Feedback on Audition Repertoire

[jam8086]

Hey all,

I will be auditioning for college (undergrad) this coming year, and I'm mainly looking at Peabody Conservatory or the University of Maryland School of Music.

The Peabody audition requirements are as follows:
1. Baroque - A Prelude and Fugue or any other work containing a fugue by J.S. Bach.
2. Classical - Complete (All-Movements) sonata by Mozart, Beethoven or Schubert. The Mozart G Major Sonata, K. 283, and Beethoven Sonata, Op. 49 may not be used to fulfill this requirement.
3. Romantic - A major solo work by a 19th-century composer. For example - Chopin: Ballades, Scherzi, or Sonata; Brahms: Op. 118 or 119 (complete); Liszt: Dante Sonata, Vallee d'Obermann or a Hungarian Rhapsody. Note: A Chopin Nocturne or Etude may not be used to fulfill this requirement.
4. 20th Century - A major solo work.
5. Etude - A virtuoso Etude by one of the following composers: Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, Debussy, Bartok, or Stravinsky.

The University of Maryland requirements are as follows (These are from last year, but I doubt they will be changed much):
1. A Prelude and Fugue by J.S. Bach from The Well Tempered Clavier, books 1 or 2.
2. A Sonata by Beethoven, excluding Op. 49 and Op. 79.
3. Major composition by a 19th Century composer.
4. Composition by a 20th Cenutry composer.

So finally, the audition repertoire I'm working on now is:
Baroque - Bach Prelude and Fugue in A minor (No. 20) from WTC Book 1
Classical - Beethoven Sonata No. 21 in C major, Op. 53 "Waldstein" (Complete)
Romantic - Chopin Scherzo No. 2 in B flat minor, Op. 31
20th Century - Copland The Cat and the Mouse (Scherzo Humoristique)
Etude - Chopin Etude Op. 25 No. 1 "Aeolian Harp"

EDIT!!! - My repertoire list has changed...check my post from August 11th.

How does it look? Any comments would be greatly appreciated! 

[bassoonypiano]

If you don't mind me also asking of any feed back as I will be auditioning those 2 places also.
Prelude and Fugue No 2 in c minor I think.
Beethoven Sonata No 26 Op 81a "Les Adieux"(complete also)
Chopin Scherzo No 2
Debussy Pour le Piano Suite
And the Etude is still in the air. It will either be Op 25/2 or their is a possibility I may use Liszt Gnomenreigen thanks to the suggestion of a board member. It will probably end up being the Liszt, but I am not sure yet.

[Skeptopotamus]

it all looks good except I would suggest doing a different etude.  the op. 25 no. 1 is considered one of the easier ones.

[Jacey1973]

My audition repertoire at the moment is:

Mozart - Sonata in D K576
Beethoven - Les Adieux sonata
Chopin - Ballade no 3
Ravel - Alborada del gracioso
Rachmaninov - Etudes Tableaux op 39, nos 8 and 9

What do u reckon? I'm thinking i need more variety...i.e more modern composers? Any ideas/suggestions?

[Skeptopotamus]

yours is awesome jenni ^^

[jam8086]

jenni, do you have a baroque piece?

[steinwayguy]

Jam, you're looking good. If you already know the Op. 25 No. 1, it will be fine for Maryland and maybe Peabody. You do have the A Minor Prelude and Fugue and Waldstein as the zingers in your program. Personally, I wouldn't consider the Cat and Mouse a "major" work, but that's just me.

Bassoonypiano, your program is quite strong, especially Les Adieux and Pour le Piano. I strongly recommend Gnomenreigen to fill your program out.

Jenni, I'm concerned because you have two classical sonatas. You should really drop one of them (the Mozart, for sure, I think) and pick up a work by Bach, J.S. or C.P.E., maybe a prelude and fugue, maybe a suite, a partita or toccata...or maybe the Goldberg Variations? (jk)

Good luck to you all, for the most part, you all have very good programs.

[pianote]

everything's awesome- not so sure about the copland though. it's a good piece but not sure if it's the "major" piece that your univ is looking for.

[Jacey1973]

Jenni, I'm concerned because you have two classical sonatas. You should really drop one of them (the Mozart, for sure, I think) and pick up a work by Bach, J.S. or C.P.E., maybe a prelude and fugue, maybe a suite, a partita or toccata...or maybe the Goldberg Variations? (jk)

Good luck to you all, for the most part, you all have very good programs.

Yes i think you are right, do you think a baroqe piece would be more worthwhile than modern? I guess Rachmaninov is fairly modern...?

[jehangircama]

instead of the Mozart sonata, why not play Bach's italian concerto or chromatic fantasy and fugue?

[steinwayguy]

instead of the Mozart sonata, why not play Bach's italian concerto or chromatic fantasy and fugue?

 

Yes i think you are right, do you think a baroqe piece would be more worthwhile than modern? I guess Rachmaninov is fairly modern...?

Keep the Rachmaninoff and Ravel, just switch up the Mozart with some Bach, like a partita or English suite or toccata etc.

[jam8086]

Come on people, we need more feedback! There are three audition reps listed here!

Personally, I'm pretty confident about U of MD, but how are my chances with Peabody? I'm not necessarily looking to have Leon Fleisher as my teacher or even get a scholarship...I just want to know if I have a chance of getting in...

[bassoonypiano]

Well I wont be doing the P+F in c minor no2 from WTC 1. I am doing No 6 from WTC #6 in d minor. And the etude will most likely me the Liszt I posted up above.

[jehangircama]

[jehangircama]

Sorry about that. what I meant was why the 

[jam8086]

Alright...if I can convince my teacher, I will try to make some changes to my audition rep.

For the 20th Century piece, I want to change Copland's Cat & Mouse to Prokofiev's Toccata, and for the etude, I want to change the Chopin Op. 25 No. 1 to Liszt's 6th Paganini Etude.

So, the rep. is now...
Baroque - Bach Prelude and Fugue in A minor (No. 20) from WTC Book 1
Classical - Beethoven Sonata No. 21 in C major, Op. 53 "Waldstein" (Complete)
Romantic - Chopin Scherzo No. 2 in B flat minor, Op. 31
20th Century - Prokofiev Toccata in D minor, Op. 11
Etude - Liszt Paganini Etude No. 6 "Theme and Variations"

[arensky]

Nice lineup, it's excellent except for one thing: Peabody wants a "major" 20th Century piece, I'm not sure Cat n' Mousie is a major work, you might want to try a big movement of a Prokofiev Sonata or the Hindemith 2sd Sonata or something like that; you should call Peabody and speak to the head of the Piano Dept to make sure that Cat'n Mousie is OK, you would hate to show up and not meet their standards, whiich are high. Hopefully I am wrong and you may continue with your repertoire plans.

Afterthought, don't call; EMAIL! You'll have a transcript of the communication that way.

[prokomozart man]

hey, the selections all sound good. I myself am thinking of applying to Peabody for a MM next spring. All my friends tell me that, whenever possible, to avoid playing a major work by Bach in an audition, because all the teachers have differences in opinions, like pedal, no pedal, articulation, tempo etc . I'll try to avoid it, but a P&F wouldn't hurt, I guess. That's my take.