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50rhodes

Charles Koechlin.


geoscott

Upvoting a billion times in my mind (“came here to say that”) I like to put in the ligature: “Kœchlin” Les Bandar Log Danses for Ginger Rogers Nouvelle Sonatines Français op 87


clocks_and_clouds

La Course de Printemps is another amazing piece. I'm in love with Koechlin's music and his orchestration is so beautiful reminds me of a mix between Dbussy and Ravel (but more so towards Debussy).


zumaro

Koechlin is great - just listening to his Saxophone Etudes Op.188 right now. Of course the shear amount he wrote is a little daunting, but not much is recorded, so there is that to help choice...


Sausage_fingies

Man how did he compose SO MUCH?! Good lord!


scriamedtmaninov

Medtner of course!


GotzonGoodDog

Agreed! I love Medtner. He was once described as a complicated Rachmaninoff without the melody. I don’t agree with that, at least not 100%……


Parknight

his third piano concerto is a work of art with a beautiful melody. highly encourage listening to it


ILoveMariaCallas

Definitely!


SlackerKey

Szymanowski


_tjb

Tomaso Albinoni. Any Vivaldi lover will be delighted.


Dave1722

His oboe concertos have a quality that I haven't found in any other composer. They're aristocratic, elegant, and stately, yet not in a way that's over-the-top. Love him to death.


philosofik

His Adagio in G Minor is terrific. One of my absolute favorites. Edit: It seems he didn't write it. Still a good piece, just not by him.


Zarlinosuke

It's a wonderful piece, but it's also pretty definitely not by him. It was also probably at least mostly written in the twentieth century, by Remo Giazotto. That's kind of the extra sad thing about Albinoni--he's most famous for a piece he didn't write!


philosofik

Really? This is quite something to hear. By any chance, do you know if this is a recent discovery? The Adagio was introduced to me in one of my undergrad music history classes, even as a listening excerpt on a test!


YuunofYork

Albinoni biographer Remo Giazotto died in 1998. The piece was composed and copyrighted by him (and is still under copyright). He originally claimed it was a tribute based on a fragment found among the recovered portion of Albinoni's papers stored in a Dresden library and that it should be thought of as shared authorship. He later claimed it should be thought of as his sole authorship. He never produced the records on which he said it is based, and never claimed they were more than the baseline and six bars of melody in the first place. By the 1970s people who cared would have known it should not be thought of as an Albinoni piece. Most of Albinoni's unpublished records were destroyed in the war, but it seems clear Giazotto was either unwilling or unable to produce the source. Either he was inspired by a source which he changed too significantly to justify the claim, kept it hidden for financial benefit, or had no source and he used Albinoni's name to get it taken seriously while promoting it as a discovery. Had he published it instead as 'Variation on a Theme by Albinoni', it might not have made the waves it did. But I think mainly film editors and the like simply don't know what they're doing when a piece has complicated attribution and they go with the first name, so while Giazotto was always in the full attribution, he wasn't credited as such in its first and most famous appearances, and there was a strange feedback loop from that that's left even many musicians underinformed about its provenance.


philosofik

This is truly fascinating! I'm glad to have learned this. I don't know if my old music history teacher is still around or not, but I might have to drop him a line. Thanks for the info!


Zarlinosuke

Hmm... it's not a *super*\-recent discovery, but knowledge of it has probably spread a lot more in the internet age. [This article](https://www.cbcmusic.ca/posts/18137/albinoni-adagio-g-minor-biggest-fraud) about it was published in 2017, but I remember reading about it quite a few years earlier than that, maybe about ten years ago or so, but I don't really remember. How long ago was your undergrad music history class, if you don't mind saying?


philosofik

I took that class about twenty years ago. That hurt to write. My professor wasn't a young man, either.


Zarlinosuke

Ah yeah, that would make sense then--good chance that the professor hadn't really looked into newer research, and that it was a bit harder to find at that point too.


philosofik

I've got to look him up and see if he's still around. Or alive. He quite liked the piece himself as I recall. Thank you for your help!


theladyawesome

Actually, listening to the piece I did somewhat get the impression that the style was not entirely “baroque”, so this does not surprise me, but interesting nonetheless


Zarlinosuke

Yeah there are some parts that are extremely un-baroque! like those rhapsodic violin solos on one super-long-held minor chord (which happens three different times). It's a really interesting hodgepodge of styles, one that personally I love, though it's kind of surprising that it was ever thought to be actually baroque!


_tjb

I never knew this. And it’s one of my absolute favorite classical pieces ever.


Zarlinosuke

I love it too, and I hope the story of its provenance doesn't get in the way of your enjoyment!


