Composers who deserve more recognition?

Question

Are there any composers that you would like to see receive more recognition? Perhaps you would like to see them become part of the standard concert repertoire? For me, I would have to put Charles Valentin Alkan, and Scarlatti at the top of my list of composers who don't get the recognition they deserve.

Yes. I did mean Domenico. Although he has received more recognition as of late (due to Horowitz), I still feel he has yet to break through.

Answer 1

Good question.
I have to agree Alkan would certainly be on my list of under appreciated composers, although thanks to a couple of contemporary pianists such as Marc Andre Hamelin, he is beginning to be heard more often.
Hummel's music is first rate and charming. Stephen Hough's versions of the piano concerti well worth acquiring.
Musio Clementi is mostly known for his sonatinas, which are most piano students repertoires (mine included), but he created other more substantial works for the piano which definitely deserved more attention.
While were in the pianist category, Scriabin deserves a mention. Despite the fact that the guy was certifiable, he wrote some extraordinary music, primarily for the piano, but orchestral music also.
A surprising (perhaps) addition to my list would also be the venerable "Papa Haydn" whose contribution to the canon is underestimated and tends to be overlooked to some degree because of that luminescence that is Mozart. There are literally no other composers that composed so much of such high quality.
Finally a nod to Aram Khatchaturian, who wrote some wonderful music, which apart from the hackneyed "Sabre Dance" is rarely heard.

Answer 2

I have to give my vote to Rimsky-Korsakov. Sure, people are familiar with Scherazade, the Russian Easter Overture (often packaged together on cds), his book on orchestration, and maybe some of the suites, but his largest and most profound body of work are his operas. These go essentially unnoticed west of Mother Russia despite containing consistently great music, carefully conceived orchestration and great stories from literature and mythology/folklore. There are less well known names who also deserve more recognition - Dominico Scarlatti for sure - and plenty of modern composers who are not known, but if I had a single vote, I'd say Rimsky.

Answer 3

Arensky is a composer that I personally don't think gets enough recognition. His piano trio is absolutely amazing, and he has a beautiful piano concerto as well. I was able to get a good bit of his music on CD when I was in Russia, but much of it is hard to get here in the states.

Answer 4

I fully agree about Alkan. Fortunately, a good deal of his music has now been recorded, but it truly deserves to be more widely known.

Louis Spohr: He can be very inconsistent, but a good deal of his chamber music is very good.

Carl Czerny: Widely known for his (rather dreadful) piano exercises, his Symphonies are a very pleasant surprise.

Leopold Kozeluh: A contemporary of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, he was very highly regarded in Vienna during his lifetime. His piano trios and string quartets are excellent.

Johann Nepomuk Hummel: A student of both Mozart and Clementi, he was a virtuoso pianist and Beethoven's chief rival in Vienna. His piano sonatas, piano concertos and piano trios are all worth knowing, and his string quartets and other chamber pieces are very fine.

Answer 5

Edgard Varese, Luigi Dallapiccola

Answer 6

Alkan has rather happily been doing much better in the last 30 years or so, but these are among my list of 'widows and orphans':

Giovanni Sgambati (his piano concerto in particular)
Max Reger
Alexander von Zemlinsky
Karol Szymanowski
Joachim Raff

Answer 7

Off the top of my head, I'd say

Antonin Dvorak
Gabriel Faure
John Field

I think Scarlatti gets lots of recognition -- especially among keyboardists. You did mean mean Domenico, and not Allesandro -- right?

Answer 8

so many come to mind Delius .... Gounod (outside of the opera world) Menotti (he wrote so much more than Amahl) Howard Hanson, Deems Taylor ..... maybe I'll come back later and add some more

Francis Poulenc, Georges Auric, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, Darius Milhaud, Jacques Ibert, Engelbert Humperdinck (the composer of the opera Hansel & Gretel not the English crooner ... EH is so much more than one opera the string quartet is fabulous), Jean Berger, Glinka, Gliere

Answer 9

John Dowland. Elizabethan composer of some of the most beautiful music ever written,

Add to that Gauther de Coince. 12th century. Great stuff. Hypnotic even.

Answer 10

I think Chopin has to get more recognition . People think he puts a lot of rubatos because he can't play steady rhythmic patterns . But he can . He just does not want to . And hey , his etudes are concert pieces . That's when you can say "that wasn't a concert . that was just someone practicing " ....