Underrated composers

[lelle]

I often feel that the most famous composers are famous for a reason. But, for sure, there are composers that are not as famous as the most famous ones that deserve more exposure. I'm thinking of composers that certainly may be performed, but not enough, specifically on the piano.

Here are some:
Rameau - probably my favourite composer of small character pieces from the Baroque era. I dont feel many people put Rameau on their concert programs.
Medtner - His music can be hard to get into but as for my favourite pieces by him, I really like them. For example: Sonata Reminiscenza and 2 Skazki (Fairy Tales) Op 20
Franck - Many people play the Violin Sonata, a fair number play the Prelude, Chorale & Fugue but the Prelude, Aria & Final are just as good in my opinion.
Poulenc - he may not have written many pieces for the piano, but the ones he did write are worth hearing. The variations (Theme varié) are very rarely played as far as I can tell.

What are some composers you think are unfairly neglected?

[getsiegs]

Moszkowski!
To be honest I don't know too much of his output, but what I have heard is great and deserves more attention. Horowitz popularized a few of his etudes and Etincelles Op. 39 No. 6 as an encore but I've hardly heard of his music otherwise.

The piece I would specifically recommend is his second piano concerto in E major, which I thankfully discovered in my Youtube recommendations almost a year ago. It's so good!!! It's like the quintessential Romantic piano concerto; very accessible but never boring. I would highly, highly recommend.

[jimf12]

Bartok, which may have to do with the fact that his music just became public domain in 2016.   

[lelle]

Bartok, which may have to do with the fact that his music just became public domain in 2016.   

I'm rather unfamiliar with Bartok's music. The little I heard was a bit too "modern"/dissonant for my taste. Are there any pieces by him you recommend I listen to?

Moszkowski!
To be honest I don't know too much of his output, but what I have heard is great and deserves more attention. Horowitz popularized a few of his etudes and Etincelles Op. 39 No. 6 as an encore but I've hardly heard of his music otherwise.

I was thinking about Moszkowski, but it's the same thing for me - I have hardly heard any of his music. So I can't really say if he is underrated or not, yet

[visitor]

Too many to list really (my history convicts me as one of the ps resident forgottenophiles  lol)
If you can throw some qualifiers it helps me  but yes so many underrated
I discovered an early 20th century forgotten "jazzical" composer that I'm just beginning the best a piece of his I acquired for my collection ,his harmonic language is so dang cool
Mitchell Bernard /"B" Southall (married to Geneva Southall who was the first woman not just first black woman but first woman period to achieve a DMA in piano performance ,she was an amazingly gifted performer and researcher and pedagogue),

He has a more famous work in the niche choral space of a devastingly beautiful hymn we hear sometimes around Christmas  titled in silent night

But i sightread the b section of his piano piece and his subtle jazz lean even in  what looks like sort of romanticized style lyrical writing is super satisfying

[jimf12]

@lelle -I really enjoy his Romanian Folk Dances (BB68), Improvisations on Hungarian Peasant Songs (BB83 Sz 74 and BB79 Sz71).    Guessing what you might like based on your comments, there are probably a couple in there you might appreciate.

I almost answered this question with Debussy, which I know would raise some eyebrows since he is so highly regarded.   I'm just not sure he's on many folks hypothetical Mt Rushmore of composers in peoples minds, and he should be imo (mine is Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Debussy).   He was, imho, as revolutionary as Beethoven was.   I'm not sure many would say that, maybe I'm wrong.   

[thalbergmad]

Woelfl. Spent a most joyous week on his sonatas.

[ronde_des_sylphes]

Liapunov. His transcendental etudes are a worth successor to Liszt's, but he wrote so much more. His second PC is a delight.

[visitor]

Woelfl. Spent a most joyous week on his sonatas.

  concise and profound wisdom as per usual dear friend

[roncesvalles]

Szymanowski.  He's a difficult one to crack the standard repertoire because he went through so many periods, but his music is always of the highest quality.   His early works are late Romantic and come across like a more Germanic early Scriabin.  His middle period works are really innovative and push impressionistic composition past what quickly became cliche harmonies and motifs into new territories.  His later works are more nationalistic but still musically rich and fun to play.  Unfortunately he died fairly young--if the last two mazurkas are any indication of his path, he was entering a new phase that was very subtle.

Gian Francesco Malipiero.  He's a sort of post-Debussyist and part of the "generation of the 80s" (alongside Respighi, Casela, Pizzetti and others), but his works have a reticence and irony about them.  It's high quality but not the most accessible.   He looked back to baroque works while being harmonically daring.  His Preludi Autunnali is a set I'm hoping to learn next year.  His musical world is convincing but maybe not as convincing or dramatic as many standard-bearers.  I like his instrumental music as well.

