Who is the composer you feel is underrated in the guitar world?
Every guitarist has that one composer—the one who writes beautifully for the instrument but doesn’t get nearly enough recognition. Maybe their works are hidden gems that rarely make it onto concert programs, or maybe they wrote just one brilliant piece that deserves more time in the spotlight.
Which composer do YOU believe is criminally underrated in the classical guitar community?
What makes their music special to you?
Is there a particular piece you'd recommend others to try?
Why do you think they’ve been overlooked?
Whether it’s a forgotten Romantic, an overlooked contemporary voice, or a regional treasure, we’d love to hear your pick and why they deserve more love! Let’s build a list of hidden gems together 
Bonus: Share a short recording or video if you’ve played something by them!
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I want to share not one, but TWO composers that I admire and who's pieces I have recorded. They might not be per se underrated, but I don't hear their pieces played that often!
Simona Ianarelli - Alma
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCAgfiukPzc
I just love the otherworldy sound of the dissonances and harmonics! I imagine this to be the soundtrack of me looking at the night sky in awe!
Carlos Fariñas - Canción triste
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4Vvjra9Iig
This piece has that deep melancholy that is so unique to Cuban composers!
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martin These are both so gorgeous, Martin! I find the Ianarelli particularly captivating, and your night sky image is perfect.
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martin I agree the Ianarelli is gorgeous, and you do it justice. Yes, Ianarelli is new to me.
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martin That's lovely, Martin. I'd heard the Farinas, but never the Ianerelli. I'll have to check him out.
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If Martin can share two composers, I will do the same!
I am going to go with Catharina Josepha Pratten (aka Madame Sidney Pratten) and her student Ernest Shand.
Pratten, to me, just exemplifies the era of the Romantic guitar. Her writing is simple, but I find it very expressive. Below is one of her lesser-known works, Sehnsucht ("Longing").
Shand is such an underplayed guitar composer. I think his compositions are on a par with his much more celebrated contemporary from Spain, Francisco Tarrega. I particularly love his rich harmonies that always seem very modern to me. Below is his Andante Religioso, one of my favorites.
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Eric Phillips These are awesome, Eric. Shand is one of those names I heard a lot from players I knew, but there were never any recordings.
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Steve Price Thanks, Steve. Alberto La Rocca has a wonderful recording of a large number of his pieces, and it’s easy to find on YT.
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These are very fine, Eric! I seem to remember having bought a collection of Shand pieces--if memory serves (it often doesn't these days) edited by Professor Yates. At the time it looked well beyond me--I should try and find it and give it another go.
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Steven Bornfeld Thanks, Steven! That is a great book. Not only does it contain Shand’s collected works, but it also has amazing articles by Dr. Yates about the man and his music. I don’t know you’re playing level, but there are several easier pieces, especially toward the beginning of the book. There are a ton of pieces at the intermediate level, like the one I posted above.
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Eric Phillips I have it here...somewhere. My playing level is almost certainly not high enough for this material, but I've never let that stop me before.
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I've always been surprised to hear so little by Alfredo Franco. He writes in a modern language, but it's still very accessible. The only player I know who plays his music regularly is Cristiano Porqueddu, who released a CD of over three hours of his music for guitar. Here are two of his pieces played by Porqueddu, "A Short Elegy" and "Memories from the Black Lodge: Homage to David Lynch."
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Steve Price
I love both of these, Steve! The intervals he uses are so beautiful. Totally new to me, so thanks. I’d love to try playing his music
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Steve Price I was able to find the score to the first piece you shared with us. It reminds me a lot of Gulli Bjornsson's Landslog VI.
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Eric Phillips Very nice, Eric. I love this piece. I commented on Porqueddu's forum, and he ended up emailing me and Alfredo Franco, and there is supposed to be a lot more of his music published, most likely on Les Productions d'Oz, so that's good news. He seemed to focus on publishing his bigger-scale works, but he's supposedly prepping the pieces for more for mortals like me now.
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I would like to share a composer who has written extensively for guitar you may not know about. He is my old teacher Brian Wright. He was born in 1941, is a Savarez Artist https://www.savarez.com/brian-wright and has many scores for guitar available to purchase online. He told me once, he has an unreleased guitar concerto on his shelf!
Here is a of a recent recording of a composition of his in tribute to the late Julian Bream. Enjoy!
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Tom That was wonderful, Tom! I had not heard of him at all, so I will need to look into his music. Thanks for sharing!
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Eric Phillips glad you liked it!
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I believe Dr. José Antonio López is such a composer. Presently he is a music and art appreciation professor at the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez campus . He is not only an accomplished composer, but also a gifted classical guitarist. His last composition Nocturno is just amazing. He has a website aunasolaguitarra.com check it out. By the way, he plays popular music as well, and transcribed to score all of the Juan Neri and the "Tres Ases" music. This year he organized a guitar festival in Mayagüez with competitions, conferences, luthiers, etc. I believe the Orfeo magazine is going to publish something. José Vélez
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Brahms (intermezi) .... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C11RO05OdgY ... say no more
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Julio Sagreras.
I think he gets overlooked because of his pedagogy but even many of those little exercises/studies that he created are so lyrical and lovely. -
Dear Martin,
I hope this message finds you well.
My name is Sekhar Screenevasan, writing from Singapore. I would like to submit a guitar music recording featuring Mr. Harry Martinez, which includes several of his original compositions. This recording was originally made on a cassette tape, with approximately 30 minutes of music on each side. It was personally gifted to me by Mr. Martinez in 1982, during the time I was his student (from 1981 to 1984).
Although the sound quality of the original cassette has naturally deteriorated over time, I had it digitised several years ago into two separate audio files. I would be pleased to share these recordings with you for consideration in your work highlighting underrated composers in the guitar world.
Additional information on Mr. Martinez can be found via the National Archives of Singapore, under the following reference:
MARTINEZ, Harry Joseph. Performing Arts in Singapore (Music), Accession Number 001130
https://www.nas.gov.sg/archivesonline/oral_history_interviews/interview/001130Other references:
Attached are the audio files. I look forward to your thoughts and I hope Mr. Martinez’s work will be of interest to your project.
Warm regards,
Sekhar Screenevasan
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sekhar Thank you so much for sharing these recordings — what a special and meaningful contribution. It’s incredibly moving to hear music passed down with such a personal connection, especially from a student of Mr. Martinez himself.
This is exactly the kind of material that helps us celebrate and rediscover underrated voices in the guitar world. Thank you again for making this available to the community!
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martin Thank you for your encouraging words.
I'm hoping if someone could transcribe Mr. Martinez's Sonata in C-Major (Track 2, No.4).
So that it can be studied / performed.
End of the Year Challenge: Finish Strong!
