# Underrated Russian Composers



## Bevo (Feb 22, 2015)

I know, I know, everyone's tired of seeing the same old "underrated composer" thread. But to add a little twist, in your opinion, what are some Russian (and only Russian) Composers who don't get enough credit? And what are some of your favorite pieces by them?


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

A post of mine from Dec. 2011...

_Mikhail Nosyrev. Falsely imprisoned while still a teenager during the siege of Leningrad (the initial sentence was death but it was commuted to ten years in a gulag). After release he spent many years living in what's best described at internal exile as he was 'discouraged' to try his luck in any of the major cities. Shostakovich championed his work to the point of lobbying on his behalf for his inclusion into the USSR Composers Union but he was only fully rehabilitated in the 80s once he was dead. To date, the now-defunct Olympia label seems to be the only outlet for some of his works - on a grand total of five discs. Although not a composer of the absolute top rank, in my opinion his best work can stand side by side with the likes of Boris Lyatoshynsky and Gavriil Popov. Oh, and there is no mention of him on Wikipedia! There is a website which I think was set up by his son but it seems to have not been updated for some time. _

As regards favourite works there aren't many available as I mentioned above, but the four symphonies are central to what is.


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## Orfeo (Nov 14, 2013)

^^^

I concur. The Soviet policies damaged, if not, destroyed, the potentials (and livelihoods) of too many composers, incl. Popov.

As far as underrated Russian/Ukrainian composers are concerned, again, there are too many. For instances:


Alexander Glazunov
Vladimir Rebikov: who, like Debussy, was among the earlier exponents of whole-tone scale (advanced harmony such as seventh and ninth chords, unresolved cadences, polytonality, and harmony based upon open fourths and fifths). Stravinsky was very much aware of his music.
Georgi Catoire
Lev Knipper: his avant-garde works of the 1920s ought to be explored by now.
Nikolay Myaskovsky
Nikolay Peiko
Vissarion Shebalin: his opera "The Taming of the Shrew" is wonderful, and his string quartets, Piano Trio (1946-1947) as well as his symphonies are well worth exploring.
Anton Arensky
Anton Rubinstein: his operas esp. "The Demon" and piano works ought to be better known. He's not a bad symphonist either.
Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov: yes him, his operas, his most important works, are vastly under-performed.
Nikolay Roslavets
Alexander Mossolov
Felix Blumenfeld
Boris Tchaikovsky
Andrei Eshpai
Vladimir Shcherbachov (or Shcherbachyov, Shcherbachev)
Edison Denisov
Sergey Bortkiewicz
Nikolay Medtner
Alexander Dargomyzksky: whose influences extended beyond Mussorgsky, Rachmaninoff, through Verdi.
Mily Balakirev: whose (piano) music remains mostly obscured.
Sergey Lyapunov
Tikhon Khrennikov: his stage works are not really on par with Prokofiev, but not far behind either.
Anatoly Alexandrov: whose piano works among the best in the school of modern Russian pianism.
Boris Lyatoshynsky: often called the "Father of modern Ukrainian music."
Aram Khachaturian: yes him too. He's way above the "Sabre Dance" fame.
Levko Revutsky: A major force in Ukrainian music along with Lyatoshynsky.
Mykola Lysenko
Alemdar Karamanov
Reinhold Gliere
Nikolai Obukhov: amongst the earlier exponents of Soviet avant-garde movement.
Leonid Polovinkin
Anatoly Lyadov: his piano works remain mostly uncharted territory.


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## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

Sergei Taneyev, 1856 to 1915 , was a student of Tchaikovsky and renowned for his expertise in counterpoint , on which he wrote a treatise . His only opera , The Oresteia , was revived by Leon Botstein for the Bard festival just north of New York city a few years ago, and was recorded by DG in the 1970s with the forces of the Minsk opera in Belarus . It can also be seen and heard on youtube .
Taneyev's 4th symphony is a masterpiece which should be heard more often , and his "Suite de concert " for violin and orchestra has been recorded by David Oistrakh and a few other violinists . I have the Oistrakh recordng on EMI . More of today's leading violinists should add this to their repertoire .
How about it, Mutter, Perlman , and Kremer ?


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

The first that comes to mind is Gliere (mentioned above) for Symphony No. 3. I remember being thrilled with this on first hearing. Becasue of its length it's a bit of a white elephant for me however.

The piano works of Medtner (also mentioned above) have a unique voice, sounding nothing like his contemporaries.

Rubinstein has been kicked around or dismissed now and then as not very innovative, but his Piano Concerto No. 5 has a top notch opening theme in my opinion, even if few of his other works do, and for that work alone he is underrated.


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## Steatopygous (Jul 5, 2015)

It's impossible to under-rate a Russian composer. *


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## Steatopygous (Jul 5, 2015)

* Just kidding.


