New Idea for Podcast Series: The Hall of Underrated Composers

NOTE: This is just partially informed speculation. If I ever do this cast, the list will obviously move around quite a bit, often with new names appearing. 

YES but with provisos of course:

John Foulds 

Peter Maxwell Davies

Michael Tippett

Rued Langgaard

Einojuhani Rautavaara

Charles Koechlin

Rued Langgaard

Silvestre Revueltas

Lou Harrison

Lili Boulanger

Bohuslav Martinu

Gyorgy Kurtag

Alfred Schnittke

Alberto Ginastera

Sofia Gubaidulina
Galina Ustvolskaya

Heitor Villa-Lobos

Alan Hovhanness

Ferruccio Busoni
Karol Rathaus
Rudi Stephan
Alfredo Casella
Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco

Luciano Berio

Nikos Skalkottas
Iannis Xenakis

Krzystopf Penderecki

Karol Szymanowski

Francois Couperin

Jean-Baptise Lully

Jean-Phillippe Rameau
Georg Philipp Telemann

Boris Blacher

Ernest Bloch

Morton Feldman

Lukas Foss
Gottfried von Einem

Carla Bley

Art Ensemble of Chicago

Eric Dolphy

Moises Vainberg
Edison Denisov

Karel Husa
Hans Krasa

Alexander Goehr
Walter Goehr
Artur Schnabel

Charles Tomlinson Griffes

George Butterworth

Pavel Haas

Alois Haba

Karl Amadeus Hartmann

Bernard Hermann

Vagn Holmboe

Joseph Jongen

Miroslav Kabelac

Giya Kancheli
Lev Abeliovich
Anatol Liadov
Anton Arensky
Theodore Akimenko

Ernst Krenek
Louis Andreissen
Henk Badings
Ton de Leeuw
Willem Pijper
Mattheis Vermeulin
Lazlo Dubrovay
Laszlo Lajtha
Istvan Lang

Osvaldo Golijov

Giovanni Gabrieli

Hans Werner Henze

Witold Lutoslawski
Grazyna Bacewicz
Tadeusz Baird
Alexander Glazunov

James MacMillan
Howard Hanson

Meredith Monk

Thea Musgrave
Osvaldus Balakauskas
Ivo Malec
Petr Eben
Libos Fiser
Ivo Jirasek
Jan Kapr
Milan Slavicky
Jiri Valek
Frantisek (Franz) Krommer
Jan Kallivoda

Harry Partch

Conon Nancarrow

Andrzej Panufnik

Gofredo Petrassi

Wolfgang Rihm

Peter Ruzicka
Helmut Lachenmann
Georg Friedrich Haas

Aulis Sallinen
Arne Norheim
Harald Saeverud
Eduard Tubin
Geirr Tveitt
Fartein Valen

Henri Souget
Pierre Schaeffer
Bernd Alois Zimmermann
Dieter Schnabel
Aribert Reimann
Hans Pfitzner
Wilhelm Killmayer
Wolfgang Fortier
Werner Eck

Erwin Schulhoff

Gunther Schuller

Peter Sculthorpe
Malcolm Williamson
Arthur Benjamin
Barry Vercoe

Mattias Seiber

Rodion Shchedrin

Charles-Valentin Alkan

Josef Tal

Victor Ullmann

Egon Wellesz

Judith Weir

Stefan Wolpe 

Peteris Vasks

Veljo Tormis

Luigi Dallapiccola

Henry Cowell

Carlo Gesualdo

Josquin des Prez
Heinrich Isaac

Michael Praetorius

Roger Sessions

Tomas Luis de Victoria

Roland de Lassus
Jacob Obrecht
Adrian Willaert
Jacques Arcadelt
Jan Petersoon Sweelinck

John Wilbye

Thomas Weelkes

Heinrich Schütz

Dietrich Buxtehude

Rebecca Clarke

Jon Leifs

Heinrich Biber

John Zorn

Arnold Bax

TJ Anderson
George Walker
Anthony Davis
George Lewis
William Grant Still
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
William Levi-Dawson
Adolphus Hailstork

