So, I'm curious as to the selection of British composers.

Not being British myself, I know I tread on dangerous ground, but weren't there some pretty talented British composers that do not appear on this list? Like, um, John Field, Thomas Tallis, William Sterndale Bennett, Donald Tovey, Frederick Cliffe, etc.

This is not a criticism. I mean, an exhaustive list of all British composers throughout history would be absurd to undertake. And I'm thinking that your "time on my hands" was a major factor. But I'm just curious as to whether there were any selection criteria other than these are just names you happened to think of.

What I find interesting about this list is that so many composers live well beyond the average lifespan. The average lifespan for a male in Britain at present is mid- to late-70s, yet a lot of these composers live well into their 90s. And I don't think British composers are unique in that regard. It seems that many composers from other countries also had long lives. I wonder what their secret is/was.

The idea of an "obscurity index" is interesting, but some basic questions would need to be sorted out. For example, are you talking about the obscurity of a composer? Or is it the percentage of works by a composer, no matter how famous the composer is? And obscure to whom? Concert audiences? Radio listeners? academics? Orchestra musiciuans? Soloists?

Overall, that seems a formidable wall of obscurity to climb before ever rating the obscurity of music/composers.

Conversely, I've often wondered whether composers could be grouped in tiers. The criteria could be a combination of types of evidence about familiarity -- frequency of performances in concert, frequency of recordings played on classical radio, number of commercial recordings available, etc.

I think it would be pretty easy, based on those criteria to determine which composers unquestionably reside in tier 1 and probably pretty easy to decide which ones belong in the bottom tier as most obscure. But there would be many debates regarding which composers belong at which level in the tiers between.

I take a stab at it periodically, but always give up in frustration. My choices would probably differ from the decisions of others anyway, and if it ius not a group effort seeking consensus, it seems rather futile.

To me, the obscurity index would be even more difficult!

Sorry to dredge up an old topic, but I'm trying to find my way around here and ran across this topic.

I found Slatkin's list pretty bizarre. Many of these pieces are not really "forgotten" because they were never really "known." In other words, they never received much notice to begin with and never really penetrated the concert hall repertoire to a noticeable extent, so how can they be "forgotten"?

One item I would seriously question on this list is the Hovhaness. This particular work has been recorded quite a lot, the recordings are still available and still sell, and it remains one of the best known pieces by an American composer. So, I would not consider it "forgotten" at all.

And I certainly agree, Myaskovsky shoukd have been on that list.  ;D

Well, some might say that. I doubt that the vast majority of classical music listeners would say that. His reputation, popularity and influence were already well established by the time he got round to writing the Paganini Variations, the Symphonic Dances and his 3rd symphony.

Rachmaninoff composing The Bells pretty 4 years before before leaving Russia. One must remember that Rachmaninoff was not a young man when he emigrated. He was 45 years old when he landed in NY.

Rachmaninoff is another difficult one. He did live in the U.S. most of his adult life. He is buried in the U.S., alongside his wife. He missed the life and culture he was raised in as a youth in Russia, but all that was lost in the Revolution and he vowed he would never return, even when he was asked to return later in life. The compositions he wrote after emigrating to the U.S. were not insignificant -- Variations on a Theme of Paganini, Symphony No, 3, the Symphonic Dances, Piano Concerto No. 4, Variations on a Theme of Corelli.

However, he did not become an American citizen until shortly before his death. And his most acclaimed and influential works, which established him among the great composers of Romantic era music, were completed or drafted before he left Russia.

So, consistent with my personal inclination to think of composers in the context of their works, as much as I would love to claim him as American, I think of Rachmaninoff as a Russian composer who lived in America.

I've always tried to consider a composer in the context of his work, rather than the country of birth, as many of them immigrated for various reasons.

Bloch wrote only a small number of pieces before arriving in the U.S. Almost all of his adult life was spent in the U.S. as an American citizen. The vast majority of his opus was penned and published in the U.S. and pretty much all of his professional activity took place in the U.S.

So I would personally consider him a Swiss born American composer.