Giusseppe Martucci is all but forgotten now.  He was the rare 19th century Italian pianist-composer and instrumental composer in a culture predicated on the production of operas. He's a romantic without the grand gestures and whose works for the most part avoid the emotional extreme registers.  Pianistically his works aren't transcendentally difficult, but they are well-crafted, with really attractive notturni and barcarole especially.  Most of these have difficulties similar to those encountered in Mendelssohn, making them potential learning pieces for intermediate students, perhaps a stepping stone to composers like Faure and Chopin.   His melodies are tuneful, memorable, and thoughtfully conceived.   

[ronde_des_sylphes]

A little chuckle at the mention of Martucci..


He also did some transcriptions 

(shameless self-promo)

and I like the live vid of the same work from pianostreet member "storyseller"

[lelle]

Cool cool, very cool suggestions.

Debussy - I think he is up there with the best composers, and he is played quite a lot (at least in Sweden!) so I didn't consider him underrated. Maybe there is a lack of Debussy in the biggest halls, though? I don't know.

Woelfl - never heard of him. Will check out some sonatas!

Liapunov - there is that one transcendental etude in C sharp minor that I like, but nothing else by him has really stuck with me. Do you know some more good solo pieces by him?

Szymanowski - I quite like his Nocturne and Tarantella for violin and piano, and I remember hearing some other piece for violin and piano that I quite liked but don't remember the name of. I remember trying to get into some of his piano music a few years ago but it didn't click. Do you have any good tips on pieces by him?

Malipiero & Martucci - never heard of them. Malipiero sounds interesting, will check him out!

[nw746]

Szymanowski - I quite like his Nocturne and Tarantella for violin and piano, and I remember hearing some other piece for violin and piano that I quite liked but don't remember the name of. I remember trying to get into some of his piano music a few years ago but it didn't click. Do you have any good tips on pieces by him?

A lot depends on the performance, I've found. It's very easy to make Szymanowski sound diffuse and directionless if you lose track of the large-scale phrasing. Some performances that don't do that (imo):

Record labels have also released Richter's and Pöntinen's performances of the Sonata No. 3 (the best ones available) on youtube but I'm not sure if the videos will be accessible in every country.

[musikalischer_wirbelwind_280]

Some have already been mentioned (Bartók, Szymanowski, Rameau, Medtner...) and I know I'll have to leave out quite a few for now, but here are some that come to mind, along with a couple of their works:

• Frederic Mompou: Frederic's music is, in my opinion, very much of the kind that Philip Hale refers to in his biographical sketch of Bach to the WTC: "As William Cart well says, this chaste Muse shuns the "screaming" light of the concert hall, nor will she speak to the jaded ears of a crowd indifferent, or greedy for startling effects."

I'll refrain from posting his "Música callada" here, since I recently included that one on another post by lelle, but I find these just as awesome:

• Enrique Granados: Perhaps not that underrated, but I still find him on concert programs less often than I'd like.

• Leos Janáček:

• Walter Niemann:

• Leopold Godowsky:

• Pablo de Sarasate: Not sure if Pablo belongs here, but sometimes it just seems to me that all most people know of his works is the "Carmen Fantasy", and yet there's plenty more that's really good.

• Alessandro Scarlatti:

There was an even better version of this one some years ago, but you know, You Tube happened...🙄 :

• Ignaz Paderewski:

Sorry, lelle, I know you asked specifically for piano works, but I just couldn't help squeezing in Sarasate and Scarlatti.

And since they have been mentioned, too, might I add these, as well?

Horowitz's offhand dismissal in this one of his wife's and one of the film's producers "No" to his asking if they want the Moszkowski never fails to crack me up 😁👍🏼 :

[jimf12]

I'll also nominate Isaac Albéniz.    Iberia is probably his most famous work, but there are many others.   

[lelle]

Man, you guys just keep delivering the goods  I will listen through it all at work tomorrow, maybe there is something new in there that I'll want to learn... Happy to see that someone else likes Pöntinen!

[musikalischer_wirbelwind_280]

I'll also nominate Isaac Albéniz.    Iberia is probably his most famous work, but there are many others.   

Agreed! These, to me, are definitely winners:

Man, you guys just keep delivering the goods  I will listen through it all at work tomorrow, maybe there is something new in there that I'll want to learn... Happy to see that someone else likes Pöntinen!

Hopefully it will be an interesting workday.