It remains a mystery why Franz Schubert, after writing the famous Allegro assai in C minor—the first movement of his twelfth string quartet—in December 1820, did not complete the cycle with additional movements. He sketched 41 measures of the opening of the slow Andante movement, but never returned to work on the quartet. In later years, he composed three more quartets in this genre, each consisting of a complete four-movement cycle, including the famous D minor Quartet “Death and the Maiden” D. 810. The dramatic and turbulent qualities of this poignant music were recognized by Johannes Brahms, who owned the manuscript and facilitated the first publication of the score in 1870.
In the first half of the 19th century, the chamber music of George Onslow enjoyed great popularity and acclaim, serving as a source of inspiration for many composers. The F major Quartet was composed in 1832 and published as part of a collection of three quartets, Opus 46. The cello plays a particularly prominent role in this piece, introducing the main theme in the first movement’s sonata form and in the second movement’s slow section (where the theme is presented in pizzicato articulation). The third movement is a stylized minuet, with its dance characteristics blurred and a motoric rhythm reminiscent of a scherzo, featuring a contrasting trio based on a quasi-hunting call motif. The finale is a sonata rondo, with a swift musical narrative and rhythmic drive that also harken back to the scherzo.
George Onslow’s chamber works, including 36 quartets and 34 string quintets, fell into obscurity in the 20th century but have been gradually restored to the concert repertoire since the mid-1980s, coinciding with the 200th anniversary of the composer’s birth. The brilliantly composed and masterfully crafted F major String Quartet offers insight into why Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Mendelssohn, and others held Onslow’s music in high regard.
During the festival’s final concert, the Ãtma Quartet will perform works by Schubert and Onslow. The performance will culminate with the first of two quartets by Stanisław Moniuszko, the D minor Quartet dedicated to Józef Elsner. This youthful composition, written in 1839 during Moniuszko’s studies in Berlin under Carl Friedrich Rungenhagen, still bears clear traces of classical stylistic influences.
