Not a hard pick you might say. Nevertheless, Georges Onslow (1784-1853) is a wonderful symphonist. I thought I would give his No.4 a spin and found I'd quite forgotten what a superb work it is - dynamic, superbly written for the orchestra and surprisingly weighty.
So, do other friends agree about Onslow? (And if you don't know him, do snap up the two cpo CDs of his symphonies - they'll have you wondering why they're not played these days.)
I like the symphonies I've heard by him, especially No.2 with its - well - Beethovenian-coherent (it seemed), forward-moving first movement (and not-at-all-bad rest.) Still, for comparison's sake, I know few if any(?) other "O" composers- whether Ostrcil, Ovchinnikov, ... whose symphonies I've actually _heard_ that come to mind offhand (I may be forgetting someone who will be obvious - to me - in 15 14 13 12 11 ...). So take that with the appropriate amount of salt.
Otto Olsson - Symphony in G Minor - Gavleborg Symphony Orchestra - Mats Liljefors (Sterling)
Ooh, forgot about that one. Also really, really good... Thanks.
Or how 'bout Henrique Oswald's opus 43 Symphony??
Jerry
Back to Onslow: anyone else like him?
What about Offenbach's Symphony of the Future?
Anyone know Onslow...?
Never heard any of the Onslow symphonies before, so I started this morning with the 1st.
Energetic and uplifting but perhaps lacking memorable material.
I expect they get better. Already the 2nd sounds more promising.
Thal
The 2nd is a massive improvement over the 1st.
Perhaps a touch of the Egmont about it.
Thal
Within the new remit, there aren't a lot of options. Besides Onslow and Olsson, there's:
Per August Olander (symphony in Eb is all I know of his orchestral work)
Arne Oldberg (1874-1962) American - apparently 7 numbered symphonies (and three others), various concerti, symphonic poems, and variations. This is one I'd like to hear to judge.
Ole Olsen - I have only one of his symphonies (Op. 5)
Norman O'Neill - I like his chamber music, but I only have a few of his orchestral pieces.
Otakar Ostrcil - I find his music attractive, reminds me of Smetana
Of these, I would still go with Onslow, with Ostrcil a close second.
Thanks, thal, for your thoughts on Onslow. I'm enormously impressed by the sheer dynamism of his symphonies and their wonderful use of the orchestra.
This is not meant as a put-down but rather a question of real curiosity- orchestrally how does the 3rd compare? As with Klughardt's 5th, we have there a work which originated as a chamber work (or in some cases with some composers, to be more general, more than one) (though here the original survives - the sextet of which Klughardt's 5th symphony is supposed to be more or less an orchestration wasn't published, I think, and has been lost) - (similar example is Pfitzner's symphony based on his string quartet in C-sharp minor, but...) -
anyway, of course there's some serious challenges posed to a composer who wants to try to do that; melodies, contrapuntal sections, all sorts of things have to be reimagined, recast, probably rewritten to come off well in their new venue. Some will do this better, some worse.
BTW the original quintet (no.10, op.32) can be seen @IMSLP here (http://imslp.org/wiki/String_Quintet_No.10,_Op.32_%28Onslow,_George%29). I see from Wikipedia it was expanded, not simply orchestrated, into symphony no.3 of 1833/4 - that makes more sense.
(Symphony no.1 (premiered ca.1830) is here (http://imslp.org/wiki/Symphony_No.1,_Op.41_%28Onslow,_George%29).)
I didn't know this. I'll give No.3 a listen with that in mind.
These symphonies really are impressive stuff. I was listening to them at work, but only got as far as the 3rd before I was told to "switch that crap off".
There is a get up and go feel to them and he gets more melodically interesting the further one gets.
I had previously dismissed Onslow's solo works as "average salon", so I might have to revisit those as well.
Thal
Thank you for pointing me to this, Alan! Very worthwhile works. For some reason I disqualified Onslow after hearing some other pieces of him, but I was clearly wrong. The symphonies 2 to 4 sound to me like a more muscular version of late Wilms.
The symphonists born in the last thirty years of the eighteenth century are an interesting group: i.e. Onslow, Spohr, Ries, Wilms, Fesca (F.), etc. All lived under the shadow of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven and all were faced with the issue of how the symphony was to be taken forward in their hands. Some have argued that it wasn't until the advent of Brahms and his contemporaries that there was a real step forward (although that is to ignore progressive figures such as Berlioz and Liszt and Raff, a synthesiser of the classical and progressive tendencies); nevertheless, there remains an enormous body of symphonies, conservative in style, which don't deserve to be forgotten.
I think you've nicely summarized the situation, Alan. They seem to be composers caught between two musical sensibilities, overshadowed by the great figures of each, and unduly neglected.
Totally agree with the comments about Onslow's symphonies. I prefer the 2nd over the 3rd, and it is hard to imagine a better versions of these works than the CPO disc.
If anyone's interested, btw, there are or were recordings of symphonies 2 & 4 (of Onslow) on an earlier Ligia Digital CD (1995) (though I haven't heard it. They've also recorded a fair amount of other works by Onslow, including an opera.) Anyhow, anyone heard both versions?
I am sad to admit that I only know of Onslow through some of his really excellent chamber works. The symphonies sound fascinating, so I'm off to explore. Onslow is, for me, one of the most deserving of unsung composers who demands much wider currency.
Eric, the Ligia recording of the Onslow symphonies is available through Qobuz. A monthly subscription which enables you to download any of their vast collection of CDs and costs a mere 5 Euros a month. Must be the world's best bargain!
Pity that Onslow's comic opera Guise is only available in an arrangement foir string quartet. I'd give anything to hear a complete Onslow opera!
Well, of course, Onslow's symphonies and some of his chamber music are available on CPO, and other chamber music is readily available as well. For those interested, Amazon has the lot.
But Onslow is not my cup of tea. Loud, boisterous, and largely unmemorable. Doesn't really seem to go anywhere.
I much prefer Ostracil, and Balapoel is right. The A Major Symphony is reminiscent of Smetana.
Actually, I too think Ostrcil's Symphony is a very lovely work and well worth revival - but no more so than Onslow's four. 'Both and' rather than 'either or', I'd say.
Thank you UC for mentioning the symphonies of Georges Onslow in this thread. I didn't know this composer. For the past week or so, I have been listening to his 4 symphonies and have enjoyed them quite a bit - very pleasant music! I can see why this composer is sometimes referred to as the French Beethoven, with a nod towards Mendelssohn, Schubert, perhaps even Spohr and Czerny? Of course Onslow's music is not in the same league as the afore-mentioned composers but it is, for me at least, very enjoyable to listen to all the same. Thanks again UC.