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[Joseph Drechsler]

Joseph Drechsler (1782-1852) was one of 51 composers who (by invitation) contributed to the Vaterländischer Künstlerverein, an anthology of 83 variations on a waltz by Anton Diabelli. Of these variations, the most famous ones are Beethoven's 33 Diabelli Variations. Some other famous composers who had their variations included in the publication were Czerny, Hummel, Schubert, and even a 12-year old Franz Liszt.

But back to Drechsler. He was born in what is now the Czech Republic and today he is apparently best known for the song Brüderlein fein, which was part of a theatre piece called Das Mädchen aus der Feenwelt oder Der Bauer als Millionär. A full recording of this work is available, but I have not found it yet. The interesting thing about this work is that the playwright Ferdinand Raimund (who wrote the play) claims in his autobiography that he composed the melody for Brüderlein fein and other songs himself, according to the German Wikipedia. Furthermore, it's mentioned that Drechsler took these melodies by Raimund as a starting point for his own compositions for the piece.

The amount of recordings of Drechsler's works is very limited. Besides Der Bauer als Millionär, multiple recordings of Brüderlein fein and his Diabelli variation, there is a quartet for three flutes and alto flute. But here it pretty much ends, as far as I'm aware now.

Also of interest is the fact that Johann Strauss II was one of Drechsler's pupils.

Here's the full Wikipedia page in German. There's also an English one, but the German page is much more informative:
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Drechsler

A little while ago I found this live performance on YouTube of Nowowiejski's oratorio "The Discovery of the Holy Cross", and I absolutely love this piece.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-szNgI05ZA

Nowowiejski is definitely one of my favourite unsung composers.
I find it difficult to compare Nowowiejski's music to other composers, but for a Polish composer his music sounds quite German!
There's definitely a lot of Wagnerian influence here, Brucknerian (or perhaps Mahlerian?) orchestration, and some fragments here and there remind me of Richard Strauss too. I especially love the finale of this piece, because that's where you can hear Nowowiejski at his best. He pulls out all the stops with a grand finale!

I was checking Wikipedia's list of organ concertos, and a composer by the name of "Skitner" is listed there as having written one before 1802.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organ_concerto#Skitner

Now, I have no idea who this mystery composer is. I've tried searching his name, but it constantly links back to the same pages. We only know he was a "Central-European" composer. Maybe someone on this forum knows more about this one? If it turns out this composer is not within our remit the thread could be closed again.

I just came across this Swiss composer while browsing the catalogue of the Marco Polo label.
They've released one CD with four of Faesy's orchestral works on it.
They are two orchestral preludes (Götz von Berlichingen & Der Triumph der Liebe) a tone poem (Sempach), and a symphonic suite (Columbus).
I've listened to them and I must say that I like what I've heard.
On the back cover of the album, it is mentioned that his style is reminiscent of Wagner and Liszt.

I haven't found a Wikipedia page about the composer, but I found this biography on the Naxos website:
https://www.naxos.com/person/Albert_Rudolph_Faesy/20453.htm

This composer is best known for Der Fremersberg, but other than that none of his other works have been recorded.
Besides Der Fremersberg he has also composed various waltzes, polkas and marches, mostly for piano.
Even though he was a Czech composer, he only has Wikipedia pages in German and Dutch.
Here's a translation of the Dutch wikipedia page. I've tried to make it as grammatically correct as possible.

Könnemann studied at the then Prague State Conservatory (now Státní konservatori hudby v Praze) in Prague. After his graduation he became conductor at the court chapel of Prince August zu Hohenlohe-Öhringen. After years of working as a conductor with various royal and urban orchestras, he became Kapellmeister of the Austrian Infantry Regiment nr. 28, which was then stationed in Rastatt. During his stay in Rastatt, music life developed both in Rastatt and in Baden-Baden. From 1858 onwards he was also conductor of the spa orchestra in Baden-Baden, which was then called Bénazetsches Orchester and reached a high level with this orchestra. He continued to fulfill this function until his death.

