Admitting the Unsung to the Pantheon...

[Alan Howe]

...of established composers of the romantic era, that is.

I guess my question is this: we now know a lot more unsung music than we did, say, ten or fifteen years ago. So, who among the hitherto unsung do we know sufficient about in terms of their overall oeuvre (rather than merely one or two works) to suggest that they might be worthy of admission to the pantheon of established composers?

My suggestions would be: Raff, Draeseke, Rufinatscha, Gernsheim, Reinecke, Taneyev, Wilhelm Berger.

Who else fits these criteria?

[Alan Howe]

Oh, I forgot: Stanford, Parry, Glazunov.

[Mark Thomas]

A good start, Alan. Without thinking about it too deeply, I'd add Dietrich and Klughardt to the list. We don't know as much of their oeuvres as we do of Draeseke, Glazunov or Raff's, but we do have a good sample across most genres, demonstrating that both wrote music of high quality and with a distinctive voice. On that latter ground I'm tempted to argue against Reinecke, but I know that others will disagree.

P.s. a good case can be made for Stenhammar, too.

[Ilja]

What about Berwald and Stenhammar? Both virtually unknown outside Sweden (or within, some might argue) and very much their own voices (Stenhammar would probably be one of those composers you could recognize within ten seconds, to reiterate a recent thread). Both also wrote in many different forms and for a variety of ensembles. Good tunes, too.

[Alan Howe]

Gade? Svendsen? Norman?

[Amphissa]

What does it mean to admit an unsung composer to the pantheon of established composers? Are you suggesting that one or more of the unsung composers be accepted as the equal of the composers who currently dominate the elite of Romantic style music?  However you want to define that?

I suppose I would add Myaskovsky to the list of candidates already proposed.

HOWEVER, as much as I personally enjoy listening to the music of unsung composers, I think, other than maybe Glazunov or Myaskovsky, it would be very difficult to make a case for any of them.

Heck, we'd probably have a hard time agreeing on the composers who are already members of the pantheon!

[thalbergmad]

I will be a disappointed man if within 5 years the works of York Bowen are not to be regularly heard in our concert halls.

Thal

[Alan Howe]

The pantheon here simply means the composers who are already established and known about, regardless of status - of which I have deliberately omitted all mention.

I'm just trying to get some idea of the range of composers about whom we now know much more than a few years back and whose music could just as easily be regularly programmed as that of many established composers.

[Gareth Vaughan]

Well, I think it would be very easy to make a case for Raff; less so, perhaps, for Klughardt - but that is just a matter of opinion.

I would certainly want to see Litolff in the Pantheon - I think he's very accomplished (and Berlioz thought so too). And, of course, Josef Holbrooke.

[kolaboy]

Well, everyone knows Gade - even if it's only from Schumann & Mendelssohn biographies...

[Amphissa]

The pantheon here simply means the composers who are already established and known about, regardless of status - of which I have deliberately omitted all mention.

So you are just wanting names of unsungs who we know a lot about? This is not about the quality of their compositions compared to the Romantic pantheon?

Maybe I'm just having a slow brain day -- which seems to be more common in recent years. But it seems to me that knowing a lot about a composer does not mean the same thing as affirming the quality of their music. If we are talking about the quality of their music in comparison with the established greats, I think it's gonna be a hard sell.

[Alan Howe]

The point I am trying to make here is that we are now in a much better position to judge the overall merits of certain unsung composers because so much has been recorded and released in recent years. I deliberately framed my question in the way that I did so as to avoid a mere exchange of 'favourite unsung pieces of music' which takes little account of a composer's overall oeuvre.

For example, ten years ago, I would have dismissed Raff entirely out of sheer ignorance. I simply didn't know enough of his music. Now I believe we have a much clearer idea of his stature because of the relatively large amount that has been recorded. Of course the music has to be good for us even to be having this conversation, but I simply wanted to know - in the opinion of forum members (hopefully as objective as possible) - who seems to have emerged overall as likely contenders for admission to the pantheon of established composers.

[Alan Howe]

Well, everyone knows Gade - even if it's only from Schumann & Mendelssohn biographies...

No they don't. We do. But the vast majority of people wouldn't know him at all.

[Gareth Vaughan]

The point I am trying to make here is that we are now in a much better position to judge the overall merits of certain unsung composers because so much has been recorded and released in recent years.

Precisely. And on that basis I am happy to withdraw Litolff for the moment since only 4 concertos and a Piano Trio are commercially available. 

However, I stand by Josef Holbrooke - and we have ample evidence of Raff's stature.

[petershott@btinternet.com]

If we all agree (and happily so) that Raff goes straight into the pantheon of established composers without further ado, I do hope it doesn't follow from that agreement that he's no longer an unsung and therefore outside the scope of the Forum and that we can't write about him!