The most disturbing thing about the little world of classical music
is the narrowness of the so-called "standard repertoire".  The Calgary
Philharmonic Orchestra, for example, has such a conservative programming
that Berg's violin concerto seems adventurous!

   http://www.cpo-live.com/01season/2003/classics.htm

They play a few "Canadian works" to get their grants but, in general, no
effort is being made to offer genuine "discoveries" to music lovers!  The
problem is that there are hundreds of interesting and relatively accessible
works that we rarely - or never - have to opportunity to ear in the concert
hall...  From my perspective, this is really sad!  What are we missing?
Well, even if we take only 20th century music (my own secret garden), there
are many great pieces out there that conductors, soloists, signers and
chamber players should play to delight the audience:

Antheil: Symphony no 1
Bacewitz: Concerto fro strings
Bacri: Concerto for cello
Baird: Four Love Sonnets after Shakespeare
Balada: Concerto for violin no 1
Balakauskas: Concerto for oboe, harpsichord and strings
Barati: Chant of Darkness
Berkeley: Divertimento
Blacher: Paganini Variations
Bloch: Concerto for violin
Bolcom: Concerto for piano
Boydell: Concerto for violin
Braga Santos: Symphony no 3
Caplet: Prieres
Casella: Paganininiana
Chaminade: Concertstuk
Creston: Symphony no 2
Crumb: Songs, Drones and Refrains of Death
Denisov: Symphony
Diamond: Symphony no 2
Dohnanyi: Trio for strings
Druckman: Concerto for viola
Dupre: Concerto for organ Op. 31
Eisler: Hollywood Liederbuch
Enesco: Dixtuor
Englund: Symphony no 4
Escaich: Symphony no 1
Fine: Diversions
Floyd: Susannah
Foss: Songs of the Song
Francaix: Danses exotiques
Frankel: Violin Concerto
Freedman: Rose Latulippe (Suite)
Gerhard: Concerto for piano
Giraud: To One in Paradise
Goldschmidt: Concerto for clarinet
Goossens: Symphony no 2
Grechnaninov: Symphony no 3
Guarnieri: Symphony no 2
Hanson: Symphony no 4
Harris: Symphony no 3
Herbert: Columbus Suite
Ibert: Tropismes for des amours imaginaires
Ifukube: Japanese Rhapsody
Ivanovs: Symphony no 4
Jongen: Symphony concertante Op. 81
Kabalevsky: Symphony no 2
Kabelac: Symphony no 8
Kagel: Les idees fixes (Rondo)
Kalabis: Concerto for orchestra
Kancheli: Symphony no 6
Kapp: Symphony no 2
Kenins: Variations Schubert
Klami: Ouv. Nummisuutarit-Alkusoitto
Koechlin: Livre de la Jungle
Kokkonen: Requiem
Kraza: Chamber Music
Kurtag: Scenes from a Novel
Lajtha: Symphony no 8
Landowski: Sympohony no 1 "Jean de la Peur"
Langgaard: Symphony no 4
Larsson: Concertino for viola
Le Flem: Symphony no 1
Lieberson: Drala
Ligeti: Trio for horn
Lutoslawski: Symphony no 3
Lyatoshynsky: Symphony no 2
Madetoja: Symphony no 3
Magnard: Symphony no 3
Malipiero: Symphony no 10
Martin: Petite symphony concertante
Maxwell Davies: Into the Labyrinth
McCabe: Quartet no 5
McPhee: Symphony no 2
Medtner: Concerto for piano no 2
Mennin: Symphony no 3
Merikanto: Genesis
Moeran: Concerto for cello
Mompou: Combat del Somni
Montsalvatge: Requiem
Murail: Serendip
Myaskovsky: Symphony no 24
Nono: Il Canto Sospeso
Novak: De Profundis
Ohana: Llanto por Ignacio Sanchez Mejias
Panufnik: Sinfonia Sacra
Perle: Concerto for piano no 2
Pettersson: Symphony no 6
Pijper: Sonata for cello and piano no 1
Piston: Concerto for violin no 1
Prevost: Hiver dans lE2me
Rabeau: Marouf (Suite)
Rangstrom: Symphony no 4
Rawsthorne: Concertante pastorale
Revueltas: Hommage to Garcia Lorca
Rorem: Symphony no 3
Rosza: Theme and variations for violin and cello
Roussel: Suite en fa
Ruders: Corpus cum figuris
Sallinen: Concerto for cello
Scelci: Khoon
Schafer: String Quartet no 1
Schedrine: Old Russian Circus Music
Schmidt: Symphony no 3
Schmitt: Psaume 47
Schreker: Valse lente
Schuloff: Concerto for flute and piano
Schuman: Symphony no 8
Searle: Symphony no 2
Seygun: Piano concerto no 1
Silvestrov: Kitsch-Music
Skalkotas: Concerto for doublebass
Stenhammar: Symphony no 2
Suchon: Metamorphosis
Thomson (Virgil): Symphony on a Hymn
Thomson (Randall): Symphony no 2
Tormis: Litany To Thunder
Tubin: Symphony no 3
Tveitt: Concerto for piano no 5
Ustvolskaya: Octet
Vainberg: Symphony no 10
Vierne: Quintet for piano and strings
Vivier: Shiraz
Voormolen: Concerto for two oboes
Ward: Festive Overture
Waxman: Sinfonietta
Weiner: Serenade
Wiren: Symphony no 4
Wolpe: Yigdal Cantata

I excluded all the "famous" 20th century composers (from Stravinsky and
Ravel to Adams and Boulez!), and I still have 130 works.  And this is only
a "short list"!  I strongly encourage you to discover these works or, at
least, to ask me questions about *a few* of these items:-)

What are the great musical works you think musicians should play more often
Why do you think the "standard repertoire" is so "narrow"? Or perhaps you
think it's just fine or even too broad...

I hope that my message (and my "short list") will spark an interesting
debate about "little known works" and the narrowness of the "standard
repertoire".

Daniel Beland - standard