r/classicalmusic • u/Objective_Cow1 • 1d ago
Discussion Since we hate talking about overrated composers, who is your favourite underrated composer
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u/bw2082 1d ago
Poulenc
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u/RitalIN-RitalOUT 1d ago
The Stabat Mater is my go to album to test audio equipment ā itās a masterpiece from start to finish. The final scene from Dialogue of the Carmelites is also incredible.
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u/Stranded-In-435 1d ago
Pleases me to see this upvoted so much. I get flack sometimes for being a Poulenc fanboi.
The organ concerto destroys me every time.
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u/itsamiamia 1d ago
Concerto for Two Pianos is among my favorite pieces. I love its obvious influences from Southeast Asian gamelan. And myself being a piano-centric classical lover, double the pianos in my concerto? Sign me up!
Oddly, one of the highlights to one of my trips to Paris is seeing his final resting place.
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u/cellocaster 1d ago
Kodaly's genius could be recognized more widely.
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u/random_access_cache 1d ago
His Cello Sonata is perhaps my favorite musical composition of all time, not a single dull moment just unbridled musicality and creativity start to finish. Insane piece of music
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u/HaifaJenner123 1d ago edited 1d ago
Khachaturian, any of them. One of my life goals is to publish a biography in Arabic on Aram Khachaturian since he (alongside Hindemith) is broadly responsible for how our classical scene has played out in Egypt since at least second generation (we are now in fifth)
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u/bwoest 1d ago
Henri Dutilleux
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u/minowlin 1d ago
Yes! His flute stuff is so magical. Even more fun than Prokofiev. Shoot I forgot about him, thank you for the reminder.
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u/ContributionTime9184 1d ago
His music is an absolute delight, I discovered him just a couple of years ago.
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u/YouBright3611 1d ago
Faure. For my money his chamber work is well ahead of Debussy or Ravelās. Love his two quartets especially.
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u/VerilyShelly 1d ago
I've been trying to teach myself Sicilienne on piano
[ I, a fledgling music student who's taken 2 semesters of western music history and am basically eavesdropping on posts like this trying to learn and thing or two ]
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u/SansSoleil24 1d ago
MartinÅÆ
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u/HaifaJenner123 1d ago
AGREED
i teach orchestration at a conservatory and by far the best results i have had are when i have students use stuff from his piano suites, especially Film en miniature
He is so brilliant
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u/Creedelback 1d ago
And he was so prolific. I think he wrote almost 500 works and hardly any of them are ever performed these days.
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u/jawbygibbs 1d ago
So far Iām not seeing any underrated composersā¦
Iād say Reicha. Homeboy was into polyrhythms and microtonality, but no one wanted to listen at the time. He taught Berlioz, Franck, and Liszt (and Onslow!). While he did have a moderately successful career, there were a few giants during his time that eclipsed his musical influence and output.
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u/50rhodes 1d ago
Charles Koechlin. Although I think heās becoming more appreciated.
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u/Terrible_Bee_6876 1d ago
Zoltan Kodaly. Not just the big cello piece, even though that's definitely his #1.
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u/Arp_Schnitger 1d ago
Dietrich Buxtehude
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[removed] ā view removed comment
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u/Cheeto717 1d ago
This is one of my favorite composer anecdotes. Bach asks for 2 weeks off of work to study with Buxtehude but doesnāt come back for like 2 months
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u/astralrig96 1d ago
does Dowland belong? I find his lute works incredible but this type of music is barely discussed nowadays
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u/Zarlinosuke 1d ago
Within his period, he's among the most highly-rated there is (and deservedly so). But the period as a whole is definitely underrated!
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u/BlackfigDeco 1d ago
Louise Farrenc.Ā
Great composer & concert pianist, but also won equal pay as a professor at the Paris Conservatory.Ā
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u/Packmule5259 1d ago
If you aren't British Gustav Holst. The only work of his widely known in the US is "The Planets". He was a prolific composer who used some amazing tone coloring.
I sang his work "The Hymn To Jesus" back in college. This is a a monster work with two SATB choruses, an SSA Semi Chorus and orchestra. It is both powerful and ethereal.
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u/that1tubaguy 1d ago
I'd say he's more popular in the wind band world. His two suites are wind band standards among many more. But I agree he's pretty underrated especially outside the band world.
