Underappreciated Composers/Works?

To expand upon my earlier comment, I think Nikolai Roslavets is one of the most criminally underrated composers of the 20th century, even though, yes, there are a lot of them. Here's an excerpt from his 5th Piano Sonata (1923):

Piano Sonata No. 5

By the way, the guy who put up this video, Hexameron, has a great youtube channel. Check it out.

So anyway, Roslavets was known as the "Russian Schoenberg," and much of his music was quite expressionist. (According to the information for that video, Hamelin described him as "Scriabin on acid," although he reminds me a little of Berg, too.) As a result, he was persecuted by Soviet authorities and later shipped off to Central Asia.

Speaking of Schoenberg, the great man himself said Joseph Achron was one of the most underrated composers of his generation.

Roslavets also wrote two viola sonatas!

Vickie Cheung, the Peabody viola professor, has a CD of both of them.

What of Erkki Melartin? The dude was practically overshadowed by Sibelius. I listened to his violin concerto by chance, it was on some classical music station. It was absolutely beautiful and I looked more into him. I have the score of his 6th symphony on my computer and interestingly enough it actually contains almost direct quotes from Mahler's 7th symphony. Melartin himself was influenced by some of Mahler's music, even leading the premiere of his 2nd symphony if memory serves me correctly. Anyway, yes, Melartin is absolutely amazing, it surprises me how relatively uknown he is in comparison to other composers. I was actually more pleased with his 6th symphony than I have by any Sibelius outside of the 7th. The same with the violin concerto. But eh, that's me.

Oh, and Griffes. My god, one of his pieces almost made me cry it was so beautiful. He died young though, that's probably why he's so unknown.

i think beethoven is underappreciated

I think Veljo Tormis is incredibly underrated, he's completely overshadowed by Arvo Part, his Estonian compatriot, but his "Forgotten Peoples" cycles based on ancient Baltic songs are absolutely stunning. His orchestral works are also strong, but I'm completely ina we of his choral writing (big surprise)

i think beethoven is underappreciated

While knowing that this is intended as sarcasm, I don't find that notion to be as absurd as it may seem to you (even if I personally disagree with it too). There are tons of people who don't care about Beethoven in the least, even many that have never even heard his name. To someone who thinks Beethoven wrote the greatest music of all time, I think that would classify as an underappreciation.

The whole point here classifying the "value" of a composer is already a highly subjective and obscure thing. Add to that that there isn't any objective measurement of what it means that a person "is appreciated" and how much so. Since determining whether someone is "underappreciated" is actually a combination of both these elements, i.e. juding how much a composer "is appreciated" and how much he "should be appreciated", it's even much more vague and personal than any of those elements alone.

i think beethoven is underappreciated

Who'll be the next ? Mozart ?.... Madonna ?

Well, to be fair it should be mentioned that most composers of the Sowjet Union were pretty much unknown in the west in that time, because the borders didn't allow for much cultural exchange (in both directions). Even Shostakovich wasn't well known in the west until the end of the Sowjet Union, nor were other composers of Schnittke's generation, such as Gubaidulina, and composers from the east often also only had very limited access to western music (such as Ligeti who only became exposed to much western music after he went to Germany).

But I agree with you that in contrast to many of those other composers, Schnittke's style (while definitely known in the academic world) hasn't found many followers these days. I'm not sure however how much that has to do with Schnittke, or whether it's actually more because collage/citation composition has generally fell a bit out of fashion, after postmodern thought (of which it is a very striking illustration) has ceased being the "great new thing". So it applies as much to Zimmermann's or Berio's collage techniques as to Schnittke's. But who knows, it may become more widespread again. I definitely find Schnittke's pieces worth studying and learning from.

Roslavets also wrote two viola sonatas!

Vickie Cheung, the Peabody viola professor, has a CD of both of them.

:w00t::w00t::w00t:

Awesome! I will see if I can find them...

I think George Rochberg is somewhat underappreciated. He was criticized through a lot of his life for abandoning serialism and even using *gasp* tonality! (Mind you, a lot of this happened in the seventies, so it makes sense.) Some of his pieces have an almost baroque-ish feel.

I heard Bo Linde's cello concerto one day and I really liked it. It's unfortunate he didn't become more well-known.

Biber.

We played his Battalia in my local orchestra, Baroque seating, with me at the harpsichord. He tried some stuff that gave me a strong impression of Ives.

Uh, Lera Auerbach.

Lera AUERBACH | Catalogue

Yess.

Lyapnov. I've been ranting about his relative obscurity for a couple of weeks now. He wrote a rather beautiful set of etudes (Op. 11) of which the first one made my day when I heard it.

His music doesn't sound too especially different, but I think he deserves a bit more recognition for what he did compose.

:P

I also thought that Miaskovsky's Cello concerto was a bit under appreciated for how beautiful it was. Something about Russian concertos, so absolutely lovely!

:)

Unappreciated composers? Me.

Charles-Valentin Alkan, Hans Rott, Sergei Taneyev, Nikolai Medtner, to name a few.

I think Faure and Shostakovich are terribly underrated.

Faure took delicacy in music to a new level and Shostakovich took anger in music to a new level, yet most people (at least, in America) have never heard of them, in my opinion. :(

I think Faure and Shostakovich are terribly underrated.

Faure took delicacy in music to a new level and Shostakovich took anger in music to a new level, yet most people (at least, in America) have never heard of them, in my opinion. :(

Uh whut.

Those are two of THE most famous composers from their respective countries, and almost every serious classically trained musician (and a good deal of artists in other genres) know about them lol.

