Customer Reviews

Onslow: Nonet, Op. 77 / Quintet, Op. 44

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Probably the most interesting thing about George Onslow is that in spite of his English name he is a French composer. This came about because his father, Edward Onslow, was a British member of parliament who had to leave the country because of a sexual scandal leading to a criminal trial. He fled to France, eventually courting the daughter of a local family of the gentry and settling down in Clermont-Ferrand where George (christened André-George-Louis Onslow and always known as George) was born in 1784. The family bought a castle near Clermont just before the revolution. Probably because they lived in somewhat rural isolation the family was initially only minimally affected by the revolution. Young George received a typical education that included the basics of music. In 1796, when father Edward was appointed a treasurer of the Royalist party, Edward fled the country, taking his son with him but leaving the wife and other children behind in France. Thus the eleven year old George received further instruction from Dussek in Hamburg. Father and son were able some time later to return to France and the boy began receiving lessons from Cramer during some extended stays in London. Onslow is almost unique in early 19th century France for almost completely confining himself to composing for instrumental forces, although he did eventually write two unsuccessful operas. However, he wrote 34 string quintets (one of which, No. 19, we hear on this CD) and 36 string quartets. One of his string quintets, No. 15, is subtitled 'The Quintet of the Bullet', commemorating a hunting accident in which a stray bullet struck Onslow and rendered him deaf in one ear. He also wrote the Nonet, heard here, for the unusual instrumentation of woodwind quintet, plus violin, viola, cello and double bass; it is modeled to a degree on Spohr's 1813 nonet for the same instrumentation. His compositions are notable for their complete mastery of post-Beethovenian counterpoint.

The Nonet consists of a spirited allegro, an even more spirited scherzo (notable for its mix of 3/4 and 6/8 meters), a somber set of variations on a memorable original theme, and a finale that is a combination of rondo and sonata form. The writing throughout is notable for Onslow's pitting the texture of the woodwind quintet against that of the string quartet, but with many opportunities for virtuosic solos for the various individual instruments, even including the double bass. (Earlier Onslow had written a string quintet with an extremely difficult double bass part written expressly for the bass virtuosi Dragonetti.)

The string quintet, No. 19, Op. 44, in C Minor, has, like his other quintets, the unusual instrumentation of a double bass in place of the usual second cello. This gives the work an unusually rich sound. After a slow introduction, the first movement embarks on a dramatic minor-key allegro that could be mistaken for something by Beethoven; quite impressive. The following 'Menuetto' really comes across as a dramatic scherzo whose contrapuntal complexity is quite dense and expertly done. The third movement, Andante con moto quasi allegretto, does not provide the expected relief of tension but is instead a rather grim, albeit tuneful, march. The finale is a sonata-allegro whose most outstanding feature is the persistence of moto perpetuo figures that are tossed between the instruments, sometimes as main theme and sometimes as accompaniment. There is a brief chordal section that is soon interrupted by the nervous main theme that then drives toward a brilliant finish.

The Mandelring Quartet with Wolfgang Gütler, double bass, are outstanding throughout, as are the members of the woodwind group, the Ma'alot Quintet. Sound is clear and lifelike.

I believe that if one likes quasi-Beethovenian chamber music, rather like that of Hummel or Spohr, one would like this CD. It may not reach the ultimate heights of the Master of Bonn, but it is certainly worthy of being heard occasionally.

Scott Morrison