Well-known music you've somehow overlooked (or never got round to hearing)

[Karl Henning]

I think Wellington's victory is better than its reputation.

I think that must be fair.  But, heck, I feel the same about the 1812 Overture!

[bwv 1080]

I've come around to liking Mahler much better than I used to;  but I don't think he'll ever make my "first string."  No knock against him;  just a matter of this listener, and that body of work.

Or perhaps you just prefer your Mahler Slavified by Dmitri

[Gurn Blanston]

Well, the same goes for Haydn, buddy.

It's OK, the Mahler Myth will live on long after I am dust... and the Haydn Legacy even longer!  0:)

[Karl Henning]

And Haydn's reputation will wax ever greater  0:)

[Papy Oli]

My major blind spots :

Opera
Piano Concerti
Bach Cantatas and his main Choral works
Some major SQ (Shosta, Mozart...)
some Ballet Music (Prokofiev)

and those composers :

Aho
Alkan
Alwyn
Arnold
Bantock
Bax
Berio
Bloch
Boulez
Braga Santos
Bridge
Butterworth
Buxtehude
Byrd (Keyboard music)
Canteloube
Carter
Casella
Corelli
CPE Bach
D'Indy
Dallapicolla
Dutilleux
Enescu
Faure (Chamber)
Frescobaldi
Froberger
Gabaidulina
Gade
Ginastera
Hartmann
Hindemith
Holmboe
Honegger
Hovhaness
Hummel
Ives
Kachaturian
Korngold
Liadov
Ligeti
Lindberg
Lutoslawski
Magnard
Malipiero
Massenet
Melartin
Milhaud
Moeran
Norgard
Novak
Peterson-Berger
Pfitzner
Pierné
Purcell
Rautavaraa
Reger
Reiff
Revueltas
Rihm
Rubbra
Sallinen
Schnittke
Schumann, Clara
Scriabin
Simpson
Soler
Sweelinck
Szymanovski
Telemann (harpsichord)
Tippett
Toch
Tubin
Vasks
Walton
Weinberg
Willaert
Wolf
Wuorinen
Xenakis
Zelenka

so plenty more to discover when the time and the mood are right 

[Henk]

My major blind spots :

Opera
Piano Concerti
Bach Cantatas and his main Choral works
Some major SQ (Shosta, Mozart...)
some Ballet Music (Prokofiev)

and those composers :

Aho
Alkan
Alwyn
Arnold
Bantock
Bax
...
Zelenka

so plenty more to discover when the time and the mood are right 

So you have listened to anything by Donatoni?

[North Star]

I don't listen to Mahler. I'm not sure why. I listened to Kubelik conducting his third, and liked it, kinda-sorta, but decided not to listen to anymore until some as-yet-undetermined time in the distant future. Perhaps very distant.

The Third is certainly not the one I'd recommend to someone just tipping their toes in Mahler.

[Papy Oli]

So you have listened to anything by Donatoni?

Henk,
No I haven't. I only saw his name yesterday for the first time through your mention of him in this thread.

Just to clarify, my list doesn't mean I have listened to everybody else who doesn't appear in it  This list is basically my personal tracking of a 2nd or 3rd tier of composers that I need to explore further once I have spent enough time absorbing the "main" composers I have added in my collection in the last 2-3 years. The original full list was based on the main recognisable names from the composers index (again a personal choice...) through their "regular" mentions wherever in the forum... and I gradually worked my way through it, wherever my evolving taste, mood and mindframe took me over time.

Of course, your view on the importance of such or such composer may vary.

[Sammy]

So you have listened to anything by Donatoni?

You seem to have Donatoni on the brain.  I think there's a pill for that.

[Papy Oli]

I know of a Donadoni.... he played for Milan in the 1990's, but not at the Scala 

[aukhawk]

The Third is certainly not the one I'd recommend to someone just tipping their toes in Mahler.

As to toe-dipping - why not take it one movement at a time?  It's not as though they were conceived and written as entities.  (The 1st symphony originally had 5 movements, the last movt of the 4th was originally part of the 3rd, the outer movts of the 7th were composed a long time after the middle 3, etc).
I often listen to just movts 3,4,5 of the 3rd - and just 2,3,4 of the 7th - and the 1st movement of the 2nd works perfectly well as a standalone piece. The adagio of the 5th is famously often performed separately. Of course you can't often do this in the concert hall, but at home, why not.  Bleeding chunks? - not really.

[Brian]

As to toe-dipping - why not take it one movement at a time?  It's not as though they were conceived and written as entities.  (The 1st symphony originally had 5 movements, the last movt of the 4th was originally part of the 3rd, the outer movts of the 7th were composed a long time after the middle 3, etc).
I often listen to just movts 3,4,5 of the 3rd - and just 2,3,4 of the 7th - and the 1st movement of the 2nd works perfectly well as a standalone piece. The adagio of the 5th is famously often performed separately. Of course you can't often do this in the concert hall, but at home, why not.  Bleeding chunks? - not really.

