The fact that the German, Austrian (and perhaps French) musical infrastructure was so much more developed than that in other, more peripheral countries, meant that a work stood a proportionally greater chance of being noticed and being played a second, third, etc. time. Before the advent of recordings, if you were so unlucky to be living in Rotterdam instead of Vienna, there was only a slim chance that your work would get a second chance.

Similarly, a city dweller stood a greater chance of getting a second hearing than someone from the countryside: the right critics would be at the performance, and he/she (though most often he) was more likely to be acquiainted to those people that mattered.

In similar circumstances, there is something to be said for the 'judgment from posterity' – but one always needs to be aware of the many historical contingencies that determine any artist's fate – if one wishes to be pleasantly surprised by the quality of an 'unknown's work.