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## Bevo (Feb 22, 2015)

Orfeo said:


> ^^^
> 
> I concur. The Soviet policies damaged, if not, destroyed, the potentials (and livelihoods) of too many composers, incl. Popov.
> 
> ...


haha, haven't had time to go through this list yet, but I really like what I'm hearing from Rubinstein! Listening to his 4th Piano Concerto and it's very enjoyable! How is this not performed more!! Wow! I'm going to have to look more into his stuff! Extremely Romantic!!


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## techniquest (Aug 3, 2012)

> Aram Khachaturian: yes him too. He's way above the "Sabre Dance" fame.


YAY!! 

I'd add Karen Khachaturian (Aram's nephew); Loris Tjeknavorian and Nikolai Korndorff


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## Orfeo (Nov 14, 2013)

techniquest said:


> YAY!!
> 
> I'd add Karen Khachaturian (Aram's nephew); Loris Tjeknavorian and Nikolai Korndorff


Absolutely. Karen Khachaturian's ballet "Cipollino" is an enjoyable listen. Melodiya re-released it in a CD format.
http://www.ebay.com/sch/sis.html?_nkw=Cipollino Aram Khatchaturian Melodiya&_itemId=201026259959

And I like very much Loris Tjeknavorian's Piano Concerto.


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

Decided not to start a new thread, I´ll just post the info here .... but some of us remember the fine website that Onno van Rijen had, listing a lot of obscure Russian and Soviet composers and presenting a lot of detailed information about them. It was, quite suitably, called "*Soviet Composers*". Sadly, the website disappeared some years ago, because of the costs of running it, apparently.

However it has come to my attention that he has actually started a new one, albeit so far with a limited number of composers, but apparently with plans to develop the site further:

https://anton8817.wixsite.com/ovar


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

joen_cph said:


> Decided not to start a new thread, I´ll just post the info here .... but some of us remember the fine website that Onno van Rijen had, listing a lot of obscure Russian and Soviet composers and presenting a lot of detailed information about them. It was, quite suitably, called "*Soviet Composers*". Sadly, the website disappeared some years ago, because of the costs of running it, apparently.


I well remember the "Soviet Composers" web site and learned much from it. A shame that it has gone!


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

Yeah, it was probably the main web source on the subject. There once was an accompanying forum too.

One of the participants, an English musician, started an incredibly comprehensive alternative website, simply listing Russian composers and as many of their compositions as possible, with dates.

Don´t know if it´s gone, since his site was more obscurely placed.

A third important source is Musicweb´s complete discography of Russian/Soviet recorded symphonies
http://www.musicweb-international.com/Ntl_discogs/Russian_symphonies/Soviet_Symphonies.htm 
Note the links on the top of the text. Contains biographies of often very obscure composers too.


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## regenmusic (Oct 23, 2014)

Composer of famous Christmas song Carol of the Bells
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mykola_Leontovych

More Songs From Composer of Carol of the Bells

Many pieces on YouTube.


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## haydnguy (Oct 13, 2008)

My choice from that list would be Nikolay Roslavets.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

joen_cph said:


> Decided not to start a new thread, I´ll just post the info here .... but some of us remember the fine website that Onno van Rijen had, listing a lot of obscure Russian and Soviet composers and presenting a lot of detailed information about them. It was, quite suitably, called "*Soviet Composers*". Sadly, the website disappeared some years ago, because of the costs of running it, apparently.
> 
> However it has come to my attention that he has actually started a new one, albeit so far with a limited number of composers, but apparently with plans to develop the site further:
> 
> https://anton8817.wixsite.com/ovar


At the mention of von Rijen's name I now remember the original site - years ago I used it for the comprehensive list that he had painstakingly compiled of Shostakovich's complete works, along with every CD catalogue number for each work which had been recorded. As a Shostakovich resource I found it invaluable in helping me plug those pesky gaps in his output. Now I wish I'd have delved more deeply into the website as it seemed like a serious labour of love.

EDIT: Just remembered I also used it in similar fashion for his info on Schnittke - I've still got it all in a box file somewhere.


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

I sometimes feel that many of us know and prefer the un(der)rated to the established greats. Aside from the fact that years ago I was tempted into buying a lot of music that turned out not to be great or underrated, the thing that troubles me about this now is that it is so difficult to compare in writing an established masterpiece with an underrated "also ran" without lots of fans jumping in with a "no its not" response. The telling difference is actually often not that great ... but it usually does turn out to be telling. I wish I could find the language to make these comparisons effectively. I think they go to what makes truly great music truly great - which is an interesting subject to me.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

"Truly great" is an elusive, divisive and provocative issue. I know in my bones that the Beethoven 7th is a great work. But there's something about the music of Otar Taktakishvili, a composer on that site, that just reaches into my soul. Yet no one will say that Taktakishvili's First Symphony is truly great. I won't. But on a lazy afternoon I know which one I'd put in the cd player - and it's not Ludwig. Some of those Soviet composers wrote some terrific music that has been hidden from us for so long, and there are few orchestras and conductors willing to bring it out. A shame.


