First impressions, both positive and negative, can be quite powerful. When I first encountered a piece by Donald Erb (c.1993), I was frankly unimpressed. I can't remember what the piece was, though I remember it was an orchestral work and that it had some rather unusual instrumentation (I vaguely recall something like three contrabassoons). At any rate, despite my attempts to keep an open mind, I admit I did not actively seek out additional works by him until fairly recently. (Of course, I've had one or two other unfamiliar things to listen to in the last couple of decades).

Having recently acquired a disc dedicated to three of his concerti, I was taken aback at how much I enjoyed it. The clarinet and violin concerti, in particular, were impressive in their expressiveness and shimmering orchestration, while the trombone concerto, alas, suffers the fate of all trombone concerti: it's a trombone concerto, though it is—and I mean this seriously—a better trombone concerto than virtually any others that I've suffered through heard.

Here is a lovely snippet from his gorgeous Violin Concerto, played with fiery intensity by Miriam Fried and the Grand Rapids Symphony.