Top Ten 'Underheard' Pieces

[BenMurphy6]

BenMurphy6- Indeed you both did! But not only does that bring the total number of repeated works to a whopping 2. It makes Strauss' Alpine Symphony the sole No. 1 Most Underheard Composition with a score of 11 points!

Ah, supreme justice...

Anywho, I'll follow up on my own suggestion to list favorite recordings of my picks. Hopefully it will help out some of you:

01: Grainger - The Warriors

JE Gardiner / Philharmonia / DG (Also happens to come with a fairly spectacular reading of The Planets...Great sound and playing)

02: Dvorak - Requiem

Can't recommend one because I don't actually own a recording of this. I've heard it live a couple of times and it deserves a much greater audience than it gets.

03: Bartok - Hungarian Sketches

Reiner / Chicago / RCA (Comes with the Orchestra Concerto (uncut) and Music for Strings, Percussion and Celeste, and is now available as a Hybrid SACD!)

04: Brahms - Cello Sonata no. 1

Leonard Rose / Virgin Classics

05: Mahler - Kindertotenlieder

Haitink / Baker / Prey / Royal Concertgebouw / Philips (with Das Lied von der Erde (classic performance), the Wunderhorn songs, and Songs of a Wayfarer)

06: Prokofiev - Symphony no. 6

Ashkenazy / Cleveland / Decca (comes with Symphonies 1, 5, 6, and 7, plus Autumnal and Overture on Hebrew Themes)

07: R. Strauss - Eine Alpensinfonie

Ashkenazy / Czech Phil. / Audite

08: Beethoven - Piano Concerto no. 4

Levine / Brendel / Chicago / Philips (with all the other concertos, and Choral Fantasy)

09: Dvorak - The Golden Spinning Wheel

Kubelik / Bavarian Radio S.O. / DG (with Slavonic Dances, lots of overtures and symphonic poems, 3 CDs and in great sound. Don't miss this one)

10: Vaughan Williams - The Lark Ascending

Previn / Royal Phil. / Telarc (with a fair performance of Symphony no. 2, sound isn't that good unfortunately)

<small>[ 04-25-2005, 08:55 PM: Message edited by: BenMurphy6 ]</small>

[BenG]

Some great stuff here! Trumpet Master--I noticed you had two of Stravinsky's symphonies. I chose a different Stravinsky symphony. Very close. And I've never heard of a composer named Crumb. I'm writing a lot of these down.

There are many 'winners' in these lists. I'm glad everyone came in 1st!

BG

[shostakovich]

Hi folks. This thread made me think of "American Symphonies #3". After Copland's, which benefits from a 4th movement based on the popular Fanfare for the Common Man, all others are "underheard". There are several that shouldn't suffer this fate (IMO, of course).

I mentioned Piston's in my list. Its structure and content are much like Copland's.
Creston's features a rousing dance movement (as many of his compositions do).
Harris's had a period of acclaim, but has fallen from favor. Too bad, as it's the only thing of his that should NOT be lost.
Schuman's won an award (forgot which. Naumberg maybe?)
Hanson's is in the shadow of his 2nd, but is very worth hearing.
The same can be said for the 3rd of Peter Mennin.

Oh, and my #1 choice on this thread, John Vincent's Symphony in D (not a 3rd), is well worth hearing if you can find it. It's as enjoyable as any American symphony once you get to hear it a few times. It ends in sheer joyousness (IMO).

Nice work Hal. Nice work all you first place finishers.
Shos

[BenG]

Thanks Shos...I'm writing a lot of this stuff down!

[bignaf]

[quote]Originally posted by hal 9000:
1st place- [b]OperaTenor

08. Anything composed by *ignaf )

[piqaboo]

LOL!!!!!

[lioness]

that was great!!!

[bignaf]

Originally posted by BenG:
And I've never heard of a composer named Crumb. I'm writing a lot of these down.

BG

George Crumb probably the most influential American composer during the 70's. there was a period in the early 80's when all the young composers were imitating him. he's still considered one of the 5 greatest living American composers.

