Great music and the forgotten composers

I think, first of all, that to be great music a piece has to be symmetrical and it has to make sense to the listener. It has to have a melody. It can't be some random thrown together notes. I think it should have depth; it should make us stop and think about what the music is communicating and why it is communicating what it is. We should be able to feel what the composer felt when he wrote it. 

Some great composers are brushed to the side and rarely listened to anymore. I think we as listeners need to dig those composers out and dust them off and play and listen to their works. For example, Gregorio Allegri is not nearly as common as Claudio Monteverdi, who was living at the same time. Allegri's Miserere is definitely worth listening to. Some of those lesser known composers didn't seek the fame or had other employment than the popular composers. 

All that to say, go find a forgotten composer to pull out and listen to. Compare him to the greats of his time. Why was he forgotten? There's a great list out there of composers, forgotten and popular.