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For sheer profligacy (not just piano music), Niels Viggo Bentzon takes some beating. The BBC broadcasted some of his piano sonatas some time ago, and they aren't bad.

Should that perhaps be prolificacy?

You're right: it should be '....profligacy and prolificacy...'

I'm pleased to see the number of mentions for Liapunov in this thread: I think it's incomprehensible how neglected his Transcendentals are.

Another neglected composer is Karl Tausig. Not truly a great, but how many are? Plus he died at 29; a great loss to the music world. Here's possibly his most famous original work: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbGHoPttwhQ

Incomprehensible, really?

Surely you jest. None of them remotely match the genius of Liszt's etudes, though Liapunov's piano writing is very effective, and yes, difficult. The music looks impressive on the printed page -Amy Beach's music comes to mind here- but there is little evidence of anything remotely original.

Liapunov was just another Russian, amongst many, who breathed the winds of Rimsky-Korsakov and Borodin, but basically re-wrote their music. Listen to his two symphonies. He should have been sued for plagiarism.

+1

A semi-professional performance of a Lyapunov etude I heard this summer was one of the dullest things I've heard in recent memory. Not on my list of "just below the greats."

wr, thanks so much again for taking the time to recommend the music. The Sessions sonata is great, I haven't been able to check out his other works yet. The Krenek and Markevitch variations are great - up there with some of the "standards" that are typically played. I'd forgotten about the cutoff in the final fugue as you had mentioned, and that was quite disappointing (really? so close to the finish?) Reminded me of a video of Leontyne Price singing Signore Ascolta that cuts off early - now that's just mean!! I still go back today and hope the outcome will be different, but no dice. The Honegger also enjoyable.

-Daniel

I don't think that Grieg gets nearly enough love. Whoever said Granados gave a good answer. As far as recent composers, how about Nikolai Kapustin and Wim Statius Muller?

Jason

Kapustin is getting a lot of attention actually. His works frequently appear on competition and recital programs these days. Not to mention all the amateur videos put up on youtube of his etudes. And yes, he does pop up on the Pianist Corner from time to time.

I just participated in a concert where the music of Boris Lyatoshynsky was played, and he was described in the programme as one of the greatest Ukrainian composers. I couldn't find a mention of him on this forum, so here's a link to his Sonata No.1 from that concert.

Boris Tchaikovsky? Has anybody ever heard of his namesake, Piotr Ilich (such an unfortunate name!)? I don't recall seeing one mention on PW of any of his solo piano works, which fill 6 volumes.

I'd add Thalberg and Blumenfeld, simply for their wonderful ingenuity in treating the keyboard. Ireland is pretty famously neglected, too.

John Ireland I presume? Then, BINGO!

Not neglected at all is his setting of the Anglican Canticles in F -continually done in the UK- but his songs and piano sonata are indeed neglected. His piano concerto was once popular at The Proms, not appreciated these days so much, but it is an incredible piece of music.

Ireland's political beliefs have lost their pungency and relevance, really rather silly today, though he was at least honest about it.

More interesting is the chapter in the book 'Queer Episodes in Music and Modern Identity'. Pre-Stonewall history makes for very uncomfortable reading, and Ireland hid from us his deepest secrets.

If anyone cares to listen to it.

I sorta grew up with this piece, it was much in the background of my youth in the UK, but none of my teachers ever asked me to consider learning it.

I guess it's time had gone by then, Ireland was suspect, but show me a greater piano concerto from that time.

Underrated, yes I would say so.

Many thanks for posting the Ireland Concerto, Argerichfan. Having not heard it since my youth - long before studying his solo piano music - it's really interesting to experience the musical language and idioms of the solo works (especially those of the 1920s) with the added dimension of orchestral timbres and serving the large-scale organizational expectations of a concerto. It'll require many listenings, though, to form a judgment as to whether the work succeeds as satisfyingly as the solo pieces, where Ireland was unquestionably on home ground.

Wieniawski and I share the same birthday, July 10. Interestingly, he also wrote a lengthy Bm sonata like Liszt. Unlike Liszt, however, he gets no love for his work. Shame. What's confusing, though, is the series "The Romantic Piano Concerto Vol. 52" lists his Gm Piano Concerto as Op. 20. In other recordings, as well as Wikipedia, his piano concertos are listed as No. 1 in F#m, Op. 14 and No. 2 in Dm, Op. 22. So what is this Gm, Op. 22 business which I possess as the aforementioned Bm sonata? Looks like a job for Sherlock Holmes.

Sherlock not needed - you are just confusing the Wieniawski brothers, Józef and Henryk.

I haven't been on these forums too long to make an accurate judgement, but I feel like Alkan's name should come up a lot more.

Surely it's got to be Handel? Whether people like him or not, he's widely accepted as one of the greats, the way many of the others mentioned on here aren't. But there's such a prejudice against him, one that even I can't help sharing to some extent. For example, I have Richter playing 2 whole CDs of his Keyboard Suites as part of the 'Icon' box. There are some insanely beautiful and exciting pieces on there, but I don't listen to it much. Often when I do put it on, after a while I tend to think: okay, that's enough Handel! And then I feel bad because I know he deserves better.

Here's a real-life scenario that that probably illustrates his current rep quite well:


I'm playing the Richter CDs.

Someone comes in. "Oh, I love this! Could you burn a disc for me?"

"Sure, I'll burn a disc of this Handel for you."

"Oh, it's Handel? I thought it was Bach?"

After that they never remind me to burn a disc for them, and I get to save a disc.

(Of course in reality I never would have burnt that disc for them, because that would be like stealing )

Now I'm not saying that Handel is the same thing as Bach, but still. And I wonder sometimes what the grounds of this prejudice might be?

William Grant Still? He's definitely neglected, and undeservedly so.

This is a GREAT post. I completely agree; I only know Lyapunov for his choral/religious music, but it's the kind of music you stop what you're doing to pay attention to. Lyapunov is thick musicking.

Glazunov wrote a saxophone sonata!

Medtner doesn't get much love -- the forgotten Russian Romantic -- but he has some nice shorter pieces (Fairy Tales?).

Of course, hit up Rzwvzckqlrtpszewsky .