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Onslow: String Quintets, Vol. 1 / Elan Quintet


Release Date: 09/09/2016 
Label:  Naxos   Catalog #: 8573600  
Composer:  Georges Onslow
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Elan Quintet
Number of Discs: 1 
In Stock: Usually ships in 24 hours.  

Notes and Editorial Reviews

An English aristocrat with a mixed heritage, Georges Onslow was highly regarded for his musical talents during his lifetime, being praised by Berlioz and Schumann and becoming known as the "French Beethoven". Onslow composed 34 string quintets at a time when the string quartet was dominant and his discovery of the double bass to replace the second cello was transformative. Challenging notions of stringed instruments as being merely lyrical in character, these quintets are striking for their contrasts of warm expressiveness and great dramatic intensity. They are true hidden gems to rival the great composers of chamber music in this era. An English aristocrat with a mixed heritage, Georges Onslow was highly regarded for his musical talents during his lifetime, being praised by Berlioz and Schumann and becoming known as the "French Beethoven". Onslow composed 34 string quintets at a time when the string quartet was dominant and his discovery of the double bass to replace the second cello was transformative. Challenging notions of stringed instruments as being merely lyrical in character, these quintets are striking for their contrasts of warm expressiveness and great dramatic intensity. They are true hidden gems to rival the great composers of chamber music in this era. Read less

Works on This Recording

1.
Quintet for Strings No. 20 in D Minor, Op. 45 by Georges Onslow
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Elan Quintet
Period: Romantic 
Written: 1831 
2.
Quintet for Strings no 26 in C minor, Op. 67 by Georges Onslow
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Elan Quintet
Period: Romantic 
Written: 1843; France 

Customer Reviews

Average Customer Review:  ( 1 Customer Review )
 New Naxos Project Underway- A Nice Start November 12, 2016 By Henry S. (Springfield, VA) See All My Reviews "This is Volume 1 in what Naxos apparently envisions as a complete cycle of the string quintets of Georges Onslow, a 19th century French-British composer. Based on the CD notes, I would venture a guess that this is likely to be an extended project, since Onslow wrote 34 string quintets. The Elan Quintet is the performing ensemble on this recording, with a double bass added to the standard string quartet. This gives a slightly deeper tone to what we would normally expect from an early Romantic Era string quartet. The two works featured here, String Quintets # 20 and # 26, are fine compositions indeed, serious and sophisticated in structure and effect. I detected what I thought were Beethoven-like nuances, which is hardly a negative characteristic. This is a really nice recording, and I am quite certain that Arkivmusic's chamber music fans out there will thoroughly enjoy this new Naxos release. Let's see what the future holds as this cycle gets going. Recommended." Report Abuse
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