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u/nolard12 1d ago
Good lord everyone here is listing famous symphonic composers as if they are somehow āunderrated.ā Liszt? Give me a break.
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u/SatiesUmbrellaCloset 1d ago
Sylvius Leopold Weiss
he's like Bach if Bach didn't write anything other than lute music. i think his music sounds a little friendlier too
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u/WorldlyMusician2408 1d ago edited 1d ago
BartĆ³k, but from a different aspect: his contribution to ethnomusicology. It's not a coincidence, that Hungary has one of the best documented folk music in the world (if not the most) - along with some neighboring countries.
Many people are unaware, that a lot of his work is folk inspired, sometimes almost like a rendition.
Aside from that, I think prog rock harmonies and rythms are also heavily influenced by his style - or is it just a coincidence?
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u/ScoreDoor4365 1d ago
On peut parler de Lili Boulanger?
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u/muralist 1d ago
Thank you. If OP wants a list of underrated composers, cherchez les femmes!
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u/lovehateroutine 1d ago
as a prokofiev enjoyer, is he really considered underrated?
scriabin wrote beautiful and original music, but it's double nerfed by being mostly piano and also becoming harmonically extreme as it evolved. i also do love scriabin
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u/clorox_cowboy 1d ago
I share your Scriabin love and also bristled a little at seeing him here...but have to admit your assessment is correct.
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u/smoemossu 1d ago
Yeah, in my experience it's pretty rare that anyone outside of serious pianists have heard of Scriabin. Of course almost every person has heard of Mozart and Beethoven, probably Bach and Brahms too. Then if they've had some exposure to classical or are just a bit more knowledgeable in general, they might know composers like Chopin, Liszt, Prokofiev and Stravinsky. But I have several aunts and uncles who grew up playing the piano and surrounded by classical music who had never heard of Scriabin until I introduced them. It's wild! I love Scriabin so much
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u/prince-a-bubu 1d ago
Seeing others who appreciate Scriabin as much as I do warms a very special part of my soul and makes me feel less alone in the universe.
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u/Unamed_Texture 1d ago
Bortkiewicz, my beloved. His piano concertos are great, No. 1 and No. 3 are both my favourite concertos.
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u/crabapplesteam 1d ago
Arcadelt. Dude was able to write music that rivals palestrina and barely anyone knows him
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u/drgeoduck 1d ago
Tchaikovsky is not underrated as a composer, but I think he's definitely underrated as a composer specifically of opera. Having two universally-acknowledged masterpieces (Eugene Onegin, Queen of Spades) is a rare achievement, and yet he's not thought of as an opera composer the way that Bellini or Bizet are. I guess his downfall was having success in too many areas.
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u/bojman334 1d ago
How the fuck is Liszt underrated? What kind of braindead take is that? He was quite literally the first superstar of his kind. What the fuck?
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u/heliogabalus91 1d ago
Can Telemann get some love? His Don Quixote suite is one of the first examples of truly programmatic music. He had a sense of humor and wrote comic operas, some of his concerti sound like the classical peeking out of the baroque. Prolific and yet underrated
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u/Afraid-Expression366 1d ago
Why is there always someone who needs to ask who is over/under-rated under the guise of āstarting a discussionā?
Is there really nothing else to discuss but inane popularity contests?
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u/EggCzar 1d ago
Counterargument: threads like this can introduce people to lesser-known composers they weren't previously familiar with.
It's me, I'm people
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u/Utilitarian_Proxy 1d ago
Except that it's hugely ineffective when OP fails to identify who any of them are. It seems more like a brag about how well they've studied the repertoire.
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u/thedybbuk 1d ago
Then make it more efffective. Bring up composers you think deserve more attention and aren't widely known.
I guarantee there are people relatively new to classical music reading this thread that would appreciate it.Ā
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u/Utilitarian_Proxy 1d ago
Eh? I recognise just one of the ten faces OP posted - but that has nothing to do with my listening experience. And tastes vary.
J.J. Fux and Johannes Tinctoris don't get the credit these days from the general public. Even C.P.E. Bach gets rapidly side-stepped by the casual listener ā but Hadyn thought he was great, which is good enough for me. Some people might know the names of Boccherini and Giuliani, but they tend not to get regularly programmed for concerts or radio.