More complicated is Gian Carlo Menotti, who was Samuel Barber's partner in life. He called himself an American composer, lived almost all his life in the U.S., and composed in the U.S. But he remained an Italian citizen, died at a home he owned in Monaco and was buried in Scotland!

There are a couple of issues to consider, IMO. First, Rachmaninoff was working from a Russian loose translation of the poem, so the translation itself surely contributed to Rachmaninoff's setting.

Second, Rachmaninoff used the poem as a vehicle, but his real interest was in the bells. He had been fascinated by bells since childhood, especially as the bells of the Orthodox church rang on different occasions and sleigh bells were so common during Russian winters. Bells appear in other music by Rachmaninoff. Most notably, the pattern of Orthodox bells, a step-wise pattern, is heavily used in his symphonies. Rachmaninoff also used the Catholic chant for the dead, Dies irae, in almost all of his orchestral works and especially throughout The Bells.

These were the familiar settings of bells for Rachmaninoff, and given the loose translation of Poe's poem that he was using, it's not surprising that his composition turned out as it did.

I've listened to the Holbrooke piece several times. As to whether it is more successful at rendering Poe's poem, I suppose that's a matter of opinion. I find the strains of Dies irae quite ominous in Rachmaninoff's setting. The 3rd movement, when properly performed, is certainly frightening, and the iron bells of death truly depressing. But it can be argued that Rachmaninoff is not as dark as Poe might have liked overall. Holbrooke may have been more successful at that.

I've tracked down around 40 commercial and broadcast recordings of Rachmaninoff's The Bells. The Holbrooke, well, not so many. There's a reason for that. Exact fidelity to the spirit of Poe is not really of particular importance to most people, I think. Certainly not for me. I'm glad to have heard the Holbrooke a few times, but I'll return to the Rachmaninoff when I need a Bells fix.

I have the 1st Symphony by *Vladimir* Bunin, but not by Revol Bunin. It's Vlad I was interested, ignorant of the potential confusion, as I was not familiar with Revol. But I do thank you for uploading the symphonies by Revol.

The following werte posted on the old UC site, but the links are now dead. Does anyone have recordings of these works by Bunin. All I have are the Symphony No. 1 and the Viola Concerto. Would really likle to find other works by him.

Piano Sonata No. 4 in F minor, Op. 22
Tatiana Nikolayeva (Piano)
dead -- http://www.mediafire.com/?pkroi6n0acb6q7q

Piano Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 24
Victor Bunin (Piano); USSR Radio and TV Symphony Orchestra; Gennady Cherkasov (Conductor)
dead -- http://www.4shared.com/file/PqJurPrl/Eruditos_-_Evgeny_Golubev__-_P.html

Piano Concerto No. 3 in G minor, Op. 40
Tatiana Nikolayeva (Piano); USSR State Academy Symphony Orchestra; Nikolai Anosov (Conductor)
dead -- http://www.4shared.com/file/NZq-KlmW/Eruditos_-_Evgeny_Golubev__-_P.html

Yes, Tassie's book really is expensive. I am hoping for a paperback edition that I can afford.

Uploaded a new performance of Myaskovsky's 4th Symphony.

Nikolai Myaskovsky
Symphony No. 4 in E Minor, op. 17

Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra
Valery Gergiev, conductor

Doelen Concert Hall, Rotterdam

14 September 2014

https://www.mediafire.com/?v1tp9j76mrlxnxn

I uploaded an unusual recording of music by Fibich, which had been lost over at UC. Thanks to fr8nks for the original upload. Enjoy.

Zdenek Fibich  (1850-1900)

Moods, Impressions and Reminiscences (orchestrated by Ridky)

1. Quasi presto e con fuoco from "Moods"
2. Maestoso from "Reminiscences"
3. Poco allegro from "Moods"
4. Andantino from "Reminiscences"
5. Moderato from "Reminiscences"

Film Symphony Orchestra
Jaroslav Ridky, Conductor

Supraphon LPM 471

https://www.mediafire.com/?pcpn96931n6wxuy

Note: This was originally posted at UC by fr8nks, but the link died, so with many thanks to him, here is a re-up of this delightful music. From a long out of print LP.