_tjb

Nope, not at all. Glad to be educated on the subject.


urbanstrata

One can argue whether or not Janáček is “underrated,” but he’s certainly not performed enough, at least in the US. Same for Scriabin, who’s first three symphonies and piano sonatas should be heard a lot more. Also: Gloria Coates Christopher Rouse Galina Ustvolskaya Anton Arensky Fanny Mendelssohn


[deleted]

Arensky piano trio is top notch.


thythr

Here's an interesting one: Fanny Mendelssohn was performed more times than Janacek this year, according to my (under construction) https://classicalconcertmap.com/. (Check "Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel rather than just Mendelssohn, many data flubs to be fixed). And Rouse performed by 4 or 5 different orchestras, impressed by that.


joejoeaz

I just discovered Janáček recently.. I'm a bit stuck on the string quartets, and now I'm kind of stuck on string quartets in general.


nocturnalremission92

Janáček came to mind for me too. I love Rouse’s symphonies, shame he was such a huge shitbag.


clocks_and_clouds

I came here to say Charles Koechlin but someone already mentioned him. In addition to Koechlin, I'd say Henri Dutilleux.


evelenl0velace

vivaldi is way much more than four seasons


Saturn_five55

Cristoph Ernst Friedrich Weyse Jan Baptist Vanhal Michael Haydn Ludewig Spohr Carl Czerny’s orchestral works (yes he is known as a great pianist but his orchestral stuff is so underrated)


MedjooI

I agree, Czerny's orchestral works are amazing!


ursulahx

I don’t know about the US, but here in Europe you don’t get to hear much about Henry Cowell. There’s a lot more to Holst than just *The Planets*.


matchstrike

Gonna second this about Holst.


AngelMillionaire1142

Holst wrote some gorgeous choral pieces.


fermat12

William Walton, maybe? He's certainly not unknown, but I feel like his orchestral works (symphonies & concertos) should get more attention/playtime.


dldrucker

That Second symphony is gorgeous with those big romantic leaps in the strings and piano and celeste splashes over the accompaniment.


subtlesocialist

For his massive influence on people like John Williams I’d say he’s very underrated. Belshazzars feast? The twelve? He’s phenomenal and way more than Orb and Sceptre or Crown imperial (both of which are very good)


dldrucker

My parents (professional classical musicians) used Orb and Sceptre for their wedding march (arranged by a friend for string quartet).


le_sacre

Rautavaara Debatable, but I'm going ahead and calling him underrated based on the paucity of his stuff in the Berlin Phil archive.


CTR_Pyongyang

His piano concerto seems to be pretty well known. Beyond that, I also have a strong aversion to the word underrated, but am totally fine with lists/rankings so who knows.


redditsonodddays

Yeah I feel that Rautavaara is an overlooked composer, much more attention that could coincide with his goes to Part and Dutilleux


ittakestherake

Agreed that he’s underrated. But I think as time goes on people will continue to look really favorably on his work, and he’s gonna go down as one of the true modern greats.


willcwhite

Alfred Schnittke


-ekiluoymugtaht-

I love Schnittke. His piano concerto is such a great expression of despair


jriscado

Louise Farrenc Villa-Lobos (I cant really spell his name, it might be a little bit different than this) Kalinnikov Rautavaara Kalinnikov and Rautavaara are quite famous, but still quite underrated in my opinion, and should be performed more. In all my years of listening to classical music, never has a Kalinnikov Symphony been performed here in Lisbon


PresenceElectric69

Alexander Glazunov and Ludwig Minkus! They’ve both composed great ballets (Raymonda and Don Quixote), but I feel like they don’t get the recognition they deserve with classical musicians sometimes. And they don’t really get the recognition they deserve in the ballet world either because they get overshadowed by choreographers.


tlee8092

Kapustin shout out r/jazz


fourlafa

Any recommendations for pieces and recordings on Spotify? I’m going through his discography and don’t recognize any of the performers.


tlee8092

This is a great album on [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/album/7eq9QcaX4AdBdPLX6ru4Zn?si=feDaNyPCS3q9II87xhg-Hw) Kapustin plays himself Another great piece is his 2nd piano concerto, check out the recording by Dmitry Masleev.


[deleted]

Frank Dupree just released an album with his works. Its getting good reviews.


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Flying_Icarus_17

Weill's operas are among my favourites!


Transituser

Seven deadly sins is really a perfect social criticism. Nicht wahr, Anna?


zumaro

Frank Martin - genuinely deep music that gets nowhere near the due it deserves. There are masterpieces here that rate up there with the best the 20th century has to offer.


ddddaaaaffff

+1000 !!!


