Thanh-Tam Le beat me to it in recommending:

>MARTUCCI - By now his Canzone dei Ricordi seems to be relatively
>well-known, but he certainly was not a "one-work composer" as a French
>radio producer put it.  His 2nd symphony and his magnificent Quintet for
>piano and strings are genuine masterworks.

I'll second that.  His second symphony is superb, and I'll add a
recommendation for his first symphony too.  Martucci seems to be on the
point of making it back into the mainstream - ISTR seeing "historical
performances" conducted by Toscanini listed amongst the new CD releases.

I haven't as yet heard anything by his contemporary Sgambati, who is
also making a comeback.  If his music is anywhere near as good as that
of Martucci, that's something to look forward to.

>LILBURN - Well, he might not be overlooked in Britain any more, but he
>certainly is in continental Europe.

Sibelius is my favourite composer, so most composers influenced by Sibelius
appeal to me.  LILBURN's first and second symphonies and TUBIN's fourth are
in that category (Tubin's other symphonic music is well worth hearing too).

MADETOJA is rather uneven, but excellent at his best.  I strongly recommend
the second symphony, and the first, although less consistent, would
probably appeal to admirers of Hanson.

KANCHELI's name will probably come up a few times in threads on
contemporary music.  Although he's Georgian and IIRC living in Germany,
he seems to be better-known in the UK than elsewhere, possibly through a
historical accident in that the label on which his orchestral music was
recorded, Olympia, dropped to bargain price here for a while.  "Mourned
by the Wind" is a masterpiece, and the seven symphonies are an intriguing
combination of modern orchestral colour with strong emotions.

Steve Schwartz lists:
>PISTON, THOMSON, MENNIN, DIAMOND, LEES, COWELL, RUGGLES, RIEGGER, FOSS,
>SESSIONS, BERGSMA, SIEGMEISTER, HERRMANN

but not BARBER.  I'd guess that Barber's music is well-known in the US,
but Walton's isn't.  It's reversed here in the UK.  Barber's music is all
worth hearing, and IMO the first symphony is one of the great pieces of
the century.

>ALWYN, RUBBRA, FINZI, HOLST, BRIDGE, LEIGH, MOERAN, LAMBERT, WARLOCK,
>STEVENS, ARNOLD, FRANKEL, SEARLE, RAWSTHORNE, MACONCHY, CLARKE, IRELAND,
>BUSCH, BUSH, REIZENSTEIN

I shouldn't have described Holst as overlooked.  And, while Finzi's Dies
Natalis can send shivers down the spine, it's a reasonably well-known
piece.

CLARKE's two chamber works are far less well known.  IIRC, her viola sonata
tied with Bloch's in a competition.  I haven't heard the Bloch sonata - if
the comparison is about right, he's presumably another overlooked composer.

I can't say that Alwyn's music appeals to me - what I've heard sounds like
film music without the film.  ARNOLD is variable - the lighter pieces are
appealing, and I like the (much heavier) symphonies too, but I've not heard
anything in the concertos or chamber music to recommend strongly.  RUBBRA
is more consistently high-quality, with the fourth and fifth symphonies
being my personal favourites.

I'd like to hear more WORDSWORTH.  The two of his symphonies which have
been recorded sound to me similar to, but somewhat tougher than, late
Vaughan Williams or Rubbra.  There are several others unrecorded.

And Grace WILLIAMS must be counted as overlooked (she didn't even make
it to Steve's list).  I'm not sure I can explain why her orchestral music
appeals to me - it's similar, in sound at least, to Britten, a composer I
don't much care for.

Another composer I'd like to hear more of is MLYNARSKI.  There's a very
enjoyable symphony from around the turn of the century.  I've no idea what
else he wrote.

The Mlynarski symphony is let down a bit by the finale, which gets
bombastic in places, but not to the extent that KALINNIKOV's first symphony
is.  However, the first three movements of the Kalinnikov are wonderful,
likely to appeal strongly to anyone who enjoys Borodin or Glazunov, and not
everyone shares my opinion of the finale.

>From earlier in the 19th century, I've plugged the 10th symphony of POTTER
>several times before.  I'm sure it would appeal to anyone who likes the
>middle Schubert symphonies.  Maybe one day Naxos will do a complete cycle.

Finally, if Berwald can be called overlooked, then so can SCHUBERT.  I
thought, until recently, that I'd heard all of Schubert's major works.  Not
long ago, I heard for the first time the "Six Grand Military Marches with
Trios" for piano duet.  Despite the unpromising name, it turns out to be a
powerful, large-scale work.  I wonder how much more fine music there is
hiding behind unlikely titles.

Peter Varley
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