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

mbhaub said:


> "Truly great" is an elusive, divisive and provocative issue. I know in my bones that the Beethoven 7th is a great work. But there's something about the music of Otar Taktakishvili, a composer on that site, that just reaches into my soul. Yet no one will say that Taktakishvili's First Symphony is truly great. I won't. But on a lazy afternoon I know which one I'd put in the cd player - and it's not Ludwig. Some of those Soviet composers wrote some terrific music that has been hidden from us for so long, and there are few orchestras and conductors willing to bring it out. A shame.


Great. You said it very clearly. As I did on my post a few minutes back on what I am listening to now re Alwyn's 3rd (which I love) and Walton's 1st (which I love _and _is great) symphonies. We _do_ know when something is great and when something is "merely" very good and very much to our personal liking. That is my only point. I'm not after being divisive. I don't think it helps anyone if we are not precise. There is indeed a lot of very good music out there which doesn't get played. And we are probably the lucky ones to be living in a time when so much has been recorded.


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## Jacck (Dec 24, 2017)

most of the composers on the list do not seem too underrated or obscure to me. What are some really underated/obscure soviet composers?
Alexander Arutiunian, Rauf Gadjiev, Ghazaros Saryan, Edgar Hovhannisyan, Sulkhan Nasidze, Arno Babajanyan ....


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## techniquest (Aug 3, 2012)

> most of the composers on the list do not seem too underrated or obscure to me. What are some really underated/obscure soviet composers?


How about Efrem Podgaits or Kirill Fandeev? They're pretty obscure. The latter's 'Symphony' from 2007 is a fascinating work.


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## Eusebius12 (Mar 22, 2010)

Polovinkin has been mentioned. Can't recall if Stanchinsky, Bortniansky, Liapunov or Vischnegradsky have. Vischnegradsky's La Journee de l'Existence is an amazing work:






Scriabin is not an unknown composer, but really I feel he isn't given his due. Some of his music is fantastic!


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## Eusebius12 (Mar 22, 2010)

I find Fliarkovsky's work interesting:






Randomly found on youtube. Compares very well I feel with the piano preludes and fugues of Shostakovitch.


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## Eusebius12 (Mar 22, 2010)

I find Eshpai and Maykapar interesting:


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## LP collector (Aug 6, 2016)

Interesting thread. I buy many Soviet and Czech LPs of obscure composers largely unknown in the West not that all the music is particularly memorable, most isn't. But because every so often a gem turns up, something special, which makes all the effort worthwhile. Two such recordings, both on Melodiya, are a set of 24 Preludes for piano by Tsintsadze played by Rohan Gorelashvili in a 1971 recording. Each prelude alternates between slow and fast. The fast ones really go for it, exciting stuff!

The other, the 8th Symphony by Revol Bunin. Not only was Bunin a pupil of Shostakovich, but he looked like him!


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

BTW, does anyone by any chance perhaps have relatively recent experiences with buying from this Georgian CD website?

https://www.classical-music-cd.me4u.biz/


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## Eusebius12 (Mar 22, 2010)

Enthusiast said:


> I sometimes feel that many of us know and prefer the un(der)rated to the established greats. Aside from the fact that years ago I was tempted into buying a lot of music that turned out not to be great or underrated, the thing that troubles me about this now is that it is so difficult to compare in writing an established masterpiece with an underrated "also ran" without lots of fans jumping in with a "no its not" response. The telling difference is actually often not that great ... but it usually does turn out to be telling. I wish I could find the language to make these comparisons effectively. I think they go to what makes truly great music truly great - which is an interesting subject to me.


The greats, and I may be accused of being too absolute and deriding not so good music, are generally considered great because they are great. It seems to be a pastime of armchair critics to try to delight in knocking the established pantheon. That having been said, some composers, for whatever reason, whether that be the saturation point of listening to certain works or composers or whatever, are unaccountably neglected, or if not, even somewhat undervalued. A classic case IMO is Faure, hardly an unknown (except if you ask the average person on the street, then he likely will be literally unknown). It is a question of relatives, not absolutes (and you should meet my relatives). It is also a fascinating parlour game, a pursuit of the leisured and sated (and also the ambitious musicologist- Q What is a musicologist? A A person who can read music but can't hear it).


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## Eusebius12 (Mar 22, 2010)

joen_cph said:


> BTW, does anyone by any chance perhaps have relatively recent experiences with buying from this Georgian CD website?
> 
> https://www.classical-music-cd.me4u.biz/


The moonshine is excellent


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

I have a vague memory that the site was actually positively talked of by some member(s) on Onno van Rijen´s old website, but that was years ago.


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## regenmusic (Oct 23, 2014)

There was a Russian CD and/or DVD site I used to use about 8 years ago that streamed all it's albums. I'm not sure if it's still around. I thought it might be RussiandDVD.com but that doesn't seem to stream anything.


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

I love Kalinnikov's symphonies. Two of my favourites works.


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