This question is prompted by my listening yesterday to Dvorak's 6th symphony, an utterly delightful work which we don't hear often enough other than on CD. Much the same could be said about his 8th. Yet we hear The New World ad nauseam. Similarly we hear Rachmaninov's 2nd piano concerto over and over, but rarely his 2nd symphony. Are there any other pieces by famous composers that you think are unjustly neglected in favour of am overplayed 'warhorse'? (I'm tempted also to say anything by Pachelbel apart from that canon...)
del_icious_manager2009-05-26T02:31:18Z
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This is my sort of question (very few worthwhile ones nowadays, hence my almost total disappearance)! Here are a few examples:
Bizet - 'Carmen', as great as it is, has cast a shadow of almost everything else Bizet wrote (except for that famous duet from 'The Pearl Fishers' and the 'Farandole' from 'L'Arlésienne'). I would urge people to have a listen to the masterful little Symphony (No 1) in C Bizet wrote when he was a mere 17 years old. He himself referred to it as 'No 1', obviously hoping that one day he might composer another. A shame he didn't.
Bruch - String Octet. Although Bruch was, at best, a second-rate composer, he did write a few useful pieces. All of these are overshadowed by the overplayed, overrated First Violin Concerto, which is a contender for the most unjustly overexposed work in music.
Dvořák - I agree the 'New World' Symphony is played far too often. I would suggest that the 7th Symphony is Dvořák's symphonic masterpiece.
Enescu - One of the greatest musicians of the 20th century and of all time, as a composer everything is overshadowed by the First Romanian Rhapsody that even he came to despise for its overwhelming popularity. Almost everything else he wrote was a masterpiece but do we ever hear any of it?
Górecki - Of course, the Third Symphony's enormous popularity about 10 years ago has almost made Górecki a 'one-hit wonder', although there are some other excellent works, such as the Harpsichord Concerto, 'Kleines Requiem für eine Polka' and 'Old Polish Music'.
Holst - as much as I still love it after all these years, it is a shame that we don't get to hear very much of his music outside of 'The Planets'. For me, his masterpiece is a dark, brooding, atmospheric symphonic poem called 'Egdon Heath', with other great works including the 'Choral Hymns from the Rig Veda', the 'Hymn of Jesus' and the Choral Symphony.
Prokofiev - I agree with Glinzek that much of Prokofiev's greatest works are overlooked in favour of a few which have become popular. However, I diverge from Glinzek's view on the choice of symphonies. The muscular, gritty 6th Symphony is one of the greatest in the genre during the 20th century, while the 7th and 8th Piano Sonatas deserve to be heard a lot more. The 3rd Symphony isn't at all bad either.
Rakhmaninov - Again, I agree with Glinzek about the Symphonic Dances - although I thought the 2nd Symphony did quite well for performances (certainly here in the UK). All we ever hear are the 2nd Piano Concerto, the Paganini Variations and the Preulde in C-sharp minor *sigh*.
Ravel - Of course 'Boléro' is done to death at the expense of great works like 'Daphnis et Chloë', 'Miroirs', the 'Rapsodie espagnole' and the one-act operas 'L'enfant et les sortilèges' and 'L'heure espagnole'.
Vivaldi - Well, thankfully, 'The Four Seasons' (especially 'Spring') hasn't been ruined for me yet, so great is the music, but I yearn to hear performances of many of his other amazing concertos and some of his ravishingly beautiful choral works such as the 'Stabat Mater' and the 'Nisi Dominus'. Not to mention the operas!
The neglect of many masterpieces and the over-exposure of other (sometimes second-rate) works has been a cause of constant frustration and exasperation to me for many years - and will continue to be so, no doubt. In my professional life I have been a tireless advocate and champion of lesser-known works that are crying out to be heard more frequently. I guess I'll just keep plugging away ...
And as for Rach's 2nd symphony, we hear it more frequently than the 1st or the 3rd -- and the 3rd is his best. And what about the "Symphonic Dances"?
Prokofiev's 1st and 5th symphonies get programmed much more frequently than his others -- and the 3rd and 7th are tremendous works that NEVER find their way to the concert hall. The same goes for is 2nd and 5th piano concertos.
Beethoven's 2nd, 4th and 8th symphonies.
Mozart's "Prague" (38th) and 39th Symphonies.
Any Schubert symphony besides the "Unfinished" and the "Great" C major.
And as for Dvorak, what about the incredible "Serenade" for winds?
And what about Rossini's non-operatic works? Aside from "Stabat Mater" -- and Bocherini's string symphonies, which are simply lovely -- and, and and..........
Of course, the problem today for most orchestra's is drawing an audience -- and audiences in general would rather hear familiar works, so the various bands trot 'em out with predictable regularity. The orchestra in my town has programmed Schuman's a minor concerto three times in the last 4 seasons, Beethoven's 3rd concerto twice, Brahms second symphony twice, etc. etc.
We'll just have to settle for listening to recordings of the less performed works, or new works by new composers. At least until the world-wide economy improves.
For me it would definitely be Bach's French Suites...English Suites are still heard but I scarcely hear French Suites.
Alkan deserves a much bigger spotlight than the one he has now.Many masterpieces are being revived and yet still so many unknown!His earlier works are dismissed as being "less imaginative" than his later works which I really disagree.Le Preux is something you don't hear often,perhaps not at all in fact!The only recording done is by Ronald Smith,the dead pioneer in Alkan's music.
Chopin is probably the biggest Romantic composer...He is too common in repertoire which is due to his accessibility and "emotions" in his music.His Mazurkas are lovely staples to every pianist repertoire but they don't get played often.I would love to see his other impromptus being played than his same Fantasie Impromptu.Its just that his works are so overplayed that they have become Cliche.
This is an interesting question, and you've certainly had a colourful selection of responses.
My candidate here is the Renaissance composer Gregorio Allegri, famous for his "Misererie mei, Deus" - and, it seems, little else - despite his impressive output.
Yes, the "Misererie" is a hauntingly beautiful work, but I think it's pretty overplayed nowadays, which unfortunately taints its beauty for me...I'm disappointed that more of his wonderful music isn't heard very often.
Sad thing is, Allegri composed a wealth of music, including five masses, two volumes of concerti for five voices, two volumes of motets for six voices, many motets, and two gorgeous settings of the Lamentations of Jeremiah.
What a shame that so many people regard Allegri as a "One Hit Wonder..."
Shostakovich 8th - always overshadowed by the 5th and 7th.
Note to del_icious: Being a band geek, I get to hear lots of Holst that's not The Planets, like the First and Second Suites for Military Band, and Hammersmith.