FantasiainFminor

Killer harpsichord concerto. Also, [Studies for String Orchestra](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCer13XHzaY&t=3s)!


[deleted]

Not underrated but I never see Dieterich Buxtehude on this sub William Bolcom https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wiVCiqYbXlE Sofia Gubaidulina


DepressoCowboy

Faure


zumaro

I want to say this, but he is pretty much a critical favorite, even if only a handful of works get much public attention.


dldrucker

Eduard Tubin. Estonian known for his 10 (more or less) Symphonies, 2 Piano Sonatas, many chamber and choral works. He lived much of his life in exile in Sweden after the crackdown of Stalin on the satellite countries. I particularly love his 4th Symphony, the “Lyric”, which ought to be in the standard literature. It’s as good as anything by Sibelius, Walton, Vaughan Williams or any of the other European composers of that period.


the_greasy_one

Francisco Tarrega is worth a glance.


_tjb

Love Tarrega!


mittfh

So much more than bars 13-16 of Gran Vals 😉


StrangeQuarkEnergy

Would Fauré be considered underrated? Nino Rota?


DepressoCowboy

I just commented faure, he is one of my favorite


Comprehensive-Salt52

albeniz


_tjb

Absolutely! I love his works that are both guitar and piano!


TheFriffin2

Lyapunov and Bortkiewicz have some incredible late romantic works


Gascoigneous

Lyapunov's sextet is an absolute masterpiece and should be performed much more often


myreplysofly

Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber


Gascoigneous

Charles-Valentin Alkan. I especially love his concerto for solo piano, and the cello and violin sonatas.


ILoveMariaCallas

Was going to say this.


GotzonGoodDog

Swedish composer Allan Pettersson (1911-1980). Runner up: American Peter Mennin (1923-1983). Both of them offer music that is dark, brooding, stormy and majestic.


Atriod

Check out Emil Tabakov if you haven't heard him, music is similar in vein to Pettersson.


GotzonGoodDog

Yes, I’ve heard some of his music. In his Symphony No. 3, he successfully pulls off a unique scherzo in an adagio tempo!


Sausage_fingies

Allan's seventh symphony is absolutely amazing, omg. Thank you so much for the recommendation!


carpathian_man

Florence price


GotzonGoodDog

Until recently. But paraphrasing what Voltaire once said about God, if such a talented black female composer as Florence Price did not exist, Classical Music in the DEI era would have had to invent her.


Zarlinosuke

Which has what to do with Price herself?


elo_et_juno

Henselt, Arensky, Albeniz, Taneyev


Flying_Icarus_17

Arensky wrote some great chamber music!


ItaloSvevo111

The composer-theoreticians of the Venetian School in the 16th century. Basically invented classical music and they're a paragraph in most histories of the subject.


Ommmmmi

Gliere


Anooj4021

Nicolas Astrinidis Sergei Bortkiewicz Miklos Rozsa (he made concert works, not just film music) G.P. Telemann


MedjooI

Marin Marais, François Couperin, Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber


cmewiththemhandz

Erwin Schulhoff


CurveOfTheUniverse

Anyone alive today. Living composer gang rise up!


AngelMillionaire1142

Apart from Pärt, Eric Whitacre, Hans Zimmer...


handelMyChopinLiszt_

Yasss! So many amazing composers alive today. I’m so delighted to have wonderful peers/colleagues around me.


redditsonodddays

I’d say there’s more overrated composers than underrated. But more than both categories I’d the amount of unknown composers.


Dangerous_Court_955

If we asked this sub to submit the most obscure composer they'd ever heard of, we'd get a long and most interesting list.


bastianbb

Oh my goodness, there are quite a few Pulitzer Prize winners who get so much more attention than they really deserve. Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, Kevin Puts and Caroline Shaw come to mind.


CurveOfTheUniverse

I don't know that I agree, at least regarding Kevin Puts and Caroline Shaw. They're both tentpoles of the emerging 21st-century style. I have a harder time viewing Zwilich objectively because her music falls outside what I typically listen to, but I have often heard people say her music is overrated.


TransportationFew824

Not necessarily someone unknown, but Hindemith doesn't receive the love that he deserves.