The orchestra received a positive stimulation because Baden-Baden developed into a distinguished spa stay during this period; famous composers and soloists were guests in this city, such as Anton Rubinstein, Henri Vieuxtemps, Henryk Wieniawski and Hans Joachim. In addition, guest conductors joined this orchestra: Johannes Brahms, Franz Liszt, Hector Berlioz, Georges Bizet, Hans von Bülow and Felix Mottl.

He was a member of the Freemasons' lodge "Badenia zum Fortschritt" in Baden-Baden.

Is anyone else aware of recordings of his works other than Der Fremersberg?

[Henri François Robert Brandts Buijs (Deventer, 20 April 1850 - Ede, 17 October 1905) was a Dutch conductor and composer. He wrote one of the few Dutch operas, Albrecht Beiling, which was performed in 1891. He is a member of the Brandts Buys family, a family well known in music. Like his father Cornelis Alijander Brandts Buys and older brothers Marius Adrianus and Ludwig Felix, he was born with musicality in his genes and chose a profession in music.Henri perceived the duties of his father as the conductor of the mixed music choir Swelingh in 1868-1869. Then he left for Cologne to further develop his skills as a pianist and composer. Returning to the Netherlands in 1878 he became conductor of a mixed choir in Lochem and the Deventer Mannenkoor which he expanded in 1877 by making a mixed choir. He would remain conductor there until 1880. He was also conductor of the mixed choir Erato from Nijmegen and in the season 1877-1878 he conducted the music choir Zutphen.From 1878 to 1885 he was conductor of the Amstel Mannenkoor in Amsterdam, and also of the Amsterdam choir Oefening Baart Kunst and Musis Sacrum. He has conducted several major concerts, such as the concert celebrating King William III's seventieth birthday, in which 5000 schoolchildren sang national songs written by members of the Brandts Buys family.He married on 1 August 1880 in Gorssel to Martine Hesselink, a sister of Pauline Hesselink, the wife of his brother. They had one son, Willem Alijander Hans, whose descendants now live in the United States of America and Tahiti.]

This unsung composer died in my hometown and he's also buried there, so that's how I came across this one.

I've put an English translation of his Dutch Wikipedia article down below:

Henri François Robert Brandts Buijs (Deventer, 20 April 1850 - Ede, 17 October 1905) was a Dutch conductor and composer. He wrote one of the few Dutch operas, Albrecht Beiling, which was performed in 1891. He is a member of the Brandts Buys family, a family well known in music. Like his father Cornelis Alijander Brandts Buys and older brothers Marius Adrianus and Ludwig Felix, he was born with musicality in his genes and chose a profession in music.

Henri perceived the duties of his father as the conductor of the mixed music choir Swelingh in 1868-1869. Then he left for Cologne to further develop his skills as a pianist and composer. Returning to the Netherlands in 1878 he became conductor of a mixed choir in Lochem and the Deventer Mannenkoor which he expanded in 1877 by making a mixed choir. He would remain conductor there until 1880. He was also conductor of the mixed choir Erato from Nijmegen and in the season 1877-1878 he conducted the music choir Zutphen.

From 1878 to 1885 he was conductor of the Amstel Mannenkoor in Amsterdam, and also of the Amsterdam choir Oefening Baart Kunst and Musis Sacrum. He has conducted several major concerts, such as the concert celebrating King William III's seventieth birthday, in which 5000 schoolchildren sang national songs written by members of the Brandts Buys family.

He married on 1 August 1880 in Gorssel to Martine Hesselink, a sister of Pauline Hesselink, the wife of his brother. They had one son, Willem Alijander Hans, whose descendants now live in the United States of America and Tahiti.

A website in Dutch (opusklassiek) mentions that with his "Albrecht Beiling", he composed a for the Dutch music remarkably original Wagnerian work, but that the effect of the dramatic and expressive music is weakened by moments of overthrown pathetics and a weak libretto.

Unfortunately I haven't found any recordings of his music yet, and I doubt there are any.

