and the most underrated and underperformed COMPOSER is...

[elevateme_returns]

William Baines.

He had virtually no compositional training, yet he wrote some wonderful miniature masterpieces. He died tragically at the age of 23 and his music deserves a lot more recognition.

To listen to some samples of his music -- > https://www.amazon.com/Baines-Piano-Music-William/dp/samples/B000003WM8/ref=dp_tracks_all_1/002-6671215-7315214?ie=UTF8&qid=1176593452&sr=1-3#disc_1

the preludes and "coloured leaves" are fabulous

[phil13]

I had never heard of this guy before.

Thank you for posting this, it's great stuff!

Phil

(P.S. when did he live? Any more info? )

[frederic chopin]

You can get more info from what the two customer reviewers wrote about the recording.

[phil13]

You can get more info from what the two customer reviewers wrote about the recording.

Aha...missed that the first time.

Thanks. 

Phil

[burstroman]

Carlos Chavez is underplayed.

[jre58591]

ive heard of baines. have a few of his sheets too. pretty good stuff.

i bet you havent heard of this guy though: artur lemba. hes a wonderful estonian composer with a great piano concerto.

[elevateme_returns]

what baines sheets do you have? and is the lemba concerto under 25 minutes?

[jre58591]

i have tons of baines sheets. all the ones that thal uploaded in that thread, plus some ones that i might not have organized yet. and the lemba concerto is actually a solid 25 minutes. i only mentioned it because i was listening to him at the time, heh.

[soliloquy]

Maybe not the no. 1 least played composer, but his work is so much better than this guy's: I vote Yves Prin.

[elevateme_returns]

Maybe not the no. 1 least played composer, but his work is so much better than this guy's: I vote Yves Prin.

so much better than which guy's? baines??

you must be joking.

[jre58591]

ive heard both baines and prin and, in my opinion, skepto does make a good case. baines doesnt seem to be as explorative as prin. come on, when you write a ballade that combines both chopin and penderecki in a coherent manner, you deserve to be known.

[soliloquy]

so much better than which guy's? baines??

you must be joking.

What of Yves Prin are you familiar with exactly?  Nothing?  Because I think it would be a bit more fair to actually know something about the composer before passing judgement on the validity of his/her works.  Baines is pretty tame, and there are approximately six-hundred-thousand Russian/French/American composers that sound exactly like him.

[indutrial]

I think Niels Viggo Bentzon is an underplayed composer. He wrote tons of interesting piano music and chamber stuff that is virtually unknown.

Henk Badings also could use some more play.

I feel like lots of the lesser known 20th century guys get heavily ignored in favor of people doing rehash after rehash of the same old boring 17th-19th century powder-wig crap (important though  it may be, we f""king get it already!!)

[thalbergmad]

and there are approximately six-hundred-thousand Russian/French/American composers that sound exactly like him.

You gotta list.

Thal

[sevencircles]

Underperformed and underrated are completely different things

There are countless composers that are underperformed since people don´t know about them.

The most underrated composer that many people know about is propably Buxtehude.

Many amazing fugues and your can hear where Bach got a lot of his ideas from.

[mccoy]

The most underrated composer that many people know about is propably Buxtehude.

He might be one of those; I'm with you on this one.

Many amazing fugues and your can hear where Bach got a lot of his ideas from.

And JSB would have admitted this frankly, right?

My own - spontaneous - guess at this should be Boccherini. He wrote some wonderful orchestral music (as well as some of his chamber works are still worth listening). Who knows more but "the" minuet of him (and perhaps, that he'd been "influential" on the development of chamber music; but without having heard his music!)?

[counterpoint]

It's obvious that Robert Schumann is the most underrated and underperformed composer 

(except from Kinderszenen, Album für die Jugend and the Piano Concerto)

[mccoy]

It's obvious that Robert Schumann is the most underrated and underperformed composer

He is at least one of the most maligned composers; same as Mendelssohn.

P.S.: Reading Ernst Bloch on this, I was surprised and dismayed how close-by to the anti-Semitic pattern (which we know from Richard Wagner) his criticism on Schumann (poor, not inventive etc.) "sounds".

[hodi]

he is DEFINITELY influenced by early scriabin !

[webern78]

I nominate Norbert Burgmüller, mainly for his string quartets, which are nearly on a level with those of Schubert. Try it if you don't believe me...

[mccoy]

Try it if you don't believe me...

Would you provide some?

