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Sorry if a similar thread has already been made. I ran a search and couldn't find any. So, the other day, Voce showed me a piece (String Quartet No. 1) by a composer I'd never heard of - Alexander Mosolov. It was amazing, so I was inspired to create this thread. The title explains it all. What are some works/composers that are not appreciated on this forum, or the world of music in general, as much as you think they should be? I'll give a few: -Giacinto Scelsi - An absolutely phenomenal composer. Some of his works, like his Four Pieces on a Single Note, are just plain cool, whereas others, such as Uaxuctum, seem to have a more creepy, mystical aspect. -George Antheil - In my opinion, one of the greatest American composers of all time. I remember J. Lee describing one of his violin sonatas as having moments of "atonal jazz", while I think his Second Violin Sonata is as close as one can ever get to cubism in music. -Leo Ornstein - One of the most radical innovators of the 20th century. Check out some of his piano works, such as the relatively well-known Wild Mens' Dance. -Anton Reicha - Reicha is one of those classical-era composers who is often cast in the shadow of MHB (Mozart-Haydn-Beethoven). He was a contemporary of Beethoven, and his music also began to tend toward the romantic, but in a very original way. -Galina Ustvolskaya - I can't really even begin to describe her music... Oh, and here are some more: Joachim Raff (who was very popular in the 19th century, but then somehow fell into relative obscurity), Sofia Gubaidulina, Conlon Nancarrow, Wallingford Riegger...the list goes on. Here is the piece that inspired the thread: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qy6ZJ4V_m8k

Bohuslav Martinu..for the 6 amazing symphonies and the concerto for Timpani Piano and 2 orchestras.

A recent work I've come upon that I think the world needs to hear: Reflet D'un Temps Disparu for cello and orchestra by Chinese composer Chen Qigang. He was a student of Messiaen's, and his music is absolutely superb and should deserve as much attention as Tan Dun and Bright Sheng.

Hovhaness deserves a mention, I think. Despite the fact that most of his music is largely unadventurous, his "And God created great whales" is a striking piece. Somei Satoh, of Japan. He's a largely self-taught composer whose works reflect his deep understanding of Buddhist and Shinto belief. His "Birds in Warped Time II" is a lovely "miminamalist-romanticist" hybrid (in Western terminology, at least). Going back a few hundred years: Ockeghem. That dude is just nuts, and it's amazing. Luigi Dallapiccola also deserves a mention. He's not that obscure, but he's certainly not as well known as some of his countrymen (ahem... Berio...), and his music is fantastic. His short vocal chamber works are brilliant - lyrical serialism at its best. His "Cinque frammenti di Saffo" are just gorgeous; I particularly like the fourth one, "Piena splendeva la luna..." Harrison Birtwistle - also fairly well-known amongst the academy, but whose work is extremely accessible, particularly his vocal works and operas. His 18-movement "Pulse Shadows" covers a wide variety of his techniques.

I think you're right - but the divide is definitely greater on the classical side. You'll find that a great many of 'legit' players/writers are ignorant of anything outside the scope of "classical art music" ; on the other hand, in my experience, most jazz musicians are extremely open and appreciative of a very wide range of musics... That is not to say there's not exceptions, but if we're generalizing then I think only half of your theory works ;) ...

Its hard for me to say who is underappreciated as a composer, since Ive encountered so many different people with different outlooks on music and composers of music. From my personal point of view I have to agree with a lot of the composers named before this post. Many of these composers are held in high esteem in certain arenas of discussion and thought, while they are left out of the arena of being a "great composer" by the general public(of composers and musicians). And some of these composers I had never heard of before reading this thread - which is cool for me. I think that a lot of jazz composers are underappreciated by some "classically minded" musicians, and vice versa - a lot of classical compsosers are underappreciated by "jazz minded' musicians. That, of course, is a generalization that is to be taken with a grain of salt. This might be biased, but I think that John Zorn is an underappreciated composer. I think that a lot of poelpe pass his music off as weird, or just as annoying noise that anyone could make. He is one of the strongest forces that is moving music in a new direction. I usually dont have an opinion very often, but that is my opinion. Also, a group by the name of The Residents. I think that the list of underappreciated composers is an endless one, especially since it depends so heavily on who you ask, and when you ask them. Peace.

Uh, Lera Auerbach. Lera AUERBACH | Catalogue Yess.

What of Erkki Melartin? The dude was practically overshadowed by Sibelius. I listened to his violin concerto by chance, it was on some classical music station. It was absolutely beautiful and I looked more into him. I have the score of his 6th symphony on my computer and interestingly enough it actually contains almost direct quotes from Mahler's 7th symphony. Melartin himself was influenced by some of Mahler's music, even leading the premiere of his 2nd symphony if memory serves me correctly. Anyway, yes, Melartin is absolutely amazing, it surprises me how relatively uknown he is in comparison to other composers. I was actually more pleased with his 6th symphony than I have by any Sibelius outside of the 7th. The same with the violin concerto. But eh, that's me. Oh, and Griffes. My god, one of his pieces almost made me cry it was so beautiful. He died young though, that's probably why he's so unknown.