Nicknamed 'France’s Beethoven', George Onslow, whose life (1784-1853) spanned the First Empire and the Restoration, popularised chamber music in France where hitherto it had been paid little attention. A contemporary of Berlioz and Paganini, Onslow used his influence to foster a musical genre that didn’t see its first performance in Paris until 1814 with the creation of a concert society by his close friend Baillot, the violinist. Among the many hundreds of works he wrote, his string quartets stand out for their originality, at times almost visionary but never less than breathtaking. From his earliest quartets (Opus 8, 9 and 10) on, Onslow displayed his powers of innovation both in subject and form, applying a particularly French style to the music and establishing it alongside the work of Mozart and Beethoven. By contrast, the virtuosity of Onslow’s work was distinctly Parisian in nature and brought an extra and spectacular dimension to its character.