Uncle Dave Lewis gives his neglected composers and mentions Franz Berwald,
Jean Barraque', Colin McPhee, George Antheil, Charles Luckeyth Roberts.

Great choices, all!  I'm in the half-fortunate position of seeing so many
of my favorite ignored composers becoming actually well-known, at least
in classical-music circles:  Vaughan Williams, Martinu, Poulenc, Faure,
Grainger, Pettersson, and so on.  I'm "half-fortunate" because this means
that I must must actually work to come up with a composer neglected.

There's also the phenomenon of composers known for only one or two works,
and yet who have a whole catalogue worth listening to.  So, here goes:

HINDEMITH - to me, a giant, one of the best composers ever.  A huge
catalogue for all genres, instruments, and levels of skill.  One of
the few composers whom I can unblushingly compare to Bach.  Sure, we
get the Mathis der Maler symphony, the Symphonic Metamorphoses on Weber,
and perhaps the Trauermusik quite a bit, but what about his operas, his
wonderful Symphonies in Eb and Bb, the Konzertmusiken, the choral works,
the oratorios (Apparebit repentina die, Das Unaufhoerliche), and God knows
how much chamber music? The violin and cello concerti seem to me among the
best of the century.  At his best - and he is almost always at his best -
a technician of jaw-dropping skill and magnificent poetry.

BRIAN - Havergal Brian, British, roughly contemporary with Vaughan
Williams.  A career plagued by bad breaks.  The music comes to light in
dribs and drabs, and it's almost always overwhelming good.  A superb
symphonist.

SIMPSON - A tremendous proselytizer for Nielsen, Mahler, and Brian, Simpson
is obviously a man strongly drawn to symphonists.  Consequently, his own
output of symphonies and string quartets doesn't surprise me.  The model is
usually Beethoven, although Simpson works on a much larger canvas.  That
his work bears comparison with Beethoven's gives you an idea of the measure
of its quality.

TALMA - Louise Talma, American Modernist of the Copland-Piston generation.
She also studied with Boulanger.  I heard first her Toccata for Orchestra,
recorded on an old CRI LP, and it knocked me over - rugged, rhythmically
vital.  Some of her music has appeared on small labels since - all of it
of the quality of Copland and Piston but nowhere close to the heart of
her output.

PISTON, THOMSON, MENNIN, DIAMOND, LEES, COWELL, RUGGLES, RIEGGER, FOSS,
SESSIONS, BERGSMA, SIEGMEISTER, HERRMANN - I hate to lump them, because
they're nothing if not individualists.  Taken together, however, they
demonstrate a shocking neglect of an electrifying period of American music.

WALTON - With the exception of two or three pieces, he seems to have fallen
off the map, and the work from the 1950s on has never made much headway.
I wish I knew why.  Like Barber, a strongly individual profile.  Like
Barber as well, almost every piece is of extraordinarily high quality.

ALWYN, RUBBRA, FINZI, HOLST, BRIDGE, LEIGH, MOERAN, LAMBERT, WARLOCK,
STEVENS, ARNOLD, FRANKEL, SEARLE, RAWSTHORNE, MACONCHY, CLARKE, IRELAND,
BUSCH, BUSH, REIZENSTEIN - See the entry for PISTON, etc.  Same deal,
except they're all British.

BLOCH - About the only thing recorded and played with any regularity is
Schelomo, a passionate, emotionally draining work, which never takes a
false rhetorical step.  The thing is, almost all of Bloch's music (with a
few notable exceptions) is that way.  Have you heard the string quartets,
the piano quintets, the Avodath Hakodesh, the violin sonatas, the suites
for solo strings, the violin and piano concerti, the Suite hebraique, the
Sinfonia breve, the Concerti Grossi, and so on and so forth? I don't
understand why his music isn't more popular.  It seems to me to have
everything people say they want.

GERSHWIN - Neglected? Sure, he's recorded and played a lot, but he's seldom
recorded and played with any understanding.  Gershwin, by me, is one of the
really great (="I like him a lot") of all time, and yet executants mainly
slop their way through what turn out to be fairly intricate as well as
highly imaginative scores.

NELHYBEL - Vaclav Nelhybel, Czech long resident in the States.  I've heard
exactly one work, and it's terrific.  How's *that* for neglected?

BACEWICZ - Grazina, Polish.  At her best, as far as I'm concerned, the
equal of Bartok.

DISTLER - Hugo, German.  One of the finest choral composers of all.
Hindemith, with more warmth.

WEILL - See GERSHWIN, and add that major works in his catalogue have never
been recorded.  One of the few composers who contributed something new to
opera and musical theater in general, and not just one new thing.  Few of
Weill's theater pieces resemble each other.  The way music furthers the
drama differs in almost every one of them.  But he's also a marvelous
composer outside the theater:  two magnificent symphonies, two magnificent
string quartets, a powerful cello sonata, a witty and poetic mini-cantata
Frauentanz, and so forth.

ROSNER - Arnold, contemporary American.  To me, he's among the best there
is, and he's relegated to obscure labels.  This is the music I would write
if I could, it's that much a part of me.

LARSSON - Lars-Erik, Swedish.  Incredibly beautiful melodies.  I believe he
studied with Berg, which surprises me.  I think of him a minor composer,
but a major minor composer.  Take a listen to Disguised God, Pastoralsvit,
En Wintersaga.

KOECHLIN - Charles, French, roughly contemporary with Ravel.  So
obscure, he's not even listed in our beloved Moderator's composer list at
www.classical.net.  There seemed to be a mini-boom in his music during the
70s, with recordings of the Seven Stars Symphony, the Jungle Book music,
and some of the piano works, but that's pretty much died down.  An amazing
composer, little known outside of France.  I know only half-a-dozen things
in his enormous catalogue.

DALLAPICCOLA - one of the finest Italian composers ever and, as befits an
Italian, an opera composer of genius.  Unfortunately, the operas are almost
never done.  I know of exactly two recordings.

RESPIGHI - Yeah, yeah, the tone poems and the Ancient Airs and Dances.
What else? Turns out there's a lot of stuff, very uneven, but at its best,
a considerable best, especially the works based on Gregorian chant.  I
recommend the Concerto autonnelle, the Concerto in modo Misolydiano,
Metamorphoseon, a cello concerto, incredibly beautiful choral work.

Well, all for now.

Steve Schwartz