Who has heard of George Onslow?

Actually the musicians and music lovers of the early 19th century would all have known of him and heard and played his music! He lived from 1784-1853 and was a well respected composer. His quartets were considered to be in the league of Haydn and Mozart. Mendelssohn and Schubert spoke highly of him and in fact Schubert's great C Major quintet was inspired by Onslow's quintets.

Though he had English parents (who left England after a scandal) he was born, lived and died in Clermont-Ferrand, France. He was devoted to chamber music, and much in demand as a composer during his lifetime and beyond but somehow his music became neglected after World War 1. He led a quiet life, with the exception of a hunting accident in 1829, in which he was shot in the head! He survived but expressed the trauma in his Quintet Opus 38. It is named "the Bullet". We dodged the bullet and are playing Quintet Opus 6 no,19 on the "ON" concert.