Most underrated composer of 20th Century?

True Frogman I thought of that when starting this post but could not have expressed it as well as you have.

I remember being frozen like a deer in the headlights. when I first heard Martin's Violin Concerto on the radio back in the seventies. I did finally get a copy of it with Martin conducting, but his music then was on Swiss labels you couldn't find in the days before Amazon etc.

Glazunov isn't much done in the USA, but he is a concert staple in much of Europe.

Exactly Frogman and Mapman, it's so hard to get a grip on what "underrated" means. My musically well educated colleagues roll their eyes with ennui at the mention of most composer's that the average classical listener has never heard of, so it is all relative. Plus, I agree with earlier statements about cultural prejudices coming into play. I happen to really like Takemitsu & Minoru Miki, but they don't seem to resonate with a large number in the western world. Also like Rautavaara, Lindberg, Kokkonen, and Saariaho, but general appreciation for Scandanavian composers ends with Sibelius and Grieg. Then there are "could have been greats" like Gideon Klein whose life was cut short by a Nazi concentration camp and Karl Amadeus Hartmann whose composing career was pressured by his duties as an administrator resurrecting German musical culture after WWII. Paul Hindemith deserves a place at the table of underrated greats as well IMO.

Amen, Photon46, the amount of fascinating modern music coming out of Finland alone beggars belief.
Not to mention half the conductors in the world are Finnish.

I have a perfect solution to help get any of these fine yet not well known composers some more recognition.

Hire Miley Cyrus' manager/publicist. That guy is awesome! Just ask Britney Spears.

There is a cost associated with fame though. Public twerking may be required! :^)

Or maybe Philip Glass' might suffice? Never seen him have to twerk TTBOMK.

Just a week ago I heard symphonies by Eichberg and I liked them. I had not heard of this composer born in the 1970s. There is a lot of interesting music coming from a wide variety of sources. I even like some of what Golijov is doing, although it sounds like almost crossover to pop music.

Has anyone here listened to the early 1920s opera "Antikrist" by Langgaard? I find that music very interesting--a bit like listening to Hindemith's operas, with a touch of Schoenberg and Wagner. This is another work I happen to stumble upon and liked it a lot.