# Understated pieces you love by overstated composers



## hreichgott (Dec 31, 2012)

Liszt and Rachmaninoff are known for big, loud, blustery sorts of pieces.

I happen to love Rachmaninoff's Prelude in B major Op. 32 no. 11 which is gentle, quiet, and very understated.
Also, Liszt's Transcendental Etude no. 3 "Paysage", a gorgeously understated gem in between many other etudes of extreme flash, speed and volume.

What do you love that's an understated piece by a composer who is usually overstated? (or best-known for being overstated?)

Oh, also, Shostakovich's Prelude and Fugue no. 4 in E minor, and the slow movement of Piano Concerto no. 2.


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

overstated = bombastic?


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

Prodromides said:


> overstated = bombastic?


I wouldn't necessarily take it in that way. Perhaps a more restrained kind of expression from composers known for outward grandeur.

Such as Mahler's 4th Symphony in G major, scored for a smaller orchestra than his usual (no trombones!) and generally spring-like in mood. As a result, critics, who had excoriated him for his supposed excess in earlier works, lambasted him for willful naivete (as well as the usual "nonsense", "painful dissonances", "banal themes" and so forth that had become mainstays of Mahler criticism).


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## Novelette (Dec 12, 2012)

Berlioz's Rêverie et Caprice, Op.8, H 88

I understand that even many Berlioz lovers dislike this work. Puzzling. Still, I enjoy it.

Less bombastic [so I would describe them] than most of Berlioz's other works, in my opinion.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

Arthur Honegger's _Pastorale d'été_ is a far cry from his better known _Pacific 231_


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Much as I hate to say it, Beethoven is the first and most obvious example. He wrote relatively few "heroic" works, but they overshadow his many fine works in a more lyrical or at least non-heroic vein. For most, anyway! Many of his non-heroic works are of *at least* the same quality.


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

hreichgott said:


> Liszt and Rachmaninoff are known for big, loud, blustery sorts of pieces.
> 
> I happen to love Rachmaninoff's Prelude in B major Op. 32 no. 11 which is gentle, quiet, and very understated.
> Also, Liszt's Transcendental Etude no. 3 "Paysage", a gorgeously understated gem in between many other etudes of extreme flash, speed and volume.
> ...


Your description of these two composers' reputations is that held only by people who don't know their music---very superficial.


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## stanchinsky (Nov 19, 2012)

Although I wouldn't describe Chopin as overstated, his etudes are known to be formidable, and are a staple of the piano repetoire. But one that almost never gets played is from the set of three etudes that were published posthumously. I myself discovered it on a Horowitz record called "Hidden Treasures" and it is now one of my favorites. It could be considered 'understated' considering some of the other etudes he had written. Also I cannot remember where I heard it, but I heard it was the last piece Liszt ever played. If someone is looking for an accessible piece from Chopin to play, I highly recommend it.


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## Taggart (Feb 14, 2013)

Liszt's consolations


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## DeepR (Apr 13, 2012)

Rachmaninoff - Vespers and Liturgy of Sint John Chrysostom


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## hreichgott (Dec 31, 2012)

moody said:


> Your description of these two composers' reputations is that held only by people who don't know their music---very superficial.


That was kind of the point to making this thread: I assume that people posting replies do know their music, as they both know the composers' superficial reputations and can think of exceptions.


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## Avey (Mar 5, 2013)

KenOC said:


> Much as I hate to say it, Beethoven is the first and most obvious example. He wrote relatively few "heroic" works, but they overshadow his many fine works in a more lyrical or at least non-heroic vein. For most, anyway! Many of his non-heroic works are of *at least* the same quality.


Yes. Op. 127.


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## Xaltotun (Sep 3, 2010)

Umm, "Siegfried Idyll" I guess? Does "Metamorphosen" count? Or Beethoven's symphony #4?


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## Celloissimo (Mar 29, 2013)

Bruckner's 2nd Symphony. Not nearly as bombastic and flamboyant as his others, it is gentler and slowly makes you melt with beauty.


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## Xaltotun (Sep 3, 2010)

Celloissimo said:


> Bruckner's 2nd Symphony. Not nearly as bombastic and flamboyant as his others, it is gentler and slowly makes you melt with beauty.


Interesting view, I myself see it in the same light as the other symphonies. The ending of the first movement is particularly earth-shattering, I have actually compared it to the end result of the War in Heaven, as described by Milton... Satan falling from the great light of Heaven across the universe and falling at the bottom of Hell!


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## DrKilroy (Sep 29, 2012)

Well, Stravinsky is mainly known for The Rite of Spring, which is the hallmark of 20th century bombastic music.  

The most of pieces from Stravinsky's Neoclassicist period are far from being overstated, on the other hand (Dumbarton Oaks, for example).

Best regards, Dr


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

hreichgott said:


> That was kind of the point to making this thread: I assume that people posting replies do know their music, as they both know the composers' superficial reputations and can think of exceptions.


Well shucks, that's the _problem_. The 'exceptions' are the great majority of the music of List and Rachmaninoff. Kinda makes 'exceptions' one of those French words ('foul pox'). Sorry, hillbillies tend to have trouble with them furrin words.


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

I don't know if this counts, because I can't quite get a good sense of what the OP is looking for. But I've always found Prokofiev's Cello Sonata to have a sense of warm lyricism of the type that is missing from many of his other works.


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

If that doesn't count. There's always Mahler's Piano Quartet. Certainly "understated" compared to his symphonies.


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## EricABQ (Jul 10, 2012)

Alkan's Esquisses.


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

DrKilroy said:


> Well, Stravinsky is mainly known for The Rite of Spring, which is the hallmark of 20th century bombastic music.


Not Carmina Burana?

Anyway, I dislike bombastic being used in any way except explicitly negatively, and it confuses me that people try to use it in a value-neutral way on the internet.


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## DrKilroy (Sep 29, 2012)

Sorry to offend you! I really love The Rite - I meant bombastic as primitivist and brutal here. 

Best regards, Dr


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## Sonata (Aug 7, 2010)

KenOC said:


> Much as I hate to say it, Beethoven is the first and most obvious example. He wrote relatively few "heroic" works, but they overshadow his many fine works in a more lyrical or at least non-heroic vein. For most, anyway! Many of his non-heroic works are of *at least* the same quality.


His cello sonatas, for example. I've not heard anyone discuss them, however I think they are beautiful!


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

*Wagner ~ Siegfried Idyll*

Not from an 'overstated' composer, but an 'understated,' quiet, and very fine neoclassical piece, *Stravinsky Symphony in C*, I believe gets far too little attention and play.


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

Mahlerian said:


> Not Carmina Burana?
> 
> Anyway, I dislike bombastic being used in any way except explicitly negatively, and it confuses me that people try to use it in a value-neutral way on the internet.


Mahler's Symphony No. 8, 1910 (precedes _Le Sacre du Printemps_) ~ the Mahler still for me *the* model of "over-the-top Bombast / Epic," later often imitated in watered down 'epic' orchestral and cheesy 'big crescendo' choral works 

_Carmina Burana_ would not exist as it does without the precedent of Stravinsky's _Les Noces_, though as monumental a work that it is, _Les Noces_ is not an 'epic big gesture' piece.


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