Autograph letter signed and dated Clermont-Ferrand, 14 June 1822. To Monsieur Le Chevalier Matra in Clermont, apparently a close friend
Small quarto (114 x 184 mm.). 1-1/2 pp. of a bifolium, with integral autograph address panel. In black ink. In French, with translation.
Onslow, writing on a Friday morning, tells his correspondent that he just arrived from the countryside the previous night at 10 p.m. and that would he would take pleasure in joining him at his home on Friday evening "and in admiring once again the fine talent of Mr. [?]Daranzowski," closing the letter with "Tout à vous de coeur" (Yours with all my heart).
Slightly worn and browned; creased at folds; small portion lacking at seal with minor paper loss; minor remnants of former mount to blank lower margin of first page.
Onslow was a "French composer of English descent. ... The eldest of four sons, George probably had piano lessons in England with J.N. Hüllmandel while still very young. From January 1799 to July 1800 he studied the piano with J.L. Dussek in Hamburg, and then seems to have completed his musical education in England with J.B. Cramer. ...
More than his output for piano solo, the duos and trios, which contain pre-Romantic elements similar to those found in Hummel, are of incontestable quality and great inventiveness. They break with the French tradition of the ‘piano sonata with accompaniment’ (whereby the keyboard part is self-sufficient and the violin or cello merely doubles the piano’s treble and bass) and belong rather to the Germanic tradition of the instrumental duo or trio in which the instruments discourse on an equal footing. Onslow’s string quartets and quintets are the pinnacle of his output. ...
Onslow’s work was particularly successful in Germany and Austria throughout the first half of the 19th century, as the many editions of his works show. Kistner and Breitkopf & Härtel, in particular, competed for the privilege of publishing Onslow in the German-speaking countries. This passion for a composer compared in turn to Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, and Mendelssohn progressively died down towards the middle of the century. He was less famous in France. His chamber works, although regularly played in musicians’ salons, were described as erudite and serious and did not become popular with the general public." Viviane Niaux in Grove Music Online.
Item #41659
Price: $250.00 other currencies