Uh whut.

Those are two of THE most famous composers from their respective countries, and almost every serious classically trained musician (and a good deal of artists in other genres) know about them lol.

I do agree with Voce. Maybe you, Xeno, are in a setting that where people aren't quite as educated or even trendy in what is and should be conventional wisdom.

It is good to see that you enjoy Shostakovich and Faur

Uh whut.

Those are two of THE most famous composers from their respective countries, and almost every serious classically trained musician (and a good deal of artists in other genres) know about them lol.

I feel that Faure and Shostakovich are the least appreciated among the great composers.

As to the question of their infamy, I do not rate a composer's infamy by how well they are known by "serious, classically trained musicians." I rate infamy by how well they are known by the general public (and not just in their respective countries).

If you ask the average American (who is not musically trained, mind you) any name of any great composer, they will almost, without fail, say either Bach, Beethoven, or Mozart. When I say under-appreciated, I mean that the GENERAL population doesn't know of them.

In my opinion, they are too good for the general population not to know of them.

I believe that the majority of "under-appreciated" composers that have been previously mentioned, such as Lyapnov, are under-appreciated because they aren't incredibly good. There is good reason for them to wander in obscurity in the general-public eye. Composers such as Shostakovich and Faure, however, are, again, too good not to know.

As to the subject of my location interfering with my perception of what composers are known to the general public, Corbin might be (admittedly) right, at least partially. I live in a rural area, however I do believe my perceptions of what is known to the general public are still valid.

I feel that Faure and Shostakovich are the least appreciated among the great composers.

As to the question of their infamy, I do not rate a composer's infamy by how well they are known by "serious, classically trained musicians." I rate infamy by how well they are known by the general public (and not just in their respective countries).

If you ask the average American (who is not musically trained, mind you) any name of any great composer, they will almost, without fail, say either Bach, Beethoven, or Mozart. When I say under-appreciated, I mean that the GENERAL population doesn't know of them.

In my opinion, they are too good for the general population not to know of them.

I believe that the majority of "under-appreciated" composers that have been previously mentioned, such as Lyapnov, are under-appreciated because they aren't incredibly good. There is good reason for them to wander in obscurity in the general-public eye. Composers such as Shostakovich and Faure, however, are, again, too good not to know.

As to the subject of my location interfering with my perception of what composers are known to the general public, Corbin might be (admittedly) right, at least partially. I live in a rural area, however I do believe my perceptions of what is known to the general public are still valid.

Yes, It would be nice if someone could be a household name... wouldn't that be great??? Hahahaha.

I feel that Faure and Shostakovich are the least appreciated among the great composers.

As to the question of their infamy, I do not rate a composer's infamy by how well they are known by "serious, classically trained musicians." I rate infamy by how well they are known by the general public (and not just in their respective countries).

If you ask the average American (who is not musically trained, mind you) any name of any great composer, they will almost, without fail, say either Bach, Beethoven, or Mozart. When I say under-appreciated, I mean that the GENERAL population doesn't know of them.

In my opinion, they are too good for the general population not to know of them.

I believe that the majority of "under-appreciated" composers that have been previously mentioned, such as Lyapnov, are under-appreciated because they aren't incredibly good. There is good reason for them to wander in obscurity in the general-public eye. Composers such as Shostakovich and Faure, however, are, again, too good not to know.

As to the subject of my location interfering with my perception of what composers are known to the general public, Corbin might be (admittedly) right, at least partially. I live in a rural area, however I do believe my perceptions of what is known to the general public are still valid.

Well, darn, with that definition you might as well include Bartok, Stravinksy, Ravel, Rachmaninoff, and many other great composers.

You certainly might, and I see no problem with that. The question of whether a certain composer is "appreciated enough" depends entirely on your personal position.

Well, darn, with that definition you might as well include Bartok, Stravinksy, Ravel, Rachmaninoff, and many other great composers.

Naturally. Stravinsky and Rachmaninoff, no doubt about that. Bartok and Ravel... meh.

Naturally. Stravinsky and Rachmaninoff, no doubt about that. Bartok and Ravel... meh.

Also remember that none of these people have been dead for nearly as long as Bach, Mozart, or even Beethoven. There's many things that can happen over time that can contribute to the fame (or fall into obscurity) of any composer - revivals of interest, more concerts, etc.

Its hard for me to say who is underappreciated as a composer, since Ive encountered so many different people with different outlooks on music and composers of music. From my personal point of view I have to agree with a lot of the composers named before this post. Many of these composers are held in high esteem in certain arenas of discussion and thought, while they are left out of the arena of being a "great composer" by the general public(of composers and musicians). And some of these composers I had never heard of before reading this thread - which is cool for me. I think that a lot of jazz composers are underappreciated by some "classically minded" musicians, and vice versa - a lot of classical compsosers are underappreciated by "jazz minded' musicians. That, of course, is a generalization that is to be taken with a grain of salt.

This might be biased, but I think that John Zorn is an underappreciated composer. I think that a lot of poelpe pass his music off as weird, or just as annoying noise that anyone could make. He is one of the strongest forces that is moving music in a new direction. I usually dont have an opinion very often, but that is my opinion.

Also, a group by the name of The Residents.

I think that the list of underappreciated composers is an endless one, especially since it depends so heavily on who you ask, and when you ask them.

Peace.

Also remember that none of these people have been dead for nearly as long as Bach, Mozart, or even Beethoven. There's many things that can happen over time that can contribute to the fame (or fall into obscurity) of any composer - revivals of interest, more concerts, etc.

Very true.