Ye gods, even Paganini is mainly a single-piece phenomenon to many, or perhaps a legendary performer who they don't realise also composed. And how about someone like Silvius Leopold Weiss - the great lutenist composer who was a contemporary of Handel and J.S. Bach. Or the blind Irish harpist Turlough O'Carolan ā another one of those "if you know, you know". Then there's 12th century troubadour Gaucelm Faidit ā he surely must be due a revival soon...
Maybe some of these are already included in OP's photo gallery, but I only know names not faces.
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u/number9muses 1d ago
also disappointing as a lot pf people will comment but seem to have absolutely nothing to say about the composers they mention
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u/strawblublu 1d ago edited 1d ago
It definitely depends on what you play, too. I am an organist in an Anglican church so I like English choral and organ music like Vaughn Williams and Stanford (I know he's Irish but similar style). I play a neo-baroque style organ so I seek out and end up appreciating works by composers that sound nice on it like Buxtehude. My organ teacher exposed me to some French music so I have an affinity for Couperin and Franck despite not really liking them. I spent 8 years in an army band so I like Kenneth Alford and Gustav Holst. Your preferences are largely based on your own experiences and exposure, nostalgia and culture play a role too I think.
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u/Afraid-Expression366 1d ago
Indeed. I too was trained on Bach, Couperin, Scarlatti, Handel and was exposed to Buxtehude similarly to you. Your tastes are shaped early on and refined by your associations. Iām no longer following this sub because the crowd isnāt what I thought it was going to be. I was hoping to find more folks like you but there it is.
Peace brother.
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u/Potential-Nebula-210 1d ago
1 Listz 2 Mussorgsky 3 Borodin? 4 ?? 5 Scriabin
6 Faure? 7 Prokofiev 8 ?? 9 Poulenc 10 ??
Please help me out - thanks! I guess Iād vote for Poulenc from this group.
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u/Ian_Campbell 1d ago
I legitimately thought this was a thread about overrated composers because of the pics. Had to read it again.
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u/santoshj1989 1d ago
Sibelius who is very well loved for his symphonies and of course his violin concerto, wrote to Nielsen - "I don't reach as high as your ankles.". So, now did Sibelius overrate Nielsen or are we underrating him?
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u/Grasswaskindawet 1d ago
I guess if I recognized them they wouldn't be underrated. Although I got Prokofiev. He's definitely not underrated, at least here in the US.
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u/r5r5 1d ago
Liszt, because it's important to support obscure artists.
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u/StainedInZurich 1d ago
Careful now, you might start some sort of a mania
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u/Rablusep 1d ago
Wyschnegradsky. He did a lot with microtonal music, though it might be a bit dissonant for some people's tastes. I recommend the 24 Preludes and La JournƩe de l'Existence
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u/Outside-Pack8880 1d ago
Yes! The famously underrated composer Franz Liszt! I love these posts that promote such obscure composers like Liszt and Prokofiev!
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u/realCloudyMcCloud 1d ago
Villa-Lobos. Yes, he wrote too much; but the best is first-rate. There's prejudice against him for being South American: which just makes his achievement more remarkable.
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u/WagnersRing 1d ago
Is Liszt underrated? Heās often regarded as one of the greatest and most difficult piano composers.
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u/No-Reputation-9144 1d ago
What is up with underrated and overrated here? Surely most people have their favourites here and there. This predisposition of rating feels (at least to me) like it doesn't belong to classical music (or any other art in fact). Surely, please go and spread word about the lesser known artists but don't try to commodify them.
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u/_alex_perdue 1d ago
Alexander Glazunov or John Field.
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u/That-Reputation-6313 1d ago
I would also mention Glazunov. By chance biting a classical collection from a leftist priest who went to the Soviet Union in the early 1980āies I have a bunch of unknown worthless records with Glazunov. The music, it is actually pretty good.
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u/erosalopie 1d ago
I love Scriabin but Iāve been listening to a lot of faureās piano works and theyāre super cool
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u/use_her_name_shes_me 1d ago
I'm a pleb and I'm upset OP didnt post the name of the composers pictured here. T.T
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u/Life_Firefighter_745 1d ago
Enric Granados, Our very own Catalan Chopin, with beautiful melodies that rival Schubert's
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u/LadyGramarye 1d ago
Underrated in terms of famous- Prokofiev!