The adagietto is the only part of the 5th I listen to, and if you're really averse to Mahler's orchestral language, it's available in an achingly beautiful choral (!) transcription by the French choir Accentus.

The first movement of No. 3 could well be a standalone symphony.

[Jay F]

You may just not like Mahler. It's not a requirement that everyone like every composer. Some I love. Some I like. Some are better than rap.

[(poco) Sforzando]

My 25th birthday is in a week and a half. I've never heard:
- Bach's St Matthew Passion
- Bach's Mass in B minor
- Bach's cantatas (any)
- most of Bach's keyboard partitas and suites, or most of his organ works
- anything by Handel except Water Music, Fireworks Music, and some organ concertos
- Beethoven's Missa solemnis and string quartets Opp. 131-132 (Op. 130 only once; Op. 135 only once, live)
- Schubert's string quartets, except "Death and the Maiden" once
- the vast majority of Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, or Wolf lieder
- Mahler's Sixth, Seventh, Ninth, or Tenth
- four of the Bartok quartets
- Shostakovich's Second, Third, Fourth, Eighth, or 12-15 (or about half his quartets)
- all but two Cage pieces

My dear fellow, I congratulate you on having avoided an extraordinarily distinguished body of work.

I don't know exactly what I've managed to avoid myself, but based on what I've heard of Joly Braga-Santos and Havergal Brian, I intend to continue avoiding their work as much as possible.

[bwv 1080]

The adagietto is the only part of the 5th I listen to, and if you're really averse to Mahler's orchestral language

Then you have no soul and I pity you

The third movement of the first symphony (Frere Jacques evil twin) is another easy entry point with something that is uniquely Mahlerian

[Pat B]

The third movement of the first symphony (Frere Jacques evil twin) is another easy entry point with something that is uniquely Mahlerian

The Frere Jacques is insanely good. I'm in the entire-work-at-a-time crowd, but it's always tough not to put this movement on repeat.

The 1st is a good choice for those who are inclined to full works. (And if the finale seems too blaring, try again next week.)

[Jo498]

Supposedly Klemperer refused to conduct Mahler's 5th, because he thought the adagietto was to close to kitsch...

[EigenUser]

As to toe-dipping - why not take it one movement at a time?  It's not as though they were conceived and written as entities.  (The 1st symphony originally had 5 movements, the last movt of the 4th was originally part of the 3rd, the outer movts of the 7th were composed a long time after the middle 3, etc).
I often listen to just movts 3,4,5 of the 3rd - and just 2,3,4 of the 7th - and the 1st movement of the 2nd works perfectly well as a standalone piece. The adagio of the 5th is famously often performed separately. Of course you can't often do this in the concert hall, but at home, why not.  Bleeding chunks? - not really.

+1

Even though I have heard all except the 3rd, 8th, and 10th in full, I usually listen to single movements. Not always, but more often than not. Sometimes, like you said you do, I'll group a few together. For M9, the 3rd and 4th mvts go very well together and have blatantly obvious connections.

The Frere Jacques is insanely good. I'm in the entire-work-at-a-time crowd, but it's always tough not to put this movement on repeat.

The 1st is a good choice for those who are inclined to full works. (And if the finale seems too blaring, try again next week.)

I love the 1st symphony. One of my favorites. Although it is lighter than his others, it is not a "practice" like a lot of 1sts end up being. The first movement makes me think of springtime for some reason. Does anyone else hear a Jewish-sounding melody in the 3rd mvt? It's played by the woodwinds after the "Frere Jacques" canon and in the score it is marked "with parody". Would anyone here know if that is a traditional song or just an invention of his own?

The cymbal crash and dissonant chord that opens the 4th mvt of the 1st never ceases to startle me when it begins, especially after the quiet ending of the 3rd mvt.

For anyone who really likes 20th-century music like I do, I'd recommend starting with the 7th. It's the most abstract one, I think. Boulez's recording is excellent. That one sounds best when it is more emotionally detached. I wouldn't want to go near Boulez for something like the 9th, but his style is perfect for the 7th (aren't you guys so proud of me? I'm getting to recognize differences in recordings! ).

[Madiel]

Supposedly Klemperer refused to conduct Mahler's 5th, because he thought the adagietto was to close to kitsch...

Depends on how you conduct it. I think half the point of labelling it an adagietto was to tell conductors that it wasn't necessary for them to wallow in it.

[Jo498]

Depends on how you conduct it. I think half the point of labelling it an adagietto was to tell conductors that it wasn't necessary for them to wallow in it.

Yes, and e.g. Walter conducted it in a much more flowing tempo than some later conductors who prefer to wallow...
Still, I think the isolated fame of this piece may have done Mahler a disservice. It's not so typical after all and listeners are bound to be disappointed if they think otherwise.