Onslow’s Piano Trio No.5 in E flat Major, Op.14 No.2 is the second of a set of three which appeared in 1818. Critics hailed the works as elegant and exhibiting a great diversity of invention. Although he was known mostly for his string quintets and quartets, George Onslow (1784-1853) did compose ten piano trios. Piano Trio No.5, like the rest of this set, was quite popular and for a time entered the standard repertoire.
The work opens with a broad Allegro recalling the mood found in Beethoven's Op.1 piano trios. Painted on a broad canvas, it takes its time to rise to the several dramatic climaxes therein. The second movement, Menuetto vivace, is not the sort of minuet anyone could ever dance to. The opening measures are hyperfast before it slows a bit but it is still not the sort of minuet that would be danced to. Next comes an Andante con variazioni, Air populaire des montagnes d'Auvergnes, an air from the people of the Auvergne mountains. The finale, an Allegro in 6/8, is a bumptious steeple chase across the French countryside.
George Onslow (1784-1853) was held to be in the front rank of composers by such experts as Mendelssohn and Schumann, who freely compared his music to that of Mozart and Beethoven and found them not to be wanting. Perhaps no composer more than George Onslow illustrates the fickleness of fame. Onslow was born and lived his entire life in France, the son of an English father and French mother. His string quartets, string quintets, and piano trios were a constant feature of concert programs throughout the 19th century. Onslow’s writing was unique in that he was successfully able to merge the drama of the opera into the chamber music idiom perfected by the Vienna masters.
Onslow's works were published in different countries by different publishers and the editions were sometimes different. Our new edition is based on the Steiner edition which appeared in Vienna in 1820. This is a very enjoyable trio to play and to hear. It would do well in concert as well as on the stands of amateurs.
