The Unknown Masters of To-Day

We recently received from a foreign publisher in Germany a list of musicians whom he considered composers of the first rank who are living in Europe to-day. These composers have gained sufficient fame to warrant the preservation of their biographies in print. They are highly regarded by contemporary critics and their works are sometimes rendered at European concerts. We may safely assume that real musical worth is rarely concealed. When a really great genius like Richard Strauss, Claude Debussy or Edward Elgar arises, his fame will spread throughout the entire musical world. The remarkable thing about the list sent to us is that of the fifty musicians included less than twenty are ever represented on the programs of our leading concerts. At least twenty of the list are so rarely mentioned in German papers that they are practically unknown, yet these men have written works of large dimensions, symphonies, operas, sonatas, etc. Surely the spark of genius is a delicate and precious thing. How will fame receive and provide for the twenty "unknown" masters?