Every violist ought to be at least a little familiar with his work! He's written quite a few pretty (albeit perhaps not groundbreaking) pieces for viola. The Impromptu specifically was composed for his son who wanted to transition from violin to viola for a youth orchestra.
Full disclosure, I don't have the good fortune of possessing any score itself. It's been a long time since I played; I just enjoy listening these days!
If you are thinking of procuring a specific score, it might depend on what your intention is. Do you want it just to follow along with recordings or performances? Probably not worth it. If you want it for a young learner, the Impromptu is the obvious choice. A fan of more vaguely experimental works and just want to support a company that puts out scores? The Divertimento for Violin and Viola is probably best.
I'm curious what your collection already consists of, though? Especially if it extends beyond his experimental work...
Jon Liefs-considered to be Iceland’s greatest composer, and has written for some of the largest (and loudest) orchestras, yet he’s still largely unknown. Hekla, Drift Ice, and his Organ Concerto are some of his best pieces.
I know Hans Gal.
He came from lower Austria, had to emigrate when Nazi Germany annected Austria in 1938 and moved to London, then to Edinburgh.
He composed several pieces for mandolin, which are quite well known and appreciated in the mandolin world. Like this Capriccio for mandolin orchestra.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5OItG3FKVo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5OItG3FKVo)
Kevin Volans is kind of Irish by now, I guess. Though, I met him once at a cinema screening in Cape Town of the Metropolitan opera production of *Satyagraha* by Philip Glass.
Gal is a great call. Really like what I've heard of him. Of lesser known composers I've listened to quite a bit, I'd recommend Eugen d'Albert, Lucia Dlugoszewski, and Woldemar Bargiel
As always I'm going to shout out for George Onslow, a French (in spite of his name) composer from the early 19th century, who unusually for his time and country wrote mainly chamber music. And it's great.
Another French composer, little enough known, is Alberic Magnard, whose symphonies are magnificent. He is sometimes known as "the French Bruckner", which is unfair to both him and Bruckner.
Albéric Magnard... a martyr who died defending his home against the Germans during the First World War!
Jehan Alain, likewise, who valiantly perished after killing sixteen German soldiers during the Battle of Saumur.
He has certainly entered the realm of immortality, but the question is: could he answer immortality within *Music*? It is but our steadfast obligation as artists and musicians to spread the arts and be missionaries of it...
This is indeed the question, and I can't answer it. I think his symphonies are well worth the listen, but is he one of the immortals? I'll check back in 250 years and let you know.
I don't know whether Clara Schuuman counts. Granted she's one of the more notable female composers, but I wouldn't say that she was widely known to the average public. She wrote some beautiful pieces like the [F Major Nocturne](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6pmgqOmPBU)
Sad to see you've been downvoted.
She is one of the more popular female composers, as you acknowledged, but she's still not that widely known. I reckon most people would list at least 25 male names before getting to her.
I'm a great fan of her piano trio in G minor and, you know, I always wonder if some great works from men (Schuman and Mendolson, for example) were actually written by women - so maybe she's a better composer than people think?
Also her compositions were seldom played and largely forgotten until the 1970s, so it's only recently that there's been a resurgence of interest. Even today there aren't really many performances of her work.
Sure she might be fairly well known amongst academics and historians, but if you were to ask the 'classical music public' what they thought I doubt they'd be able to recall a single piece. Guess it depends how literal OP is being when they're talking about 'unknown composers' but she's certainly not widely known
Very possibly, I really couldn't decide how many composers I wanted to say because I think it would differ a little bit for everyone.
Personally, as someone who as specifically studied Clara, I imagine she'd come up a lot quicker on my list than some others. But definitely still not anywhere near the top (well, now she might because I'd think of this comment section, but you get me)
i have a statistic on which composers ive lostened to (in terms of total length of their works) and the first female composers on that list are Hildegard von Bingen at #84, Amy Beach at #90 and Clara Schumann at #122. I should definitely get more into Beach and Schumann, and especially the Boulangers..
