Georges Onslow

[SonicMan46]

FWIW the Mandelring Quartet(t) is spelled like this not like above. I'd have to try again but I used to find Onslow somewhat "dry" (or lacking in memorable melodic ideas).
I have had some cpo discs (one each with symphonies and trios, two with string quartets and the nonet/quintet), also the Archibudelli and I somewhat recently got the Apex disc with the wind/string/piano music but I cannot quite remember that any piece "grabbed" me.

Thanks for the comments - not to worry about the typos - I know the right spelling of 'Mandelring' but my MS Access database was typed into quickly and not carefully checked - PLUS, no longer changeable w/o difficulty, i.e. in the spring of 2013, I switched completely to Apple equipment (in retirement) - had a half dozen personal databases in MS Access - was able to switch all but two LARGE ones, my 'classical' and 'non-classical' music collections - there is no equivalent in 'Apple Land' for Access, so my nearly 50 page printout of the classical database is now filled w/ write-ins and culled cross-outs - what a mess!   Dave

[Gurn Blanston]

FWIW the Mandelring Quartet(t) is spelled like this not like above. I'd have to try again but I used to find Onslow somewhat "dry" (or lacking in memorable melodic ideas).
I have had some cpo discs (one each with symphonies and trios, two with string quartets and the nonet/quintet), also the Archibudelli and I somewhat recently got the Apex disc with the wind/string/piano music but I cannot quite remember that any piece "grabbed" me.

If you have an opportunity to hear the Diotima Quartet disk shown in this post:

http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,13552.msg446723.html#msg446723

by all means do so. Not only are they very nicely played, but they also chose some particularly good quartets. I have a bunch of Onslow, so I know what you mean, not necessarily that I agree with you, but I understand anyway. Maybe this disk is available on a streaming service... 

[SonicMan46]

POST COPIED HERE (DATE DECEMBER 10, 2018) FROM ANOTHER ONSLOW THREAD - we have a number of George Onslow THREADS - this one seems to be the longest, so I'm taking 2 posts (this one and the next) from a shorter thread - both our my own and fairly recent.  Dave

The post and my reply below were in the 'Purchases Thread' late last month - I already owned a number of Onslow's String Quintets, so was curious 'how many' he wrote and whether the 3 volume Naxos series were going to duplicate what I had in my collection - SO, put together a list of the composer's opus numbers in this genre, nearly 3 dozen - w/ the addition of Naxos V. 2 & 3, I now have 14 of these quintets - thought this list should belong in the short and neglected thread on Onslow; hopefully, some more contributions will follow.  Dave

I have these on preorder:

   

The first 2 volumes have been highly enjoyable.

Hi New Erato - I'm a big George Onslow fan (20+ CDs at the moment), so the Vol. 3 offering above piqued my interest - checking his Composition List, he wrote 34 String Quintets (see first quote below) for those interested - SO, had to see what I already owned - nearly a third w/ just one duplication (second quote) - AND surprisingly, the 4 quintets on the Naxos V. 2 & 3 (own V. 1) are not in my collection - will put on my 'want list' - thanks.  Dave
.

Op. 1 - 3 Quintets (1806) (Nos. 1-3)
Op. 17, 18, 19 (1821) (Nos. 4, 5, 6)
Op. 23, 24, 25 (1823) (Nos. 7, 8, 9)
Op. 32, 33, 34, 35 (1826-28) (Nos. 10-13)
Op. 37, 38, 39, 40 (1828-30) (Nos. 14-17)
Op. 43, 44, 45 (1832) (Nos. 18-20)
Op. 51 (1834) (No. 21)
Op. 57, 58, 59 (1835-37) (Nos. 22-24)
Op. 61 (1837) (No. 25)
Op. 67, 68 (1843-44) (Nos. 26, 27)
Op. 72, 73, 74, 75 (1847-48) (Nos. 28-31)
Op. 78 (1848) (No. 32)
Op. 80,82 (1849-50) (Nos. 33, 34)

George Onslow's String Quintets Owned:

No. 10 F minor - Op. 32*
No. 11 E minor - Op. 33"
No. 12 A minor - Op. 34+
No. 13 G Major - Op. 35+
No. 15 C minor - Op. 38+
No. 19 C minor - Op. 44#
No. 20 D minor - Op. 45*
No. 22 EF Major - Op. 57*
No. 26 C minor - Op. 67*+
No. 27 D Major - Op. 68^
No. 28 G minor - Op. 72*
No. 29 E FMajor - Op. 73*
No. 30 B FMajor - Op. 74"
No. 33 C minor - Op. 80^

