# Underplayed works by big-name composers



## Webernite (Sep 4, 2010)

We've had a lot of threads about underrated/underplayed music, but I thought I'd make one that's restricted to works by big-name (Top 25) composers, to get a different slant. I'll stick to piano music, but you can choose anything:

*Schumann*: _Humoreske_ Op. 20

*Chopin*: Nocturnes Op. 62, Fantaisie Op. 49

*Brahms*: Variations on a theme of Schumann Op. 9, Fantasies Op. 116

*Beethoven*: Bagatelles Op. 126


----------



## brianwalker (Dec 9, 2011)

Wow. They are underplayed. 

I've never heard of the first three.


----------



## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

I dunno about 'underrated', because 'rating' seems to me to be one of those subjective, personal things that can't usefully be generalized. Since I have very limited access to concerts/recitals, 'underplayed' has to apply to recordings. Of those you mention, only the Brahms Op. 9 may be under-recorded.


----------



## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Beethoven: trio for flute, bassoon and piano in G major WoO37


----------



## violadude (May 2, 2011)

Half of Liszt's Oeuvre.


----------



## humanbean (Mar 5, 2011)

I definitely agree with you on Schumann's Humoreske. It's certainly up there on my list of favorite romantic solo works.

*Prokofiev:* Symphony No. 4 Op. 47 (first version)
*Mozart:* Church Sonatas; Masses No. 11 & 13; Violin/Viola Duos
*Mendelssohn:* String Symphonies; and many of the choral and chamber works he composed before age 18
*Beethoven:* Trio for 2 oboes and english horn Op. 87; Cello Sonata No. 5; 12 Menuets for orchestra WoO 7; Serenade for Flute and Piano Op. 41; String Trio Op. 3
*Schumann:* Violin Sonata No. 3; 6 Intermezzi Op. 4; Piano Trios; *PIANO QUARTET*
*Haydn:* The Masses (pretty much all of them are great); Symphony No. 65, Piano Trio No. 19 (Hob. XV:6)
*Rossini:* String Sonatas (aka flute quartets)


----------



## Olias (Nov 18, 2010)

Beethoven's Horn Sonata Op17

Dvorak's Violin Concerto


----------



## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

There are so many unjustly neglected works by famous composers . For example:

Dvorak : Symphonies 1-6 . Requiem. The 4 Slavonic Rhapsodies(Not to be confused with the Slavonic dances ). Symphonic poems : The Noonday Witch. The Golden Spinning Wheel. The Water Goblin.
The Wood Dove. Heroic Song. Othello overture. Symphonic Variations. Hussite overture. My Home overture.
In Nature's Realm. Oratorio: The Spectre's Bride. Operas: The Devil &Kate. Dimitrij(Sequel to Boris Godunov !),
Armida. 

Tchaikovsky : The 4 Suites for Orchestra. Piano concerto no 2. Manfred symphony. Symphonies 1,2,3.
The Storm overture. Operas : Mazeppa. The Enchantress. The Maid of Orleans.

Prokofiev: symphony no 4(both versions). symphony no 2.Ballet The Bufoon . Cantata: Seven They Are Seven.
Cantata on the 20th Anniversary of the Russian Revolution. The Stone Flower Ballet . 
Piano concertos 4 and 5. Symphonie Concertante for cello and orchestra.

Elgar : In The South overture. Cockgaine overture. The Crown of India suite. Falstaff .

Berlioz : Te Deum . 

Dukas : Symphony in C major. La Peri. 

Hindemith : Ballet The Demon . Nobilissima Visione ballet suite. Horn concerto . Der Schwanendreher .

Richard Strauss : Josephslegende ballet. Symphonia Domestica. Oboe concerto. Macbeth. Aus Italien.

Bruch. The 3 symphonies. Oratorio : The Song of the Bell. 

Rimsky-Korsakov : Antar symphony . 

Sibelius : Symphonies 3, 6. The Oceanides . Nightride and Sunrise . Tapiola. Pohjola's Daughter.

Nielsen : Fantasy overture . Pan&Syrinx. Saga Dream. Suite from the play Aladdin . Violin concerto.
Amor & the Poet. 

Smetana : Ma Vlast complete. Richard the 3rd. Wallenstein's Camp. 

Brahms: The Two serenades for orchestra. 

Roussel : Symphonies 1,2,4. (3rd is sometimes played). Evocations ,for orchestra chorus and soloists. 
The Spider's Feast ballet. Bacchus &Ariane ballet. Piano concerto. Prelude to a Pagan Festival. Suite in F for orchestra. 