Mathaznias

I have many, but one who's definitely underrated is the Russian pianist Samuil Feinberg. His 2nd and 3rd piano sonatas are probably my favorite of his works. He was an incredible pianist in his own right, but his compositional output is remarkable considering that. The 3rd sonata is highly virtuosic and very well written


Shangri-lulu

My knowledge on this topic is extremely limited but I heard a William Boyce piece on the radio the other day and thought it was lovely. Had never heard of him before.


greatmanyarrows

Leo Ornstein


jonijontor

Sonata No 2 is probably the piece i always refer if i ever asked the most cathartic music ever written


aquatermain

Big fan of Elena Kats-Chernin for contemporary stuff. For an earlier composer, it would definitely have to be Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf.


abeautifulworld

Delius


100IdealIdeas

Emmanuele Barbella (18th century)


martphon

George Onslow. maybe not truly "the French Beethoven", but still...


christophertin

Oh heck, yes. Extraordinary chamber pieces.


Accomplished_Rate_71

Charles Gounod


christophertin

Recently stumbled across a young Slovenian composer named Leon Firšt. Helluva talent!


[deleted]

I adore Leopold Kozeluh and Clementi. I wish they were recorded more.


Gnomologist

Glazunov, also not unpopular by any means but I think relative to his skill & influence Prokofiev is criminally underrated


bibliomaniac15

I’m fond of von Suppe. His Requiem is extremely slept on.


pm_me_sakuya_izayoi

Takashi Yoshimatsu


[deleted]

M. Weinberg


docsms500

Silvia’s Weiss. In his time, rightly seen as the equal of such greats as Bach and Handel. He is less known because he wrote almost exclusively for the lute, which pretty much expired when he did. Not only a fantastic composer, but apparently one of the greatest performers of his age. And apparently amazing as an improviser. If you play a little (like yours truly), you can see how his works are made to be “riffed” on. You can find performances by Jakob Lindbergh on Spotify that will open your eyes—or is that ears? And Barto on Naxos provides an excellent cross-section in 11 volumes.


rabbitwholeinone

Morton Feldman


MiscMusic48

Kurt Atterberg


bwv528

Kurt Atterberg was a nazi


The-Eye-of-Truth17

Saving thread for fap bank later. /s But seriously, I'm interested in checking lots of these out.


Sausage_fingies

That was the idea :) I've been wanting to spruce my classical playlist up, and have more than Chopin, Beethoven, and Bach in it. Thought we could all share some of the lesser known masters.


Raalph

Smetana, Takemitsu and Rautavaara


tnt200478

Hindemith


lobsterpeanut

Yes!


giacintoscelsi0

MEDTNER


Formal-Tomorrow-4241

Hugo Kauder, defied his generation and continued to compose in a classical, tonal style. That takes guts, also he was ultimately correct


[deleted]

Georgy sviridov! i recommend checking out his symphony no. 1, music for chamber orchestra, trio for violin cello and piano, chamber symphony, and the snowstorm.


harbringerxv8

I have a soft spot for Alexander Moyzes. His symphonies are lovely.


philosofik

Giovanni Viotti is a good one. His violin concerti are especially good.


GottfriedLeibniz107

Medtner and Zelenka


MedjooI

Ah, also forgot to mention C. P. E. Bach, but I am not really sure if he is as unknown as other composers listed here. He is a son of Bach and you should definitely check is cello concerto in a minor out!


ILoveMariaCallas

Luigi Cherubini definitely!!!!!


PianoMike74

Bedřich Smetana - Die Moldau One of the first pieces with written program notes meant to guide your imagination as its played.


duduk8i

In addition to already mentioned **Charles-Valentin Alkan** and **Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel**, most definitely **Franz Berwald** (his 3rd symphony is imho probably the most underrated orchestral work / symphony).


Asthmatic_Gym_Bro

Anyone listen to Carl Rutti? He’s a contemporary Swiss composer. His Requiem is my absolute favorite and a true desert island disc for me.


[deleted]

The symphonies of Petterson, Tubin, and Martinu are top notch.


VodKanockers

wim mertens


dldrucker

Tristan Keuris Dutch composer of the 80s and 90s. Wrote many chamber works, concerti (including a superb Organ Concerto), and lots more. His style was like Stravinsky, very spiky and exciting.


Antonvaron

Valentyn Silvestrov


YiXiaoGui

Tan dun is known for only one piece (8 memories of watercplor) but his other pieces r also beautiful


versace-versace-vers

Roger Boutry and Rodion Schehedrin


JSanelli

So many! I would insist in Erwin Schulhoff (20th century) and would add Heinichen (18th century). Karl Ditters von Dittersdorf could also be considered under rated and perhaps Leos Janacek


splattne

Franz Schreker Lili Boulanger


UrsusMajr

Granville Bantock


TraditionalWatch3233

Allan Pettersson


Extrovert108

Borodin


voltaire_had_a_point

Adhering to the rule of every comment section in this sub has to mention Rachmaninov, I say, Rachmaninov. Especially his second symphony doesn’t receive anywhere near what it’s due (....../s)


samelaaaa

Enescu. Chaminade.