This Norwegian composer is quite intriguing to me (and not just because he died so young!), but also because of his importance in Norwegian nationalist music.
Wikipedia states:

Rikard Nordraak was born and grew up in Oslo, Norway. His family came from the Nordraak farm in the Randsfjorden area in the county of Oppland. His father was a brother of Inger Elise Nordraach, the mother of the Norwegian writer and poet, Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson.

Nordraak's musical gifts became evident at an early age, but as for many other artists at that time, a different career was already planned. He was going to pursue a career within business, and when he was fifteen he was sent to business school in Copenhagen. Nonetheless his musical interests prevailed and instead of studying business he ended up studying music, and in 1859 he went to Berlin for advanced studies. After six months he had to return home and he continued studies in Oslo, and his first compositions came during the winter of 1859–60. In 1861 he went back to Berlin to continue his studies, and he stayed there for two more years.

The compositions that he himself marked opus 1 were published in 1863, and contained six songs with texts by his cousin Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, amongst others. At this time Nordraak also composed Ja, vi elsker, which became the Norwegian national anthem. It was first performed publicly on 17 May 1864 in connection with the 50th anniversary of the Norwegian Constitution. The lyrics were written by Bjørnson between 1859 and 1868.

In 1864, he met Edvard Grieg in Copenhagen and inspired him with the idea of devoting his genius to Norwegian melody and the cultivation of a specifically national art. Nordraak later wrote incidental music for Bjørnson's plays Maria Stuart of Scotland and Sigurd Slembe. He published his opus 2, Five Norwegian Poems, consisting of songs and poems by Bjørnson and Jonas Lie. This was the last of his compositions that would be published during his lifetime.

In May 1865 he returned to Berlin to continue his education, but he was stricken with tuberculosis in October and died in Paris the following March, only 23 years old. He was buried in Kirchhof Jerusalem in the Berlin neighborhood of Kreuzberg (Friedhof IV der Gemeinde Jerusalem – und Neue Kirche). In 1925, Nordraak's coffin was brought home to Norway and buried in the Honor Grove at Vår Frelsers gravlund in Oslo.

Nordraak did not live long enough to produce much music. About forty compositions, mostly smaller works like songs, pieces for male choir and a few piano compositions, have been preserved. The biggest of these compositions, is the Scherzo Capriccio for piano solo, given the opus number 3, published posthumously by Edvard Grieg. This is a kind of rondo, using several features from Norwegian folk music; rhythms typical in slåtter, and dissonances typical for the hardingfele. However, the thematic material does not have this connection with folk music. Rikard Nordraak. Samlede verker, a critical edition of Nordraak overall compositions were published by Øyvind Anker and Olav Gurvin (1942).

With his passionate patriotism and great love for folk music, Nordraak's main contribution to Norwegian music history was to be an inspiration for contemporary composers, such as Grieg. When Grieg heard of Nordraak's death, he composed the Funeral March in Memory of Rikard Nordraak (Sørgemarsj over Rikard Nordraak). Part of his life story was dramatised in the musical Song of Norway.

This year a CD was released by LAWO Classics, featuring multiple songs and piano works. There are some enchanting pieces here that I highly recommend (especially Valse-Caprice & Melodi).

I found this composer as well while looking for other Romanian composers.
Wikipedia has very little information on her as well.

She was born as Elena Teyber in Vienna to the Austrian composer Anton Teyber.
She studied music under her father, and later on under an Italian tenor, Domenico Donzelli.

Three vaudevilles are mentioned (Fete pastoral des bergers moldaves, Contrabul, and Tiganii), as well as a few songs.

I just found this composer while looking for other Romanian composers, besides Dimitrie Cuclin who is already being discussed on this forum.
Wikipedia has very little information on her.

She was born in Galaţi, and studied music in Bucharest, piano and composition with Julius Schulhoff, and composition with Anton Rubinstein.
As her Op. 1 a Romanian March is listed, and also mentioned are two mazurkas, 3 lieder, and some other smaller pieces, including a hymn for mixed chorus.