[elevateme_returns]

What of Yves Prin are you familiar with exactly?  Nothing?  Because I think it would be a bit more fair to actually know something about the composer before passing judgement on the validity of his/her works.  Baines is pretty tame, and there are approximately six-hundred-thousand Russian/French/American composers that sound exactly like him.

of course i have heard prin why would i comment on him if i hadnt heard anything??

maybe to you there are people that sound like baines. but it is good music.

however yves prin of course is completely unique..



........NOT

[soliloquy]

of course i have heard prin why would i comment on him if i hadnt heard anything??

maybe to you there are people that sound like baines. but it is good music.

however yves prin of course is completely unique..



........NOT

You didn't answer my question (unsurprisingly).  What pieces by Prin have you studied?

Also, I would be interested in knowing the composers he's allegedly emulated as per your statement to the effect that he is not unique.

[elevateme_returns]

You didn't answer my question (unsurprisingly).  What pieces by Prin have you studied?

Also, I would be interested in knowing the composers he's allegedly emulated as per your statement to the effect that he is not unique.

would you? good for you. why dont you just use your ears and find out.

i have studies no works by prin or baines. but i have heard enough of both to tell that baines is the finer musician.

[tullfan]

Considering he has influenced pretty much every composer who has existed since, the most underperformed must be Arnold Schoenberg. I can't really claim that he his underrated as he is always mentioned among the most influential figures of the 20th century.

[richard black]

Considering he has influenced pretty much every composer who has existed since, the most underperformed must be Arnold Schoenberg.

You could apply to same logic to Busoni, arguably, and I reckon he has a good claim to be one of the most underrated and underperformed etc.

[indutrial]

You could apply to same logic to Busoni, arguably, and I reckon he has a good claim to be one of the most underrated and underperformed etc.

I disagree. Both Busoni and Schoenberg may be less popular than many, but at least most (if not all) of their important works have been performed and recorded at some point. Busoni also seems to have legions of piano player fans, judging by the forums. There are loads of worthwhile composers whose works have not even been recorded at all. I mentioned Bentzon and Badings above because these are both guys who have lots of work in print yet no recordings of those pieces. Alexandre Tansman also. He wrote some amazing piano works and all kinds of chamber pieces, including some of the best quartets I've heard, yet his work is barely even touched (save for Cavatina, which guitarists play to death). Even some contemporary composers, like David Loeb and Nancy Van De Vate are worthy of way more attention than they receive. A lot of it results from composers being insulated in whatever university or conservatory they work at and an oversaturated market that doesn't make it feasible for works to be recorded and distributed.

[sevencircles]

There are loads of worthwhile composers whose works have not even been recorded at all.

The best Beethoven work haven´t been professionally recorded and released (His unfinished String Quintet)

[ted]

My listening, although very eclectic in type, is limited in quantity, so I cannot answer the general question. However, as far as piano music goes, Frank Bridge deserves more attention; Of living composers, David Thomas Roberts seems unjustly neglected to me, but there is time yet, I suppose.

[klavierkonzerte]

well   J.L.Dussek  is unjustly neglected, he was ahead of his time and very respected by his contemporaries.

but, as most transitional composers, he's unknown today.

[presto agitato]

Max Reger

[retrouvailles]

Nikolai Kapustin.

I win.

[thalbergmad]

well   J.L.Dussek  is unjustly neglected, he was ahead of his time and very respected by his contemporaries.

but, as most transitional composers, he's unknown today.

Regretfully, he does appear to be neglected.

His Opus 77 Sonata L'invocation, is approaching Beethoven level.

Thal retreats nervously.

Thal

[jakev2.0]

The most underrated is probably Balakirev.

1) The only piece most pianists and piano enthusiasts know by Balakriev is Islamey
2) People tend to hate Islamey because it is generally played badly.
3) People then think Balakirev is a useless composer.

How WRONG they ARE 

Nobody believes that his quintessentially Russian B Flat Minor sonata is one of the best most moving large scale works of the 19th century. Don't believe me? Dig up the revised score and have a look.

He also wrote one fabulous, and one pretty good scherzo for piano, and some interesting orchestral music.

Islamey does rule, btw.

Obscure, underperformed geniuses:

Alkan, Medtner

[jacobwynn]

I'd like to give my vote to Mendelssohn.
Of course pianists play his music, but not often enough, IMHO.

[richard black]

I suppose if one takes underrated to imply 'heard of but not rated much' (as opposed to simply forgotten completely) one could argue that Antonin Reicha suffers rather badly. He's mostly remembered as a composer of some pleasant but not particularly deep chamber music for winds, when a lot of his string and piano writing is superb.