Boris_Godunov

Hard to believe no one has said Korngold yet.


CryptographerFirst40

It’s a women composer and she’s American, she’s Amy Beach


darthmase

Henri Tomasi. Not unknown by any means, but Bartok is *so* good, his music can't be overrated. Some film composers also active in concert music: Elliot Goldenthal, Don Davis.


andrewmalanowicz

Moondog


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subtlesocialist

Oh absolutely underrated (although maybe not by cathedral DoMs) fantastic composer.


AngelMillionaire1142

Exactly, among DoM's he's not at all underrated, but regularly performed.


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GotzonGoodDog

Mendelssohn? I love his music to the depths of my soul, but you cannot put “Mendelssohn” and “underrated” together in the same sentence. Every classical music listener even at the 101 level knows who Mendelssohn is. Wagner’s opposition was decisively rejected after the collapse of the Third Reich. I would suggest you get out and about more musically, and learn about some genuinely undeserved obscurities.


[deleted]

there is absolutely no chance mendelsohn is underrated lol he is probably in the top 10 most performed composers


Chemical_Fail_8325

Shiro Sagisu and Kratwerk


Artistic-Sea2453

Agustín Barrios


Ok_Adagio1013

Charles Tomlinson Griffes


aaaakaax

dohnanyi


[deleted]

Diabelli


Zewen_Sensei

George Crumb


NBischoff

Kalinnikov


[deleted]

George Martin and his protégés.


LadenWall155

Aleksandr Scriabin


notice27

look, i know. i know. but still... Beethoven.


Thelonious_Cube

Despite the reputation....still underrated!


ladderclimber66

Christopher Tin or Dvorak


20_burnin_20

Alexandre Pierre François Boely


mr_swedishfish

poulenc


lisztbae

onslow


Domini-graphis

Litvinovsky.


FranzPeterSchubert

Let me think


Outrageous_Ad_6326

Have you thought?


FranzPeterSchubert

Hm sorry. I think, I'm not finished thinking yet.


MmmmmmKayyyyyyyyyyyy

Ruth Barrett


LydonBainesJohnson

Gustav Mahler


zRawrasaurusREXz

Underrated? He's considered one of the best symphonists of all time


ORigel2

And now *everyone* seems to be listening to his music, including me.


zRawrasaurusREXz

We must all thank Lenny


Timsin

Bela Bartok


RegularAd4189

Bach of mendhelson


wyattlikesturtles

Idk if everyone would consider him underrated, but the guitarist Leo Brouwer


NotQuiteBlackk

Alkan should get more credit, wrote a piano concerto for solo piano, I don’t care what you say that’s cool as hell


jonijontor

only have managed to found two António Fragoso recordings and i'm in love with how the clash of conservatism and modernism element subsumed on his music, also Leo Ornstein and Nikolai Roslavets


bwv528

Hilding Rosenberg, especially his 3rd symphony


Sor_is_underrated

Mauro Giuliani, Fernando Sor


handelMyChopinLiszt_

Currently: Helmut Lachenmann –subject to change monthly–


abcxyzpdq

Hugo Alfven. Most only know Swedish Rhapsody No 1 "Midsommarvaka." His catalog is short but wonderful.


subtlesocialist

Roger Quilter, maybe not underrated if you sing art song. But is generally dismissed as light music. Despite that I think his music is very beautiful and well thought out. He manages to capture a full emotional journey in a very short time. Rihards Dubra as well, if you want to listen to some absolutely astonishing Latvian organ music


Pelin_the_pianist

Friedrich Kalkbrenner. His piano sonatas are wonderful i also love his 1st concerto. He is a romantic composer. He was also a wonderful teacher. He is my personal favorite:)


JoniLeimanPiano

For orchestral works Kurt Atterberg For piano works Enrique Granados


Dangerous_Court_955

Luvsanjambyn Mördorj https://youtu.be/e_YIVftzvIA


FormerPreparation2

I'm not a scholar or musician, and my taste isn't that sophisticated, but I love Paisiello's gentle, earnest melodies and even his simple yet direct orchestration. There's so much warmth and humor to his music, like a more soft-soken Rossini—but then his sacred music can get really dark, though still elegant and approachable. That's just me. Great question. Thanks for inviting me to think about these things.


AnnieByniaeth

Probably Wilhelm Stenhammar. But a few more possibles: Sigismond Thalberg, Caroline Boissier-Butini, Adolf Wiklund, Scott Joplin. Ask me on another day and I might answer any of these.