When you’re admired by someone as savvy as Ludwig van Beethoven and emulated by Franz Schubert and Felix Mendelssohn, no slouches in the genius department, you’d think your name might be remembered along with theirs, right? And if your music was still being played fifty years after your demise, you’d think your reputation might last into the next century, at least. Alas, like many other celebrated figures who are now unjustly neglected, George Onslow (1784-1853) fell into total obscurity for most of the 20th century, only to be reassessed and revived in recent years through recordings on European labels.
 
A nobleman who enjoyed country life, Onslow established himself as one of the leading producers of chamber music in France, and his elegant works served as models for many of the early Romantics. Yet while other French composers treated their instrumental pieces as calling cards for advancement in the world of opera, Onslow largely avoided the musical theater and devoted himself almost entirely to the production of keyboard sonatas, string quartets, string quintets, and other works for small instrumental groups.

Try some of the samples below to find out if Onslow really was as good as his shrewd contemporaries thought he was.
 
Sonata (Grand Duo) for piano, 4 hands in E minor, Op. 7
Sonata for piano, 4 hands in F minor, Op. 22
Sonata for viola and piano, Op. 16/1
Sonata for viola and piano, Op. 16/2
Sonata for viola and piano, Op. 16/3
String Quartet in G minor, Op. 9/1, (”Variations on ‘God Save the King’”)
String Quartet in F minor, Op. 9/3
String Quartet in C major, Op. 47
String Quintet No. 15 in C minor, Op. 38, (”The Bullet”)
String Quintet No. 26 in C minor, Op. 67
Grand Sextet, Op. 77bis
Nonet in A minor, Op. 77
Symphony No. 2 in D minor, Op. 42
Symphony No. 4 in G major, Op. 71