*Elan Quintet (Naxos)
+Quintett Momento Musicale (MDG)
"Ensemble Concertant Frankfurt (MDG)
^Sextuor a Cordes France (Erato)
#Mandelring Quartett (CPO)

[SonicMan46]

SECOND POST (AUGUST 18, 2019) BROUGHT FROM ANOTHER TREAD - Dave

Quoted below is a post just left in the Listening Thread, which I wanted to repost here - just a note to our mods, i.e. there are 3 'short' threads below on George Onslow - can these be combined?  Might help others just to find one link in a search.  Dave

http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,27654.msg1187992.html#msg1187992
http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,652.0.html
http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,13552.0.html

Onslow, George - Piano Trios w/ Trio Cascades - 4 discs - listening yesterday and this morning; Onslow wrote 10 'Piano Trios' (i.e. piano, violin, & cello) as shown below w/ a long time gap between Op. 26/27 and Op. 81 (he died in 1853) - all of the trios are included on the CDs in this series.  Dave

Op. 3, No. 1-3 (1806)
Op. 14, No. 1-3 (1818)
Op. 20 (1822)
Op. 26 & 27 (1824)
Op. 83 (1851)

   

[SonicMan46]

Well, I'm up to about 28 George(s) Onslow discs - only a couple of additions in the last few years, shown below - the Op. 30 & 81 are wind chamber works; the Howard Shelley solo piano disc is a mixture of works from Spohr & Onslow - reviews attached, for those interested.  Dave
.
 

[SonicMan46]

George Onslow's String Quintet output - just an update - Onslow wrote 34 String Quintets (Opus Numbers and Actual Numbers below on the left) - on the right are the ones in my collection, now up to 16 w/ the recording groups indicated - many of the CD covers have been shown in the previous posts here.  Now need to compile similar lists of the String Quartets - Dave

P.S. - click to enlarge!



ADDENDUM: - in the quote below, I needed some clarification myself - still own 16 out of 34 String Quintets, but these works are on 9 CDs w/ 3 discs w/ the Elan Quintet, and 2 discs w/ Quintett Momento Musicale - edits made below w/ the album numbers added for those who may want to 'search out' these recordings.

George Onslow's String Quintets Owned:
No. 10 F minor - Op. 32*         
No. 11 E minor - Op. 33"
No. 12 A minor - Op. 34+
No. 13 G Major - Op. 35+
No. 15 C minor - Op. 38+@
No. 16 E Major - Op. 39@
No. 17 B minor - Op. 40@
No. 19 C minor - Op. 44#
No. 20 D minor - Op. 45*
No. 22 EF Major - Op. 57*
No. 26 C minor - Op. 67*+
No. 27 D Major - Op. 68^
No. 28 G minor - Op. 72*
No. 29 E F Major - Op. 73*
No. 30 B F Major - Op. 74"
No. 33 C minor - Op. 80^
*Elan Quintet x 3 Vols. (Naxos 573600; 573689; 573887)
+Quintett Momento Musicale x 2 (MDG 1253-2 & 1390 2 )
"Ensemble Concertant Frankfurt (MDG 603 1233-2)
^Sextuor a Cordes France (Erato 88252)
#Mandelring Quartett (CPO 777 151-2)
@L'Archibudelli (Vivarte-Sony 64 308)

[SonicMan46]

Onslow's String Quartet output - yesterday, I looked at my collection of George's 'String Quartets'; from a Wiki composition list, he wrote 36 SQuartets (SQs) (first pic below, left column w/ Opus numbers, dates, & actual numbers) - in the right column are the 5 CDs that I own currently which total 13 SQs w/ just one overlap (No. 30).

Well, that's only about a third of Onslow's output in this genre - must be more?  So, looked on Amazon USA and several sites across the pond - and indeed, another group Quatuor Ruggieri has recorded 2 CDs on an obscure French label (both shown below) - the SQs on these discs are Nos. 9, 11, 15 and 4, 6, 12; of those 6 works, I own 2 - however, these seem to be OOP - the first CD below is offered as a MP3 DL at Presto, but the other does not seen to be available (need to look further?) - this morning, I did listened to that first recording (w/ Nos. 4, 6, 12) on Spotify - excellent performance and sound (plus an attached commendable review of the other recording by Dubins!) - Dave

P.S. these are on Amazon but at high prices - will do some more searching today - hopefully, others may 'chime in' w/ comments?