[hal 9000]

Full Results

[BenG]

I just got done listening to some Crumb snippets (crumpets?) on Amazon. My wife wondered what I was playing. She said it sounded like heavy furniture was being moved around. She doesn't much care for it when I put on Stravinksy and Bartok, so this I'd definitely be pushing the musical envelope if I bought some Crumb. And I just might do that. I'm curious about this music and I've learned something.


BG

<small>[ 04-29-2005, 10:32 PM: Message edited by: BenG ]</small>

[Catmando]

Thought I'd give this thread a bump. Perhaps we can add some new opinions on what we think are some underheard/underappreciated works

[Hexameron]

Ok, Cat, here's a list of pieces I've encountered over the last year that I think deserve more attention than what they're getting. I apologize for the piano bias, but I'm mostly into piano works:

Liszt

- R.W. Venezia
- Fantasy and Fugue on a Theme of Meyerbeer S624
- Illustrations du Prophete S414
- Harmonies Poetiques et Religieuses (Pensee des Morts)
- Die Zelle in Nonnewerth S534
- Via Crucis
- Malediction
- Graner Messe

Beethoven

- Piano Sonata No. 13
- Quartet for Piano and String Trio Op. 16
- Variations on 'God Save the King'
- Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 10

Brahms

- Piano Sonata No. 2
- Piano Quartet No. 1
- Serenade No. 1
- String Sextet No. 1

Chopin

- Marche funebre in C minor
- Piano Sonata No. 1
- Narzeczony from Chants Polonais

Franck

- Pastorale Op. 19
- Premier Grand Caprice Op. 5
- Prelude, Fugue, and Variations Op. 18

Henselt

- Etudes Op. 2 and 5
- Poem d'amour Op. 3
- Piano Concerto in F minor

Mendelssohn

- Sonata in E major Op. 6
- Sonata in B flat major Op. 106
- Sonata in G minor Op. 105

Tchaikovsky

- Piano Sonata No. 2
- Piano Concerto No. 2

Busoni

- Fantasia Contrappunctistica
- Introduzione e capriccio Paganinesco
- Variations and Fugue on a theme of Chopin

Glazunov

- The Sea
- The Forest

Lortzing

- Der Waffenschmied

Nicolai

- Merry Wives of Windsor

Reger

- Fatherland overture
- Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Beethoven
- Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Mozart

Rossini

- La Charite

Gounod

- Romeo and Juliette

Alkan

- Anything

Various Virtuoso Operatic Fantasies(no bland potpourri's here)

- Thalberg's Fantasia on Rossini's Moise; Grand Fantasia on Bellini's Norma; Grand Caprice on motifs from La Sonnambula; Souvenirs de Beethoven: Grand Fantasie on the 7th

- Czerny's Fantasia on Donizetti's Don Pasquale; Fantasia on Bellini's Norma

- Herz's Variations on a march from Auber; Variations on Rossini's La Cenerentola

- Pixis's Fantasia Dramattica on Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots

- Grainger's Paraphrase on Tchaikovsky's Waltz of the Flowers

- Tausig's Fantasy on themes of Moniuszko's Halka

- Liszt (just about every paraphrase/fantasy)

[Catmando]

Good to see you back for a post, Hex!

Some other underrated or underheard works are:

Beethoven

Triple Concerto
Violin Sonatas 1-4, 6-8 and 10
Tempest and Les Adieux Piano Sonatas
Symphony No. 4
Piano Concerto No. 3 and No. 4
Choral Fantasy
Early String Quartets
Piano Trio Op. 70 (not the Ghost one, but the other one )


Franck

Violin Sonata
String Quartet

Schubert

Symphonies No. 1-7

Rosamunde String Quartet
Piano Trios


Brahms

Many of his chamber works.


Haydn

His chamber works. All we ever hear are his symphonies.

Mozart

Piano Trios and Violin sonatas

Schumann

String Quartets

Dvorak

The Wild Dove
Early symphonies

Bach

Cello Suites