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Not recognized in their lifetime?

I have appreciated the composer Bach for some time, and was startled to learn this week that he was ignored and abused during his own lifetime. The music that he wrote covers a broad range of types and styles, though it was mainly written to be performed in church. It is majestic and mathematical at the same time. Johann Sebastian Bach died poor, and his wife died in a home for destitute women.. On her death bed she was quoted as asking God not for anything for herself, but that her husbands music should live on.

At age 11 Mendelson , took a liking to Bach’s work. It was not till Mendelson's love for Bach's work that it became popular. Unfortunately Mendelson was abused physically and mentally for his appreciation of what was considered musical exercise. Mendelson, a Jew, left the school he attended, was baptized as a Lutheran and began to study the work of Bach. When Mendelson began performing the music of his mentor, Bach was accepted as the genius that he was.

Which other people can you think of that were neglected in their own lifetime, but have been recognized since as having something great to offer to the world of music?
nrchy
duanegoosen
355 posts
 
My (often dim) recollection of stuff i heard in school does'nt put Bach in the starving artist category. The biographical account at- http://www.baroquemusic.org/bqxjsbach.html doesn't either. He was the Capellmeister of Weimar then Cothen and moved to take the same title at Leipzig (largely so his sons could attend a good university). "His arrival was clearly a major event in the musical and social world". The inagural ceremony was on May 31, 1723. At 36 he married a 20 year old, Anna Magdelena (one of the best sopranos in the country). "There is no doubt whatsoever that he was widely respected as a composer, musician, teacher and specialist in organ construction. This respect was to grow steadily as Bach's reputation widened and he gained the official title of Court Composer to the Dresden Court". His son Carl Phillip Emanuel wrote, "No musician of any consequence passing through Leipzig would fail to call upon my father", "where Bach had a large private music room in which he kept six claviers and several other instruments". He lived to be 65 when the average life expectancy was somewhere under 40.
This guy was a BIG player on the German music scene during his lifetime. I'm not saying he wasn't misunderstood or mistreated (everyone is at sometime), but his compositions got played. There are scores of great musicians and composers (living and dead) who have had to get by w/ alot less recognition, eg. (a tiny sample):

Stuart Liebig
Michael Vlatkovich
Michel Wintsch
Fred Frith
Edgard Varese
Don Van Vliet
Maarten Altena
Don Cherry
Kevin Norton
Andrew Hill
Louis Sclavis
Jean Derome
Ben Goldberg
Bill Noertker
Ken Vandermark (gets props, but not enough)
Franz Koglmann
Lucas Niggli
Devin Hoff
Charles Mingus
Thomas Chapin
Wayne Horvitz
papertrail
186 posts
 
you left out Tiny Tim and Minnie Pearl :)
newbee
4,821 posts
 
From a view based strictly on recorded performances, Mahler, and to a lesser degree Sibelius, come to mind, especially Mahler, who's music sort of languished until Bernstein started promoting it in the early 60's.
eldartford
4,262 posts
 
My recollection of Bach's biography agrees with Duanegoosen's, but I was not sure enough to cite it. The story of Bach is that while he, and his children were well regarded in their times, there was a gulf of several centuries during which he was forgotten.
papertrail
186 posts
 
On an ironic note, I don't think we middle aged folks appreciate the accomplishments of Lennon and McCartney, and Brian Wilson. Yes, they gained fame and money, but do we really appreciate their musical genius, or are they just some guys we grew up listening to. I think people will be listening to them for hundreds of years.
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