Bruckner : Mases 1,2,3. Helgoland cantata. symphonies 1,2 . 

Respighi: Suite from Belkis, queen of Sheba. Sinfonia Drammatica . 

Shostakovich : symphonies 2,3,6,11,12. Cantata, The Execution of Stepan Razin .


----------



## emiellucifuge (May 26, 2009)

Olias said:


> Beethoven's Horn Sonata Op17
> 
> Dvorak's Violin Concerto


3 different worldclass orchestras are performing that concerto next season, in London alone.


----------



## Lisztian (Oct 10, 2011)

violadude said:


> Half of Liszt's Oeuvre.


Indeed.

If I was going to list them all i'd be in the hundreds, but in general...

Choral music.
Lieder.
Better orchestral music like Orpheus, Hamlet, Der nächtliche Zug, From the Cradle to the Grave and the Dante Symphony.

Hundreds of piano pieces.


----------



## FrankieP (Aug 24, 2011)

There's always Mahler's 11th symphony: http://mahlermahlermahler.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/mahlers-11th-brief-intro.html


----------



## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

FrankieP said:


> There's always Mahler's 11th symphony: http://mahlermahlermahler.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/mahlers-11th-brief-intro.html


Ha, I love that sarcastic joke you made when all three notes (G double flat, F, E sharp) are in fact the same pitch. :lol:


----------



## Webernite (Sep 4, 2010)

brianwalker said:


> Wow. They are underplayed.
> 
> I've never heard of the first three.


That's probably partly because there's no such thing as the Op. 60 Nocturnes! I meant Op. 62. I've edited the post now.


----------



## Webernite (Sep 4, 2010)

It's always interesting to look at the "List of compositions by..." pages on Wikipedia, e.g. Schumann's. Schumann wrote so many works for chorus and orchestra that never get played.


----------



## science (Oct 14, 2010)

Schubert's solo piano works, excepting sonatas 19, 20, and 21.


----------



## waldvogel (Jul 10, 2011)

Debussy - Jeux and Le martyre de Saint Sebastien

Brahms - Triumphlied and the Alto Rhapsody


----------



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

I suppose the larger a composer's output is then the more chance that a significant amount of it will end up being not just underplayed but neglected altogether, even if it all ends up being recorded at some stage. There are still a few Shostakovich works that remain unavailable - the biggest gap is represented by the many scores he wrote for long-forgotten films but at least that is now being addressed - some have since been re-recorded in their entirety while others are available as suites or fragments.

If we are talking about works of a certain genre that ARE available but are overshadowed by others then DSCH's sonatas for viola and violin seem to be (unfairly IMO) eclipsed in popularity by the later string quartets. Also, the song cycle From Jewish Folk Poetry is more frequently recorded/played than others that are equally worthy of attention such as the Pushkin, Blok, Tsvetaeva and Buonarroti settings. Again, some of his songs were completely unavailable until the Delos label released them about a decade ago.


----------



## kv466 (May 18, 2011)

I'm gonna say Beethoven's op.87 double-oboe and horn trio along with the variations on a theme by Salieri as my good friend, Van, didn't even know of their existence at one point. Where I am it is the same stuff played over and over, each year so that don't count. So I'm thinking more along the lines of recordings and radio play.


----------



## pasido (Apr 2, 2012)

humanbean said:


> I definitely agree with you on Schumann's Humoreske. It's certainly up there on my list of favorite romantic solo works.
> 
> *Prokofiev:* Symphony No. 4 Op. 47 (first version)
> *Mozart:* Church Sonatas; Masses No. 11 & 13; Violin/Viola Duos
> ...


I LOVE Beethoven's 5th cello sonata. I used to listen to it all the time when I was a kid.


----------



## CVM (Apr 2, 2012)

Great - wonderful - magnificent - now, how about sending just ONE of those world-class orchestras to the western U.S.? I despair of ever hearing that thing - or the PC either - out here, where it's basically New World / Carnival / Dances over and over, and every so often the cello concerto wriggles its way in....


----------



## CVM (Apr 2, 2012)

Okay, the preceding post (by me) was intended to be a reply to emiellucifuge's post on the previous page, about 3 world class orchestras doing the Dvorak VC in London. Somehow I haven't learned the "reply with quote" function yet. I'll work on it.


----------



## humanbean (Mar 5, 2011)

I'll add another one by Beethoven: The Op. 127 String Quartet. It's the first of the Late Quartets and it seems to get little attention in comparison to the other ones. The third movement, a scherzo, is one of my favorites:






I'd recommend Takacs Quartet's performance, but this willl do. It's just too bad the video sync is off.


----------

