Composers famous for one work only.

[Ilja]

The odd performance here and there doesn't make a work famous, though...

Granted, but I the discussion was about Dukas being a one-hit-wonder or not. He may be in the anglophone world, but much less so in France and certainly to a lesser degree than, say, Litolff.

[Alan Howe]

Really? I'll take your word for it...

[khorovod]

Actually, a quick google search ( that focused on English language results only) revealed several performances of Dukas's Symphony in C over just the past two or three concert seasons and an upcoming one in Seattle on March 30th 2014... I didn't search for European outside the UK or Asian-Pacific concerts, so I imagine there have been more, so I am inclined to think we all (not just you Alan!) might be correct to take Ilja's word for it: it might not crop up as frequently as Tchaikovsky 4 or Mozart's Jupiter but it is apparently performed regularly though infrequently.
What did even more (!) give the lie to the fact that Dukas is a one-work-wonder was the surprising frequency of performances of the Fanfare-prelude to La Peri, almost as many as the Sorcerer's Apprentice, I was surprised to see. I guess we all need to be careful about making assumptions, in face of other people's actual experiences especially when "assumptions" are partly what has relegated all these composers we love to unsung status over the years!!   

[sdtom]

One could easily build a case for Gliere's Symphony No. 3.
Tom 

[eschiss1]

I think Glière's rather better known for his Red Poppy suite (the Russian Sailors' Dance specifically, iirc) than for Ilya Murometz any day of the week, sorry!

[eschiss1]

khorovod- I gather much the same thing (though without the symphony) from the incomplete, performer-and-conductor-submitted information that shows up on Bachtrack, re Dukas.
If the topic were "overwhelmingly well-known" to many people that would probably produce some interesting results (given the sheer number of people who only know Beethoven from little bits of his 5th symphony- not even his 9th or Für Elise)  but as often it depends on the question asked...

[alberto]

I had forgot to point out the relatively frequent revival of Dukas opera Ariane et Barbe Bleu. Several performances of different productions in recent years (even one in my city, where I saw two performances); several recordings : Deneve (on DVD); de Billy; Botstein; Gary Bertini (maybe an elderly radio performances); the belated Cd transfer of the A.Jordan; the very mediocre-and cut- Aubin on the Label Gala. Not yet a repertoire opera, but not an unsung one.   

[semloh]

I think Glière's rather better known for his Red Poppy suite (the Russian Sailors' Dance specifically, iirc) than for Ilya Murometz any day of the week, sorry!

Hard to know, of course, but I suspect this is true, at least outside of the Russia/ex-Soviet bloc.

Most music lovers only know Dohnányi for the Variations on a Nursery Song, and maybe Wolf-Ferrari for Jewels of the Madonna - in both cases a travesty of justice. 

[eschiss1]

Still, too, re Gliere, his duets and horn concerto (and maybe coloratura concerto), I think, may perhaps be just popular enough with teachers that many parents upwind from their children rehearsing may have heard something of his besides the suite. Don't know. At least enough to dispel "one-work" status, as not all those parents are themselves classical fanatics... Oki, I'm stretching- mostly. (Actually, that may be an underestimated "recruiting" method. I know that listening to my sister practice instruments in the living room of the house years ago taught me some interesting music even then, including a fine still underplayed Morçeau by Saint-Saëns...)

[TerraEpon]

If you're going to go with pedagogical music, then Kabalevsky is easily well known. Many of his tiny miniatures are among the first non-simplified pieces people will learn.

Also yes, Dohnanyi definetly fits. And speaking of "Wolf", Hugo Wolf for the Italian Serenade, maybe?

[Derek Hughes]

I second the mention of Dukas' Ariane et Barbe-bleu: a very substantial work, both musically and dramatically.

Nicolai is more definitely a one-work composer. I've bought the CDs of his Ivanhoe opera Il Templario. I enjoy listening to it, but don't remember a single phrase. The same goes for Flotow's Alessandro Stradella and Ponchielli's I Promessi Sposi: admirable works both, but much overshadowed by Martha and La Gioconda. I think I've heard Leoncavallo's La Boheme and Zandonai's Giulietta e Romeo , but wouldn't swear to it. They, too, are essentially one-opera composers. I particularly love Zandonai's Francesca da Rimini, and was very glad that the Met revived it last season.

[TerraEpon]

Leoncavallo, however, wrote the song 'Mattinata' which is really almost as popular as Pagliacci, reletively speaking.

[eschiss1]

Hrm. Is the "Italian Serenade" even well enough known to qualify? (Other works of his are being performed both on the radio in the next week and in the concert hall in this season-including his string quartet in D minor, in February in Belgium- but yes, I know that's not to-topic... still, I would have thought of Wolf as a 0-work composer so far as the general public was concerned.)

[Paul Barasi]

While reading this topic a crazy question came upon me: who composed only one work?

[Lionel Harrsion]

While reading this topic a crazy question came upon me: who composed only one work?

How about Clairs de lune by Abel Decaux (1869-1943)?