I came across this composer while looking for composers from Eastern Europe (especially the states comprising former Yugoslavia.)

Jovo Ivanišević was a composer from Montenegro. He composed the state anthem for the Principality of Montenegro and the Kingdom of Montenegro.
Wikipedia further states on their page about the Music of Montenegro that he composed piano miniatures, orchestra, solo and chorus songs.

He died at the age of 28/29 (a few sources differ on his year of birth) while he was ice skating on the Vltava (Moldau). The ice broke under him and then he drowned.

It's a bit of a sad and abrupt ending to his life.
The only thing I could find of this composer was the earlier mentioned old Montenegrin anthem he composed.

You can hear this older anthem here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8ro7goF65E

I came across this composers some months ago, and as I haven't found anything related to him or his music, I thought I'd start a topic on this composer.

I listened to the overture of his opera 'Svatojánské proudy' (which translates as St. John's Rapids, which was a 'stretch of flast flowing water' on the Moldau.)
Right at the start, it sounded a little bit familiar in some way, as if I was listening to Smetana. (My feeling was right. After looking them up, I found that they had the same teacher, Josef Proksch. Perhaps he made them do a 'musical exercise' to portray the river Moldau?)

Anyway, after a soft start, it became a bit more powerful, in which I possibly recognized a bit of Wagner. I think he had a personal musical language, but I'm not certain of that yet. Then halfway through it gradually went a bit more peacceful, and the themes you could hear in the beginning are repeated, with a fitting ending.

Perhaps anyone else knows more about him? (Besides the fact that he composed some more operas and a little bit of other orchestral and chamber music.)

On July 1st, 2016, Hyperion will release the 68th volume of the Romantic Piano Concerto series.
It will feature the 'Piano Concerto in B minor, Op. 3' by Moritz Moszkowski (which lasts 54 minutes or so) and the 'Russian Rhapsody' by the Polish composer Adolf Schulz-Evler (1852-1905).

Now, Moszkowski will sound familiar on this forum, but this Schulz-Evler character is a very forgotten one.

Let's hope this album won't let us down!

This is a Ukrainian composer I came across a few months ago while looking at Wikipedia's list of Ukrainian composers.
Apparently, he was born in Horodysche, to the family of a priest. Besides being a composer, he was also an opera singer, who had caught the attention of Mikhail Glinka,
of which he received vocal training. He also sang roles in two operas by Anton Rubinstein, in 1852 and 1853.

Wikipedia further states that he's composed three operas in the Ukrainian language, but I haven't found recordings yet.
I actually doubt if they've ever been recorded. But I did find a song by him on YouTube. Here it is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7yGw2FhQPo

So, he was a well-known opera singer in his time, and today he's a quite "unsung" composer.

Who knows of other recordings of his music?

I came across these when searching the web for some "exotic" composers.
Apparently their music was inspired by composers such as Tchaikovsky & Mahler.
Gonchigsumlaa has the distinction of being the first Mongolian composer to write ballet music & Choidog is one of Mongolia's best known composers.

This is a composer I just found. He was a student of Liszt (who was his mentor as well) and a friend of Richard Wagner.
Apparently, in his music there is a clear tendency to program music.
I haven't found any recordings yet. Is there one out there or is he an incredibly rare composer?

[Joseph Lanner (1801-1843) Austrian]

Here's a composer I found out about a while ago while looking for unsung composers who composed much waltzes, polkas, galops, etc..
His name is August Labitzky and I could've posted this earlier but I wasn't sure yet because the only piece I know from him is the "Bückeberger-Walzer", which is in my opinion a very nice waltz.

His father Joseph Labitzky (1802-1881) was also a composer, but he was far more prolific than his son August.

I'll list these unsung composers here in chronological order.

