon Onslow realized his lacks. Thus he decided to complete his 

theoretical knowledge by studying with Anton Reicha, who was his only 

master in composition. His influence would be decisive aesthétically as 

well as stylistically.

Onslow then, launched into a brilliant career which turned him into a 

leading composer of musical life in the first half of nineteenth 

century. He used to be played by the greatest musicians of his time and 

his name was next to Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven, of whom people said 

he was the only worthy successor. Nicknamed "The French Beethoven", he was 

the only musician, at least in France, who devoted himself to chamber 

music. Composing 36 quartets and 34 quintets, Onslow left us 

extroadinary works which supplied main European concert societies 

for more than fifty years. And his music enriched editors even in the 

United States (Schirmer).



Onslow became a national glory in Germany where he was much 

admired and praised. He was very famous among the musicians and the 

audience. Mendelssohn and Schumann witnessed this live. His 

contemporaries admired him and he was widely published, but he was also 

acknowledged by the institutions : as a member of most of European 

societies (London in 1829 along with Mendelssohn, Rotterdam in 1834, 

Vienna in 1836, Roma in 1839, Florence in 1839, Cologne in 1847, 

Strasbourg in 1849, and Stockholm in 1851), he was elected in 1842 at 

the Fine Arts Academy, in particular before Berlioz.



At a time when, in Paris, vaudeville and opéra-comique were most 

favoured, Onslow embodied the continuity of the great classic school 

and was an alibi for those who think music is decadent while musical 

life is "privatised". The "Soirées de Quatuors" de Baillot in Paris, 

Lindley in London and Zimmerman in Berlin were thought to be the last 

refuges of "true music". Onslow became the herald of those who defended 

tradition and instrumental excellence against such drifts as romances, 

quadrilles and other entertainment compositions. Onslow composed no 

less than three operas though, out of curiosity and because he wanted to

enhance his fame (The Alcade of Vega, 1824 ; The Pedlar, 1827 ; The 

Duke of Guise, 1837). Although these works were given at the "Salle 

Favart", those who witnessed their premieres unanimously declared they 

could have been given at the "l'Opéra". Onslow's lyric scores were dense 

and unusually complex for the audience, and since their libretto were 

not of great value (a fatal defect in those days, especially in 

France), the operas were praised out of regards only, although the 

critics loved them and Berlioz himself enthusiastically defended 

the "Le Duc de Guise".



In his instrumental and orchestral music (4 symphonies), Onslow 

announces romanticism by the richness of his harmony, the preponderance 

of chromatisms, his stormlike tormented inspiration and the fervour of 

his lyrical themes. One of the reasons why interpreters gave up playing 

his quartets and quintets (which were already known in his days) was 

because they were so difficult to perform.



His life was mainly quiet and exempt of concerns : only once he was 

victim of a serious accident : during a hunting in 1829, he was badly 

injured by a shot. He could have died, and became deaf in the left ear 

as a result of this accident which inspired him the three last 

movements of his quintet opus 38, entitled "The bullet".



Although he had a brilliant international career and though he was 

required more and more often, Onslow always remained faithful to 

Auvergne, since born in Clermont-Ferrand, he also died in the same 

town, which made him apart from artists who moved to Paris. He was 

deeply attached to his hometown and well-known for his generosity 

(charity concerts, help to poor people, etc.). By his courteous and 

gracious behaviour, Onslow gave Clermont all the prestige of his name, 

but his music was never really appreciated and understood. Onslow was 

very involved in the modest musical life of his province : his most 

important project was the foundation of a Philharmonic Society in 1839.

He was a respected and admired castle owner : a real gentleman-farmer, 

as talented running his properties as in negociating contracts with 

Breitkopf & Härtel or Schlesinger. Although he had a property in the 

countryside (castle of Chalendrat, then castle of Bellerive), he always 

kept his apartments in Clermont : first in Michel de l'Hospital square 

(called Wood market square at the begenning of the 19th century), then 

number 2 Blaise Pascal street where he died on October 3rd 1853. He 

rests at the Carmes cemetary, next to some of the well-know families in 

Auvergne.



* Baudime Jam

  (translated by Patrick Marcel)



* Baudime Jam : biographer and interpreter of George Onslow

  (also, violist of The Prima Vista Quartet : http;//primavista.free.fr) 



- Text provided by Le site de George Onslow (http://george.onslow.free.fr/)