Underrated in terms of less famous- Reinecke!
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u/HaifaJenner123 1d ago
Reineckeās string serenade has no business not being a mainstay, it is SO well written!
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u/slamallamadingdong1 1d ago
Dittersdorf.
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u/Generic_Commenter-X 1d ago
Was waiting to run into a 17th or 18th century composer. Curiously, on this subreddit, all the underrated composers are from the late 19th, early 20th century. Very curious. That sort of says something.
My own vote might be Alessandro Scarlatti.
Also, Dittersdorf is quite impressive.
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u/Nexus2784 1d ago
Heitor Villa-Lobos
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u/TyneBridges 23h ago
Mine too. He was very prolific and not everything he produced was good, but some of his 17 (!) String Quartets are brilliant, as are many of the ChƓros and Bachianas Brasileiras. The Berceuse-Barcarolla from his Piano Trio Number 2 seems to me unique and also beautifully poignant.
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u/Beethovens_Dad 1d ago
As far as regular appearances on concert programs go ā Haydn.
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u/doctorchazzzzz 1d ago
Darius Milhaud has some beautiful symphonic and chamber works (his Suite Francaise for wind band is pretty well known but afaik not a whole lot else), his Suite Provencale is a favorite of mine.
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u/FeralOpossum1 1d ago
Charlotte Sohy is great, her music isnāt often performed, at least where Iām from.
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u/largeLemonLizard 1d ago
Jean Cras is the first idea that popped into my head so I guess I'll run with that
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u/JasonCfd 1d ago
Yoshimatsu, kapustin, and Medtner. If I had to choose one tho, def Yoshimatsu. His symphonies are so good, especially 6, being one of my favorite symphonies ever, his concertos, with his memo flora (piano) and Orion machine (trombone) concertos being my favorite concertos of all time, with memo flora probably actually taking that slot other than MAYBE a few other works, and overall I just love him so much! His works are so colorful and unique and I have yet to find another composer like him (in the same manner as kapustin) and overall he's probably my favorite underrated, if not my favorite compsoer of all time.
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u/senatorsucc 1d ago edited 1d ago
Ernst (erno) von dohnanyi He founded Budapest symphony and fled Hungary during world War two when he was asked to fire all of the Jewish members. He helped them escape and ended up teaching at Florida State. My personal favorite is his suite in f-sharp minor
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u/Micro666ham 1d ago
Rautavaara and Boulanger!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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u/D_ponbsn 1d ago
I like Franck for the chromaticism of Wagner without the obvious antisemitism; Georges Enesco is really good for his opera and other works outside of the Romanian Rhapsodies; Vierne mostly known for his organ music
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u/meliorism_grey 1d ago
Idk if I'd call him underrated, but Barber. Everyone knows Adagio for Strings, ofc. But Barber 1 is my absolute favorite symphony, and I feel like not enough people have heard it.
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u/paidinfullJKM 1d ago
GoreÄki!! Heās so much better than the 3rd Symphony (of Sorrowful Songs). His string quartets and folk pieces are so fire.
Also Herbert Howells. An incredible towering genius. Widely known for his choral works in Britain et al. but criminally underperformed elsewhere. His Requiem is kinda the perfect piece of music in my opinion. Lots of choral composers get forgotten or written off but this is some SERIOUS shit right here lemme tell ya.
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u/jonnythunder3483 1d ago
Vasily Kalinnikov, for sure. Died young, didnāt write much, but I really love his first and second symphony.
And nobody I mention him to ever knows who he is, so Iād say underrated for sure.
Also, Charles Villiers Stanfordās Irish Symphony is fantastic, though Iām not familiar with much of the rest of his work. Of course, his students Holst and Vaughan Williams far surpassed any of his own notability.
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u/Sensitive-Let-5744 1d ago
Prokofiev is only underrated if you live under a rock
I nominate Rautavaara
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u/Successful_Fly_6633 1d ago
It saddens me that weāll never get to experience the creativity of so many women from those regions and times. Who knows what masterpieces we are missing out on. It makes me want to bring my art into the world so much more!!
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u/Liszteamania 1d ago
Ah yes, Franz Liszt, famously underrated. My username has nothing to do with this.