Bitchfest 2022: The 10 Most Underrated MAJOR Composers

Comments · 368

• PI

  @Pi_080 · 2 years ago

  Villa-Lobos is highly underrated.

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• OU

  @OuterGalaxyLounge · 3 years ago

  Let's raise a glass to Dave for another successful year of bitching in the most entertaining manner.

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• CA

  @carlcurtis · 3 years ago

  As a former teacher, I always found students had a much harder time understanding comedy than tragedy. You're spot on!

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• WI

  @willduffay2207 · 3 years ago

  It's quite extraordinary that still - STILL - Haydn is under-appreciated. He has everything you want from a great composer: imagination, beauty, excitement, energy, pathos, innovation, humour, breadth.

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• A.

  @a.gwhiteley1855 · 1 year ago

  I so agree with you that Dvorak was the greatest composer of the second half of the 19th century. As you say, he was an astonishing musical all-rounder, and he had a fertility and flow of imagination, melodically and in every other way, that is unsurpassed. Perhaps he is relatively underrated because his music speaks of a deep sense of happiness, and we think misery and gloom are the only things that are profound. He was also not afraid to be simple, even if his technical sophistication was consummate. A great composer and great human being.

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• GR

  @GreenTeaViewer · 1 year ago

  Handel is still underrated. He's not just that other guy around the same time as Bach. And Beethoven certainly rated him.

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• BW

  @bws6250 · 3 years ago (edited)

  Dave, I’m so grateful for your videos - they’ve kept me going for the past couple years. This music has been part of my soul for over 25 years, but in the last 3 years my knowledge and interest has grown exponentially. It’s talks like this one that have helped me greatly expand my listening repertoire. I’ve especially loved talks about neglected composers/works, like Tough Symphonists and Non-Standard repertoire. <br><br>My biggest thanks for your passionate recommendations of Haydn, who I never paid much attention to for decades; the same with Chamber Music and 20th Century music in general. Also Poulenc and Martinů! Looking forward to your work in 2023. Thanks.

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• QU

  @quaver1239 · 3 years ago

  Am somehow reminded of Jiri Weil’s book, *Mendelssohn is on the Roof*. &nbsp; The first story is about the Nazi occupation of Prague’s efforts to destroy the “Jewish statue” on the Town Hall roof. &nbsp; The statues had no identifying plaques, and labourers had no idea as to what a “Jewish statue” would look like. &nbsp; It was one among many (German) composers’ effigies on that roof. &nbsp; The desperate head of the labour gang, afraid to ask his high-ranking, angry boss, suggested the statue they should destroy had to be the one with “the biggest nose.” &nbsp; After all, Mendelssohn was Jewish. &nbsp; So - they settled on the statue of Wagner.

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• PE

  @petterw5318 · 3 years ago

  I love Liszt. He started as a dashing romantic, but then became the weirdest, darkest composer of the 19th century. My theory is that he became clinically depressed, and he tried religion as a cure but it didn&apos;t work out, so he ended up creating astonishing pieces. And also kudos to a musician who, like Rimsky, championed so many fellow composers. He made Berlioz known in Germany, for example.

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• JA

  @jameslee2943 · 3 years ago

  All I want for Christmas is for Decca to re-release the Dorati Haydn Symphonies Set, and to keep it in print for more than 5 minutes!

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• JA

  @JamesAdams-ev6fc · 3 years ago

  My understanding is that Mendelssohn and his sister suffered from an inherited blood &quot;thickening&quot; disorder that led to early death from stroke. &nbsp;Nowadays there are anti-coagulents that handle this problem, and were those available back then, he probably would have lived much longer than his 30s, and likewise for his sister Fanny. &nbsp;On his music, it is beautifully crafted and in impeccable taste. &nbsp;It is never cheap and it never engages in button-pushing. &nbsp;I have almost collected his major works, and even so restricted there is a lot more music than he is usually given credit for. &nbsp;Not a second-tier composer at all.

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• AN

  @anthonycook6213 · 3 years ago (edited)

  My wife noticing the size of your CD collection, my son noting your use of colorful language, my daughter nodding approvingly because a couple of weeks ago Spotify suggested Dvorak string quartets to her, and me noting 10 new ways to spend my pension! And I finally listened to that recording of Gluck&apos;s Orpheus and Eurydice that I found at a Goodwill store years ago. Wonderful! Now to find some Boccherini... Thank you for another great video!

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