George Crumb

Magnus Lindberg
Kalevi Aho

Kaija Saariaho
Erik Bergman
Leevi Madetoja

Ekki-Sven Tuur
Niels Viggo Bentzon
Daniel Bernard Roumain

Hildegard von Bingen

Barbara Strozzi
M. Camargo Guaneri
Antonio Carlos Jobim
Juan Arriaga
Baden Powell
Roberto Sienna
Daniel Gatan
Arturo Marquez
Ariel Ramirez
Antonio Estevez
Innocente Carenńo
Theresa Carenńo
Carlos Lopez Buchardo
Manuel de Sumaya
Isang Yung
Bright Sheng
Zhou Long
Chen Yi
Guy Wenjing
Ye Xiaogang
Priaux Rainer
Cristobal Hallfter
Xavier Benguerel
Frederico Mompou
Joachin Rodrigo
Franghiz al-Zadeh
Mohammed al-Haik
Ziryab
ibn-Bajjah
Solhi al-Wadi
Halim al-Dabh
Toufic Soucer
Saleh al-Kuwaity
Mirza Abdollah
Kayhan Kalhor
Sultan Abdülaziz
Haci Arif Bey
Tanburi Cemil Bey
Ismail Dende Efendi
Gazi Giray Han
Buhurizade Mustafa Han
Buhurizade Mustafa Itri
Dmitri Kantemir
Betkir Sitki Sezgin
Cinucen Tanrikorur
Fizuli
Habibi
Khatai
Gara Garayev
Fikrat Amirov
Uzeyir Hajiberov
Fikret Amirov
Vagif Mustafazedeh
Purandara Dasa
Syama Sastri
Tyagaraja
Muthuswami Dikshitar
Allaudin Kahn
Hariprasad Chaurasia
Bade Ghulam Ali Kahn
Alla Rakha
Tansen
L Subramanian
Shivkumar Sharma
Gesang Martohartono
Rahayu Suppanggah
I Nyoman Windha
Raden Machjar Angga Koesoemadinata
Minamoto no Hiramasa
Zeami Motokiyo
Yatsuhashi Kengyo
Urgami Gyokudo
Papa & Foday Musa Suso
Djeli Moussa Diawara
King Sunny Ade
Ablaye Cissoko
Coumba Gawlo
Hiromori Hiyashi
Nakao Tozan
Michio Miyagi
Gao Ming
Tang Xianzhu
Xian Xinghai
Liu Tianhua
Levi Celerio
Nat Yontararak
Phoon Yew Tien
Miriam Mkeba
Ali Farka Toure
E.T. Mensah
Fela Sowande
Babatunde Olatunji
Joshua Uzoigwe
Godwin Sadoh
Michael Mosoeu Moerane
Francisco Santiago
Nicanor Abelardo
Donald Mor McCrimmon
John Garbh MacLean
Ronald MacDonald

WC Handy
Wayne Shorter
Bill Frisell
Gerry Mulligan
Randy Weston/Melba Liston
Horace Tapscott
Steve Lacy
Grachan Moncur III
Benny Golson
Jason Moran
Ted Nash
Albert Ayler
Tim Berne
Maria Schneider
Henry Threadgill
Harris Eisenstadt
John Hollenbeck
Anthony Braxton
George Russell
Lenny Tristano
George Russell
Andrew Hill
Horace Tapscott
Herbie Nichols
Sam Rivers
Gerald Wilson
Tad Dameron
Booker Little
Paul Motian
Roscoe Mitchell
David Murray
Arthur Blythe
George Russell

Mayo Thompson

Malcolm Arnold
Richard Arnell
Jonathan Harvey

Richard Rodney Bennett
Nikolai Kapustin
Osvaldus Balakauskas

Irving Fine

Girolamo Frescobaldi
Jacopo Peri
Alessandro Striggio
John Dunstable
John Taverner

Roberto Gerhard

Orlando Gibbons

Louis Moreau Gottschalk

Herman, Kraus, and Ravenstine (Pere Ubu)

Klaus Schulze (Faust)

Florian Fricke (Popol Vu)

Alessandro/Benedetto Marcello
Johann Jakub Froberger

Percy Grainger

Clement Janequin

Guillaume de Machaut

Johannes Ockeghem

Christopher Rouse
Beata Moon

Robert Palmer

Franz Schrecker

Michael Daugherty
Lee Hyla
Stephen Albert
Mark Adamo
Timothy Andres
Lera Auerbach
Alexandra Gardiner
Michael Gordon
Stephen Hartke
Nico Muhly
Pauline Olivieros
Ned Rorem
Steven Stucky
Stephen Mackey
Julia Wolfe
Evan Zaporyn
Thomas Ades
Heiner Goebbels
Olga Neuwirth
Salvatore Sciarrino
Jorg Widmann

Frank Martin

Josef Suk

George Antheil

Louis Spohr

Toru Takemitsu
Toshiro Mayuzumi

Florent Schmitt

Robert Wyatt

JG Thirwell (Foetus)

John Fahey
Jon Hassell
Steve Roach
Sandy Bull
Vampire Rodents
Neu!