   

[lordlance]

@SonicMan46 Quite the Onslow devotee. Which String Quintet(s) and Piano Quintet(s) do you recommend for those looking for Beethoven-esque storm (not necessarily sunny or autumnal)? 

[SonicMan46]

@SonicMan46 Quite the Onslow devotee. Which String Quintet(s) and Piano Quintet(s) do you recommend for those looking for Beethoven-esque storm (not necessarily sunny or autumnal)?

Hi Lordlance - in all honesty, I've not listened to Onslow since my last post, although for the last nearly a year I've been going through my collection and am up to the 'Ns' so George is coming up soon - 

As to wanting 'something' like the late Beethoven String Quartets, you're likely barking up the wrong tree - I can't give you any advice for that direction - my best suggestion is to look at what has been mentioned in my posts and try to do some free streaming such as Spotify and see what you may like?  Sorry to be so vague but hope you can find something of interest.  Dave

[Jo498]

Onslow is not like late Beethoven, more like a mix between middle Beethoven and Mendelssohn (disregarding the latters quartets opp.12+13 that are close to some late Beethoven in some respects). If you want historical instruments, try the disc by L'archibudelli (Sony).

[SonicMan46]

Nearly a year so TTT!  Now going through my Onslow collection, up to 31 discs (see attachment if interested) - perusing my usual online CD sites - not much new at all except for a recording of the Cello Sonatas on period instruments which piques my interest (shown below along my w/ recording with Maria Kliegel which is excellent) - found a review (attached also) from MusicWeb which strongly favored Kliegel's recording - the other is not available on Spotify?  So, no new purchases for me (despite not owning 21 SQuartets & 14 SQuintets which seem to not have been recorded to date?).  Dave

 

[Brian]

That is an amazing Onslow collection! He is a consistently delightful composer. On disc I only own the Kliegel/Tichman cello CD and the MDG reissue featuring both CDs of quintets, sextets, etc. I remember streaming several albums of string quintets, but Naxos seems to have abandoned the cycle.

The music is all so enjoyable, and so good played in the background on an afternoon. But do you have any particular favorite works or albums that are especially strong?

I recently relistened to the Onslow symphony cycle and will paste my thoughts below from another thread:

I hadn't listened to the Onslow symphonies since college, but they are still fresh, fun, lively, extremely well-crafted pieces that stand out, along with Farrenc, in the French-but-also-Germanic symphonic world between Haydn-Paris and Saint-Saens. (Obviously they don't stand out as much as Berlioz, who in that context seems to have come from another planet!)

No. 1's most interesting feature is the slow movement, which has some resemblance to a funeral march (Eroica's, specifically), and is more entertaining, not less, when you know the models it copies. No. 2 has a bustling minor-key energy that reminds me of Mendelssohn's First. Its substantial sonata form finale is almost like another first movement. No. 3's minor key mood is a little less frenetic, a little more moody, and the scherzo comes second, but overall I think this is the least interesting in the cycle. (This might also be because the CD containing 1/3 is recorded more distantly and more low-level than the CD containing 2/4.) No. 4 has a really grandiose G minor introduction and another exciting minor-key scherzo with repeated trio. The finale, subtitled "Le coup de vent (Souvenir du Rhin)," is a genuine tone poem and a charmer of one at that. It might not provide the payoff you expect from the first movement of this 32-minute symphony, but it's incredibly cool for its time. It's arguably more Rhenish than Schumann's!

[SonicMan46]

That is an amazing Onslow collection! He is a consistently delightful composer. On disc I only own the Kliegel/Tichman cello CD and the MDG reissue featuring both CDs of quintets, sextets, etc. I remember streaming several albums of string quintets, but Naxos seems to have abandoned the cycle.

The music is all so enjoyable, and so good played in the background on an afternoon. But do you have any particular favorite works or albums that are especially strong?

I recently relistened to the Onslow symphony cycle and will paste my thoughts below from another thread:

Hi Brian - yes I really like that cello sonata recording w/ Kliegel (your MusicWeb review of it is in her attachment in my previous post) - I really like the chamber works above the quintet number (i.e. septet, nonet, etc.) and am enjoying the the piano trios at the moment.  As to the quartets/quintets, there are so many, thus hard for me to pick out specific ones to recommend except I've not really been disappointed in any of those discs - I'll be listening to them over the next few days though.  Dave