Five Most Underrated Symphonists

[The new erato]

Is it time to start a poll on the 5 most overrated underrated symphonists? Just wondering.....

[springrite]

Is it time to start a poll on the 5 most overrated underrated symphonists? Just wondering.....

There should be a limit as to how many choices to have. I mean, I began to hate this thread within a week because of how far I have to page down to see a post. At least two third of the names on the list does not belong in any poll. Is it a contest to show who can toss out more names as if he/she know them like the back of his/her hands though most people in this forum has never heard of them?

[Ken B]

If you enjoy the expressionism of Berg, then you'll feel right at home in Hartmann's sound-world.

I listened to Herbig 6. So going by one hearing of one piece  ...

I think, like with a lot of Reger, he over eggs the pudding. Berg always has cleaner lines and motion.  I'd say Hartmann to Berg as some of Reger to Brahms, if that makes sense. More is less.  I like Lulu, I like Wozzeck, I don't want them played simultaneously.

YMMV of course. I'll give 2 a try.

[Mirror Image]

I listened to Herbig 6. So going by one hearing of one piece  ...

I think, like with a lot of Reger, he over eggs the pudding. Berg always has cleaner lines and motion.  I'd say Hartmann to Berg as some of Reger to Brahms, if that makes sense. More is less.  I like Lulu, I like Wozzeck, I don't want them played simultaneously.

YMMV of course. I'll give 2 a try.

Hartmann studied with Joseph Haas who was a pupil of Max Reger, but he also, surprisingly, studied with Anton Webern. Hartmann's music, for me, was about his pint up anger and what he must have been feeling during the Nazi era (he was totally against them). He also withdrew from composing during WWII. All of the pain, suffering, and heartbreak is found in Hartmann's music. It's just manifested through a hard shell. His music is explosive, volatile and completely unhinged, but it's inspiring stuff for me because beneath the chaos there is an order and a whole world of musical richness to be found. So just keep listening!

[Ken B]

I heard Vermeulen 3, Leitner.

Again, I'm not sold. I'll try another, but at this point, having heard some the vote getters, I'm feeling more confident it's Miaskovsky!

[Mirror Image]

I heard Vermeulen 3, Leitner.

Again, I'm not sold. I'll try another, but at this point, having heard some the vote getters, I'm feeling more confident it's Miaskovsky!

Well not everything is instantly gratification. Some composers take time to appreciate.

[springrite]

Well not everything is instantly gratification. Some composers take time to appreciate.

As some gets that treatment multiple times, changing of mind that proves costly, as John will tell you.

[Mirror Image]

As some gets that treatment multiple times, changing of mind that proves costly, as John will tell you.

So true, so true.

[amw]

Is it time to start a poll on the 5 most overrated underrated symphonists? Just wondering.....

Hmm, that's a good idea.

At the moment I think my votes would go to Brian, Bax, Pettersson, Glazunov and Atterberg—any allure in their music has so far been inaudible to me—but there are plenty of these guys I've never even heard of.

[Ken B]

Bump.
ZauberdrachenNr7, you got some votin' to do. 

[Mirror Image]

I listened to Herbig 6. So going by one hearing of one piece  ...

I think, like with a lot of Reger, he over eggs the pudding. Berg always has cleaner lines and motion.  I'd say Hartmann to Berg as some of Reger to Brahms, if that makes sense. More is less.  I like Lulu, I like Wozzeck, I don't want them played simultaneously.

YMMV of course. I'll give 2 a try.

And, yet, you buy a Hartmann set of symphonies.

[Brian]

I chose Kalliwoda, Farrenc, Atterberg, George Lloyd, and Dag Wiren. I was the first vote for Lloyd or Wiren.

A couple composers I considered don't belong here because their symphonies ARE very highly rated: Prokofiev and Martinu. (To me at least, Martinu's is the best or anyway most consistently great symphony cycle on the list.)

A few more composers I considered don't deserve to be called "underrated" because, as living people, it's much too soon to tell how their symphonies will be rated. At any rate, critical consensus early on is very high, and I agree. Those composers are: Kalevi Aho, Christopher Rouse, Aaron Jay Kernis, Philip Glass.

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

. (To me at least, Martinu's is the best or anyway most consistently great symphony cycle on the list.)

Me too, which is why I voted for him. He's getting more recognition, but not quite as much as he should.

My other choices were Schuman, Simpson, Pettersson, and Arnold.

[Fagotterdämmerung]

  I'm somewhat in awe of the list here. I cast my vote based on what I've listened to, but about a third of these composers I've never even heard of. Good show.

[Ken B]

Bump.
ZauberdrachenNr7, you got some votin' to do. 

Bump.

Having now heard all of Hartmann's, still not sold. But I think Lloyd needs more exploration, from what I have listened to so far, and liked.