George Onslow (composer): Difference between revisions

{{Short description|French composer (1784–1853)}}

George Onslow was born in [[Clermont-Ferrand]], the son ofto an English father, [[Edward Onslow]], and a French mother, Marie Rosalie de Bourdeilles de Brantôme; his paternal grandfather was [[George Onslow, 1st Earl of Onslow]].<ref name="bickley">Bickley (n.d.)</ref> In Onslow's own brief autobiography (written in the third person) he comments that in his childhood, "music studies formed but a secondary part of his education" but names [[Jan Ladislav Dussek]] and [[Johann Baptist Cramer]] amongst his piano teachers.<ref name="niaux2004">Niaux (2004).</ref> It has been suggested that he received this tuition in London under the aegis of his grandfather the Earl.<ref name="bickley"/> However, other research indicates he may not have studied with Dussek until 1797–1798 in [[Hamburg]], where his family was living in exile after his father had become involved in counter-[[French Revolution|revolutionary]] activities in France. This research also indicates that there is no evidence to support the suggestions sometimes made that Onslow at any time visited [[Vienna]], or that he met, or studied, there with [[Ludwig van Beethoven]].<ref name="niaux2004"/>

Onslow states in his autobiography that his attitude to music was transformed by his experience of hearing the overture to [[Étienne Méhul]]'s opera ''[[Stratonice (opera)|Stratonice]]'' in Paris in 1801. In Onslow's own later words: "On hearing this piece, I experienced so lively an emotion in the depths of my soul that I sensed myself at once penetrated by feelings previously unknown to me; even today this moment is present in my thought. After this, I saw music with other eyes; the veil which had hidden its beauties from me was rent; it became the source of my most intimate joy, and the faithful companion of my life."<ref name="fetis90">Fétis (1841), p. 90.</ref> This led him to compose his first [[string quintet]]s (Op. 1 nos. 1–3) and [[string quartet]]s (Op. 4 nos. 1–3), although he had not at this stage received any composition tuition. These were published at his own expense; Onslow was always wealthy and did not need critical or financial support. The critic [[François-Joseph Fétis]] noted that, despite his absence of training, Onslow "had all the leisure necessary to overcome these obstacles".<ref name="bickley"/> Onslow learnt to play the [[violoncello|cello]], and towould play the [[chamber music]] of [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]], [[Franz Joseph Haydn|Haydn]] and Beethoven with other local amateurs.<ref name="fetis90"/> However, aware of the need to develop his technical musical skills, in 1808 he began to study composition with [[Anton Reicha]] in Paris. At this time he also married a French heiress, Charlotte Françoise Delphine de Fontanges, by whom he was to have three children.<ref name="bickley"/>

[[File:Galerie des compositeurs dramatiques modernes - Nicolas-Eustache Maurin (d. 1850).jpg|thumb|left|"Galerie des compositeurs dramatiques modernes" (1844) by Nicolas-Eustache Maurin (d. 1850). The engraving shows (back row left to right): [[Hector Berlioz]], [[Gaetano Donizetti]], Onslow, [[Daniel Auber]], [[Felix Mendelssohn]], [[Henri-Montan Berton]]; (front row left to right): [[Fromental Halévy]], [[Giacomo Meyerbeer]], [[Gaspare Spontini]], [[Gioacchino Rossini]]]]

In the years after his death, Onslow's reputation progressively declined;.<ref name="niaux2013"/> When [[Richard Wagner]] was conducting the overture to the opera ''L'Alcalde de la Vega'' in London for the Philharmonic Society in 1855, [[Richard Wagner]]he found it "trivial" and threatened to quit his contract for the rest of the Society's concert series.<ref>Davison (1912), p. 170.</ref> However, from the late twentieth century onwards, commercial recordings of his music began to appear.<ref>[http://george.onslow.free.fr/discoUK.html "Discography"] on the George Onslow website, accessed 18 September 2014.</ref>

*Bickley, Diana (n.d.). [http://0-www.oxforddnb.com.catalogue.ulrls.lon.ac.uk/view/article/20791 "Onslow, (André) George Louis"], ''[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]]'' online, accessed 9 September 2014.{{Subscription required}}

*Hagels, Bert (2009). [https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZGVmYXVsdGRvbWFpbnxvbnNsb3dhc3NvY2lhdGlvbnxneDo2MTIxOTZkYTQwYTQxMjJk "Zur Rezeption Onslows in Deutschland bis 1830"], ''Association George Onslow'' , Accessed 11 September 2014. {{in lang|de}}

*Niaux, Viviane (2013). [http://0-www.oxfordmusiconline.com.catalogue.ulrls.lon.ac.uk/subscriber/article/grove/music/20353 "Onslow, George"], ''[[Grove Music Online]]'', accessed 9 September 2014. {{Subscription required}}

[[Category:19th-century French classical composers]]

[[Category:ChevaliersKnights of the LégionLegion d'honneurof Honour]]

[[Category:Honorary Membersmembers of the Royal Philharmonic Society]]

[[Category:MaleFrench male opera composers]]

[[Category:PeopleMusicians from Clermont-Ferrand]]