Edited sentence: Imbued with a restless quality that demands repeated listenings to penetrate, Medtner's music often has a psychologically intense, almost demonic character.It may be that some of his works are better advocates for him in this respect—his songs and concertos are more directly communicative than the solo piano music, the violin sonatas more extroverted—but it is also true that his music is now that of a cult composer, at least in reputation and possibly in fact.Nonetheless, it is undeniable that Medtner possessed considerable skill in writing heartfelt melody of rare beauty and an uncanny skill in developing thematic material.The piano works in particular are notoriously difficult to sight-read and require enormous technical and intellectual resources to perform.Whether Medtner’s music makes inroads into the wider repertoire or remains the territory of a few performers and listeners depends on whether it is true that he sacrificed melodic interest, beauty, and communicativeness (or enough of them) on the altar of complexity, the sonata form, and counterpoint.Yet Medtner's best melodies speak to the listener on a direct emotional level