Neil Haggerty &Jennifer Therema (Royal Trux)
Robert Fripp (King Crimson)
The Residents
Mouse on Mars
His Name is Alive
Xiu Xiu
The Raincoats
Sun City Band

Don Cherry

William Byrd

Thomas Tallis
Peter Phillips
John Bartlet

Hugo Wolf
Tomaso Albinoni
Luigi Boccherini
Arrigo Boito
Per Norgard
Horatiu Radulescu
George Benjamin
Tristan Murail
Nicholas Bacri
Marc-Antoine Charpantier
Marin Marais

Poul Ruders

Bruno Maderna
Luigi Nono

Carl Ruggles

Stefan Wolpe

Alexander von Zemlinsky
Joly Braga Santos
Dag Wiren
Ahmed Adnan Saygun
Leo Brouwer
Gara Garayev
Emil Niklaus von Reznicek
Julius Rontgen
Arthur Berger
Joachim Nikolas Eggert
Kurt Atterberg
Alberic Magnard
Quincy Porter
Gregorsz Gorzycki
Luigi Boccherini
Johann Wagenar
Einar Englund
Joseph Martin Kraus
Joaquin Turina
Igor Markevitch
Zdenek Fibich
Ferdinand Reis
Friedrich Witt
Franz Ignaz Beck
Eino Tambero
Niels Gade
Jan Ladislav Dussek
Johann Nepomuk David
Knudage Risager
Paul Graener
Hendrick Andreissen
Morton Gould
John Bull
Thomas Tomkins
Benjamin Lees
Finn Mortensen
Felix Draeske
Fernando Lopes-Garcia
Charles-Marie Widor
Viteslav Novak

Ruth Crawford Seeger

Frank Bridge

Gaetano Scelsi

Maurice Durufle
Jehan Ariste Alain
Gilbert Amy
Jean Barraque
Henri Dutilleux
Henri Duparc

Pierre Henri

Andre Jolivet

Francois-Bernard Mache

Boris Tischtschenko

Allan Pettersson

Alan Rawthstone

Edmund Rubbra

Franz Schmidt

EJ Moeran

Unsuk Chin

Alexander Tcherepnin

Henri Dutilleux

Milton Babbitt

Amy Beach

Elliott Carter

Carlos Chavez
Dimas Galindo
Rodolfo Halffter
Mario Lavista
Jose Pablo Moncayo
Manuel Ponce
Maurice Ohana

Ethyl Smyth

John Luther Adams

Charles Wourinen

Virgil Thomson

Randall Thompson

Giovanni Pierluigi de Palestrina

Bernd Alois Zimmerman
Frederick Rezewski

Alexander Tansman

Ernst Toch
Egon Wellesz
Ottmar Schoek
Michael Berkeley
Harrison Birtwistle
Havergal Brian
William Matthias
Gerald Finzi
Ivor Gurney
Daniel Jenkyn Jones
Oliver Knussen
William Bolcom
John Cage
John Corigliano
David del Tredici
George Rochberg
George Tsontakis
Roy Harris
Wallingford Riegger
Jaromir Weinberger
Leopold Godowsky
Mauricio Kagel
Mario Davidovsky
Edgar Varese
Henri Pousseur
Phillippe Boesmans

Kaikhosru Sorabji

Giuseppe Tartini
Jan Dismas-Zelenka

Kurt Atterberg

Nikolai Myaskovsky
Berthold Goldschmidt
Irving Berlin
Svjetlana Bukovich
Florence Price
Miklos Rosza
Erich Zeisl
Franz Waxmann
Hans Gal
Walter Braunfels
Szymon Laks
Joseph Achron
Joel Engel
Alexander Krein
Salamone Rossi
Leo Zeitlin
Joel Engel
Mikhail Gnesen
Solomon Rosowsky
Paul Ben-Haim
Paul Dessau
Hanns Eisler
Leo Weiner
Classical Traditions written Anonymously:
Afghan Klasik
Cambodian Pinpeat
Chinese Traditional Music (in opera the poets are known, not the composers)
Javanese Gamelan Music
Korean Court Music
Lao Classical Music
Filipino Kundiman Songs (virtually)
Thai Piphat Music
Sri Lankan Kandyan Dance
Vietnamese Court Music

Maybe But Too Many People Know A Little:

Ralph Vaughan Williams

Arthur Honegger

Zoltan Kodaly

Paul Hindemith

Bedrich Smetana

Gyorgy Ligeti

Olivier Messiaen
Hector Berlioz
Erik Satie

Carl Nielsen

Francis Poulenc

Ottorino Respighi

Manuel de Falla

Gabriel Faure

Gustav Holst

Aram Khatchaturian

Erich Wolfgang Korngold

William Walton

Carl Nielsen

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

George Gershwin
Alexander Scriabin

Camille Saint-Saens

Georg Friedrich Handel

Gustav Holst

Karlheinz Stockhausen
Pierre Boulez

Emmanuel Chabrier
Henryk Gorecki

Frank Zappa

Don Van Vliet

Brian Wilson

Charles Ives

Leos Janacek

Astor Piazzolla

Duke Ellington/Billy Strayhorn

Henry Purcell
Arcangelo Corelli
Jerome Kern
Cole Porter
Mikis Theodorakis
AR Rahman