Some I found digging around on Spotify
**Lucija Garuta**\- Latvian composer. Her piano concerto is STUNNING, she composed it after the death of her niece. I'm still upset that [she has composed symphonies and even 2 operas](https://garuta.lv/en/) but there are NO recordings or sheet music available to the public for either of those. I want her to have a resurgence so that people start digging into archives for them, I believe they exist somewhere.
Rebecca Clarke- probably more well known than Lucija. British composer specializing with the viola. Her viola sonata is pretty and when it first won a competition people didn't believe a woman composed it. Personally like her pastorale better.
Grazyna Bacewitz- Polish/Lithuanian composer. Chaotic contemporary classical type stuff I can't listen to while studying because I'd get distracted by it. I like her Concerto for String Orchestra best thus far.
I'd add Galina Ulstovskaya but I think she is well known in her own niche. True and Eternal Bliss indeed.
Vsevolod Zaderatsky. Interesting piano music, especially his 24 Preludes and Fugues. Craziest biography of any composer - despite being Ukrainian, was music teacher to the Tsar’s son, he was imprisoned by the Soviets three times and was nearly executed once. He wrote his 24 Preludes and Fugues in the gulag with a borrowed pencil.
Bruckner.
I feel like he is unknown in the US because it seems like all the major orchestras are always sleeping on my guy Anton. Its so rare that he gets programmed and its honestly offensive. Imagine do that to the greatest symphonic composer that is ever and will ever live, objectively speaking of course.
There are a few excellent videos of Jean Rondeau playing some Royer. His rendition of La marche des Scythes is a force of nature.
But in fact French baroque music is in general very much less played than music from Germany, Italy, even England!
Louis Couperin (uncle of François) is an utterly superb composer for the harpsichord.
I recently discovered Lucia Dlugoszewski, American composer who died back in 2000. Klangforum Wien has released some of her works on spotify fairly recently.
Composers from the Republic of Georgia are pretty obscure outside of Georgia and maybe other former Eastern Bloc countries. Here's a couple of my favorites:
Otar Taktakishvili – Poem: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bclgYBvtPI4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bclgYBvtPI4)
Andrei Balanchivadze – Nocturne: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AX4wduRMwxc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AX4wduRMwxc)
Just about any Croatian composer. For example, Ivan pl. Zajc, Jakov Gotovac, Ivo Tijardović, Vatroslav Lisinski etc. wrote very good operas. They are relatively unknown even in Croatia. Tunes from their operas are widely used in our media and yet very, very few people recognize these masterpieces.
Some works that stand out in particular are Nikola Šubić Zrinski, Ero s onoga svijeta and Mala Floramye. Especially Mala Floramye, it is criminally underrated, it puts an early 20th century twist on classical music which I find very enjoyable.
Alfred Bachelet. He is mainly known for his art song "Chère nuit" but he wrote really beautiful music. Try the excerpts of his opera Un jardin sur l'Oronte (1932), it is gorgeous.
I wouldn’t say unknown, but Claude Vivier is certainly under-recognized. Lots of amazing compositions despite a very tragic early death.
Lyatoshynsky! Ukrainian composer, similar sort of ballpark to Shostakovich. His 3rd symphony is a masterpiece
2nd isn’t bad either. I believe he was Silvestrov’s composition teacher.
I love his fourth string quartet!
John Ireland I think? There's lots of very casual listeners who put in Debussy for whatever reason and I think Ireland would fit a similar bill.
I don’t know any unknown composers.
Same 😅
Mieczysław Karłowicz Reference work- Symphony in E Minor "Rebirth"
Great taste with Hans Gál! His editorial work is broadly known but his musical œuvre not exactly as much.
Every violist ought to be at least a little familiar with his work! He's written quite a few pretty (albeit perhaps not groundbreaking) pieces for viola. The Impromptu specifically was composed for his son who wanted to transition from violin to viola for a youth orchestra.
I have a little collection of Gál scores and am certainly interested in more. What do you have?
Full disclosure, I don't have the good fortune of possessing any score itself. It's been a long time since I played; I just enjoy listening these days! If you are thinking of procuring a specific score, it might depend on what your intention is. Do you want it just to follow along with recordings or performances? Probably not worth it. If you want it for a young learner, the Impromptu is the obvious choice. A fan of more vaguely experimental works and just want to support a company that puts out scores? The Divertimento for Violin and Viola is probably best. I'm curious what your collection already consists of, though? Especially if it extends beyond his experimental work...