Joseph Lanner (1801-1843) Austrian (not that unsung, but I came across him while searching.)
Joseph Labitzky (1802-1881) Czech (mentioned earlier in this post.)
Joseph Gung'l (1809-1889) Austrian, today Hungary (his Hungarian March has been transcribed by Liszt.)
Hans Christian Lumbye (1810-1874) Danish
Philipp Fahrbach der Ältere (1815-1885) Austrian
Friedrich Zikoff (1824-1877) Prussian, today Poland
Carl Faust (1825-1892) Polish
August Labitzky (1832-1903) Czech (mentioned earlier in this post.)
August Lanner (1835-1855) Austrian (son of Joseph Lanner.)
Franz Behr (1837-1898) German
Alphons Czibulka (1842-1894) Austro-Hungarian, today Slovakia
Philipp Fahrbach der Jüngere (1843-1894) Austrian
Karl Michael Ziehrer (1843-1922) Austrian
Richard Eilenberg (1848-1927) German
Karel Komzák II (1850-1905) Czech-born Austrian
Oscar Fetrás (1854-1931) German
Joseph Hellmesberger, Jr. (1855-1907) Austrian (I'm aware of his family members, but I only found music by this one.)
Rudolf Nováček (1860-1929) Czech/Serbian
Julius Fučik (1872-1916) Czech
Siegfried Translateur (1875-1944) German, today Poland

I'm interested if any of you are aware of others so I can add them in the future?

Alexander Ritter's a composer who's very unsung and I wasn't able to find any recordings of his music. He's supposed to have written two operas, some lieder, a symphonic waltz and a symphonic poem. Ritter was married to Wagner's niece Franziska Wagner. They had a daughter Hertha, who married Siegmund von Hausegger in 1902.
Apparently Ritter had a strong influence on Richard Strauss, because he supported Strauss to write tone poems and to write his first opera Guntram.

So, has anyone found music by him, or he is so obscure that there's nothing to be found?

Heinrich Marschner. A composer who's relatively obscure compared to others, yet he was very important (and I couldn't find him properly mentioned on the forum.) He was the most important German opera composer between Weber & Wagner, and Wagner was strongly influenced by his operas, for example Der Vampyr, Der Templer und die Jüdin, & Hans Helling.

He has also composed many Lieder, which are comparable with those by Carl Loewe.

I just stumbled at this composer when I was looking at Wikipedia's list of compositions by Wagner. There I noticed Wagner had composed different music to an aria from Der Vampyr. That's how I found about Marschner. Then I looked up some operas on the internet, and I've listened to them, and I was, as always, very excited about them. Of course Marschner composed more operas, but only the ones I've mentioned earlier on have been recorded (as far as I know.) Now I'm interested in those other operas. Are there any recordings still existing? From broadcasts maybe?

A few months ago I was looking at the list of compositions by Franz Liszt. His works all have an S. number. S.1 is an opera Liszt wrote when he was 13/14, called Don Sanche. Since he studied with Ferdinando Paer at the time, it's been suggested that the opera wasn't composed by Liszt at all, but by Paer himself.

But that's not important right now. S.2 in the catalogue is Die Legende von der Heiligen Elisabeth, an oratorio that lasts about 2 and a half hours. When I started listening, I wanted to hear it all. I could hear the sound of Wagner clearly in its instrumentation, orchestration, etc., especially when the Crusaders start singing. But a great difference between Wagner & Liszt is that Liszt used more choirs then Wagner did. But anyway, Liszt has done a marvellous job on it!

It was written between 1857 and 1862, the same period his daughter Cosima married Hans von Bülow. Cosima would marry Richard Wagner years later.

So, all in all, very interesting work, and it definitely doesn't deserve the status of "unsung."

I've discovered this composer today, and he's really interesting!
His name is Hans Huber, and he was a Swiss composer.

He has composed eight symphonies, some tone poems, and the only two surving piano concertos (1 & 3) by him (all of which have been recorded by Sterling).
Some chamber music has also been released and 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 100, of which I haven't found recordings.

His first symphony is perhaps somewhat similar to Brahms, but there's a foreshadowing of Sibelius in some of the orchestral textures.