George Onslow: Symphony No. 3 in F minor, NDR Radio Philharmonic Orchestra

George Onslow (1784 - 1853) - Symphony No. 3 in F minor (arr. from Quintet, Op. 32) Johannes Goritzki & NDR Radio Philharmonic Orchestra Contemporary with Berlioz, Cherubini, and Gossec, Georges Onslow contributed to the small body of French symphonies at a time when opera reigned supreme in Paris and the influence of Beethoven was only beginning to be felt. In Onslow’s hands, the Classical form undergoes Romantic expansion and heightened drama, though not as extreme as Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique, the sensation of 1830. The Symphony No. 3 in F minor of 1834 is a reworking of a chamber work and the effect is more successful than you might anticipate. There is a stronger `early Romantic’ feel to this music than in the other symphonies of this man who was surely always at heart a Classicist, despite his frequent compositional wanderings into chromaticism. In time, Onslow earned approval from Berlioz for its brilliance.