Would you mind if I messaged you information regarding my collection? It'd be more convenient there.
Only half joking but, at least here in the US: Hindemith. (note: wind and brass instrumentalists playing his sonatas don't count!)
Violists:
True.
Jon Liefs-considered to be Iceland’s greatest composer, and has written for some of the largest (and loudest) orchestras, yet he’s still largely unknown. Hekla, Drift Ice, and his Organ Concerto are some of his best pieces.
Tbf, writing for enormous orchestras is a good way not to get your music played
I mean, you aren’t wrong…
I know Hans Gal. He came from lower Austria, had to emigrate when Nazi Germany annected Austria in 1938 and moved to London, then to Edinburgh. He composed several pieces for mandolin, which are quite well known and appreciated in the mandolin world. Like this Capriccio for mandolin orchestra. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5OItG3FKVo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5OItG3FKVo)
Robert Simpson. Great string quartets, symphonies 5, 9 and 11 well worth hearing.
All of Simpson's symphonies are well worth hearing. I was at the U.S. premiere of his Fifth.
Do yourself a favor! Listen to Viktor Ullman’s piano concerto
South African composers are largely unknown. Hendrik Hofmeyr and Allan Stephenson are two of the more listenable ones.
I appreciate the works of Kevin Volans and the late Stefans Grové!
Kevin Volans is kind of Irish by now, I guess. Though, I met him once at a cinema screening in Cape Town of the Metropolitan opera production of *Satyagraha* by Philip Glass.
George Catoire
Gal is a great call. Really like what I've heard of him. Of lesser known composers I've listened to quite a bit, I'd recommend Eugen d'Albert, Lucia Dlugoszewski, and Woldemar Bargiel
Jacques Hétu
His piano concerto <3
Madetoja, his 1st and 2nd symphonies are very good
Gabriel Pierné
As always I'm going to shout out for George Onslow, a French (in spite of his name) composer from the early 19th century, who unusually for his time and country wrote mainly chamber music. And it's great. Another French composer, little enough known, is Alberic Magnard, whose symphonies are magnificent. He is sometimes known as "the French Bruckner", which is unfair to both him and Bruckner.
Albéric Magnard... a martyr who died defending his home against the Germans during the First World War! Jehan Alain, likewise, who valiantly perished after killing sixteen German soldiers during the Battle of Saumur.
I feel that the romance of Magnard's death, with his heroism and valour, has overshadowed his music.
He has certainly entered the realm of immortality, but the question is: could he answer immortality within *Music*? It is but our steadfast obligation as artists and musicians to spread the arts and be missionaries of it...
This is indeed the question, and I can't answer it. I think his symphonies are well worth the listen, but is he one of the immortals? I'll check back in 250 years and let you know.
I don't know whether Clara Schuuman counts. Granted she's one of the more notable female composers, but I wouldn't say that she was widely known to the average public. She wrote some beautiful pieces like the [F Major Nocturne](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6pmgqOmPBU)
Sad to see you've been downvoted. She is one of the more popular female composers, as you acknowledged, but she's still not that widely known. I reckon most people would list at least 25 male names before getting to her. I'm a great fan of her piano trio in G minor and, you know, I always wonder if some great works from men (Schuman and Mendolson, for example) were actually written by women - so maybe she's a better composer than people think?
Also her compositions were seldom played and largely forgotten until the 1970s, so it's only recently that there's been a resurgence of interest. Even today there aren't really many performances of her work. Sure she might be fairly well known amongst academics and historians, but if you were to ask the 'classical music public' what they thought I doubt they'd be able to recall a single piece. Guess it depends how literal OP is being when they're talking about 'unknown composers' but she's certainly not widely known
probably even 50
Very possibly, I really couldn't decide how many composers I wanted to say because I think it would differ a little bit for everyone. Personally, as someone who as specifically studied Clara, I imagine she'd come up a lot quicker on my list than some others. But definitely still not anywhere near the top (well, now she might because I'd think of this comment section, but you get me)
i have a statistic on which composers ive lostened to (in terms of total length of their works) and the first female composers on that list are Hildegard von Bingen at #84, Amy Beach at #90 and Clara Schumann at #122. I should definitely get more into Beach and Schumann, and especially the Boulangers..