Ravi Shankar
Ali Akbar Khan

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
Zakir Hussain

Antonio Vivaldi
Fela Kuti
Youssou N'dour
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Moore, Gordon, Ranaldo (Sonic Youth)

Charles Mingus

Herbie Hancock

Ornette Coleman
Mahavishnu Orchestra

Sun Ra

Thelonius Monk

David Brubeck

Keith Jarrett

Chick Corea

Gil Evans

Miles Davis

Cecil Taylor
Django Reinhardt
Sonny Rollins
Jelly Roll Morton
Fats Waller
Fats Domino
Joe Zawinul
Oscar Peterson
John Lewis

Charles Gounod

Mikhail Glinka

Alexander Borodin

Alexander Glazunov

Carl Phillipe Emanuel Bach

Luigi Cherubini

Christoph Willibald Gluck

Samuel Barber

Frederick Delius

John Coltrane

Scott Joplin

Pietro Mascagni

Ruggero Leoncavallo
Claudio Monteverdi
John Dowland

Gregorio Allegri

Martin Luther (yes, that one)

Jules Massenet

Jacques Offenbach

Arthur Sullivan

Steve Reich

John Adams
Benjamin Britten

Gioacchino Rossini

Arnold Schoenberg

Darius Milhaud 

Georges Enescu

Domenico Scarlatti
Johann Pachebel

Randy Newman
Stevie Wonder
Prince
Quincy Jones
James Brown
Pete Townshend
Richard James
Bill Evans
Michael Jackson
Rick Rubin
Phil Spector
Tom Waits
Donald Fagan
Isaac Hayes

Count Basie

Earl Hines 

Art Tatum

Brian Eno

Jimi Hendrix

Christa Päffgen

Nina Simone
Bud Powell

Albert Roussel
Paul Dukas
Giovanni Battista Pergolesi
Arvo Part
Sibelius: The Lighter Side

early Verdi

late Stravinsky

late Franz Liszt

Richard Strauss: The Other Operas
Early and Late Copland
The Beatles: Together and Separately
The Unknown Dvorak
The Unknown Tchaikovsky
Elgar: Light and Heavy

Are They Worth The Effort?:

Anton Rubinstein

Esa-Pekka Salonen

Viteslav Novak

Herbert Howells

Arthur Bliss

Lars-Erik Larsson

George Lloyd

Elizabeth Maconchy

Walter Piston

John Tavener

Peter Warlock

Giacomo Meyerbeer

Moritz Moszkowski

Fanny Mendelssohn

Antonio Salieri

Jean-Marie LeClaire

Nikolai Medtner

Joseph Marx

Joachim Raff

Karl Goldmark

Leo Brouwer

Domenico Cimarosa

Etienne Mehul

Johann Nepomuk Hummel

Franz Berwald

Nikolai Roslavets

Hugo Alfven

Michael Torke`

Eugene Ysaye

Eduard Lalo

Joachim Turina

Ernst Chausson

Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco

Iannis Xenakis

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

Ernst von Dohnanyi

Jakub Jan Ryba

Giuseppe Martucci 

Granville Bantock

Maurice Durufle

LaMonte Young

Vincent Persichetti

Vincent d'Indy

Mikhail ippolitov-Ivanov

Dmitri Kabalevsky

Ignaz Moscheles

Mili Balakirev

Clara Schumann

Cecile Chaminade

Florence Price

Germaine Tallfierre

Elizabeth Luytens

Libby Larsen

Jennifer Higdon

Ellen Taffe Zwilich

Augusta Read Thomas

Reynaldo Hahn

John Field

Joseph Canteloube

George Whitefield Chadwick

Zdenek Fibich

Nicolas Flagello

Carlisle Floyd

Stephen Foster

Leroy Anderson

Eric Coates

Niels Gade

Francesco Geminiani

Umberto Giordano

Mauro Giuliani

Reinhold Gliere

Morton Gould

William Alwyn

Vasily Kalinnikov

Anatole Liadov

Leevi Matedoja

Peter Menin

Gian Carlo Menotti

Viteslav Novak

Paul Paray

Hubert Parry

Hans Pfitzner

Alfredo Casella

Ildebrando Pizzetti

Amilcare Ponchielli

Joaquin Rodrigo

Miklos Rosas

John Philip Sousa

Constant Lambert

Charles Villiers Stanford

Lowell Lieberman

Michael Torke

Johan Svendsen

Sergey Taneyev

Ambroise Thomas

Louis Vierne

Charles Marie Widor