I'd like to start a thread regarding composers who may have produced wonderful music that rarely makes it to the concert hall.  Certainly there are numerous such composers, and, having decided to gain a familiarity with the music of the last half century or so, I am interested in which unheralded composers others may find appealing.  While I suppose there are neglected composers of all eras, I hope the focus here will be on the music after World War II.  I realize tastes are highly individual, but I hope to use the responses here to build my own musical library of modernity.   If you could say something about what you find appealing in a composer you cite, that would be helpful, as would references to recordings of merit.

To get the ball rolling, I'd like to submit the name of the late English composer, Robert Simpson.  I initially found Simpson's music interesting, but not enjoyable.  Nevertheless, I came back to his music for second, third, and subsequent listenings in a way I haven't for many modern composers.  Simpson's music is tonal, but somehow pushes the limits of tonality (that's an impression, not a musically informed judgment).  While nobody would confuse him with a 19th century composer, he stood apart from much of what was happening in the contemporary music of his day, once claiming that nobody "born deaf could ever be a composer, though if it could happen now is the time."  His music has a bold directness, with, in his symphonies, a strong percussive element- I'm not sure anyone uses percussion more effectively.  His music is often infused with a restless energy that, in my opinion, avoids being pompous or bombastic.  While I find Simpson's music communicates strong feeling, he claimed music was primarily about form.  I suspect Chopin or Beethoven would have disagreed with that statement, and I find I am only starting to come to terms with that concept.

Some regard Simpson as primarily a symphonist, but he also displayed a wonderfully intimate and reflective side in his 15 string quartets.  The critic Malcolm MacDonald noted that the essence of Simpson lay in his string quartets, and, after some exposure to his music, I think I agree.   I fondly recall his self-deprecating comment, made during his acceptance of a composition book at a 60th birthday party in his honor.  On his receiving the book, someone expressed the hope he might pen his 10th sympony in its blank pages. He responded with something to this effect: "Oh, I wouldn't waste it on that.  I could get half a dozen string quartets out of this"!

  It's probably a measure of my lack of musical sophistication that I find I am drawn more to his earlier works than the works he wrote toward the end of his life, but I'm willing to ride a learning curve.   I find his 10th string quartet to be most appealing (still having difficulty with his latter ones), and would commend it as being very approachable and moving.  Simpson was a pacifist, so it is perhaps telling that he titled the work "For Peace", as the music attempts, successfully, I would say, to draw the listener into a peaceful and meaninful world with much to value.   His ninth quartet is a wonder: it consists of variations on a theme by Haydn, and each movement is a palindrome (Simpson had a fascination with palindromes, and I gather explored them frequently in his music).

Speaking of his string quartets, I came across a recording of his earliest quartets performed by the Element Quartet for whom at least one was written in the early 1950's.  While the sound quality is poor, in my opinion they perform this music better than the Delme Quartet, which also has recorded these quartets (very ably, I hasten to add).  Your mileage may vary.

I chanced upon Simpson when I encountered the following discussion, and I  cannot hope to be as articulate as some of the respondents on the thread were.  I am glad I followed through on the impulse to explore this neglected master.

http://www.gramophone.co.uk/forum/general-discussion/composer-of-the-week-robert-simpson

I'll even take the liberty of quoting one respondent, with whom I find I am in general agreement, at least with respect to approaching his symphonies:

For the Simpson-curious I’d recommend diving in at symphonies 2 and 4, or symphony 11 coupled with the Variations on a theme by Nielsen, two superb Hyperion discs. If they don’t do it for you, Simpson’s probably not your man.

although I suppose I'd substitute symphony #5 for #11 and would add the 10th string quartet for those first approaching Simpson's music. 


I'd be interested in your "Simpson moment"- meaning how some of you might respond (have responded) to Simpson, as well as other composers you have "discovered" but whose music remains outside the standard repetoire. 

rb