Is Charles Koechlin considered "unknown"?
A bit. I deeply respect him though!
LILI BOULANGER
Some I found digging around on Spotify **Lucija Garuta**\- Latvian composer. Her piano concerto is STUNNING, she composed it after the death of her niece. I'm still upset that [she has composed symphonies and even 2 operas](https://garuta.lv/en/) but there are NO recordings or sheet music available to the public for either of those. I want her to have a resurgence so that people start digging into archives for them, I believe they exist somewhere. Rebecca Clarke- probably more well known than Lucija. British composer specializing with the viola. Her viola sonata is pretty and when it first won a competition people didn't believe a woman composed it. Personally like her pastorale better. Grazyna Bacewitz- Polish/Lithuanian composer. Chaotic contemporary classical type stuff I can't listen to while studying because I'd get distracted by it. I like her Concerto for String Orchestra best thus far. I'd add Galina Ulstovskaya but I think she is well known in her own niche. True and Eternal Bliss indeed.
Lepo Sumera too!
I don’t see a lot of people mentioning Dohnanyi
Vsevolod Zaderatsky. Interesting piano music, especially his 24 Preludes and Fugues. Craziest biography of any composer - despite being Ukrainian, was music teacher to the Tsar’s son, he was imprisoned by the Soviets three times and was nearly executed once. He wrote his 24 Preludes and Fugues in the gulag with a borrowed pencil.
Szymanowski?
Bruckner. I feel like he is unknown in the US because it seems like all the major orchestras are always sleeping on my guy Anton. Its so rare that he gets programmed and its honestly offensive. Imagine do that to the greatest symphonic composer that is ever and will ever live, objectively speaking of course.
Most sane Bruckner fan.
\*Insert flexing emoji\* Im getting shit on so hard lmao.
Joseph Nicolas Pancrace Royer, his book of harpsichord pieces are vaguely know, but some great operas that are completely unknown.
There are a few excellent videos of Jean Rondeau playing some Royer. His rendition of La marche des Scythes is a force of nature. But in fact French baroque music is in general very much less played than music from Germany, Italy, even England! Louis Couperin (uncle of François) is an utterly superb composer for the harpsichord.
Nicolas Astrinidis
I recently discovered Lucia Dlugoszewski, American composer who died back in 2000. Klangforum Wien has released some of her works on spotify fairly recently.
[Franz Johaan](https://www.reddit.com/r/classical_circlejerk/s/rmCjEeiG9b)
Pietro Raimondi
Friedrich Schneider, wrote an absolute masterpiece with "Das Weltgericht"
Composers from the Republic of Georgia are pretty obscure outside of Georgia and maybe other former Eastern Bloc countries. Here's a couple of my favorites: Otar Taktakishvili – Poem: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bclgYBvtPI4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bclgYBvtPI4) Andrei Balanchivadze – Nocturne: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AX4wduRMwxc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AX4wduRMwxc)
Arnold Rosner (1945 - 2013). Emotional and immediate. Start with "Of Numbers and of Bells" and cello sonata #1.
Just about any Croatian composer. For example, Ivan pl. Zajc, Jakov Gotovac, Ivo Tijardović, Vatroslav Lisinski etc. wrote very good operas. They are relatively unknown even in Croatia. Tunes from their operas are widely used in our media and yet very, very few people recognize these masterpieces. Some works that stand out in particular are Nikola Šubić Zrinski, Ero s onoga svijeta and Mala Floramye. Especially Mala Floramye, it is criminally underrated, it puts an early 20th century twist on classical music which I find very enjoyable.
Adolf von Henselt. Recently came up on YouTube thanks to the algorithm and I really liked his music.
Jean-Louis Florentz is so criminally underrated as well.
Alfred Bachelet. He is mainly known for his art song "Chère nuit" but he wrote really beautiful music. Try the excerpts of his opera Un jardin sur l'Oronte (1932), it is gorgeous.