Hildegard von Bingen

You never hear Rossini's name mentioned with those of Bethoven, Bach and Mozart. I am going with him.

I second that. Who else could get kicked out of a music school for composing "radical harmonies."

Following his Oscar snub I'll also say Johnny Greenwood.

Max Richter

probably because Beethoven and Bach actually broke some new ground and Mozart was his main influence


I think Haydn is quite under-rated in relation to the greats. you'd think the father of the symphony would have more status in the music world


mmMMmMmm Quinten

Alexander Scriabin. A very gifted but eccentric man who was into mysticism and who died pretty young, but he created some truly innovative and breathtaking music.

ht tp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Scriabin

I am going to suggest that Paul Hindemith is the most underrated composer of all time. He is respected. But no where near the degree to which he deserves. Scriabin' music is emotional, but it doesn't "go" anywhere, IMHO.

Rossini? Debussy? Von Hildengard? Haydn? They all get the level of respect they deserve, IMHO.

First name on this thread I haven't heard of, which means he is at least underrated by... well, me. Any titles to suggest?

Just a wild guess with the name, but could he be associated with The Five or is he a later period?

I think Robert Schumann is very underrated, he is remembered as being very eccentric and for ending up in a mental institution but he wrote some very beautiful music. His friend Brahms was one of his biggest supporters and helped him and his family a lot but in the end his insanity cut his career way too short.

I think Scriabin wrote a piece called "The Divine Poem" and I have a 3 CD set of his solo piano works but other than the fact he was from Russia and a friend of Sergei Rachmaninov he is not widely known.

Any friend of Rachmaninov can't be half bad. I'll definitely check him out. Thanks.:thumb:

Just did: whoever wrote about him on wikipedia is certainly a big fan. Primary Rusian Symbolism figure. Great...