That's also true about other composers. Some composers we consider cornerstones of classical music today were, for a long time, completely neglected. Hardly anyone today probably realizes that before the 1930s, Antonio Vivaldi was not a household name at all; he was pretty much completely unknown outside the field of musicology.
Vivaldi had been popular in his day as a virtuoso violinist and a composer of operas, until his musical style became too unfashionable for Venice, and he faded into obscurity, and was buried in a pauper's grave. Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians of 1910 devotes a scant page to Vivaldi, and while it praises him as a technical innovator, also criticizes him as a style-over-substance showman ("Vivaldi in fact mistook the facility of an expert performer ... for the creative faculty, which he possessed but in a limited degree") and spends much of the article talking about how much better Bach was.
What's also interesting is that, aside from changing tastes, part of the reason was that a large portion of his works were simply considered lost. In 1926, a trove of manuscripts was discovered in an Italian monastery, and this coincided with a concerted effort of evangelism by a group of musicologists, composers and poets (including, interestingly, Ezra Pound, who coincidentally seems to have adopted Vivaldi and Italian fascism with equal passion) who reintroduced Vivaldi into the public and rehabilitated his reputation.
Of course, to the public — ie., people who are not hard-core music buffs — there are still a large number of composers who are completely unknown. For those who enjoy baroque music, I particularly recommend:
- Van Wassenaer: The six Concerti Armonici. A Dutch diplomat who dabbled in music on the side, but published his works pseudonymously; after his death his works were for a long time assumed to be by Pergolesi. The concerti are beautiful. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8lzbFkrlUs
- Biber: The Mystery Sonatas, aka the Rosary Sonatas. For someone used to the jollier, frothier side of baroque music, these will seem fantastically bare and stark. One of the monumental masterpieces of the baroque era. I specifically recommend the performance by John Holloway et al: http://open.spotify.com/album/0BJib6o3KcAxlPqwoydZNO. YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FU4Xa_sFXak
Vivaldi had been popular in his day as a virtuoso violinist and a composer of operas, until his musical style became too unfashionable for Venice, and he faded into obscurity, and was buried in a pauper's grave. Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians of 1910 devotes a scant page to Vivaldi, and while it praises him as a technical innovator, also criticizes him as a style-over-substance showman ("Vivaldi in fact mistook the facility of an expert performer ... for the creative faculty, which he possessed but in a limited degree") and spends much of the article talking about how much better Bach was.
What's also interesting is that, aside from changing tastes, part of the reason was that a large portion of his works were simply considered lost. In 1926, a trove of manuscripts was discovered in an Italian monastery, and this coincided with a concerted effort of evangelism by a group of musicologists, composers and poets (including, interestingly, Ezra Pound, who coincidentally seems to have adopted Vivaldi and Italian fascism with equal passion) who reintroduced Vivaldi into the public and rehabilitated his reputation.
Of course, to the public — ie., people who are not hard-core music buffs — there are still a large number of composers who are completely unknown. For those who enjoy baroque music, I particularly recommend:
- Van Wassenaer: The six Concerti Armonici. A Dutch diplomat who dabbled in music on the side, but published his works pseudonymously; after his death his works were for a long time assumed to be by Pergolesi. The concerti are beautiful. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8lzbFkrlUs
- Biber: The Mystery Sonatas, aka the Rosary Sonatas. For someone used to the jollier, frothier side of baroque music, these will seem fantastically bare and stark. One of the monumental masterpieces of the baroque era. I specifically recommend the performance by John Holloway et al: http://open.spotify.com/album/0BJib6o3KcAxlPqwoydZNO. YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FU4Xa_sFXak
- Marais: Tombeau de Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe. Spotify: http://open.spotify.com/album/5oKSW9dTwR7vTK1WEsMJLt. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nlq69pmADo
- Pergolesi: Stabat Mater. One of my favourite sacred works. Spotify: http://open.spotify.com/album/0WUzijy3MNKxp9OiOdSfhB. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mrVZHPikqM
- Couperin: Leçon de ténèbres (Lessons of darkness). In my opinion one of the finest vocal works of the baroque era. Spotify: http://open.spotify.com/album/3OfFUiLQ6BtEm7XatiFm72