George Onslow - Symphony No. 1 in A Major Op. 41 (1830)

Symphony No. 1 by George Onslow. Conducted by Johannes Goritzki with the NDR 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. Onslow's Symphony No. 1 in A major, Op. 41, was premiered the same year to glowing praise, and found favor across Europe afterwards as a model of style and melodic elegance. But growing comprehension of Beethoven's and Berlioz's innovations soon made Onslow's music seem passé, even to his admirers.